Number 259 - December 2004

Backing up is easier than breaking up
by Dan Dwyer February 2001 PC Alamode Alamo PC Organization, Inc. San Antonio, TX USA
I backup my 2.5 GB of data every month and it only takes about 20 minutes.    The price of harddrives has been dropping dramatically in the past few years. I remember in 1988 a 1 GB harddrive cost approx. $10,000. It was housed in a case about 4 feet high!    I recently decided that since the cost of a harddrive is considerably less than the cost of a streaming tape drive (about $300), plus tapes (about $30) it would be smarter to backup my harddrive to another harddrive.    I was encouraged to proceed with this idea when I read an article in PC Alamode recently about a product named "Drive Image" by Powerquest . I called the company and talked to their Tech Rep, and discussed my proposition, and he said Drive Image would do exactly that, i.e. Backup my harddrive to another harddrive.    So, I bought Drive Image, and a harddrive identical to the one I have been using. I first installed the harddrive, and then "Drive Image" (which comes on a CD.)    During the installation of "Drive Image" one creates two floppy disks.	In order to backup your harddrive, you must boot your system using the first floppy disk. You are presented with several options, one of which is "Drive Image" which creates an "Image" of your harddrive which is stored as a file and which can be saved in different media forms, Zip Disc, CD's etc. Another option is disk to disk which is what I use. My default harddrive is "C", and the additional drive is "D". Before the backup, D is visible as an icon in "My Computer", after the backup, the "D" icon disappears. The "Disk to Disk" backup backs up "C" to "D" and for my system, takes about 20 minutes    I had occasion to restore my "C" drive from "D", and it worked flawlessly; again, it took about 20 minutes. When I used a streaming tape to backup my system which had about 1.5 GB, it required about 4 hours.    PowerQuest Website www.powerquest.com lists Drive Image for $69.95 but it is usually discounted at local PC stores. Sales 1-800-379-2566. E-mail questions about Drive Image.    Dan Dwyer was originally from New York State. He moved to San Antonio in 1992. Dan is a retired Federal Employee of the Dept. of the Army. Prior to retirement, he was Director for Quality for U.S. 8th Army, Korea
Number 259 - December 2004