backup retrieval

[tape]

I normally backup just my Win7 OS as a disk image saved to an external HD. All my documents (pics, musics, video) backed up as file copies to same external HD. Took ownership of another external HD that will be stored in fire-proof vault. For this backup I did a disk image for my whole computer-C: and Dmy docs). However, I now wonder if this was the wisest thing to do----could I have access to a specific folder in My Pictures, for example? Would the WHOLE disk image need to be unpacked? I use the backup utility that was installed with Win7

[Nuclear Krusader]

No, it wasn't the wisest thing to do. The backup utility that comes with Windows is the worst backup solution man could have.

If you want to use images, you need something like Acronis TrueImage.

[jdeb]

True

[tape]

I think my son in law has this program. Another disk image or actual copies of files?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by tape I think my son in law has this program. Another disk image or actual copies of files?

What brand of hard drive do you have? If it is a Western Digital, you can download a free version of Acronis from the WD website.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I think that version is only for cloning drives.

[tape]

External drive is western digital. Do you have address for free program?

[jdeb]

WD Support

[Preston]

Just my 2 cents, but for a backup like you are talking about, I would just store a copy of your docs on the second drive.

By docs, I mean all the really important stuff like financial records, family photos/video....that sort of thing.

[tape]

Preston,
Thaat is what I ended up doing. My initial thought about a complete sys image was more for time management. I ended up using the Win7 to make a sys image of my C: drive (all other backups are in this format, so I wanted to keep them similar) and just did a copy-over of all my documents

[glc]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader I think that version is only for cloning drives.

Nope, it's almost fully-featured. About the only thing it can't do that the full Acronis can do is create incremental or differential images. It does have an image explorer, which will allow you to mount an image and selectively extract files.