Information- this is the most valuable thing on our computer, and losing it is offensive and hard, because some (photos, videos, documents, notes, etc.) are often irreplaceable, and also represent an integral part of our life and memories. What can we say about the work component - programs and data that bring us money or connect with the right people. And it's simple, when the operating system starts to slow down and "glitch" and it has to be reinstalled along with all the drivers and necessary programs - it does not give much pleasure and takes a lot of time. But everyone, in one way or another, sometimes was a victim of operating system or hardware failures and lost something valuable for himself in informational terms.
So how can you protect yourself from such horror? Naturally, the most adequate thing is to make backups of all the most valuable to other media.
If you yourself solve problems with a computer, namely with an operating system, then you will be interested in this article. We will talk about how to make a backup copy of Windows already installed on your computer and how to restore the system to work in a matter of minutes, along with all your programs and drivers. It is very convenient and fast, because, for example, after an attack by a serious virus, you will have to treat the system for a long time and tediously. And it is not a fact that the treatment will be successful, because it is not known which files and how many will be beaten by a malicious beast.
The main advantage of backing up Windows by creating a disk image with the installed system and programs is 100% confidence that after you reboot Windows, all programs installed at the time of creating a copy of the system will work.
How to create a Windows backup.
The task of making an image for a fully customized operating system has long been successfully solved by many software developers. The products with the help of which this is done exist in different forms: there are commercial ones, and there are also free ones. However, when choosing a utility, I personally would not save money: even commercial programs are not very expensive. For instance, Acronis True Image Home
will cost about 1000 rubles, and Norton ghost from Symantec - slightly more expensive. Of course, there are also free versions of such software, such as DriveImage XML from Runtime Software or cross platform solution Gparted(by the way, you can download its version in the LiveCD image), but they have much less capabilities. However, if you set the task “only to make images of disks with the OS and for free!”, Then this option is the best.
I will consider the process of making an image using an example Acronis True Image Home
I have been using this utility for a long time and intensively, and I am satisfied with all its capabilities.
For a start, for now, we will consider the standard tools available in the operating system.
Creating a backup using standard Windows 7 tools.
Backing up can also be performed using standard Windows 7 tools by selecting the “Backup and Restore” item in the control panel and then “Creating a system image”. In the next tab, you select the location where the archive file will be saved (on a hard disk, DVD, or in a network location), in the next tab, put a check mark in the row of the disk that you want to reserve (in our case, this is the “C” drive - system). The next tab is the confirmation of the archiving parameters, on which we click “Archive”, and, as they say, “The process has started”. I think it makes no sense to describe each step in pictures, everything here is in Russian and is intuitively clear.
In this case, you can restore the system from a backup image from the recovery control panel, using the preset recovery options, using a Windows installation disc or a system recovery disc.
You can also create a system recovery disk in the recovery control panel, for this we go:
"Start" - "Control Panel" - "Backup and Restore". On the left, select “Create a system recovery disc”.
!!! : Don't forget to insert a blank disc into your drive!
A window will open in which you need to select a drive with your blank disk and click on the button Create Disc.
Congratulations, the reanimation disk has been created.
So that you can boot from this disk, you need to put the optical drive in the first place in the BIOS settings in the boot device priority tab, save the changes and restart the computer.
If you did everything correctly and your boot from devices is configured correctly, then after you insert the created disk into the drive and boot from it, such a window should appear.
In this window, you select the action that you need to perform. You can: automatically fix the problem, restore the system from a checkpoint, or restore the system from an image.
With such simple manipulations, we have created a system recovery disc that will always be at your fingertips.
How to create a Windows backup using Acronis True Image.
The first thing to do is create a bootable disk or bootable USB flash drive with Acronis True Image. It will allow in case of a fatal failure (up to the failure of the hard disk) to boot from the optical drive, and then restore the system from the saved image file from the external storage.
To do this, select the "Create bootable media" item in the "Tools and Utilities" section of the installed program. By the way, if you have started Acronis True Image Home for the first time, you will be prompted to complete this procedure by the Wizard.
The created disc image can be saved in ISO format, it is small in size - about 60 MB, which allows you to write it even on a flash drive or a small CD. During the disc creation process, you only have to select the burner (or the path to save the ISO image).
After clicking the "Proceed" button, you will either have a finished CD or an image that you will have to burn with your favorite program to an optical medium.
So, the boot disk is ready, we proceed to the procedure for creating an image of the system disk.
I consider the ideal case to create an image from a boot disk: there is no risk of losing critical data due to open files, etc. However, the same can be done from under a running OS: as experiments have shown, there are no problems with this noted.
So, insert the bootable disc into the drive tray and restart the computer. As it was already written above - do not forget about the settings in the BIOS for the priority of boot devices.
After successfully booting from Acronis TI, you will see a window like this.
This is the start page, on which in the "Backup" item we press the "Disks" button, because we are going to make an image of the entire system disk, not individual folders and files.
Usually the drive with the operating system is named as (C :), in front of it we need to check the box, as shown in the following screenshot. If Windows 7 (seven) is installed, you must also check the box in front of the section that weighs 100 MB. It may not exist, but this is an exception.
You can also mark "Sector-by-sector copying", but this is not necessary, and the size of the archive increases.
Next, you need to select the location where the archive will be written. You can save a copy anywhere, to a USB flash drive, to another logical drive, to an external drive, but in no case to the same drive that you are backing up. We give the archive a name so that it will be clear later, and in the name you can write the date of the system image creation. For instance: " disk C_Vasya_12_05_13”.
In the next step, we do not change anything, just check if we have selected the correct backup storage.
And then all you have to do is click on the "start" button and watch how Acronis True Image backs up your operating system.
We wait 5-10 minutes, do not touch anything, and here it is, a message about a successful backup!
Well, now the main thing is not to forget where your backup copy is located, which includes all the programs you pre-installed and the drivers.
Restoring the system from a backup.
A miraculous resurrection of a bent system in a matter of minutes is a trifle for a trained user. And when the moment comes when Windows can no longer function normally, starts to slow down and shamelessly glitch, this discerning user will have to have a bootable media with Acronis at hand, and also must remember where the backup copy of the operating system is. Again, you need to boot from a disk or flash drive and start the recovery process.
In the "Recovery" item, press the "Disks" button.
For reference.
Master Boot Record. This is a record (program code and data) that is loaded into memory from the hard drive and provides identification of logical partitions on it, identifies the active partition and loads a boot record (Boot Record - BR) from it, which will continue to start the operating system (OS).
The size of the partition for the system is usually left unchanged.
Now let's select the hard drive where the operating system was installed.
And after making sure that everything is correct, we press the "Proceed" button.
Recovering a disk partition with Windows and your daily programs will not take you long, but you will once again enjoy a virgin, non-cluttered system. Depending on the version of Acronis True Image, some elements in the program may differ, but only slightly. Time does not stand still and programs, and the operating system itself is constantly updated, so inevitably you have to reinstall the operating system, updated drivers and updated programs. But if you are not chasing progress and you are satisfied with your old versions of programs, then you can restore your system in this way for a very long time.
Until a certain point, most PC users do not think about the importance of backing up the system partition of a hard disk, believing that the high stability and reliability of modern operating systems guarantees the impossibility of their complete, and most importantly, unexpected collapse. However, this is a completely erroneous opinion.
Due to numerous factors affecting the system, various failures can occur in the latter, after which it becomes necessary to reinstall the OS. And this process, as you know, entails a number of problems associated with finding and installing drivers, programs, setting up the Internet. At this stage, users, as a rule, begin to regret that they did not make a copy of the operating system earlier, because in this case, it would take a few minutes to restore its operability, and all previously installed programs would be saved. In the meantime, the troubles described above have not happened yet, let's talk about how to create a backup of the system partition of the hard drive.
Let's make a reservation right away that the created copy can be saved both on an external medium and in a separate disk partition, but choosing the second option will have to pay attention to monitoring the state of this device, since in case of its failure, the system backup will become unavailable. It is very convenient to monitor the "health" of a hard disk using a free utility Acronis Drive Monitor, which in the background monitors the operation of the drive according to the most important parameters. In case of problems, the program immediately informs the user of their presence by means of a pop-up message, or, upon activation of the appropriate settings, by e-mail.
Eassos Partitionguru Free
This utility is actually a universal tool for working with hard disks, backing up partitions in which is only part of its extensive functionality. Eassos Partitionguru Free can create, resize, format and delete HDD partitions.
Before starting the process, the program should indicate with which copy method you are going to back up the partition. It can be either just copying files, or sector-by-sector. It is also necessary to note the degree of compression and the folder in which the archive should be saved. A disk partition can be backed up to a removable storage device or a local disk, as well as to a network folder with open access for other computers.
In addition to creating backup copies of partitions and restoring information from them, Eassos Partitionguru Free provides the ability to work with images. So, the program can create images of disk partitions, read them and work with images of virtual disks created with other programs. Also, using the application, you can create a bootable flash drive, but you will not be able to create a bootable optical disk using this utility.
You can download from the official website at the link http://www.eassos.com/partitionguru.php
Macrium Reflect Free
This program is designed exclusively for redundancy. With its help, you can create an image of either an entire disk or a system partition with an installed operating system. You can record images both on adjacent hard disk partitions and on optical disks. In this case, the image file will automatically be divided into parts of 4.7 GB each with its own serial number.
Another interesting feature of Macrium Reflect Free is the ability to create a VHD file from a system partition image. As a reminder, the VHD format is used by Microsoft Virtual PC as a virtual disk file. Thus, the backup will be an isolated virtual environment with all applications installed at the time of creation of the copy, which can be used, for example, for all sorts of experiments and testing questionable programs without the risk of data loss and damage to OS system files. Of course, Macrium Reflect Free allows you to create rescue optical discs as well. In this case, the base for them can be not only Linux, but also Windows PE. However, in the latter case, to create a rescue disk from the Web, you will have to download additional data "weighing" 1.7 GB.
Download from the official website: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
Paragon Backup & Recovery 2013 Free
This program copes with the task of backing up the system partition just fine. You can download Paragon Backup & Recovery 2013 Free for free from the official website, but for this you will need to spend a little time registering. The very process of creating an image of the system partition using this application is divided into three stages:
- First, you will be prompted to choose between backing up only system partitions or partitions with boot sectors.
- Next, you need to specify whether to create an image of the selected partition, for which the image storage folder is assigned, or whether the partition needs to be cloned. In this case, you will be prompted to select the second disk partition, which will be a clone of the system partition. This option is optimal if you want to quickly and without unnecessary problems "move" to a new disk.
- The final stage will be more interesting for professionals, who, for example, when creating a copy, can configure filtering of certain types of files or assign a password for the created image. Others can simply leave the proposed settings "as is."
Download on the official website: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/br-free/
In short, do not neglect making copies of the operating system partition. This process will not take much time, but later you will save yourself from a whole heap of troubles associated with deploying the system "from scratch" and configuring it.
How to make an OC backup and how to restore Windows in 15 minutes?
The article describes how you can create a backup copy of the Windows operating system, and then restore it if necessary, without installing any additional programs. The same technology can be used to save data after an OS crash. In just a minute, you can start copying them to any medium.
I hope that the article will be of interest to minimalists who do not want to waste time and effort on anything unnecessary.
The most interesting videos on Youtube
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Do I need a backup of the operating system at all?
Until now, I have not been a supporter of backing up the Operating System (hereinafter referred to as "OS"), since I believed that after a year, when the OS becomes too clogged up, you still need to update most of the programs, and therefore there is no big benefit from the backup copy.
But, a new hard drive with a SATA interface and increased recording density has radically changed my opinion on this issue. In two years of its operation, I had to seriously restore the OS five times, and three times with a complete reinstallation. In each of these cases, I found several bad blocks on the logical disk occupied by the OS. There are various reasons for damage to the surface of a disc. I even managed to identify one of them. Somehow I will unsubscribe about this. Https: // site /
If the OS has been disrupted as a result of damage to the surface of the HDD, then restoring the OS from a backup copy may not bring the desired result. How to quickly restore unreadable clusters on a hard disk is described.
Choosing a program for backing up the OS.
I have heard for a long time the names of the programs Paragon and Acronis True Image, which allow you to create backups of the OS.
But, a similar program is also included in modern Nero kits.
And I have been using Nero since the time when they put a red envelope with Nero 5 Burning Rom in the box with the drive. Eh, where are you the good old days ?!
In addition to the program for creating backups (Backup) - BackItUp, there are many more useful programs in the Nero set.
The relatively small Show Time player can play BluRay directly from a folder located on the HDD. True, they say that in the latest versions this function has been disabled.
Nero Disc Speed can test discs and drives.
Nero Vision can create DVD video discs from a variety of content with a few mouse clicks.
Of course, we can say that all these programs are not perfect in terms of their capabilities, but they all consistently perform their functions, which cannot be said about some of their more sophisticated competitors.
Therefore, the first thing I did in order to create a backup in Nero-all utility, tried to find on the network a CD image of one of the later versions of this program, since before Nero 10, the utility did not know how to work with NTFS partitions. But, it was not possible to find the coveted disk image.
I had to look again towards the "paragon-acronix" and test these programs.
Both of these programs exist as a bootable version, although the size of their bootable disk images is several times larger.
Paragon I didn't like it for two reasons. Firstly, one of the experimental backups could not be restored. And secondly, Paragon has some kind of strange "Helper" that requires you to make a decision, read, choose options, in a matter of seconds. I am a person, apparently not very agile, and from time to time I failed this "reaction speed test". A failed "test" requires re-loading the program.
Concerning Acronis-and, this program has a very convenient and even less buggy interface than BackItUp Image Tool. Less glitchiness, in this case, concerns a better definition of the parameters of the local network. Although, there is a small glitch when choosing the size of the parts into which the backup can be split, it is still present.
Creates Acronis backups faster than Nero and the program has much more capabilities. In particular, when creating a backup, Acronis can easily exclude files and directories that do not need to be copied. In addition, Acronis does not write to the backup sectors reserved by the OS. For example, if the swap file is not filled with information, then it will hardly take up space in the backup. There are other features that are easy to use with an intuitive interface.
It would seem that the Holy Grail has been found, but no. Unfortunately, Acronis gave me several crashes, and one of them happened on the road. It was saved that I had another, earlier backup on DVD.
Failures are manifested in the inability to start the OS after recovery or in the absence of access to the hard disk. I assume this is due to a corrupted boot record.
So far, I write off this defect on the peculiarities of my "hardware", although I have already met similar statements on the network.
One way or another, but I nevertheless adopted Acronis, for its speed and the ability to exclude unnecessary directories from the backup. However, the main backup, which I created immediately after installing and configuring all the main programs, is still stored in the Nero BackItUp Image Tool format.
But back to Nero BackItUp Image Tool. Since a ready boot disk was not found, I had to make it myself.
For those who want to create a disk image on their own.
Like it or not, I still had to install BackItUp & Burn v5.4.19.100 from the Nero 10 kit. This required downloading about 500 megabytes of any software from the network. This is the kit itself and all sorts of environments like NET Framework 3.5, DirectX 9.0c, Visual C ++, etc., which the installer downloads from the network. And all this for the sake of obtaining a disk image with a size of only 30MB.
It was due to the incredible swelling of the packet that small portable versions of Nero Burning Rom appeared on the network, only 15-30 megabytes in size.
When I finally installed BackItUp, all I had to do was burn the image onto a CD using the "Tools> Create Disc Image Tool" command.
Once the disc has been created, you can uninstall Nero BackItUp & Burn from your computer. But, you can not delete it if you, for example, want to set up automatic data backup according to the schedule.
If you nevertheless decide to install this program or other programs from the Nero 10 kit, then pay attention to the following information.
When installing programs from the Nero Multimedia Suite 10 set, the interface language is set automatically based on the localization of Windows. That is, if Windows is English, then the programs will inherit the English interface. To change the English interface to Russian, you can add the following information to the registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
"FamilyLanguage" = "ru-RU" "DisableMUI" = dword: 00000001
To add information to the registry, you need to copy the code into Notepad and save it to a file with any name and extension .reg, For example, interface.reg... Then run the file from Explorer using the Merge command. Agree to add information to the register.
What is required to restore the OS in 15 minutes?
You need to create a backup file of the correct working OS on some medium ahead of time, and, if necessary, use this file to fully restore the OS.
That is, you need to do only two simple operations, and for their implementation you will need only one tool - a boot disk with the BackItUp Image Tool program. There is a link to the disk image at the end of the article. To burn a disc image to a CD-R or CD-RW disc, you can use any program for burning discs.
If you do not have such a program, then you can download a small portable program UltaISO with a size of only 3 megabytes. The program has a Russian interface and you only need to execute one command: Tools> Burn CD Image(Tools> Burn CD / DVD Image) or press the F7 key. You can download the program using the link from the "Supplementary Materials" to this article.
It is most convenient to choose a hard drive or a large flash drive as a backup medium. Moreover, the hard drive can be both external and internal.
You can also use the hard drive on which this OS is located, if the physical disk is split into at least two logical disks. However, if both the backup file and the OS are located on the same physical disk, then the backup and recovery will take twice as long.
I did not mention DVD discs as a storage medium, since the size of the OS backup usually exceeds the size of two, and sometimes even more discs. Creating a backup on several disks is a rather tedious task. After all, these discs would have to be inserted twice in a certain sequence, once during recording, and the second time during verification. In addition, recording and verifying each disc is time-consuming. However, if the backup fits on 2 - 3 DVD discs, then nothing prevents you from choosing an optical media.
It is not advisable to create a backup copy of the OS on DVD discs without data verification. The reliability of such a copy will not be very high.
A brief overview of the BackItUp Image Tool.
The program has a multilingual interface, including Russian, and very few customization options.
To create an OS backup, you don't need to configure anything at all. You just need to select the logical disk that you want to save as the source, and the medium on which this data can be written as the destination.
The only important setting is the MBR (Master Boot Record) option. The option is disabled by default and must be enabled!
The source could be:
Any logical drive, directory, or file.
To back up an OS, you must copy the entire logical disk on which this OS is installed.
The receiver can be:
Any medium, such as: USB flash drive, CD - DVD disc *, a folder on any logical drive of the hard drive, and even drives in the local network.
*After booting from CD, BackItUp Image Tool and mini OS (Linux) are in RAM. Therefore, the boot disk can be removed and the CD-DVD drive can be used for backup.
If the OS is copied to the same hard disk where it is located, then the backup file must be located on a different hard disk partition from the system partition.
There is no need to be afraid that the OS backup will take up a lot of space. Even with minimal compression (which is already set by default), the backup size will be equal to the total size of the files, and not the size of the entire system disk.
I think it is clear that, having at your disposal only one hard drive, you need, before the clean installation of the OS, to split it into two logical drives - system and archive. Then, in the future, a backup copy of the OS can be placed on an archive logical disk.
But, do not try to partition the main disk partition when the OS is already installed on it. Also, do not try to partition an additional disk partition if there are any files on it. There are programs for such operations, but this is a bad way.
More details about the operation of the BackItUp & Burn program and its bootable version of the BackItUp Image Tool can be found in the help file, a link to which is at the end of the article.
How do I boot from a CD-DVD drive?
To boot from a CD or DVD, you need to change the BIOS settings of your motherboard, since, by default, boot from the CD drive is installed there after booting from the hard drive.
BIOS setup interfaces may differ from different developers, but the setup options are the same everywhere. You can get acquainted with the details of setting up the BIOS by downloading the book, the link to which is at the end of the article.
Here is an example of BIOS setup for Award.
To enter the BIOS settings, you need to follow what the computer "writes" at the very beginning of the boot.
Usually, to enter the settings, he offers to press the Delete key, but it can be any other key or key combination.
Some of the options are: Esc, F1, F2, F10, Ctrl + Esc, Ctrl + Alt + Esc, Ctrl + Alt + S, etc.
Press the key (shi) immediately after the splash screen appears!
In the window that opens, select Advanced BIOS Features.
Focus is controlled by cursor keys.
All functions are usually described in the corresponding window.
Here we select First Boot Device to designate the device from which the first attempt to boot the OS will be carried out.
We select CDROM as the first device.
Do not worry! In any case, the computer will go through all the devices until it chooses the one from which it can boot. Here, only the order of polling devices is set.
Even if the boot from the hard drive is scheduled for the day, the computer will still find it. Of course, for this, at least some OS must be installed on it and a Master Boot Record must be created. My computers always have a CD-DVD drive installed as the first boot device.
Press F10 and exit the setting, confirming your actions.
Special project with Acronis
Sooner or later, all of us are faced with the need for a backup. And believe me, it's better early than late. Once upon a time, in 2009, I lost all my data. Back then I made backups on DVD-R / RW, which was not very convenient, so they were rarely made. Some of the data was sent by colleagues (it's good that they kept it), but a lot of things were lost. It was from that time that I regularly make backups, and today we will talk about finding the perfect product for the family budget.
Where will we store backups
Before choosing software, you need to decide where we will store the backup. You know, DVD-R is not very good for backups. Firstly, a small volume, secondly, slowly, and thirdly - noisy. And since I switched to laptops for a very long time and I don’t recognize inpatients at all (although they are available on the farm), I had to buy several external drives. First for 250 GB, then more.
I did not consider the cloud for one simple reason - there is not enough space:
You understand, even 15 GB is not enough, especially if the minimum size of the external screw available on the farm is 250 GB. Extra space? You could, of course, give $ 2 a month for 100 GB on Google Drive or $ 10 for an additional 1 TB, but 100 GB won't save me, and 1 TB is a little expensive. Ideally, 500 GB would be fine for $ 2-3 a month 🙂
Later, two Android smartphones and one tablet appeared in the family, from which, from time to time, backups were made to an external screw, in the old fashioned way (after all, I was used to just such a process). It would be safe to use a cloud here, but habit is a strong thing.
Search for backup software
Here we come to the most interesting part. How to make a backup?
Basically, you can use the free Clonezilla. The capabilities of this program are, if not impressive, then at least pretty good. Some of them that I consider to be the most important are:
- support for Linux / macOS / Windows file systems: from ext2 to ext4, xfs, jfs, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, HFS (macOS);
- support for MBR and GPT;
- data encryption support (AES 256);
- the ability to deploy one image to multiple local devices;
- support for SSH, Samba, WebDAV and NFS.
If you need to make a backup in a corporate environment of some server, and even on a ball, you cannot find a better option. For cloning systems in the case of deploying one operating system to many machines with the same configuration, it is the most: they brought in a fleet of computers, put the axis on one of them, set everything up, made an image of it and deployed it to the rest of the computers. An admin's dream!
I was familiar with Acronis products for a long time, but mostly with server versions. I will not compare them with Clonezilla now, since we are talking about home backup: after all, there are one or two computers and several Android devices at home, you do not need to constantly make images of all these devices. In general, CloneZilla is poorly suited for the home. Once, I remember, I made a backup with her at home, when I changed the system disk to a larger disk and was too lazy to reinstall all systems. Then this program, of course, saved me.
CloneZilla is a good program, but it's 2016 and I want something more modern, but it's stuck in the past. I want some kind of automation, backup management from all devices, including mobile devices, I want to copy photos from my profile on social networks, I want to search inside the backup copy in order to find the desired file. I want a lot of things. Sometimes I even think about buying a NAS just for storing backups.
Actually, I started looking for the perfect software for myself. I stumbled upon the File History feature in Windows 8/10. I somehow missed the "eight", and the "ten" is installed on only one computer. Although the "File History" was created in the image and likeness of Apple Time Machine and should be convenient, in practice it turned out to be not very convenient to use, moreover, it is not compatible with computers running the "7" and Android smartphones.
If anyone is interested, while I was looking for the software I needed, all this time I was making backups using Total Commander by simply copying files. But this is very inconvenient. First, there is no automation: you need to go to each computer with an external screw and make a backup. Secondly, the irrational use of space. I did not use compression. Why? Yes, because I periodically need to search for information on a backup. Have you tried looking for something in an archive of several GB in size?
Quite by accident, I remembered Acronis True Image and discovered that version 2017 had been released. Let's see what it can do now:
It looks like the perfect backup software exists! However, not very ideal, but I'll tell you about the shortcomings later, but for now I will boast of its capabilities: Acronis True Image 2017 is a completely modern backup program, and unlike ancient software like CloneZilla, it has everything that a modern person might need. That's what I personally liked very much ...
First, it saves space on the screws that are used for backups. The backup is done in a compressed form, but Acronis allows you to search within the backup.
Secondly, now I don't have to worry about data on mobile devices. Over the past two years, two microSD cards have failed: one on the wife's phone, the other on the tablet. One photo was saved at least partially, from the second - no, she "died" completely. Acronis True Image 2017 allows you to backup an unlimited number of Android / iOS mobile devices to a local computer.
Thirdly, you can (as I already noted) remotely control the backup on all home devices. Using the web panel, you can check the status of backups and configure real-time data protection.
Fourth, there is support for copying Facebook profile content. A lot of information is now published on social networks: photos, videos, comments. A backup of this data will protect against hacking of the page or from accidental deletion.
Finally, targeting the cloud. I couldn't even imagine that Acronis had such powerful cloud support: by purchasing a subscription, you get 500 GB of cloud space! This volume is quite enough for me for home purposes (unless, of course, uploading entire images of hard drives to the cloud, although Acronis allows it).
About disadvantages
Everything has its drawbacks. I hope the Acronis developers will heed the criticism. Personally, I did not like two points in the program.
The first is the lack of Linux support. The data that is stored in Linux will have to be done the old fashioned way: either by copying, or using Clonezilla by creating an image of the partition with the data (fortunately, I have / home on a separate partition, as usual).
The second is the lack of support for other social networks besides Facebook. I think, however, that over time it will appear. But whether there will be support for Linux is a question. Of course, Acronis has a Linux Server product, but I don’t want to use it for several reasons: firstly, using the server version for home use is tantamount to shooting sparrows from a cannon, and secondly, I don’t want to pay for another product (which is a minimum 792 rubles per month), and thirdly, I want everything to be managed from one product.
About the price
We all know that Acronis was never free. However, the prices also pleasantly surprised me: the official website has a calculator that allows you to find out how much Acronis will cost you.
A one-time license for 1 computer (the number of mobile devices is unlimited) will cost 1,700 rubles (about $ 27 at the current exchange rate). But it's more profitable to buy a subscription: in this case, you will get both the program itself and 500 GB of cloud storage. The cost of a subscription for a year will cost 1400 rubles. (~ $ 22), for two years - only 2000 r (~ $ 32), this is approximately $ 1.83 or $ 1.33 per month. For that kind of money, you can only buy 100 GB of Google Drive! And here I got an excellent backup tool + 500 GB in the cloud.
If you count a more realistic configuration: 3 computers and 1 TB in the cloud, then a subscription for a year will cost 2400 rubles, and for 2 years - 3600 rubles. Just 150 rubles per month compared to 600 rubles for 1 TB on Google Drive! As for me, the conclusion was obvious. 150 rubles - the amount is quite affordable for a home user, this will not hit the family budget.
A free program for creating a backup of the operating system and restoring it in the event of a malfunction.
No matter how you protect Windu, it will fly one day :). Bitter folk wisdom has been working for how many years, like a Swiss watch. Windows, according to the law of meanness, fails at the most inopportune moment for this, so knowledgeable people have long acquired the habit of creating system backups or backups (from the English. backup).
Having a disk with a backup at hand, you can restore the system in just a couple of minutes, and not waste time on a complete reinstallation in the event of a breakdown!
In our country, the most popular among backup programs are the products of the Acronis company. In my opinion, they are leading only for two reasons (although for the average user they are very critical): the Russian-language interface and the graphic design in the standard Windows style.
The program that I will tell you about differs from the Acronis line only in the two above-mentioned points, but it is completely free!
Clonezilla allows you to just as effectively restore the system in a matter of minutes with all the programs installed at the time of the backup! At the same time, there is support for almost any storage media, from a CD-ROM to a remote network storage on which the previously created system image is located!
I propose to compare the capabilities of Clonezilla and the recognized Russian leader in the backup and recovery industry Acronis True Image Home 2010:
Comparison of Clonezilla with its paid counterpart Acronis True Image Home
The main disadvantage of Clonezilla compared to its paid counterpart is the lack of a module for creating incremental and differential copies of the system installed on the PC.
In other words, Acronis True Image Home 2010 constantly resides on the computer and monitors changed files that are added to an existing backup (although quite recently there was no such module in the program). But you don't have to install Clonezilla, since it works in LiveCD mode (or LiveUSB - whichever you prefer;).
Installing Clonezilla
To start using Clonezilla, you need to download its distribution kit (ISO image) and burn it to removable media (preferably a CD-ROM). Everything is now ready to go.
Reboot the computer and in the BIOS settings, specify the boot from the CD-drive (or USB, if you saved the image to a flash drive). Depending on the version and manufacturer of the I / O system, you can enter it by holding down one of the keys (Delete, Esc, F2, F8 or F12) while booting the PC.
Next, when the settings window appears, we should go to the Advanced BIOS Features tab and find the First Boot Device parameter there. If you have a CD-ROM, then you don't need to touch anything, but if the bootloader is Hard Disk, you will have to move it a little :).
Select the line First Boot Device, press Enter and in the list that opens, select the CD-ROM. It remains to save our changes. To do this, press the F10 key, and when prompted for confirmation, type Y and press Enter.
We put the disc with Clonezilla and boot from it. The start menu will appear in front of us:
- The first item on this menu loads the program in its standard form.
- The second - allows you to customize the display mode of Clonezilla (change the color depth and resolution of your monitor).
- The third step loads your installed system (unless, of course, it is damaged).
- The fourth - opens access to such useful additions as the Memtest memory test and FreeDOS OS. The last item allows you to boot the system from a remote computer.
Most often, you will only use the first item from this menu, so we'll start with it. Launch Clonezilla by pressing Enter. And the first step here will be the choice of the program language. Since Russian is not provided here, we will be content with English:
Working with the program
Now we will see a window for selecting the mode of working with Clonezilla. There are two of them: work through the shell and through the command line. I advise you to choose the first option, since everything is more or less clear there:
A window for choosing a method for creating a backup will appear in front of us. Here again, two options are available: creating an image or directly copying files to a storage medium:
System backup
It all depends on the type of media to which the system will be copied. If it will be a removable hard drive or a volumetric flash drive, then you can carry out a direct copy (device-device work).
However, if you want to be able to later burn the created backups to DVD or other optical discs, then it is better to use the first mode of operation (device-image work).
We will see a window in which we are offered to select the type of media to which the backup will be made:
Clonezilla has the ability to save the image, both on local media and on remote servers, but the first option (local_dev) will still be easier.
If you want to copy the system image to a USB flash drive, connect it and, after waiting for about five seconds, press Enter again. Remember, however, that the size of the flash drive must match the size of the partition you are copying (otherwise, you will not succeed, since the image simply will not fit).
It is preferable to use a removable or additional hard drive. A directory / home / partimag will be created on it, in which you will find the created image.
If your hard drive is broken into parts on your computer, and the system with programs is installed, for example, on Drive C :, then you can simply save the image of the system drive to another logical partition (Drive D :, for example;)).
The next window will give us the opportunity to select the desired action:
We can completely copy a disk, save only one logical partition (remember about the "trick" with drives C: and D :), restore the entire disk or partition, and create a backup image with the Clonezilla shell (ideal for burning small images to DVD ) and go to the command line.
Let's say we want to create a complete copy of our hard drive. To do this, select the first item (savedisc) and click "Ok".
We will be prompted to set a name for our image. By default it consists of the backup date and the word "img", however you can easily replace it with your own.
The next step is to select the disk to which the backup will be written:
In the screenshot you can see only one disk labeled as "sda", but if you see a similar picture on your own, in no case select this disk. This is a system partition, when copying to which, you can damage the existing data.
If the removable disk is not displayed, try reconnecting it - it will be displayed as “sdb” or “sdd” (depending on the number of partitions on your hard disk and connected removable media). Select our removable disk and click "Ok". Now all that remains is to wait for the backup process to complete.
Additional Clonezilla Features
In principle, everything is about working with Clonezilla, however, as I said, there are a couple more interesting features in the main menu. The first is the Memtest utility:
With its help, you can diagnose problems in the operation of RAM modules. Immediately after launching, the utility initiates a series of tests that help to reveal to us how stable the RAM is.
The second "bonus" is the integrated support for the FreeDOS operating system:
Several DOS options are available, including safe mode and loading network and other drivers.
conclusions
Here's our story and came to an end :). It only remains to add that Clonezilla works quite quickly - an old 40 gigabyte hard drive was copied to it in 40 minutes, that is, the data processing speed is approximately 1 GB / min.!
And finally, a little advice :). If you do not have a removable or spare hard drive, and you really want to have a powerful tool for quick system recovery at hand, you can do the following.
Immediately after installing Windows and a set of the most necessary programs on Drive C :, create a backup copy of the partition on Drive D :. Since the size of the installed Windows XP is usually kept within 2 gigabytes, then with a small number of programs, the created image can be burned to a regular DVD!
Now you always have at your fingertips a backup copy of a workable system that you have customized "for yourself"! Copies of the necessary files are best kept on a flash drive and then you will not be afraid of any OS crashes :).
P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and cite this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
