Re: Backup--OT

[Kari Eveli lexitec@xxxxxxxx]

Harry,

I have not used SP and I do not use laptops, but there are some things
to keep in mind:
If your computer becomes unbootable, i.e. there is something wrong with
the boot partition or critical files are missing, you will need a tool
to get access to your disks. In recovery programs, this is usually some
form of Linux (SP has Windows PE), this is used to have basic operating
system capability to copy the partitions to be recovered from backup. A
bootable backup in this context means that, when recovered, it will
boot. Sometimes this could be something that you can boot in a virtual
environment as such, SP has this capability. But then again, you will
need an operating system plus VirtualBox to boot this.


There are many capable backup and recovery solutions, so I do not think
SP is the only one that works. It may even have some issues, read the
comments on this page:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2424316,00.asp#disqus-start

Incidentally, each and every one of the backup solutions reviewed by PC
Mag seems to have its pitfalls, so buyer beware:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411663,00.asp#disqus-start

I have used Acronis with success for years despite its somewhat flaky
user interface. Acronis makes a true whole-disk image (sector-by-sector
if needed) that can resized to fit resized partitions.


Best regards,

Kari Eveli
LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland)
lexitec@xxxxxxxx

*** Lexitec Online ***
Lexitec in English: http://www.lexitec.fi/english.html
Home page in Finnish: http://www.lexitec.fi/


18.4.2014 5:22, Harry Binswanger wrote:
> This sounds great. But I'm confused about one thing. If the image file
> is bootable, what's doing with the CD? You say, "in case of disaster."
> Meaning what? That your regular hard drive won't boot? I don't fully
> trust booting from a CD (have had problems: the Lenovo Thinkpad I have
> doesn't have an internal CD drive, so have to use an external USB CD
> drive and change the boot order, but it doesn't always work--something
> about the unreliability of non-powered USB CD drives, I think.
>
> So why can't you boot from the bootable image? And how specifically
> would you go from invoking SP on another computer to getting a drive to
> insert in the now defunct computer?
>
> Thanks so much,
> Harry