Backup Software - Can BootitNG or IFD do a floppy based standalone clone of my system disk to an identic

Author

Can BootitNG or IFD do a floppy based standalone clone of my system disk to an identic

tanstafl

2005-05-19, 8:45 pm

I need to clone my existing 18GB SCSI drive (5 partitions, W2KPro on
C, system utilities and apps on D->G ) to an identical empty disk?
I've been through the Terrabyte's website, but it doesn't have
anything on-point to cloning. It needs to be diskette based for
booting on the target system.

Additional info if wanted:
I lost my primary PC due to progressive mobo rot. My only current
support system is a long retired W95 (no suffix) P100 - sloow and
shakey. It's good for downloading and cutting diskettes, but it only
has CDRom - no burner. The new PC is now set to go - passed memtest86
burn in and SpinRite is happy with all the disks. 'Tis time to work
on W2K.

The new (to me) Abit KV7 board is as close to the old MSI board as I
could get, but the VIA SB is a later part number (so new 4in1
drivers), the NB is VIA KT600 rather than AMD (AGP miniport driver)
and the BIOS seems to not know anything other than ACPI (new HAL).
New mobo drivers, changing HAL from Standard PC and other W2K fun
things guarantees multiple false starts (oops or dumbdumb - probably
both). Can't risk the original crown jewel copy to that kind of
fumbling - ergo a sacrificial clone, refresh and go again and again,
and again....

The semi-infuriating thing is I was preparing to buy a brace of
external firewire drives for offsite rotation. I had narrowed the
search for backup software to TI8 and NG - had downloaded the TI demo
package and created the CD for stand alone imaging. Yep - BIG
mistake, done caught Murphy's attention! The demo disk isn't useful
since the demo code won't operate on system partitions by design - and
I can't create a live code CD at this time.

I had been leaning to NG anyhow since it also provides a replacement
for Partition Magic which recently slid into the slime pit called
Symantec - whatta shame! They also have an attractive package price
for all three - NG, IFD and IFW. IFD might be the vehicle for this
particular cloning task..

I don't mean to limit the scope of suggestions, any path to creating
the clone is solicited - even if it means a throwaway software
investment.

..

tanstafl

2005-05-20, 7:46 am

On Fri, 20 May 2005 00:53:34 GMT, tanstafl <pfgebel@cris.com> wrote:

>I need to clone my existing 18GB SCSI drive (5 partitions, W2KPro on
>C, system utilities and apps on D->G ) to an identical empty disk?
>I've been through the Terrabyte's website, but it doesn't have
>anything on-point to cloning. It needs to be diskette based for
>booting on the target system.
>
>Additional info if wanted:
>I lost my primary PC due to progressive mobo rot. My only current
>support system is a long retired W95 (no suffix) P100 - sloow and
>shakey. It's good for downloading and cutting diskettes, but it only
>has CDRom - no burner. The new PC is now set to go - passed memtest86
>burn in and SpinRite is happy with all the disks. 'Tis time to work
>on W2K.
>
>The new (to me) Abit KV7 board is as close to the old MSI board as I
>could get, but the VIA SB is a later part number (so new 4in1
>drivers), the NB is VIA KT600 rather than AMD (AGP miniport driver)
>and the BIOS seems to not know anything other than ACPI (new HAL).
>New mobo drivers, changing HAL from Standard PC and other W2K fun
>things guarantees multiple false starts (oops or dumbdumb - probably
>both). Can't risk the original crown jewel copy to that kind of
>fumbling - ergo a sacrificial clone, refresh and go again and again,
>and again....

>
>The semi-infuriating thing is I was preparing to buy a brace of
>external firewire drives for offsite rotation. I had narrowed the
>search for backup software to TI8 and NG - had downloaded the TI demo
>package and created the CD for stand alone imaging. Yep - BIG
>mistake, done caught Murphy's attention! The demo disk isn't useful
>since the demo code won't operate on system partitions by design - and
>I can't create a live code CD at this time.
>
>I had been leaning to NG anyhow since it also provides a replacement
>for Partition Magic which recently slid into the slime pit called
>Symantec - whatta shame! They also have an attractive package price
>for all three - NG, IFD and IFW. IFD might be the vehicle for this
>particular cloning task..
>
>I don't mean to limit the scope of suggestions, any path to creating
>the clone is solicited - even if it means a throwaway software
>investment.

Pulled and read the IFD manual. It apparently does not have a direct
full disk copy function. But it does seem that I can meet my need by
doing a series of individual partition image/restores I have a 3rd
disk with a large unused partition that can serve as the image
repository. A bit awkward, but I should be able to automate it with a
batch file.

They also have a 4th product called Copywipe that I had overlooked.
and voilla! it's mission in life is to copy (or wipe) an entire disk
in one fell swoop. Anybody have experience with this? Any gotchas?
One function missing in the user manual is any reference to a
post-copy verify pass. Could just be a manual oversight - but maybe
not

..

--
Pete pfgebel(nospaam)@cris.com
Have the best day possible - all things considered

Mark R. Blain

2005-05-20, 8:46 pm

On Fri, 20 May 2005 08:57:01 GMT, tanstafl wrote:

> Pulled and read the IFD manual. It apparently does not have a direct
> full disk copy function. But it does seem that I can meet my need by
> doing a series of individual partition image/restores I have a 3rd
> disk with a large unused partition that can serve as the image
> repository. A bit awkward, but I should be able to automate it with a
> batch file.
>
> They also have a 4th product called Copywipe that I had overlooked.
> and voilla! it's mission in life is to copy (or wipe) an entire disk
> in one fell swoop. Anybody have experience with this? Any gotchas?
> One function missing in the user manual is any reference to a
> post-copy verify pass. Could just be a manual oversight - but maybe
> not

Never tried CopyWipe, but here's yet ANOTHER option: both IFD and IFW
have a free add-on program available called
"ImageAll - To help backup/restore entire drives".
<http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/prodgrid.html>

tanstafl

2005-05-21, 8:45 pm

On Sat, 21 May 2005 01:20:38 GMT, "Mark R. Blain"
<mblain@operamail.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 20 May 2005 08:57:01 GMT, tanstafl wrote:
>
>
>Never tried CopyWipe, but here's yet ANOTHER option: both IFD and IFW
>have a free add-on program available called
>"ImageAll - To help backup/restore entire drives".
><http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/prodgrid.html>

Thanks for the tip, I had missed that one. I'll pull it down and play
with it.

I did buy the NG/IFW package and Copywipe. Copywipe seems to do the
clone function I needed - and wipes OK too. An oddity is that there
is no verify function to validate the copy - but there is a verify
pass option after a wipe - go figger! The mental machinations of
software developers is fertile ground for a doctoral dissertation

Anyhow, I be a happy camper - price is right and the functions seem
good.
--
Pete pfgebel(nospaam)@cris.com
Have the best day possible - all things considered

dale@nowhere.not

2005-05-21, 8:45 pm

I strongly recommend Terabyte's IFW, IFD and BootItNG. There are also
newsgroups devoted to their products, described at
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/support.html.

I also have Acronis True Image and a smattering of old Powerquest and
Symantec (yuk!) products, but all sit on the shelf -- unused.

Dale

On Fri, 20 May 2005 00:53:34 GMT, tanstafl <pfgebel@cris.com> wrote:

>I had been leaning to NG anyhow since it also provides a replacement
>for Partition Magic which recently slid into the slime pit called
>Symantec - whatta shame! They also have an attractive package price
>for all three - NG, IFD and IFW. IFD might be the vehicle for this
>particular cloning task..

tanstafl

2005-05-22, 5:46 pm

On Sat, 21 May 2005 19:03:00 -0600, dale@nowhere.not wrote:

>I strongly recommend Terabyte's IFW, IFD and BootItNG. There are also
>newsgroups devoted to their products, described at
>http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/support.html.
>
>I also have Acronis True Image and a smattering of old Powerquest and
>Symantec (yuk!) products, but all sit on the shelf -- unused.
>
>Dale
>
Thanks for the endorsement. I bought the NG/IFW package along with
Copywipe. Looking forward to playing with NG & IFD when I get this
computer happy again. Our Symantec sentiments are aligned, further
discourse would be preaching to the converted.[vbcol=seagreen]
>
>On Fri, 20 May 2005 00:53:34 GMT, tanstafl <pfgebel@cris.com> wrote:
>

--
Pete pfgebel(nospaam)@cris.com
Have the best day possible - all things considered