backing up main hardrive

[dogdude16]

i have windows xp on a 80 gig hard drive and a 120 gig hard drive also in my case. now i want to make Ubuntu partition on my 80 gig now i found a guide for that but im nervous about it. so i was wondering could drag everything from my 80 hard drive on to my 120 to make a mirror backup just in case my Ubuntu installation goes wrong. or is there another way to back it up

any ideas??

[glc]

Acronis True Image. 20 bucks at Newegg right now, free shipping.

[dogdude16]

i looked at the reviews on newegg about true image 9 and there were alot of mixed reviews and there was better feed back for true image 10. here is just a question if i buy 10 and if they come out with a new version will i have to rebuy the new version or can i just update??

[Negeva]

i looked at the reviews on newegg about true image 9 and there were alot of mixed reviews and there was better feed back for true image 10. here is just a question if i buy 10 and if they come out with a new version will i have to rebuy the new version or can i just update??


I've used Acronis TrueImage since version 7, and have never has any problems.

The only thing I have noticed, and not sure if it's just me is that an image made with an older version of TrueImage cannot be restored with a newer version of the software. To get round this I've been adding the version of the software in the title of the image.

[dogdude16]

well then i think i will have to shell out the 20 or 30 bucks this next week and order it.

is it worth the extra 10 bucks to get version 10 since u have experience using it

[glc]

It's actually less than 10 bucks more because the free shipping offer on 9 is no longer there - and the 10 is a download. Make SURE you make the bootable media if you get the downloaded version.

[dogdude16]

what do u mean make the bootable media
do u mean make sure i burn it to a cd so i have a copy or like a restore cd . could u explain what u said

[Ob1]

there's an option in acronis to create bootable cd's so you can boot to the program, otherwise install the Acronis startup Recovery Manager.

[glc]

I would do both - make the bootable rescue media from within the program *and* burn a copy of the download.

[dogdude16]

ok another question just came up im giong to make an exact backup of the 80 gig to the 120 gig. i need the extra space. now will the partition expand with the 120 gig. my question is will my 120 g hardrive can i just keep on using it or will i need a program like partition magic to expand my existing one.

i hope i made my question clear

[heymrdj]

If you wanna know the truth, I find it not worthwhile. I have screwed up EVERY Windows installation I ever had mixed with a linux one. Even when using two different jobs. When you mess with that MBR something always goes wrong. Thats why I use the old 700Mhz computer with 10GB HD as my linx test bed now.

[glc]

There are 2 ways of making a copy of your drive - you can clone it or create a compressed image of it. If you clone it, it will DELETE any partitions on the target drive, then create a new one - and you can adjust the size within the program. If you make an image, it will simply put the image file on a preformatted drive - which does NOT have to be empty.

[dogdude16]

yes i know when i clone it , all the old data will get eased. thats ok i have it on my new comp.
i just wanted to make sure i could change the size within true image.

thanks for all your help everyone

[Ob1]

acronis allows you to proportion your old smaller drive to your new larger drive and vice versa