System Backup vs Disk & Partition Backup, Version 3.0.

[billabong]

I'm a new user to Todo (using 3.0 free), Win 7/64, Home Prem.

I've read the Help pages many times, but cannot figure out the difference between System Backup (SB) and Disk & Partition Backup (D&PB), except that SB is less flexible. What is the System? Is it my local C: drive, or the C: drive AND my ext (USB) backup drive K: ?

All I want to do is periodically image my C: drive (it includes a 100MB System Reserved "partition" for booting) onto my K: drive . The C: drive has no other partitions. The purpose is to have an image that I can recover back to C: in case I get a terrible virus or if C: "crashes": and needs replacement.

I ran both SB and D&PB, and got two 39.4 GB files on K, each in their own folders. Am I correct to assume they are two identical images of my C: drive? However, when I went to Backup Management, only the D&PB image file was there, no SB image file...why not? So how can I delete the SB image file from K: ?? Delete directly from K: (rt click)? Can the D&PB image be deleted from K: the same way, or do I have to use Backup Management to delete it? Thank you.

[M.Mao]

Dear billabong,

You cannot change any setting in System backup, it will automatically select the partition which installed operating system and do the backup. It will not back up the K drive you mentioned. If you make a partition/disk backup for the system disk by default settings, it will be almost the same as the System backup. So the image size will be very similar.

System backup will not be displayed in Backup management and you can delete it directly in K drive. But if you want to delete the partition/disk backup, please clear it in Backup management.

Hope this can help you.

Sincerely,
EaseUS Support Team E
EaseUS Customer Support Center:
http://www.easeus.com/support.htm

[billabong]

Mao....thank you for answering my question in a straightforward manner that I can understand.

Two last questions please....suppose I have a disaster and have to use the bootable emergency disk to recover. Do I need that disk to recover from a System backup, or only from a disk/partition backup? Also, if I have a disaster, would a disk/partition backup make it easier to recover than if I had only a System backup? In other words, does a System backup limit my ability to recover in certain situations?

Thank you.

[Da-Boa]

Dear billabong,

If the system crash and you want to recover the system with emergency disk of our product, you can select the system backup or the disk/partition backup to recover.
You can refer to the link to get general idea:
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/fea ... ableCD.htm

If you want to recover from system backup, you can click the System recovery in the home page, and you can also refer to the above link to recover from Disk and partition recovery, but you need to locate the system backup manually by click Browse button.

Actually, there is no limit to recover from system backup.

Sincerely,
EaseUS Support Team W
EaseUS Customer Support Center:
http://www.easeus.com/support.htm

[fcuc]

I am still confused about the difference between clone and backup. I just had to (a) reinstall Windows XP on my computer, (b) copy all my data files (which I backed up with another software), and (c) re-install all my softwares (like Quickbook, Adobe Professional, Nero, MS Office, etc.)

I am looking at your software to replace my current backup software. Does your software "backup everything and re-install steps (a), (b) and (c)? Or does it reinstall only (b)? Which one does what - clone or backup?
Does clone erase the source after copying it?

[Da-Boa]

Dear fcuc,

In your case, if you only want to backup the data file, you can use the file backup to achieve your goal.
You can refer to the link:
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/fea ... backup.htm

After you reinstall the windows operating system, you can refer to the link to recovery the backup:
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/fea ... covery.htm

If you reinstall the operating system, you have to reinstall the other programs.

For the clone, it will only erase the target (not source), and you can only clone partition or disk.

Sincerely,
EaseUS Support Team W
EaseUS Customer Support Center:
http://www.easeus.com/support.htm

[JEfromCanada]

I am still confused about the difference between clone and backup. I just had to (a) reinstall Windows XP on my computer, (b) copy all my data files (which I backed up with another software), and (c) re-install all my softwares (like Quickbook, Adobe Professional, Nero, MS Office, etc.)

I am looking at your software to replace my current backup software. Does your software "backup everything and re-install steps (a), (b) and (c)? Or does it reinstall only (b)? Which one does what - clone or backup?
Does clone erase the source after copying it?

Although support answered your question, I have a feeling you were looking for some other information, so I will also respond.

If your goal in doing this particular backup is to avoid having to reinstall your operating system, all your applications, and all your data, you should be doing either a DISK/PARTITION BACKUP or a CLONE of your drive (or maybe even both).

What's the difference? If you have a second hard drive right now that matches the specifications of your main hard drive, you could CLONE your original drive to your second drive. That way, the second drive can be put into storage, and inserted immediately into your computer in case the main drive crashes. That would return your computer to the exact state it was in at the time it was cloned. You wouldn't have any NEW programs or data that had been installed since the cloning, but you would have a good starting point that didn't require the installation of Windows or your applications. You'd still need to restore anything added since the time you cloned (both programs and data).

If you don't have a duplicate drive that you want to keep as a "swappable" spare, then you should create a DISK/PARTITION image backup onto a backup device. If your current drive crashes, you'd need to replace that drive, then RESTORE the image from your backup device onto the new replacement drive. Assuming you hadn't changed any other hardware, you'd be back up and running with the operating system, programs, and data as of the date you made the image backup.

The advantage of cloning is that you don't need to do that initial "restore" after a crash - you already have a drive waiting for you with all your data.

The advantage of disk/partition backup is that it acts as a starting point for CONTINUING your backup process. If you intend to continue with recurring backups of your system (to keep track of new programs, newly added or changed data, etc.), then you should start with the DISK/PARTITION backup, followed by regular backups using either the INCREMENTAL or DIFFERENTIAL backup method, depending on which works best for you.

[zhihui]

Dear JEfromCanada,

Thank you for your sharing.

[billabong]

JE.....nicely stated. But where does SystemBackup fit in that picture? When would I want to use that in lieu of a DiskBackup or Clone?

Also, if I may....\\\"If you have a second hard drive right now that matches the specifications of your main hard drive, you could CLONE...\\\" How closely must I match the specs? Do I need the same model# drive or I just can\\\'t copy between an SSD and a conventional HDD?

[Hollywood]

I didn't fully understand all of the options either, but JE's explanation was very helpful!

My understanding is that the System Backup will backup your boot drive with Todo Backup making most of the decisions for you except the destination. Kind of an Express method.

A Disk and Partition Backup will also backup your system, but you can have some options like if you want just one partition or more of a physical drive, the priority of the backup, and even schedule it. Both methods should be able to recover from a disaster to your hard drive or a new one.

A Cloned disk would be used as JE said, or if you just want to upgrade the drive in your computer you can Clone your existing drive to the new one, then swap it out.

Am I correct or are there other major reasons I am not seeing?

Thanks.

[billabong]

Hollywood...My understanding re System Backup is like yours, but I want it confirmed. If all you want are periodic backup images of your main HD for use in an emergency, that seems the logical way to go.

Re Clones, I'm just trying establish some criteria for making one. For ex, altho keeping a clone around on a duplicate HD is nice, I always thought you could clone to an ext drive as long as the free space on the ext drive was bigger than the used space on the source drive. And do both drives have to have the same speed (rpm) rating?

[Hollywood]

[quote=\\"billabong\\"] I always thought you could clone to an ext drive as long as the free space on the ext drive was bigger than the used space on the source drive. And do both drives have to have the same speed (rpm) rating?[/quote]

I was wondering the same thing. I can\\\'t imagine that when you need to replace your drive you would be able to find the exact one, and I am assuming the Cloning feature is to allow you to upgrade to a larger or faster drive.

I too am awaiting the experts to answer. Todo Backup IS pretty cool though!

[zhihui]

Dear billabong and Hollywood,

The disk clone feature is used for cloning one disk to another to upgrade disk or replace disk, you can also use disk clone function to backup your hard disk, for example, you can clone your hard disk which you are using on your computer to another hard disk, if the disk have some problem in the future and you can't boot your computer, you can use the cloned disk to replace it directly.

To further understand how to clone your hard disk with EaseUS Todo Backup, please refer to:
http://www.todo-backup.com/products/fea ... -guide.htm

If the source disk contain system partition, after the clone finished, please shutdown your computer manually at once, don't boot your computer with both hard disks connected. Please disconnect one hard disk (the source or the destination disk), then boot your computer with one hard disk connected. Otherwise, computer boot failure occurs.

By the way, when you do the clone operation, all the data on the destination disk will be overwritten by the data on the source disk, so, please backup the important data on the destination disk before you clone to it. In addition, if you don't select "Sector by sector clone" mode, the size of the destination disk only need large than the used space on the source disk, if you select "Sector by sector clone" mode, the size of the destination disk can't be less than the size of the source disk.

Sincerely,
EaseUS Support Team O
EaseUS Customer Support Center:
http://www.easeus.com/support.htm

[fcuc]

Thank you very much, JE fromCanada, your response is exactly what I wanted.

Perhaps EaseUS will do a more comprehensive guide or manual that will clearly explain what each backup/clone option does and when it is advantageous to use the option.

[JEfromCanada]

Thank you very much, JE fromCanada, your response is exactly what I wanted.

It comes from years of writing technical and training manuals.

Considering that Easeus seems to be created by a company with a Japanese-sounding name, their written material is much better than I normally see from that region, but it could do with some improvement.

Maybe I'll apply for a part time position editing their manuals to supplement my retirement income.