Excellent backup program

[lec510]

I found out by chance this excellent backup program that I want to share with you guys.

Clonezilla.
Burn it to the CD, and use it to backup anything including your valuable TomTom. Don't let the word Linux scare you because it boots from the CD.
The Terminology might be weird for a Windows diehard, depending on the number of hard drives, SD cards ... they will be called something like SDA, SDB etc...

Use all the Newbie options (Default ) , practice it on an old computer, you should be safe.

For example my Main PC hard drive (1 only) will be SDA, my external 500G USB drive used as backup device will be SDB, my Go 730 will be SDC ...

The advantage of this program is it clones the whole target disk drive, including the boot record, so the Red X flashing sign will never happen for a restore, ever again. It's also fast.

 

[canderson]

There's a bit more detail at the application's actual site, found here -> Clonezilla

 

[lec510]

I don't know how many of you have tried Clonezilla to keep safe your Tomtom(s) and your PC.
Admittedly I have to say it's a very temperamental program.
Luckily I found a front end program Parted Magic which is much more manageable.
It can be burnt into a bootable CD, but also a USB key. To make
a bootable USB use program Unetbootin.
A 2G TomTom can be backupped in few minutes.
Parted Magic even has a browser, so we can surf safely at wifi hotspots.
Say goodbye to dead Tomtom(s), PCs, data losses ...

 

[Bily42]

It looks like Parted Magic is a partitioning software??
Anyway, I use Acronis True Image and each time there are changes I create a differential file over the full backup which is very tiny and only takes a few minutes. You can restore to any of your differential backup points and put comments on each backup so you know what each one contains.
ATI costs money, but I found a place that had Acronis 2011 for $29.
I also use it to backup my laptop and desktop.

 

[canderson]

It looks like Parted Magic is a partitioning software??

Appears to be a freeware knockoff of an old standby called Partition Magic.

 

[lec510]

Yes it handles partionning tasks and more.
A small OS that run completely in Ram.
- It has WICD to connect to networks.
- A Browser
- Does all the partition tasks (it's free and capable of handling non Windows partitions, the same can't be said about Windows software).
...
A system rescuer in your pocket !

 

[canderson]

- Does all the partition tasks (it's free and capable of handling non Windows partitions, the same can't be said about Windows software).

To the contrary - this program's namesake (Partition Magic) manages non-Windows partitions nicely. In fact, it is accompanied by additional software to create dual- (or more) boot systems, and it handles the results of such kludges very well. I have used it to support WinXP, Vista and Linux all on the same hard drive.

The downside - I guess - it's not freeware by any means.