There are two excellent programs for imaging a partition or drive. Ghost and drive Image. I prefer Drive Image, but you can get Ghost for a lot less money. I want to emphasize a point that Bryco made. You will have to do the restore from DOS. So make sure that what ever you choose is capable of that WITHOUT losing the long file names. There are not many applications that will do that. XXcopy will do a backup but not a restore.

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You might consider this freeware http://www.snapfiles.com/get/cobbackup.html It looks interesting, and the site has tons of freeware.

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I also agree with the others on Ghost. If you want to find a cheap version of Ghost, go to: Softwarenevada.com. Norton Systemworks Pro 2003 is $14.95 + $3.95 shipping per order. Pro comes with Ghost and a host of other Symantec software,including one year of live update. I have bought from this site and recived what I ordered.

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From: http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-06-03.htm#4. Partition Saving is another freebie that also restores. I know nothing more about it. Bryan

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I use Nero to make custom restore CD's. I set up a lot of identical laptops, & using the Nero backup, I can have a laptop up & running in about 20-30 minutes. Nero gives you a choice of whether to backup just a single partition, or an entire HD. As mentioned above, you can experience problems if you try to backup the partition that you're booted into. I pull the HD & install it into another PC to do the backup. As far as cost...My CD burner came with Nero, so I guess that you could say that it was free. HTH Dave If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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From Nero Help files: "Strictly speaking it is not possible to read an active file system because the data might change during reading (and will probably do so). There is the risk of data loss if active file systems are to be backed up. Ahead Software therefore urgently advises you not to back up file systems for security reasons! Nero does, however, allow you to back up files systems which are in use since most PCs are probably configured in such a way that only one single large partition is located on the active operating system on the hard disk. Such hard disks might otherwise not be backed up at all." Is that saying, that although you will experience data loss due to files being in use, Nero allows you to proceed with the process anyway? From Dave357: "I pull the HD & install it into another PC to do the backup." That looks like the way to go. Dave357, In reading the Help files I am under the impression that Nero backs up the entire partition including unused space or Freespace. If I understand it correctly then my C: drive is ~14Gb with ~5Gb used and Nero's backup will be ~14Gb in size when complete. Is that correct? Bryan

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Bryan, you are correct...the backup will be 14-GB, but you can restore the backup to a larger HD if necessary. The way that I use it may or not be practical for someone else, depending upon their needs. I actually setup 3 different types of laptops, & each uses it's own set of drivers. I created a small partition of about 600 MB (so that the backup will fit onto a single CDR). I then installed Windows into this partition, along with all necessary drivers, utilities, etc. (Such as Power Archiver, Adobe Acrobat Reader, etc). After everything is setup as I want it, I clean up the HD, delete any temp files, empty the recycle bin & defrag the drive. Then the HD is pulled & slaved into another PC. I then create the backup (restore CD). I'll then use this restore CD on any identical laptop, but with a "normal" sized harddrive (or partition) installed. I have done this for each of the laptop models that I work on. This makes installing Windows (complete with all drivers & utilities) a 20-30 minute process. This method would be practical for anyone who keeps their operating system in it's own partition. Partitions containing only data (no OS) can be backed up while booted to the C:\ partition. HTH Dave If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

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Hello All, I also don't know of any freeware for doing this proceedure, though I'm sure there are some out there. I also use Ghost, I have an image stored on a second drive and though i'm only at about 10-15 gig on a 20 gig drive, I can restore it to a fresh install, including all the added software in just under 10 minutes!! Though if backed up to a CD, it will no doubt take much longer to restore. Any how, just wanted to add my 2 cents. lol All have a great night! If the house catches fire, SAVE the computer!!

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