Hello, I am thinking of buying myself a WD My Book Duo. How does backup work in general with external storage drives like this? If I back up say all my photos and videos on my PC onto the drive on say "day 1" and then for example, on "day 5" someone goes onto my computer a deletes a load of photos from the PC's own hard drive without me knowing, and then I run a backup on say "day 6" are all the photos deleted on the computer lost from the latest backup and hence the WD My Book Duo? I assume any alterations (e.g. renaming of files or deleting files) made on the PC itself are made to the backup as a sort of mirror image?
Backup questions to external drive WD MyBook Duo
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- Oct 30, 2004
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Many of the "free" utilities won't back up to externals unless you fool them" by "mapping an network drive". Ofcourse when ya buy a 'package", you won't have that issue but it's expensive and a pain in the tail.
I find external branded drives a PITA. No reason for the bloatware and price premium for the enclosure. Instead I'd grab one of these and then you can use any old HD you have lying around. Each time you or a friend retire a PC, save the HD .... you can pop em in and out as easy as a USB stick and not only provide reliable storage but also allow you to alternate the drives and keep one off site. A back up drive is of no use if your external drive burns up in the same fire that took out ya PC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=BlacX&N=-1&isNodeId=1
With a mapped drive and a freebie like Fbackup, it will keep all old files deleted from your normal drive unless you delete them also.
I find external branded drives a PITA. No reason for the bloatware and price premium for the enclosure. Instead I'd grab one of these and then you can use any old HD you have lying around. Each time you or a friend retire a PC, save the HD .... you can pop em in and out as easy as a USB stick and not only provide reliable storage but also allow you to alternate the drives and keep one off site. A back up drive is of no use if your external drive burns up in the same fire that took out ya PC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=BlacX&N=-1&isNodeId=1
With a mapped drive and a freebie like Fbackup, it will keep all old files deleted from your normal drive unless you delete them also.
Thank you, appreciate it. As a novice I hope you can clear up a few points for me. 1) Firstly what exactly is a "mapped drive"? 2) What do you mean exactly by "many of the free utilities won't backup to externals unless you fool them by mapping an network drive"? 3) Thirdly, which one of those items above in the link would you recommend if I wanted to backup over 2TB of photos/videos at least once a week? I do not have any old hard drives lying around, so I assume I would have to invest in at least two hard drives to stick in there. What would you recommend as a sensible purchase for backing up over 2TB of files onto two separate drives?
- Oct 30, 2004
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A "mapped dive" is a drive that is not **in** your PC and exists somewhere else that you make Windows recognize as if it was **in** your PC (No. 1). So let;s say that you have:
C:\OS
D:\Games
E:\Programs
F:\Data
on your PC.
Now let's say you have an old PC (No. 2) that your spouse / significant other / sibling uses and they just have:
C:\Everything
You could tell PC No.2 to "map" F:\Data to PC No.2. So when using PC No. 2 it sees F:\Data as if it was on this computer instead of the one in the other room. When you log into the PC, it automatically connects you to the HD on the other computer.
Now some free utilities will back up to say internal drives but will not do network drives or external drives. To get that feature , you might have to buy the paid for version.... which is why the offer the freebie in the 1st place.
So if that's the case you can fool the software into thinking the HD is actually an internal HD by mapping it.
http://www.wintuts.com/Map-Network-Drive
You don't need to map the drive if you are just using a single PC.... but if you have more than 1, all PCs can access the same drive.
As for what to buy, pick the one that fits your needs and budget
The cheapest Duo that I can recall is about $280 ... you can buy a 2 TB HD and a BlacX for < $100
1st one is USB 3 which costs more than USB 2 version. The speed of USB is great but if your PC doesn't have USB 3, that would be a waste of money.
The 4th one holds two drives.... if you don't need that, you wouldn't spend the extra $25.
I used to have an NAS.....had 4 drives, RAID, very professional....easy to manage. Cost about $250 + $75 per HD. No complaints.... but if I had a fire, the backups would be lost. Now I use the BlacX.... all 12 PCs here keep all their Data on a HD on my workstation...it backs up daily to a 2nd HD on my workstation. Every friday, that 2nd HD gets backed up to the one in the BlacX and it goes off site. Used to keep it in a fire safe but it takes too long to open
The backup program on my lappie starts backing up all my emails and files on the laptop to the 1st HD at 4 pm on Thursday....there are 4 partitions so one at 4 pm, one at 5 pm, etc....later on the 1st HD's 4 partitions gets backed up to the 2nd. Then at 3:50 pm on friday, a little scheduler pop up appears on my desktop to turn the power button on for the BlacX (could be left on but why add wear and tear). It auto backs up the 2nd HD to the one in th BlacX and that goes off site.
C:\OS
D:\Games
E:\Programs
F:\Data
on your PC.
Now let's say you have an old PC (No. 2) that your spouse / significant other / sibling uses and they just have:
C:\Everything
You could tell PC No.2 to "map" F:\Data to PC No.2. So when using PC No. 2 it sees F:\Data as if it was on this computer instead of the one in the other room. When you log into the PC, it automatically connects you to the HD on the other computer.
Now some free utilities will back up to say internal drives but will not do network drives or external drives. To get that feature , you might have to buy the paid for version.... which is why the offer the freebie in the 1st place.
So if that's the case you can fool the software into thinking the HD is actually an internal HD by mapping it.
http://www.wintuts.com/Map-Network-Drive
You don't need to map the drive if you are just using a single PC.... but if you have more than 1, all PCs can access the same drive.
As for what to buy, pick the one that fits your needs and budget
The cheapest Duo that I can recall is about $280 ... you can buy a 2 TB HD and a BlacX for < $100
1st one is USB 3 which costs more than USB 2 version. The speed of USB is great but if your PC doesn't have USB 3, that would be a waste of money.
The 4th one holds two drives.... if you don't need that, you wouldn't spend the extra $25.
I used to have an NAS.....had 4 drives, RAID, very professional....easy to manage. Cost about $250 + $75 per HD. No complaints.... but if I had a fire, the backups would be lost. Now I use the BlacX.... all 12 PCs here keep all their Data on a HD on my workstation...it backs up daily to a 2nd HD on my workstation. Every friday, that 2nd HD gets backed up to the one in the BlacX and it goes off site. Used to keep it in a fire safe but it takes too long to open
The backup program on my lappie starts backing up all my emails and files on the laptop to the 1st HD at 4 pm on Thursday....there are 4 partitions so one at 4 pm, one at 5 pm, etc....later on the 1st HD's 4 partitions gets backed up to the 2nd. Then at 3:50 pm on friday, a little scheduler pop up appears on my desktop to turn the power button on for the BlacX (could be left on but why add wear and tear). It auto backs up the 2nd HD to the one in th BlacX and that goes off site.
JackNaylorPE :
A "mapped dive" is a drive that is not **in** your PC and exists somewhere else that you make Windows recognize as if it was **in** your PC (No. 1). So let;s say that you have:
C:\OS
D:\Games
E:\Programs
F:\Data
on your PC.
Now let's say you have an old PC (No. 2) that your spouse / significant other / sibling uses and they just have:
C:\Everything
You could tell PC No.2 to "map" F:\Data to PC No.2. So when using PC No. 2 it sees F:\Data as if it was on this computer instead of the one in the other room. When you log into the PC, it automatically connects you to the HD on the other computer.
Now some free utilities will back up to say internal drives but will not do network drives or external drives. To get that feature , you might have to buy the paid for version.... which is why the offer the freebie in the 1st place.
So if that's the case you can fool the software into thinking the HD is actually an internal HD by mapping it.
http://www.wintuts.com/Map-Network-Drive
You don't need to map the drive if you are just using a single PC.... but if you have more than 1, all PCs can access the same drive.
As for what to buy, pick the one that fits your needs and budget
The cheapest Duo that I can recall is about $280 ... you can buy a 2 TB HD and a BlacX for < $100
1st one is USB 3 which costs more than USB 2 version. The speed of USB is great but if your PC doesn't have USB 3, that would be a waste of money.
The 4th one holds two drives.... if you don't need that, you wouldn't spend the extra $25.
I used to have an NAS.....had 4 drives, RAID, very professional....easy to manage. Cost about $250 + $75 per HD. No complaints.... but if I had a fire, the backups would be lost. Now I use the BlacX.... all 12 PCs here keep all their Data on a HD on my workstation...it backs up daily to a 2nd HD on my workstation. Every friday, that 2nd HD gets backed up to the one in the BlacX and it goes off site. Used to keep it in a fire safe but it takes too long to open
The backup program on my lappie starts backing up all my emails and files on the laptop to the 1st HD at 4 pm on Thursday....there are 4 partitions so one at 4 pm, one at 5 pm, etc....later on the 1st HD's 4 partitions gets backed up to the 2nd. Then at 3:50 pm on friday, a little scheduler pop up appears on my desktop to turn the power button on for the BlacX (could be left on but why add wear and tear). It auto backs up the 2nd HD to the one in th BlacX and that goes off site.
C:\OS
D:\Games
E:\Programs
F:\Data
on your PC.
Now let's say you have an old PC (No. 2) that your spouse / significant other / sibling uses and they just have:
C:\Everything
You could tell PC No.2 to "map" F:\Data to PC No.2. So when using PC No. 2 it sees F:\Data as if it was on this computer instead of the one in the other room. When you log into the PC, it automatically connects you to the HD on the other computer.
Now some free utilities will back up to say internal drives but will not do network drives or external drives. To get that feature , you might have to buy the paid for version.... which is why the offer the freebie in the 1st place.
So if that's the case you can fool the software into thinking the HD is actually an internal HD by mapping it.
http://www.wintuts.com/Map-Network-Drive
You don't need to map the drive if you are just using a single PC.... but if you have more than 1, all PCs can access the same drive.
As for what to buy, pick the one that fits your needs and budget
The cheapest Duo that I can recall is about $280 ... you can buy a 2 TB HD and a BlacX for < $100
1st one is USB 3 which costs more than USB 2 version. The speed of USB is great but if your PC doesn't have USB 3, that would be a waste of money.
The 4th one holds two drives.... if you don't need that, you wouldn't spend the extra $25.
I used to have an NAS.....had 4 drives, RAID, very professional....easy to manage. Cost about $250 + $75 per HD. No complaints.... but if I had a fire, the backups would be lost. Now I use the BlacX.... all 12 PCs here keep all their Data on a HD on my workstation...it backs up daily to a 2nd HD on my workstation. Every friday, that 2nd HD gets backed up to the one in the BlacX and it goes off site. Used to keep it in a fire safe but it takes too long to open
The backup program on my lappie starts backing up all my emails and files on the laptop to the 1st HD at 4 pm on Thursday....there are 4 partitions so one at 4 pm, one at 5 pm, etc....later on the 1st HD's 4 partitions gets backed up to the 2nd. Then at 3:50 pm on friday, a little scheduler pop up appears on my desktop to turn the power button on for the BlacX (could be left on but why add wear and tear). It auto backs up the 2nd HD to the one in th BlacX and that goes off site.
Great help, thanks. OK, so I am just going to forget the branded backup drives e.g. My Book Duo and the rest of them. So lets say I invest in a dock for the HDD similar to the one in your link - I am in the United Kingdom so don't think those exact models are available here, although I will have a better look when I have some free time during the weekend. So I buy the dock and say a couple of large HDDs..... If I have say 2.5TB of photos and videos which are mainly from photo/video editing and large RAW files from my DSLR, etc, would you recommend that everything is all contained on one HDD, and a second HDD stored "off site" or wherever should contain exactly the same backup again of all photos/videos?
I think I would be comfortable doing this if I had just one PC which I use regularly. However, my situation is that I use a desktop PC and then a laptop. Both of these contain some of the same photos/videos and some photos/videos which are on one system (e.g. the laptop) but not on the other system (e.g. the desktop). Let's imagine I have that docking station and stick in a decent 4TB HDD or whatever and backup everything first on my desktop PC by connecting it via the USB 3.0 connection (I assume this is the quickest way). I essentially want to have a complete backup of all the photos/videos that I have, and maybe a few other things like word docs etc, from both desktop and the laptop and have a complete backup kept on at least two separate HDDs because photos/videos can't be replaced and I would be upset to lose all these in the event of a disaster. How then do I "sync" only the remaining files which are on say, only on the laptop and not on the desktop, without duplicating a load of files which are on both.
Could you suggest a step-by-step guide which is available online, if you are aware of any, that should guide me through from start to finish? How does the laptop connect to the desktop PC, i.e. "F:\data"? Is this via the router? Does "F:\data" represent the new HDD and dock or does it represent a partition on my desktop PC? I have plenty of questions and could go on and on as it seems quite tricky at first glance.
- Oct 30, 2004
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- 14
- 99,960
1. http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=blacx&tag=mh0a9-21&index=aps&hvadid=3170539135&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_7i93p3a628_p
I don't see the 2 HD thing.... they exist on the Lappie / PC ... they exist on the offsite HD. The purpose of the 2nd HD in the BlacX is ? There are legitimate uses but just wondering what your thinking is here. My thinking is if one of the backups is buggered, or if ya chnage a file and save it and want the older one back ya have a spare so even if ya backed up the changes, the older backup will have the older file.
2. The lappie + desktop makes this even more sensible and it's very simple
a) Buy a new, reliable drive that fits everything.
b) Create 2 Folders:
--Q:\Laptop Backup
--R:\Desktop Backup
If you have partitions on one them, then do:
R:\Desktop Backup\D-Drive
R:\Desktop Backup\E-Drive
3. Connect the BlacX to your desktop and leave it there, always. You will see this from the desktop's screen in Windows Explorer:
-Q:\Laptop Backup
-R:\Desktop Backup
- - - \D-Drive
- - - \E-Drive
4. Share the Q:\Laptop Backup. This means that your desktop's Q:\ will be able to be seen by other users on the network.
5. Connect the lappie to the network and map Q:\Laptop Backup using the above tutorial.
I don't see the 2 HD thing.... they exist on the Lappie / PC ... they exist on the offsite HD. The purpose of the 2nd HD in the BlacX is ? There are legitimate uses but just wondering what your thinking is here. My thinking is if one of the backups is buggered, or if ya chnage a file and save it and want the older one back ya have a spare so even if ya backed up the changes, the older backup will have the older file.
2. The lappie + desktop makes this even more sensible and it's very simple
a) Buy a new, reliable drive that fits everything.
b) Create 2 Folders:
--Q:\Laptop Backup
--R:\Desktop Backup
If you have partitions on one them, then do:
R:\Desktop Backup\D-Drive
R:\Desktop Backup\E-Drive
3. Connect the BlacX to your desktop and leave it there, always. You will see this from the desktop's screen in Windows Explorer:
-Q:\Laptop Backup
-R:\Desktop Backup
- - - \D-Drive
- - - \E-Drive
4. Share the Q:\Laptop Backup. This means that your desktop's Q:\ will be able to be seen by other users on the network.
5. Connect the lappie to the network and map Q:\Laptop Backup using the above tutorial.
[
Thanks, I hadn't found that on Amazon maybe I made an error when searching on my smartphone. Why would I opt for this Thermaltake BlacX over the following http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acronis-Image-backup-system-drive/forum/Fx3F092P9R9SDJV/Tx16N88NXH2MHK8/1/ref=cm_cd_dp_aar_al_a?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B005UA3I72
which seems the same specs wise, or am I missing something? Does this compare at all to the BlacX in terms of functionality? I think it looks like it does the same job, i.e. holds a HDD and has USB 3.0. Is it worse in any way, as it is £20.00 cheaper?
Also, the thinking behind two drives in one for me would have been "mirroring" but I have realised that this is only done in RAID apparently. I thought I could have both drives backing up at the same time. How then do I create two identical backups on each drives, do I simply wait until "HDD 1" has finished and then remove that stick in "HDD 2"? What 3 or 4 TB HDD would you recommend in terms of reliability, I assume two decent WD drives and then keep them in cases for safe storage?
Are you aware of any websites or "how-to" guides which should be good at guiding a novice through from start to finish for backing up on a desktop and laptop, it may save me asking so many questions on here whereas I could easily save you guys time by working my way through an already existing guide which should address most of my questions.
Thanks, I hadn't found that on Amazon maybe I made an error when searching on my smartphone. Why would I opt for this Thermaltake BlacX over the following http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acronis-Image-backup-system-drive/forum/Fx3F092P9R9SDJV/Tx16N88NXH2MHK8/1/ref=cm_cd_dp_aar_al_a?_encoding=UTF8&asin=B005UA3I72
which seems the same specs wise, or am I missing something? Does this compare at all to the BlacX in terms of functionality? I think it looks like it does the same job, i.e. holds a HDD and has USB 3.0. Is it worse in any way, as it is £20.00 cheaper?
Also, the thinking behind two drives in one for me would have been "mirroring" but I have realised that this is only done in RAID apparently. I thought I could have both drives backing up at the same time. How then do I create two identical backups on each drives, do I simply wait until "HDD 1" has finished and then remove that stick in "HDD 2"? What 3 or 4 TB HDD would you recommend in terms of reliability, I assume two decent WD drives and then keep them in cases for safe storage?
Are you aware of any websites or "how-to" guides which should be good at guiding a novice through from start to finish for backing up on a desktop and laptop, it may save me asking so many questions on here whereas I could easily save you guys time by working my way through an already existing guide which should address most of my questions.
I would most certainly agree with JackNaylor re his advice that you would be much better served by purchasing a USB external enclosure + separate HDD rather than a commercial "one-piece" USB external drive.
The advantages of doing so are significant. First of all, virtually any USBEHD enclosure you purchase will accommodate both 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" drives. That's a real advantage. Then you can purchase the HDD *you*, not the HDD that's installed in the commercial product. Rest assured the drive *you* purchase will invariably prove superior to the commercial product.
And you can select whatever disk capacity *you* desire. Another advantage is that the HDD you install in the USBEHD can always be easily removed and installed in a PC should that need arise. Well all is said & done there's simply no downside going this route; even $-wise the difference will be slight, if not trivial between the two types.
Still another significant advantage is the fact that by using a separate USBEHD enclosure + HDD you will have UNLIMITED capability to utilize any number of different HDDs/SSDs for whatever purpose(s) you deem necessary or desirable.
You will have an enormous choice as to the type of USB enclosure that appeals to you. One type is the so-called "docking station" as recommended by JackNaylor.
There are plenty of other types of enclosures. Right now, as an example, we're using the Orico 6518US3 model. See...
http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-6518US3-Super-Docking-Station/dp/B00CBPB4PM
Newegg also carries this model and recently had it on sale for $19.99. And there are many others to choose from.
And it's child's play to install and/or reinstall a HDD in & out of a USB external enclosure - whatever the type.
I might also mention that many users employ a SATA-to-USB adapter device for connecting a SATA HDD or SSD to a USB port. Here's one example...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?
Item=N82E16812232027&cm_re=SATA_to_USB_adapter-_-12-232-027-_-Product
Although I'm aware that many users are satisfied with this type of device frankly, we're not one of them. By & large our experience with these type of devices has been quite negative - we've found too many of them to be defective or erratic in operation. We just don't use them any more.
Now as to a backup strategy...
Consider a disk-cloning methodology to comprehensively back up your entire system. As a general proposition it's the safest & surest way to back up your day-to-day working HDD/SSD as well as any other drives that may be installed in your system.
The basic object of a disk-cloning program is that by cloning the contents of one's day-to-day working HDD or SSD to another HDD/SSD (internal or external), the user creates a precise copy of his or her "source" HDD/SSD. Thus, a comprehensive backup of one's system has been accomplished in one fell swoop, i.e., the user has backed up his/her *entire* system including the operating system, all programs & applications, registry, configurations, and of course, all user-created data. In short - *everything* that's on the source drive. So that the recipient of the cloned contents - the "destination" HDD/SSD - will be, for all practical purposes a precise copy of the source HDD with all data immediately accessible. What better backup system can one have?
So that in the event that the user's system drive fails or the OS becomes corrupted and unbootable, the user has the means at hand to virtually immediately restore the system to its previous bootable functional state easily & relatively quickly without the need for any "recovery" type process. The peace-of-mind this affords a PC user cannot be overestimated.
If you think you may be interested in this approach I can provide you with additional details re the disk-cloning program I use and my reasons for using this particular program.
The advantages of doing so are significant. First of all, virtually any USBEHD enclosure you purchase will accommodate both 2 1/2" & 3 1/2" drives. That's a real advantage. Then you can purchase the HDD *you*, not the HDD that's installed in the commercial product. Rest assured the drive *you* purchase will invariably prove superior to the commercial product.
And you can select whatever disk capacity *you* desire. Another advantage is that the HDD you install in the USBEHD can always be easily removed and installed in a PC should that need arise. Well all is said & done there's simply no downside going this route; even $-wise the difference will be slight, if not trivial between the two types.
Still another significant advantage is the fact that by using a separate USBEHD enclosure + HDD you will have UNLIMITED capability to utilize any number of different HDDs/SSDs for whatever purpose(s) you deem necessary or desirable.
You will have an enormous choice as to the type of USB enclosure that appeals to you. One type is the so-called "docking station" as recommended by JackNaylor.
There are plenty of other types of enclosures. Right now, as an example, we're using the Orico 6518US3 model. See...
http://www.amazon.com/ORICO-6518US3-Super-Docking-Station/dp/B00CBPB4PM
Newegg also carries this model and recently had it on sale for $19.99. And there are many others to choose from.
And it's child's play to install and/or reinstall a HDD in & out of a USB external enclosure - whatever the type.
I might also mention that many users employ a SATA-to-USB adapter device for connecting a SATA HDD or SSD to a USB port. Here's one example...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?
Item=N82E16812232027&cm_re=SATA_to_USB_adapter-_-12-232-027-_-Product
Although I'm aware that many users are satisfied with this type of device frankly, we're not one of them. By & large our experience with these type of devices has been quite negative - we've found too many of them to be defective or erratic in operation. We just don't use them any more.
Now as to a backup strategy...
Consider a disk-cloning methodology to comprehensively back up your entire system. As a general proposition it's the safest & surest way to back up your day-to-day working HDD/SSD as well as any other drives that may be installed in your system.
The basic object of a disk-cloning program is that by cloning the contents of one's day-to-day working HDD or SSD to another HDD/SSD (internal or external), the user creates a precise copy of his or her "source" HDD/SSD. Thus, a comprehensive backup of one's system has been accomplished in one fell swoop, i.e., the user has backed up his/her *entire* system including the operating system, all programs & applications, registry, configurations, and of course, all user-created data. In short - *everything* that's on the source drive. So that the recipient of the cloned contents - the "destination" HDD/SSD - will be, for all practical purposes a precise copy of the source HDD with all data immediately accessible. What better backup system can one have?
So that in the event that the user's system drive fails or the OS becomes corrupted and unbootable, the user has the means at hand to virtually immediately restore the system to its previous bootable functional state easily & relatively quickly without the need for any "recovery" type process. The peace-of-mind this affords a PC user cannot be overestimated.
If you think you may be interested in this approach I can provide you with additional details re the disk-cloning program I use and my reasons for using this particular program.
Artpog I would definitely be interested in taking this approach, so please let me know how to do this. Should I do one for my desktop and also one for my laptop. How much data should all this take up on the external drive - am I right in thinking it will be as much as is used up on my C and D drive on my PC? Also, how do I approach this if I indeed have my OS, programs and most games on C and then most photos, and videos, and a few programs on D?
Would you also encourage automatic backup regularly, in addition to the clone which you stated, of say all photos, videos, word docs, excel spreadsheets, and music? Surely all this is going to take up well over 4TB of one hard drive?
1. The disk-cloning program I strongly recommend is the Casper disk-cloning program (http://www.fssdev.com). I have been using various versions of this program for about 10 years or so. (The current version is Casper 8). During that time I have probably used the program thousands of times cloning hundreds HDDs and SSDs.
2. As I previously mentioned, the basic object of a disk-cloning program such as the Casper program is that by cloning the contents of one's day-to-day working HDD or SSD to another HDD/SSD (internal or external), the user creates a precise copy of his or her "source" HDD/SSD. Thus, a comprehensive backup of one's system has been accomplished in a single-type operation, i.e., the user has backed up his/her entire system including the operating system, all programs & applications, registry, configurations, and of course, all user-created data. In short - everything that's on the source drive. So that the recipient of the cloned contents - the "destination" HDD/SSD - will be, for all practical purposes a precise copy of the source HDD with all data immediately accessible.
3. While there are many other disk-cloning programs, some of which are freely available, that can perform this operation, Casper has a rather extraordinary ability to create "incremental clones", using what Casper refers to as its "SmartClone" technology. Understand that the "incremental clone" thus created is a *complete* clone of the source disk; it is *not* an "incremental file". The result of this incremental clone process is that it takes the user only a fraction of the time to create subsequent clones of the source HDD/SSD than it would otherwise take using the typical disk-cloning methodology. Together with its reliability & ease-of-use, it's this speed capability of Casper which gives it a unique capability.
4. As an example...
When a typical disk-cloning program undertakes its disk-to-disk cloning process it generally does so without regard that the source and destination drives involved in the disk-cloning operation are the identical drives that may have been involved when a prior disk-cloning operation had been undertaken. It doesn't matter to the typical disk-cloning program whether the HDD/SSD now being cloned was cloned an hour ago, a day ago, a week ago, or whenever. The "now" disk-cloning operation will proceed as if the HDD/SSD recipient of the clone, i.e., the destination HDD/SSD, is bare of data, even if that same destination HDD/SSD was the recipient of a prior clone from the same source HDD/SSD 10 minutes ago.
The result of all this is that the usual disk-cloning operation will take a substantial amount of time to "do its work" each time the disk-cloning operation is undertaken, without regard to the fact that perhaps only a relatively few changes involving the source HDD/SSD's data has changed since the last disk-cloning operation. So, as an example, let's say it takes about 45 minutes or so to initially clone the contents of a drive containing 300 GB of data to another drive. Two days later the user decides to again back up his or her system by undertaking another disk-cloning operation. Presumably the data changes over those two days haven't been especially large. But with the typical disk-cloning program, it will take the disk-cloning program just about the same period of time to currently perform the disk-cloning operation as it did originally, i.e., 45 minutes, as in this example. And so on and so on in the following days.
5. But the Casper program has the unique capability of recognizing only the change in data that has occurred from its last disk-cloning operation and will proceed to undertake the disk-cloning operation on that basis. As a consequence, given the example above, it might take less than 4 minutes or so to complete the disk-cloning operation.
6. The upshot of this is that this capability is a valuable incentive for users to systematically & routinely backup their systems with the Casper program - knowing that the expenditure of time to complete the disk-cloning operation will be relatively slight. Surely this is a strong incentive for a user to maintain his/her complete system in a reasonably up-to-date fashion. Obviously the amount of time it will take to complete this "incremental" disk-cloning operation using Casper will be dependent upon the total volume of data being cloned as well as the additions, deletions, configuration changes, etc. that the PC user had made since he or she undertook a previous disk-cloning operation. So the user is encouraged to perform these disk-cloning operations on a relatively frequent basis since by doing so the expenditure of time in completing the operation will be relatively short. This last point is crucial. The program works best when it is used with a fairly high degree of frequency – perhaps not less than once a week or even on a daily or two or three times a week basis. When it is used in that manner, the expenditure of time in completing the disk (or partition)-cloning operation comes close to being trifling. And most importantly the user is secure in the knowledge that he/she has an up-to-date complete backup of his/her system.
7. The point to keep in mind is that the recipient of the clone - the destination HDD/SSD - will be a precise copy of the source HDD/SSD with all its data immediately accessible in exactly the same way one would access data from their source drive - their day-to-day working HDD/SSD in most cases. And the destination HDD/SSD, should it be another internally-connected HDD/SSD or a USB external HDD/SSD will be immediately bootable without the need of any special recovery process.
8. So that if a user's source HDD/SSD becomes dysfunctional for any reason - he or she will have at hand a bootable HDD/SSD that will return their system to a bootable, fully functional state in virtually no time at all. Had the user cloned the contents of their source HDD/SSD to a USB external HDD/SSD (instead of an internally-connected HDD/SSD), he/she could restore their system in reasonably short order by cloning the contents of the USBEHD back to an internal HDD/SSD or, should the drive itself be removed from the external enclosure it could then be installed as the system's internal HDD/SSD - fully bootable & functional. In some (but not all) cases because of the proprietary nature of some manufacturer's PCs - desktop or laptop - the cloned USB external HDD/SSD may not be bootable when connected as a USB device although when its contents are cloned back to an internally-connected HDD/SSD that latter drive will, of course, be bootable. Similarly if the cloned USB external HDD/SSD can be removed from its USB enclosure and installed as an internally-connected drive in the PC it will, of course, be bootable.
9. It's hard to imagine a better comprehensive backup system for the vast majority of PC users than a disk-cloning system such as the one I've been describing and strongly recommend. Besides its speed of operation as indicated above, the program is extremely easy to learn & use. It shouldn't take most PC users more than a few minutes to learn how to use the program.
The cost of the program is $49.99. AFAIK, the program is only available from the developer via download. There's a 30-day trial version available at...
http://www.fssdev.com/products/free/
10. Now with respect to your particular situation...
Since you're dealing with two PCs - a laptop & desktop, in my opinion it would be best to use two separate HDDs as your destination drives for recipients of the cloned contents of those PCs. Presumably you will be utilizing a USB external enclosure so that you could easily use that USB device to accommodate both drives. Certainly a simple matter to insert/remove the drives from the USB enclosure especially if you use a docking station type of USB device or even the kind of USB enclosure I previously mentioned. And you might even want to consider two USB enclosures for convenience since the cost of many of those devices isn't terribly high.
11. So with two HDDs serving as destination disks for the laptop & the desktop, each system's backup would be isolated from each other. The advantage here is that since the cloned destination disk is potentially bootable there would be no problem booting directly to the destination disk should that need arise and be back in business with a completely functional system.
12. Now depending upon the total data contents of both the laptop & desktop you could use a single HDD of sufficient disk-space capacity to contain the contents of both systems, obviously partitioning the destination drive accordingly. This is doable, however, my preference would be to use two different destination drives to contain the contents of each system. I'm more comfortable with the latter configuration since this yields an additional layer of backup security and avoids potential bootup problems involving two different operating systems residing on a single HDD.
13. Casper does have scheduling capability re disk-cloning operations although I'm not sure how practical this would be with two different operating systems residing on two differnet PCs.
14. As to destination drive(s) disk-space requirements, obviously that would depend on the volume of data being cloned.
15. The cost of the Casper program is $49.99. AFAIK, the program is available only from the developer. There is a 30-day trial version available at...
https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/
The trial version is slightly crippled in that unlike the licensed version it does not contain partition resizing capability, but it should give you a good idea of the general capability of the program.
As I've indicated the trial version does include a restriction best described with an example. Say you clone 320 GB of data contained on a 500 GB HDD to a 1 TB destination HDD. The program will, of course, clone the 320 GB, however it will create a 500 GB HDD (rounded numbers) partition on the 1 TB destination HDD to contain all that data. The remaining space on the 1 TB HDD will be unallocated. Obviously there's no practical negative implication in this scenario since it's a simple process to utilize Disk Management to extend the created 500 GB partition to encompass the entire disk space of the 1 TB destination drive. But I wanted to make that "restriction" clear. In any event the licensed version does not contain that restriction. It will (by default) create a partition incorporating all the destination drive's disk space, however, Casper also has a user option available during the disk-cloning process to create whatever partition size the user desires as long as it's large enough to contain the cloned contents from the source drive.
Again, bear in mind that the true usefulness of the program is truly *only* realized when the program is used on a frequent basis so that the user can have at hand an up-to-date current comprehensive backup of his/her system. So if you do decide to give the the program a spin, employ it a number of times and judge the speed of its disk-cloning operations.
I hope the preceding is of some value to you. Give the trial version a spin and determine whether the program will serve your needs. Keep in mind that when you initially clone the contents of one drive to another drive it will take a fair amount of time depending upon the size of the data being cloned. But thereafter, assuming you perform cloning operations with those same source & destination drives on a frequent basis, the expenditure of time will be remarkably slight which will illustrate the true value of the Casper program.
2. As I previously mentioned, the basic object of a disk-cloning program such as the Casper program is that by cloning the contents of one's day-to-day working HDD or SSD to another HDD/SSD (internal or external), the user creates a precise copy of his or her "source" HDD/SSD. Thus, a comprehensive backup of one's system has been accomplished in a single-type operation, i.e., the user has backed up his/her entire system including the operating system, all programs & applications, registry, configurations, and of course, all user-created data. In short - everything that's on the source drive. So that the recipient of the cloned contents - the "destination" HDD/SSD - will be, for all practical purposes a precise copy of the source HDD with all data immediately accessible.
3. While there are many other disk-cloning programs, some of which are freely available, that can perform this operation, Casper has a rather extraordinary ability to create "incremental clones", using what Casper refers to as its "SmartClone" technology. Understand that the "incremental clone" thus created is a *complete* clone of the source disk; it is *not* an "incremental file". The result of this incremental clone process is that it takes the user only a fraction of the time to create subsequent clones of the source HDD/SSD than it would otherwise take using the typical disk-cloning methodology. Together with its reliability & ease-of-use, it's this speed capability of Casper which gives it a unique capability.
4. As an example...
When a typical disk-cloning program undertakes its disk-to-disk cloning process it generally does so without regard that the source and destination drives involved in the disk-cloning operation are the identical drives that may have been involved when a prior disk-cloning operation had been undertaken. It doesn't matter to the typical disk-cloning program whether the HDD/SSD now being cloned was cloned an hour ago, a day ago, a week ago, or whenever. The "now" disk-cloning operation will proceed as if the HDD/SSD recipient of the clone, i.e., the destination HDD/SSD, is bare of data, even if that same destination HDD/SSD was the recipient of a prior clone from the same source HDD/SSD 10 minutes ago.
The result of all this is that the usual disk-cloning operation will take a substantial amount of time to "do its work" each time the disk-cloning operation is undertaken, without regard to the fact that perhaps only a relatively few changes involving the source HDD/SSD's data has changed since the last disk-cloning operation. So, as an example, let's say it takes about 45 minutes or so to initially clone the contents of a drive containing 300 GB of data to another drive. Two days later the user decides to again back up his or her system by undertaking another disk-cloning operation. Presumably the data changes over those two days haven't been especially large. But with the typical disk-cloning program, it will take the disk-cloning program just about the same period of time to currently perform the disk-cloning operation as it did originally, i.e., 45 minutes, as in this example. And so on and so on in the following days.
5. But the Casper program has the unique capability of recognizing only the change in data that has occurred from its last disk-cloning operation and will proceed to undertake the disk-cloning operation on that basis. As a consequence, given the example above, it might take less than 4 minutes or so to complete the disk-cloning operation.
6. The upshot of this is that this capability is a valuable incentive for users to systematically & routinely backup their systems with the Casper program - knowing that the expenditure of time to complete the disk-cloning operation will be relatively slight. Surely this is a strong incentive for a user to maintain his/her complete system in a reasonably up-to-date fashion. Obviously the amount of time it will take to complete this "incremental" disk-cloning operation using Casper will be dependent upon the total volume of data being cloned as well as the additions, deletions, configuration changes, etc. that the PC user had made since he or she undertook a previous disk-cloning operation. So the user is encouraged to perform these disk-cloning operations on a relatively frequent basis since by doing so the expenditure of time in completing the operation will be relatively short. This last point is crucial. The program works best when it is used with a fairly high degree of frequency – perhaps not less than once a week or even on a daily or two or three times a week basis. When it is used in that manner, the expenditure of time in completing the disk (or partition)-cloning operation comes close to being trifling. And most importantly the user is secure in the knowledge that he/she has an up-to-date complete backup of his/her system.
7. The point to keep in mind is that the recipient of the clone - the destination HDD/SSD - will be a precise copy of the source HDD/SSD with all its data immediately accessible in exactly the same way one would access data from their source drive - their day-to-day working HDD/SSD in most cases. And the destination HDD/SSD, should it be another internally-connected HDD/SSD or a USB external HDD/SSD will be immediately bootable without the need of any special recovery process.
8. So that if a user's source HDD/SSD becomes dysfunctional for any reason - he or she will have at hand a bootable HDD/SSD that will return their system to a bootable, fully functional state in virtually no time at all. Had the user cloned the contents of their source HDD/SSD to a USB external HDD/SSD (instead of an internally-connected HDD/SSD), he/she could restore their system in reasonably short order by cloning the contents of the USBEHD back to an internal HDD/SSD or, should the drive itself be removed from the external enclosure it could then be installed as the system's internal HDD/SSD - fully bootable & functional. In some (but not all) cases because of the proprietary nature of some manufacturer's PCs - desktop or laptop - the cloned USB external HDD/SSD may not be bootable when connected as a USB device although when its contents are cloned back to an internally-connected HDD/SSD that latter drive will, of course, be bootable. Similarly if the cloned USB external HDD/SSD can be removed from its USB enclosure and installed as an internally-connected drive in the PC it will, of course, be bootable.
9. It's hard to imagine a better comprehensive backup system for the vast majority of PC users than a disk-cloning system such as the one I've been describing and strongly recommend. Besides its speed of operation as indicated above, the program is extremely easy to learn & use. It shouldn't take most PC users more than a few minutes to learn how to use the program.
The cost of the program is $49.99. AFAIK, the program is only available from the developer via download. There's a 30-day trial version available at...
http://www.fssdev.com/products/free/
10. Now with respect to your particular situation...
Since you're dealing with two PCs - a laptop & desktop, in my opinion it would be best to use two separate HDDs as your destination drives for recipients of the cloned contents of those PCs. Presumably you will be utilizing a USB external enclosure so that you could easily use that USB device to accommodate both drives. Certainly a simple matter to insert/remove the drives from the USB enclosure especially if you use a docking station type of USB device or even the kind of USB enclosure I previously mentioned. And you might even want to consider two USB enclosures for convenience since the cost of many of those devices isn't terribly high.
11. So with two HDDs serving as destination disks for the laptop & the desktop, each system's backup would be isolated from each other. The advantage here is that since the cloned destination disk is potentially bootable there would be no problem booting directly to the destination disk should that need arise and be back in business with a completely functional system.
12. Now depending upon the total data contents of both the laptop & desktop you could use a single HDD of sufficient disk-space capacity to contain the contents of both systems, obviously partitioning the destination drive accordingly. This is doable, however, my preference would be to use two different destination drives to contain the contents of each system. I'm more comfortable with the latter configuration since this yields an additional layer of backup security and avoids potential bootup problems involving two different operating systems residing on a single HDD.
13. Casper does have scheduling capability re disk-cloning operations although I'm not sure how practical this would be with two different operating systems residing on two differnet PCs.
14. As to destination drive(s) disk-space requirements, obviously that would depend on the volume of data being cloned.
15. The cost of the Casper program is $49.99. AFAIK, the program is available only from the developer. There is a 30-day trial version available at...
https://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/trial/
The trial version is slightly crippled in that unlike the licensed version it does not contain partition resizing capability, but it should give you a good idea of the general capability of the program.
As I've indicated the trial version does include a restriction best described with an example. Say you clone 320 GB of data contained on a 500 GB HDD to a 1 TB destination HDD. The program will, of course, clone the 320 GB, however it will create a 500 GB HDD (rounded numbers) partition on the 1 TB destination HDD to contain all that data. The remaining space on the 1 TB HDD will be unallocated. Obviously there's no practical negative implication in this scenario since it's a simple process to utilize Disk Management to extend the created 500 GB partition to encompass the entire disk space of the 1 TB destination drive. But I wanted to make that "restriction" clear. In any event the licensed version does not contain that restriction. It will (by default) create a partition incorporating all the destination drive's disk space, however, Casper also has a user option available during the disk-cloning process to create whatever partition size the user desires as long as it's large enough to contain the cloned contents from the source drive.
Again, bear in mind that the true usefulness of the program is truly *only* realized when the program is used on a frequent basis so that the user can have at hand an up-to-date current comprehensive backup of his/her system. So if you do decide to give the the program a spin, employ it a number of times and judge the speed of its disk-cloning operations.
I hope the preceding is of some value to you. Give the trial version a spin and determine whether the program will serve your needs. Keep in mind that when you initially clone the contents of one drive to another drive it will take a fair amount of time depending upon the size of the data being cloned. But thereafter, assuming you perform cloning operations with those same source & destination drives on a frequent basis, the expenditure of time will be remarkably slight which will illustrate the true value of the Casper program.
- Oct 30, 2004
- 32,252
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1. I have been using the BlacX for years.... it works, it works well. I have no experience and have never heard of that other brand (Anker). There's many good reviews of the BlacX ... I didn't find any on the other one. BTW, Acroinis is software that is claimed to work w/ the Anker hardware.
2. The term mirroring is used in several ways, it's more of a verb than a noun in this respect. In a RAID 1 set up, one drive is mirrored to the other, both drives are written to at the same time. There is also mirroring in a back up sense where you create an exact mirror of the internal HD on the network or external drive. While in both instances you are creating a mirror image, how you are doing it is very different. You don't need RAID to make a mirror .... copy / paste makes a mirror.
FBackup for example gives you two choices:
http://www.fbackup.com/forum/how-to-backup-files-with-fbackup-t3.html
Again, having separate drives (partitions) for separate types of files is handy.... video files are highly compressed so I'd do mirror on those.... Text and image files can be compressed greatly so if you need space, you could elect to compress those.
3. You already have the How to Guide.... there's really nothing to it. Map the drive using the link I previously gave you and use the link above for how to use the program.
4. Disk Cloning is a whole 'nother thing and can be a substantial time investment.
When you use backup up program as previously described, the program looks at what new files have been added or changed since the last backup. So if in the last week you make two new movies.... the backup just adds those 2 files. With a typical clone, it remakes the entire HD, OS, registry, programs.... every bit on the HD. Some cloning programs do do incremental clones (i.e Casper, Storage Protect Desktop)..... this shortens the backup time but lengthens the restore time. I use SPD
http://www.shadowprotect.com/backup-software/shadowprotect-desktop
Cloning is great for restoring a failed drive, not so much for restoring a deleted or damaged file. For example, you made a backup on May 1st, your next one is May 8th. Each of the last 6 days you edited and saved 1 movie, about 30 data files (letters, spreadsheets) and have about 100 new e-mails and 8 items added via Windows Update.
So on the morning of your scheduled backup (say 4 pm), you open a movie files and mess it up, accidentally saving the file or it gets damaged. You backup has a copy but restoring an image that is 6 days old, means you lose Windows Updates, all those e-mails, 6 redone movies and 30 files.
If it was a simple backup.... you can access the BlacX as as simply another HD, or just do a restore and restore the single file.
So which one is best ? .... neither and both.
If you set up ya HD as follows (I'll do a lot of partitions just to show how far ya can go):
C:\ OS and drivers.
D:\Page and temp files
E:\Games
F:\Programs
G:\Data
Use Casper or other cloning software to make an image of C:\ ... run once a week or before each new Windows Update.
D:\ - No reason to backup
E:\ - Backup say once a week, once a month as to whatever fits your schedule
F:\ - As above
G:\ - Backup daily whatever fits your schedule
On your 4 TB destination drive you'd have folders for say.
Disk Images\
- - - \Laptop C-Drive
- - - \Desktop C-Drive
Disk Backups\
- - - \Laptop\
- - - - - - D-Drive
- - - \Desktop\
- - - - - - E-Drive
- - - - - - F-Drive
- - - - - - G-Drive
If ya lose a disk, install the new one, run the clone software to restore the image to C:\ then restore the others in order of need using free backup software
If you lose a file, load the Backup Software app (i.e Fbackup) and you're at it in 2 seconds.
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