What about Image backups of active file systems (TI on XP)

I'm using TI on an XPSP2 system. Generally I run the TI under XP and
make full images for recovery from disk failures

How careful do I have to be about file system activity? I run TI
overnight dowing disk-to-disk backup to a USB1 ext disk.

I can imagine that my Anti-virus vendor could ship me an update while
TI is running. It would install and make many MB of file system
changes in the process.

It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
for a full image backup?

(I've done countless "single user" disk backup on Unix systems and
made countless file system backups of running systems with NTBackup
and done my share of bare-iron recoveries in both environments.)

Thanks,






--
Al Dykes
News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising.
- Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail



--
Al Dykes
News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is advertising.
- Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail

adykes@panix.com (Al Dykes) wrote:

>It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
>for a full image backup?

Take your choice. I've done it both ways, and usually do an image the
same time that I clone (using the CD) my system drive. When not
cloning, I image from within Windows.

When imaging from within Windows, TI "locks" the view of the system
when it makes an image.

Al Dykes wrote:
> I'm using TI on an XPSP2 system. Generally I run the TI under XP and
> make full images for recovery from disk failures
>
> How careful do I have to be about file system activity? I run TI
> overnight dowing disk-to-disk backup to a USB1 ext disk.
>
> I can imagine that my Anti-virus vendor could ship me an update while
> TI is running. It would install and make many MB of file system
> changes in the process.
>
> It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
> for a full image backup?
>
> (I've done countless "single user" disk backup on Unix systems and
> made countless file system backups of running systems with NTBackup
> and done my share of bare-iron recoveries in both environments.)
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
>
>
>
Years ago, you used to make a boot floppy, reboot off the floppy and
then run the software and backup your C: drive. Gads!, it all fit on
1.4 meg. An Ideal situation of course.
If I'm right, Trueimage allows you to make a boot disk, it might allow
you to image from it, but my thoughts were that it was a recovery disk.
I use it for that one day. Never saw a clone / backup option, but
then again I was not looking.

Not familiar with your backup utility, however Vista's "Complete PC Backup"
uses "Volume Shadow Copy" (also referred to a Previous Version) to take a
snaphot of a file in use and includes the snapshot in the image - the image
will include the "open" file and any changes made up to the time of the
snapshot.

I beleive Acronis True Image image backup provides the same function.

"Al Dykes" <adykes@panix.com> wrote in message
news:fs3d2f$sud$1@panix5.panix.com...
>
>
> I'm using TI on an XPSP2 system. Generally I run the TI under XP and
> make full images for recovery from disk failures
>
> How careful do I have to be about file system activity? I run TI
> overnight dowing disk-to-disk backup to a USB1 ext disk.
>
> I can imagine that my Anti-virus vendor could ship me an update while
> TI is running. It would install and make many MB of file system
> changes in the process.
>
> It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
> for a full image backup?
>
> (I've done countless "single user" disk backup on Unix systems and
> made countless file system backups of running systems with NTBackup
> and done my share of bare-iron recoveries in both environments.)
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Al Dykes
> News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is
> advertising.
> - Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail
>
>
>
> --
> Al Dykes
> News is something someone wants to suppress, everything else is
> advertising.
> - Lord Northcliffe, publisher of the Daily Mail
>

Big Al <BigAl@nowhere.com> wrote:

>If I'm right, Trueimage allows you to make a boot disk, it might allow
>you to image from it, but my thoughts were that it was a recovery disk.

It makes a bootable CD for you that gives you full capability to do
anything you want once you boot to it.

Big Al wrote:
> Al Dykes wrote:
>> I'm using TI on an XPSP2 system. Generally I run the TI under XP and
>> make full images for recovery from disk failures
>>
>> How careful do I have to be about file system activity? I run TI
>> overnight dowing disk-to-disk backup to a USB1 ext disk.
>>
>> I can imagine that my Anti-virus vendor could ship me an update while
>> TI is running. It would install and make many MB of file system
>> changes in the process.
>>
>> It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
>> for a full image backup?
>>
>> (I've done countless "single user" disk backup on Unix systems and
>> made countless file system backups of running systems with NTBackup
>> and done my share of bare-iron recoveries in both environments.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Years ago, you used to make a boot floppy, reboot off the floppy and
> then run the software and backup your C: drive. Gads!, it all fit on
> 1.4 meg. An Ideal situation of course.
> If I'm right, Trueimage allows you to make a boot disk, it might allow
> you to image from it, but my thoughts were that it was a recovery disk.
> I use it for that one day. Never saw a clone / backup option, but
> then again I was not looking.

Or if you just buy it boxed, it already comes on a bootable CD.

"Al Dykes" <adykes@panix.com> wrote in message
news:fs3d2f$sud$1@panix5.panix.com...
>
>
> I'm using TI on an XPSP2 system. Generally I run the TI under XP and
> make full images for recovery from disk failures
>
> How careful do I have to be about file system activity? I run TI
> overnight dowing disk-to-disk backup to a USB1 ext disk.
>
> I can imagine that my Anti-virus vendor could ship me an update while
> TI is running. It would install and make many MB of file system
> changes in the process.
I think you have a point here so when running backups block all traffic
using your firewall or disable AV auto-updating temporarily. I have AVG Free
edition which only updates manually anyway.
>
> It the Right Thing to boot XP as a single user or boot off teh TI CD
> for a full image backup?
>
> (I've done countless "single user" disk backup on Unix systems and
> made countless file system backups of running systems with NTBackup
> and done my share of bare-iron recoveries in both environments.)
>
Other than that as others have reassured you the image backup should work
transparently to you and you should not have to worry about minor file
system internal changes. As far as I know backup up from within XP should be
fine as a routine practice.

--
Allan

"Allan" <mu8ja0i@earthlink.net> wrote:

>I think you have a point here so when running backups block all traffic
>using your firewall or disable AV auto-updating temporarily. I have AVG Free
>edition which only updates manually anyway.

AVG A/V? Mine updates automatically every day.

I have several systems running AVG and they all update automatically.

"PD43" <pauld1943@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:6lnbu31ihikhsuckvh6gke3c58ij2qosa2@4ax.com...
> "Allan" <mu8ja0i@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I think you have a point here so when running backups block all traffic
>>using your firewall or disable AV auto-updating temporarily. I have AVG
>>Free
>>edition which only updates manually anyway.
>
> AVG A/V? Mine updates automatically every day.

"PD43" <pauld1943@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:6lnbu31ihikhsuckvh6gke3c58ij2qosa2@4ax.com...
> "Allan" <mu8ja0i@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>>I think you have a point here so when running backups block all traffic
>>using your firewall or disable AV auto-updating temporarily. I have AVG
>>Free
>>edition which only updates manually anyway.
>
> AVG A/V? Mine updates automatically every day.
Sorry, you are correct, it updates automatically once daily but I often
update manually more than once a day since they make a few updates available
during every day.

--
Allan