I use windows 2003 (NAS) and 2008 (main pc) and i want to create a backup of the OS in it's first installed state and wack it on DVD for easy restore if needed in future, I've looked around at some software but the server version always cost alot more than the normal version
Anyone know of something that will do the trick?
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
Hello Barry,
image for windows
its what i use for my systems.
it supports server os's and is cheap and reliable.
if you store the image on a dvd it will become bootable restore media.
Thanks lodore, I'll have a look at this
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
windows vista/7/server2008 comes with robocopy instead of xcopy for its main filecopy program. For instance, when you tell Explorer to copy files, you're actually using this program "under-the-hood" so to speak.
Robocopy is a "Robust file Copy" utility that is very customizable in terms of execution under the command line. You can set flags for what files to copy, what attributes or security information to copy, how to copy them, etc. The best part about robocopy is that it does not waste time, resources, or hard drive activity re-copying files which are already backed up, or which have not changed since last time the were backed up.
windows XP & server2003 don't come with it, but you can DL & install it for free from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
(it's a component of Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools)
You can use it to set up a batch file to mirror a source to a destination.
Example batch file for vista/7/server2008:
C:\backup\backup.batFeel free to backup more folders by copy/pasting the section between the lines (======) and modifying the source, dest, & log flags.Code:@echo off cls REM Set general Robocopy flags... set flags=/mir /xo /R:0 /NP /TEE REM ====================================== REM Backup the 'Desktop' folder... REM -------------------------------------- set log=/LOG:"C:\backup\robcopylog_desktop.txt" set source="C:\Users\my_user_name\Desktop" set dest="\\my_shared_network_folder\backups\desktop" ROBOCOPY %source% %dest% %flags% %log% REM ====================================== REM The script will now exit
Example batch file for XP/2000/server2003: (you need to first install robocopy from MS's site like I mentioned above)
C:\backup\backup.batNow you can use Scheduled Tasks (found in Control Panel of windows) to set up a re-occuring execution of this batch file on a daily or weekly basis, or whatever suits your needs. Or just double-click the batch file to run the backup only when you want.Code:@echo off cls setlocal cd\ cd "C:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools" REM Set general Robocopy flags... set flags=/mir /xo /R:0 /NP /TEE REM ====================================== REM Backup the 'Desktop' folder... REM -------------------------------------- set log=/LOG:"C:\backup\robcopylog_desktop.txt" set source="C:\Documents and Settings\my_user_name\Desktop" set dest="\\my_shared_network_folder\backups\desktop" ROBOCOPY %source% %dest% %flags% %log% REM ====================================== REM The script will now exit
The behavior of robocopy is very customizable. The current copy flags will ensure that the destination folder matches the source folder exactly:
- Any files that exist in the source folder only will be copied to the dest folder
- Any files that exist in the dest folder but not in the source folder will be deleted from the dest
- It won't waste time mirroring files that already exist (it will only mirror new or changed files)
List of robocopy flags can be found here as well as several other places online if you google it:
http://www.xxcopy.com/xxcopy30.htm
Last edited by latrosicarius; 09-03-2009 at 05:36 PM.
image for windows is ok but the restore part is abit pants.
Anyone know the best way to create a image of a partition (inc boot info ect) and create a stand alone DVD that would allow restores to a partition without any need for any other software (ie like if it was a new drive being installed on)
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
If it is the business versions you could use NT back and in Vista there is now a system backup that uses the system shadow copy.
What will you be booting from when restoring the data?Originally Posted by Barry
as in hardware?, DVD-RW to partitioned HDD
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
ok, so whatever you use needs to have a bootcd/dvd then? If so (and as you suggest that you don't need anything to be taking incremental backups) then why does it need to be OS aware? Surely any old Ghost/TrueImage/Whatever will happily image the disk, so long as the filesystem is supported?
I'm unsure about parts of it, thats why I'm asking
The image part is easy to do, the hard part is something that will restore the image file to the HDD without the need of any other software except for whats on the DVD and having the options to pick what partition to restore it to and work with the boot records for the OS thats been backed up
The win 2003 is alot easyer to do because the box its on has a non partitioned 120 gig HDD as the main OS drive but the win 2008 box has 6 other partitions on it (2 prims)
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
True Image allows you to create a bootable CD (or even USB key dependent on how recent your copy is), with Ghost the app installation CD is (or was, the last time I used it) bootable. TI will definitely allow you to boot from the disk to create or restore an image with a Windows-like UI (wizard based - choose the image you wish to restore, which partitions of the image if there are more than one and choose which disk you wish to restore to). It'll even let you verify the image after creation and before restore (though this obviously adds time to the process).
That said - as has been pointed out by Mr JB you could take a full server backup using the Windows Server Backup on the 2008 box - this can be restored by booting from the install DVD. With Server 2003 you're looking at NTBackup, which is somewhat less than comprehensive.
The windows backup functions are not stand alone.
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
No, but they're built into the OS that you have installed. In that case it look slike you're back to TI/Ghost/Whatever.
lodore is that using image for dos (the restore disk part) because when i do that it just sits at 'boot from cd...' and does not pick it up
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
Hello Barry,
so did you use the Create Recovery Boot Disk wizard? its the makedisk.exe in "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Unlimited\Image for Windows\V2\IFD
try creating the disc again.
if that doesnt work i reccomend emailing them and stating the specs of your computer so they can create a special disc for you if needed.
when i stick in the image for dos disc it automatically lanches and is loaded instantly. i then quickly navigate using the keyboard and i can then backup and restore.
image for windows also comes with image for linux which has better hardware support. but also try image for linux which is just a bootable cd using linux rather than dos.
all you do is download the .zip file extract it and double click on the makedisc.exe to create the recovery disc. btw you can create a disc which restores without asking any questions. you can do that with image for dos and image for linux if you setup the scripts correctly.
you can read on their website on to how or simply email them. they will email back same day (business days)
you could also create an image using imagex and the windows AIK. you could then create a disc which restores without asking questions.
feel free to ask questions.
Last edited by lodore; 14-03-2009 at 06:15 PM.
I found the issue, it seems that it didn't like a DVD being used to create it, used a CD and it worked find
Someone left a note on a piece of cake in the fridge that said, "Do not eat!". I ate the cake and left a note saying, "Yuck, who the hell eats paper ?
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