Showing posts with label disk imaging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disk imaging. Show all posts

NTI Backup Now Ez 2010 Review

NTI Backup Now Ez 2010
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NTI Backup Now Ez 2010 ReviewI have had this product for a few months now. I have never been able to run a successful backup. I am in the Windows Vista 32-bit environment, and the backup will get about 2% complete when my computer goes dark and completely shuts down. I have been extremely disappointed with this product and its effect on my computer. I cannot recommend it and feel as though I've been sold a defective product.NTI Backup Now Ez 2010 Overview

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True Image Home 2011 PC Backup and Recovery Review

True Image Home 2011 PC Backup and Recovery
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True Image Home 2011 PC Backup and Recovery ReviewI'm a software engineer and I'm used to pushing computers to their limits. Just my computer at home has 3 hard drives with a total of 14 partitions (I use Boot IT NG to manage so many partitions). I have installed in these disks mostly Windows 7 and Windows XP.
Acronis. A backup and restore solution is like a parachute. It either opens when you need it or it doesn't. It's as simple as that. I've been using Acronis for over 6 years and I've spent my money buying the most recent versions.
Fact: this tool never let me down and it saved my skin several times. However, this isn't to say I love the tool.
To make Acronis work for you is simple: stick to the basics, backup and restore. Acronis has a smart team of developers, but their marketing team is stupid. Every version they come up with, more senseless bells and whistles are added which just clutter their tool.
After so many years, here's a list of features that worked well and some that failed miserably. Again, this is my experience with more partitions in my computer than most users.
One-click backup.
This "one-click" feature works great if you're buying stuff from Amazon. For backups you can't be serious. What will it back up, where will it store, and how do you recover? Sure, the answers are there but how can you understand things with a "one-click"? It's a silly marketing catch phrase that in the end never did anything useful to me. Spend a few more clicks and... do things right.
Try and Decide
This one should be called "please crash my computer". Every time I attempted to make this feature work, something went wrong. To me, this is absolutely useless and it's consistently useless across all Acronis Home versions I owned. This has never, ever worked for me.
Acronis Secure Zone.
This one has consistently worked well for me. On client computers I use the Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and it works really well. Again, a core feature that works when you need it. One drawback: it's painfully slow on larger disks with incremental backups. Here's a suggestion for the Acronis engineers:
MAKE EXISTING FEATURES PERFORM BETTER
instead of adding non-sense bells and whistles every year. With Acronis TI 2011, you can convert the ASZ from a FAT files system (old) to NTFS (newer). They claim this should help performance a bit; however, their conversion utility stops working at "33%" on my 350 GB ASZ (not all is used). So, I can't tell you if it's any faster on this version.
Online backup
Another "you've got to be kidding me feature". Why would you want to do it this way? Simple: another marketing catch. This is simple: save your backup locally, validate it, THEN you upload it to the online service of your choice. Now... uploading the file "directly"? It sounds good in theory, but in reality upload speeds are slower, they drop, people use wireless (!) and you set yourself up for failure. I'm sure this works well for some people, it's just that I'm not one of them. I stay away from this one. If you save your stuff online, save it locally first.
Scheduled Backups
Another feature that works well. I have several backups that run every week and Acronis does a great job emailing me the results (good or bad). These backups have worked consistently well for me over the years and they never failed me. Here's something they did right and it works well.
Recovery / Restores
This is thee acid test: does the parachute open or not? In all fairness, a restore with Acronis has never, ever failed me. I restored partitions, files, data from internal hard drives and from external ones (USB). It worked 100%, all the time. It's even smart enough to deal with the file security in Windows O/S and it even updates the boot.ini file to make Windows bootable. Smart. Useful. It's great.
All other features
I can't cover them all here without making this review 50 pages long. However, stuff like mount / un-mount images, file shredder, system clean-up, work "alright" but... they're slow. What's up with the Acronis team that their tool is "consistently" slow? How do they manage that? :-)
Again, in my opinion Acronis is going in the wrong direction trying to add more "features I don't need" to their software to make it more marketable. Instead, they should make this tool screaming fast, but it has been consistently slow over the years.
In the end: does it work? Yes, but only if you stick to the basics. Do I recommend it? Yes, but only if you stick to the basics.
I've been running TI Home 2011 on my computer at home and it seems to perform better from prior versions. The interface is now centered around backup files and this takes some getting used to. If you want to schedule a backup, it's not as obvious as before in my opinion, but it's there.
All in all, buy it if you don't have one. The price is good and the tool works, just make sure you understand what this tool is: backup and recovery. Stick to the basics. All the other stuff is almost useless to me and I guarantee you all bad reviews here have something to do with their "extra" features (Acronis just needs to get smarter). Their basic backup and recovery works well, if you can deal with slow performance (this could be because of so many partitions I have in my computer too). So your mileage may vary.
True Image Home 2011 PC Backup and Recovery OverviewHave you ever accidentally deleted a file, had a virus corrupt your files, or had a disk fail? These are just a few examples of how people lose pictures, music, personal and financial data every day. Don't let this happen to you. Now is the time to protect your PC with Acronis True Image Home 2011.
Redesign of friendly user interface includes new features like Drag and Drop for faster navigation. View larger.

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Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support Review

Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support
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Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support ReviewBottom-Line: If you need brick-level back & recovery solution for you large, medium, or small business look no further than "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition."
I have used some form of "Symantec's Backup Exec System Recovery Server Edition" since the Windows 2003 days, when the interface was clean, simple, and easy to use. Since that time, Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery which used to be marketed by Veritas (until Symantec bought out the company), has evolved along with Windows, and today it is a robust, flexible, somewhat complicated enterprise-class application that is almost indispensable to a shop still utilizing hardware or a Data Center operation in transition to a virtualized environment.
But not every server/application lends itself to virtualization, so I predict there will be a need for the functionality Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery brings to the Data Center table for quite some time.
Product Description (From Symantec): Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 is a simple, cost-effective backup and recovery solution for small businesses that helps minimize downtime and avoid disaster by easily recovering individual data files/folders or complete Windows systems in minutes - not hours or days - even to different hardware, virtual environments, or remote locations.
"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery's" forte has always been in keeping the backup & recovery process simple (well relatively simple) and easy to use, but flexible enough to adapt to almost any enterprise environment. Version 2010's release is no different. Key Features include:
oBackup systems automatically, while you work, through scheduled or event-driven backups;
oOffsite Backup Copy to an FTP location or secondary disk drive;
oDissimilar Hardware Recovery with Restore Anywhere Technology;
oSeamless physical to virtual (P2V) and virtual to physical (V2P) conversions for VMWare, Microsoft and Citrix virtual environments.
Installation
"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" can be installed one of two ways; either on the server you need to backed-up, or on a centralized server upon which the back-up agent can be pushed out to the servers needing to be backed-up. A centralized installation will further allow an administrator to centrally manage the backup events and scheduling for each server.
However, we choose the individual option (it was easier to administer) and installed "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" on each individual server (7 in all); thereafter I can log into each server and set the backup schedule for each.
Usage

"Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" is like most backup software these days, wizard driven, asking as series of questions to help simplify the backup and recovery process. But, make no mistake "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" is a complicated software application with a lot of moving parts, so before using it for the first time one should read the owner's manual.
Brick-level back-up is pretty straight forward (depending on the amount of data being backed-up, it could take upwards to an hour to complete), but brick-level recovery can be time consuming and problematic especially if you are performing a Restore Anywhere procedure. Partition table may need to be deleted and recreated, hard disk partitions deleted and recreated, and or FAT tables rearranged. But if all goes well, I can perform a System Recovery in under an hour.
We use "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" to perform brick-level back-ups on (7) servers nightly to an off-site location connected by a generous data pipe so the process is seamless. After I installed the software on each server I ran the backup wizard, specifying what I needed backed-up, to where, and how frequently.
The "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" agent runs as a Windows service so an administrator does not have to be logged into the server in order for the process to run unattended. You can set the application to append the current backup set, or overwrite it to save space. Full or incremental back-ups can also be configured.
For recovery we store our sets on a network drive. No problem, "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition" has a utility that allows for logging into a network and mapping a drive as long as the right credentials are used. But the application can also read back-up sets from locally attached (USB) hard drives and or DVD drives.
Conclusions
I have no (real) complaints concerning either the functionality or usage of "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition"; it is an easy to use, robust brick-level backup & recovery program that offers a ready solution for just about every enterprise environment. There are of course other solutions on the market, but none that seems to offer the level of functionality and refinement our business is looking for.
Symantec technical support has always been there when we needed them, including weekend and evening, and the support techs have always been knowledgeable and willing to stick with me until whatever issue I was having was resolved to my satisfaction.
If you need brick-level back & recovery solution for you large, medium, or small business look no further than "Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition."Symantec Backup Exec System Recovery 2010 Server Edition with 12 Months Basic Support Overview

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Retrospect 7.6 Professional for Windows Review

Retrospect 7.6 Professional for Windows
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Retrospect 7.6 Professional for Windows ReviewI am a high level geek and even I had a very hard time making this stinker work. I back up semi-regularly, thinking I'd never have to use the Retrospect backup. I use my laptop ALL of the time at work, and can't operate without it.
Then one day, I dropped my laptop HARD on my kitchen floor and the hard drive stopped working. The warranty would cover any damage to the laptop, but what about the data? Luckily, I had backed up ALL of my data using Retrospect just 48 hours prior.
The moment of truth was at hand!
Well, it took me 2.5 days of banging my head on the keyboard, and a lot of coffee and patience working with Retrospect, but I FINALLY got the hard drive restored EXACTLY as it had been at the time of my backup. It's as if nothing had happened.
HINT: you MUST install your OS _FIRST_ on your new drive before even attempting a DISATER RECOVERY with Retrospect. Don't expect to be able to just clone the image back to your new drive -- that would be too easy, and I think Retrospect is afraid of getting sued by Microsoft.
I had to learn about "backup sets", "recreating catalog files", "snapshots", etc. The wizards are awful -- not very intuitive in the least, and you have to go into "expert mode" to make it work right most of the time. Also, I had to fix a couple of boot errors along the way -- the computer thought it had two OS's on it. Additionally, I had to tell Retrospect to restore my registry and other settings (you'd think it would do this automatically being that you're doing a DISASTER RECOVERY).
Overall, a major pain in the [...]!
BUT, it works! It took me about 15 hours of work over 2.5 days, but I got it ALL back. So, the software does deliver a COMPLETE restoration when it really counts. Sure saved MY bacon!Thanks Retrospect -- I think....
Retrospect 7.6 Professional for Windows Overview

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Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 - Single User Review

Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 - Single User
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Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 - Single User ReviewBackups get A+:
1. Backing up over network, high compression, custom drivers loading is easy to do. You will backup in style
2. Superior and useful utilities.
3. Every imaginable problem from the legendary Ghost 2003 is fixed and improved.
4. No more .gho format anymore. The current format so far has handled some large partition backups for me. Full 30GB partitions to high compression is a breeze.
Restores get C-:
1. Right away after a partition recover, you will get the message "Please insert the Recovery disk". It will say "Error EA730002: Cannot find the driver database directory". How does this error stay in the product? It is one confusing message for a successful recovery. The recovery disk is really just the ghost CD.
2. Then there is the staged recovery mystery. With 2 identical machines of the same hardware, I can only restore to the machine where I initially did the cold backups. I don't understand. This is ruining my confidence in the product. We are talking same motherboards, same versions, everything.
3. What other kind of hardware replacement will prevent my restores? Should I buy another backup product just in case?
Symantec Norton Ghost 15.0 - Single User Overview

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True Image Home 2012 PC Backup and Recovery Review

True Image Home 2012 PC Backup and Recovery
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True Image Home 2012 PC Backup and Recovery ReviewTrue Image Home has a Clone Drive tool I've used before to upgrade my system drive to a larger disk. Has worked for me in the past. In this case I was upgrading my data drive from a 2TB MBR to a 3TB GPT drive (GPT is used on any drive over 2TB). The documentation and the knowledge base articles on Acronis site suggested GPT was supported. I bought the program, installed it, and started the clone drive operation. It gives me two options for the clone--clone to a 2TB MBR on the 3TB drive losing 1TB of space, or expand to a 3TB GPT. I pick the latter. It says clearly what it is going to do, e.g. clone the drive to a GPT version. I click okay.
Since some Windows files were in use, it told me it needed to reboot my system to complete the operation. I clicked Okay. System never came up again.
Boot with a Windows CD. Recover System. Nope. No system partition on drive. Wow. Okay.
Go through Chat with Acronis. They tell me GPT is in fact NOT supported, despite the clear language in the program and the fact that it attempted the operation. They walk me through the same steps attempting to recover the system, but they don't know even as much as I do, and nothing works.
This despite the fact that before I did all this I used Acronis to create a "Recovery CD". Apparently that isn't worth much unless you've got a backup.
Thought since I wasn't touching my windows drive, and in fact only making a copy of my data drive I didn't need to make a backup. Oh well, time to reinstall Windows.
AVOID.True Image Home 2012 PC Backup and Recovery Overview

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