• 0

Free Hard Drive Imaging Software?


Question

22 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

Some of the free software in http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ will allow you to do it.

Thought configuring the DVD how you want it will essentially be up to you and your burning software.

Is it mandatory that you are backing up to DVD as the backup process occurs or can you back it up to disk, then copy it to a DVD? I saw what you wrote, but it still leaves room for interpretation.

http://selfimage.excelcia.org/ is also another awesome app for this.

Edited by Ghost96
  • 0

There are many a FREE way to image a disk..

Here is a partial list

http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml

As to putting it on a DVD.. this one has instructions even retarded monkey could follow ;)

http://ping.windowsdream.com/ping/doc-2.01/bootiso.html

Storing an image on a LAN computer is nice, but sometimes, you may want to burn this image on a bootable DVD. It can be useful to bring such a media to a remote site, and regenerate a computer. It can also be considered as a practical way to backup a whole system.

I have used this method to make a DVD for a buddy who needed to deploy 2k to a bunch of older machines that got donated to his church, all he had to do was the boot the dvd and few minutes later he had a ready to go OS.. Just need to run newsid, give it a new name and it was ready to use for his church network. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinte...s/bb897418.aspx

  • 0
Is it mandatory that you are backing up to DVD as the backup process occurs or can you back it up to disk, then copy it to a DVD? I saw what you wrote, but it still leaves room for interpretation.

I don't mind copying the image to DVD afterwards. But basically the result I am looking for is similar to that of a Factory Restore Disk when you buy a new PC.

So, basically, I reinstall Windows, apply all the patches, install the software that I want, then create an image, make a bootable DVD, so then when I want to start again, I just re-image off the DVD and once done, I'm ready to go!

  • 0

You should check out PING (Ping is not Ghost), it does exactly what you want.

Once an image as been created you can then create a ISO of the files, which can be burnt to

a DVD (if the image is more than a dvd, you can create a multiboot DVD set).

Then you can simply boot of the DVD and it will restore the system.

I've just finished Imaging 12 laptops.. each one took an average of 8mins to complete. where the C: drive

was about 10gigs in size.

You can also get more advance and host the image on the network, or even create a recoverable Partition

(although not as elegant yet, although being looked at by the devs).

  • 0

i just tried ping, and it seems pretty nice. unfortunately, i'm having some problems restoring the image.

i created an image and then created a bootable iso, which was then burned to a cd. i made some changes to my desktop (so i could see whether the image was restored or not), booted off the cd, and followed the instructions to restore the image. but when the computer finished rebooting, i saw that the changes were still there, i.e., the computer didn't revert to the earlier state.

any ideas?

edit: the nfts resizing option was the problem. i disabled that and now it works.

  • 0
heres a great easy one click one!? its free to - Mac os X disk Utility yepprs im a mac fanboy

You are a little troll, as well as a "fanboy!" People are talking about PC's (Windows) not Mac!

Back on topic, Ping looks and sounds pretty interesting any further feed back would be great!

  • 0

I've sucessfully created numerous backups using PING. However, I am now trying to create my first "Larger than 4.7Gb" backup. I've managed to create the ISO, but when trying to burn it using 3 different burning programs and at least 3 different types of DVD DL+R disks, I keep getting LBA errors and the image won't burn. I've read around and it seems mkisofs doesn't like images bigger than 4.7Gb. Is there anyway I can burn the images to DVD Dual Layer without having to multispan?

  • 0

I managed to get PING working, I copied the image off my laptop on to another PC and I've managed to burn the image no problem and restore from the image.

So, it's my laptop DVD drive, it doesn't seem to want to burn DVD+R DL which is interesting because it says DL on the drive and Nero Info Tool also says it can read and write DVD+R DL (Yes, I'm definately using DVD+R DL)

Nero InfoTool 5.2.3.0

Drive Information
------------------
Drive					  : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GMA-4080N
Type					   : DVD?R/RW DL Recorder
Firmware Version		   : 0H37
Buffer Size				: 2 MB
Date					   : ?
Serial Number			  : K00561M4456
Vendor Specific			:  
Drive Letter			   : E:\
Location				   : 0:1
Mechanism				  : Tray
Read Speed				 : 24 , 20 , 16 , 10  X
Write Speed				: 24 , 16 , 10 , 4  X

Read CD Text			   : Yes
Return C2 Pointers		 : Yes
Read CD-R				  : Yes
Read CD-RW				 : Yes
Read DVD-ROM			   : Yes
Read DVD-RAM			   : Yes
Read DVD-R				 : Yes
Read DVD-RW				: Yes
Read DVD-R DL			  : No
Read DVD+R				 : Yes
Read DVD+RW				: Yes
Read DVD+R DL			  : Yes
Read BD-ROM				: No
Read BD-R				  : No
Read BD-RE				 : No
Read HD DVD-RAM			: No
Read HD DVD-R			  : No
Read HD DVD-RW			 : No
Read HD DVD-R DL		   : No
Read HD DVD-RW DL		  : No
Read HD-BURN			   : No
Read Digital Audio		 : Yes
Read CD+G				  : No
Read VideoCD			   : Yes

Write CD-R				 : Yes
Write CD-RW				: Yes
Write DVD-R				: Yes
Write DVD-RW			   : Yes
Write DVD-R DL			 : No
Write DVD+R				: Yes
Write DVD+RW			   : Yes
Write DVD+R DL			 : Yes
Write DVD-RAM			  : Yes
Write BD-R				 : No
Write BD-RE				: No
Write HD DVD-R			 : No
Write HD DVD-RW			: No
Write HD DVD-R DL		  : No
Write HD DVD-RW DL		 : No
Write HD-BURN-R			: No
Write HD-BURN-RW		   : No
Buffer Underrun Protection : Yes
Mount Rainier			  : No
SolidBurn				  : No
Labelflash				 : No
LightScribe				: No
Modes					  : Packet, TAO, DAO, SAO, RAW SAO, RAW DAO, RAW SAO 16, RAW SAO 96, RAW DAO 16, RAW DAO 96

Region Protection Control  : RPC II
Region					 : None
Changes User			   : 5
Changes Vendor			 : 4

CSS						: Yes
CPRM					   : Yes
AACS					   : No
VCPS					   : No

  • 0

Giveaway of the day are doing free imaging software today. (16 June 2008)

"Macrium Reflect is an award winning disk imaging and file backup solution for Windows XP, Vista and Server 2003."

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/macrium-reflect/

Edited by artnada
  • 0
i just tried ping, and it seems pretty nice. unfortunately, i'm having some problems restoring the image.

i created an image and then created a bootable iso, which was then burned to a cd. i made some changes to my desktop (so i could see whether the image was restored or not), booted off the cd, and followed the instructions to restore the image. but when the computer finished rebooting, i saw that the changes were still there, i.e., the computer didn't revert to the earlier state.

any ideas?

edit: the nfts resizing option was the problem. i disabled that and now it works.

I can't get what problem he faced while restoring the image .....

and how he made a image an bootable ISO...

just like we have an option of bootable data disc and when it prompt for file show the path of image file

  • 0
DriveImage XML is free.

DriveImage XML "works" but they DO NOT support RAID, sort of. The program fails to mention this fact when you create a backup. Backup is ok etc. but if you want to restore it back to RAID, you can't. Only did i find this after going through their "FAQ" and the last item on the page mentions this. Instead...

I suggest that you give a try at Seagate DiscWizard, which is made by Acronis. If you want to get something better they offer 40% off if you upgrade to True Image. I had no problems doing backup and restore on RAID 1 setup. Did i mention DiscWizard is free?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Disabling open on hover, great! That was so stupid! They need to do a fix, where if a network share is disconnected, it doesn't hang when opening "This PC" for 20 seconds.
    • Microsoft releases major feature updates for stock Windows 11 apps by Taras Buria In addition to releasing new Windows 11 preview builds, Microsoft announced that inbox Windows apps now have dedicated release notes in the official documentation. At long last, users have access to all the release notes for each app, with changes listed in chronological order. Microsoft used to announce feature updates for stock apps with each build. Now, with Windows Insider release notes hosted on the Microsoft Learn website, each app has a dedicated space for its changelog, which is very useful for those who want to track new features and improvements. Alongside that, Microsoft dropped massive feature updates for six stock apps: Clock, Media Player, Calculator, Voice Recorder, Photos, and Paint. Each app packs quite a lot of changes and new capabilities, so here are the release notes. Here are quick notes so that you can jump to the app you are interested in the most: Calculator Camera Clock Media Player Paint Photos Sound Recorder Here is what is new for the Calculator in version 11.2605.9.0: More accurate square-root results — Fixed rare cases where a calculation that should equal zero (like sqrt(2.25) - 1.5) returned a tiny leftover value instead. Readable text in High Contrast themes — Settings text now shows the correct colors in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes. Fixed layout for right-to-left languages — For languages like Arabic and Hebrew, the graph, number pad, equation fields, and scroll buttons now appear correctly oriented. Reliable launch after upgrading — Fixed an issue where upgrading from much older versions could leave outdated settings that stopped the app from opening. Here is what is new for the Camera app (version 2026.2605.7.0): Zoom slider works on more cameras — The zoom slider now works on the latest cameras, respects your system zoom settings, and updates instantly when you change those settings. Full range of zoom levels — Fixed an issue where the zoom slider only showed three steps on some devices that zoom in finer increments. Front camera works on more devices — Resolved a problem that blocked the front-facing camera on certain wide-angle devices. More video resolution choices — You can now pick video resolutions that were previously hidden; the app shows a heads-up warning instead of removing them. QR links you can still use — When a scanned QR code points to something with no matching app, the link is now copied to your clipboard (with a notification) while still offering a Store search. Smarter default settings — When you haven't set a preference, the app now follows your system settings by default. The Clock app has a massive changelog with the following improvements in version 11.2605.9.0: Timers keep counting after they hit zero — When a timer runs out, it now keeps counting up (for example, -00:27:31) so you can see how far past the time you've gone. You can turn off the daily goal — Focus Sessions now include an "Off" option so you can skip setting a daily goal entirely. New 15-minute snooze option — Alarms now offer a 15-minute snooze interval. Run up to 3 countdowns at once — The Countdown Widget now supports three simultaneous countdowns, up from two. Timer Widget notifications now appear — Fixed an issue where the "timer finished" notification didn't show when the timer was started from the widget. Less clutter in Focus Sessions — Tasks you've already completed no longer show up in the Focus Session task list. More accurate focus progress — Fixed a rounding issue that could show your daily focus progress as a minute short (for example, 49 minutes instead of 50). Smoother World Clock comparisons — The World Clock compare page now loads dates as you scroll, so it feels more responsive. Up-to-date World Clock locations — Refreshed country and city names to match their current names. Correct sun and moon icons during midnight sun — Fixed an icon that wrongly showed a moon during all-day daylight in polar regions. Fixed back-button behavior in clock comparisons — Pressing back once now takes you back as expected, instead of jumping the date to 1926. Corrected the Newfoundland time zone — Newfoundland now uses the right time zone (St. John's). Disabled alarms stay looking disabled — Editing a turned-off alarm no longer makes it appear turned on. Cleaner timer cards — The expand button is now turned off on timer cards that have no time set, preventing actions that wouldn't do anything. Clearer theme setting — Updated the wording to "Choose your preferred app theme." Smoother Settings links — The "About" links in Settings no longer trigger an unexpected "switch apps" prompt. Fixed spacing in Spotify settings — Corrected uneven spacing in the Spotify settings card. Better focus visibility in High Contrast — The focus highlight in World Clock is now clearly visible in the High Contrast Aquatic and Desert themes. No more double announcements — Screen readers no longer read the timer value twice. Countdown names read correctly — Screen readers now properly announce the name of each countdown. Keyboard focus stays put — Focus no longer disappears after you press the Timer Reset button. Clearer alarm toggle for screen readers — Tidied up how the alarm on/off switch is announced. The Media Player app received plenty of changes as well (version 11.2605.14.0): Custom captions — You can now personalize how closed captions appear, with caption styling tied to your Windows caption settings, plus a quick link to open those settings directly. "Indexing" banner in the play queue — When your media library is still being scanned, a banner now explains why some items may not appear yet. Fixed the look of selected items — Corrected a layout glitch with selected items in lists. Fewer playback failures — Improved how the app recognizes supported file types, so more files play without issues. Playlists need a name — You can no longer accidentally save a playlist with a blank name. Cleaner look for empty playlists — Improved how a playlist appears when it has no items yet. More stable play queue edits — Fixed a crash that could happen when changing the play queue while the app was switching between sessions. Clearer "missing codec" message — Improved the dialog that appears when a file needs a codec you don't have, with clearer guidance on what to do. A big update is also available for Paint in version 11.2605.61.0: Adjustable eraser transparency — You can now control how transparent the eraser is. Cleaner stamp brush strokes — Fixed visible color shifts and artifacts when using stamp-style brushes. JPEG photos save in place — Opening a rotated JPEG and pressing Save now overwrites the original instead of unexpectedly prompting "Save As." No more crash on bad image files — Opening a damaged or invalid image, from within the app, by double click, or commandline, now shows a clear error message instead of closing the app. Classic selection behavior restored — The selection outline now hides while you move, resize, or rotate a selection, just like in classic Paint. Tidier AI image panel — Fixed missing spacing at the bottom of the AI image generation panel for a cleaner layout. Visible button hover in light theme — Toolbar split buttons now show a clear hover highlight in the light theme. Snappier toolbar — Streamlined how the ribbon lays out, giving a small speed boost at startup. Fewer background crashes — Fixed a crash that could happen while background tasks were finishing up. Stable app shutdown — Prevented rare crashes when closing the app. Fixed layer removal glitch — Deleting the active layer no longer leaves the layers list in an inconsistent state. Here is what is new in the Photos app (version 2026.11060.2004.0): AI watermarking — AI-generated or edited images can now carry a visible Copilot watermark. You choose Never, Always, or Ask Every Time in Settings, with a confirmation when saving. The watermarking is off by default in settings. Better viewing of small images and pixel art — Tiny images (like 16×16 pixel art) now zoom in far more to fill the screen and stay crisp instead of looking blurry. Select scanned text with the keyboard — When text is detected in an image, you can now navigate and select it using the arrow keys, Shift+Arrow, Home/End, and Ctrl+A, with a clear focus highlight. Fixed a crash in text recognition — Resolved a crash that could close Photos while detecting text in images; the app now recovers gracefully. Easier keyboard navigation — Tabbing through the navigation bar no longer stops on hidden controls, so it takes a single Tab to move past it instead of three. And finally, here is the Sound Recorder (version 11.2605.1.0): Waveform shows with Bluetooth mics — The live waveform now displays correctly when you record using a Bluetooth audio device. No more stray scrollbar — A non-working horizontal scrollbar no longer appears at the bottom of the waveform unless you've zoomed in. Mark button ready right away — The Mark button no longer looks grayed out until you hover over it after opening the app. Markers hidden for WAV files — Markers are now turned off for WAV recordings, since that format can't store them — so they're no longer lost silently. Smoother deleting — Quickly pressing Delete and Enter to remove several recordings in a row no longer triggers a "file doesn't exist" error. Fixed a memory issue — Resolved a memory leak that occurred each time a recording started. You can find all these changelogs in the official documentation here.
    • again, an article about Microsoft Edge and ridicules hater's comments
    • From this very same article: "For organizations that prefer a “more deliberate pace”, the Extended Stable channel remains an option."
    • Or every other browser, because they all behave the same, at least the mainstream ones. Firefox does exactly the same: background updates, restart to install them. Haters gotta hate, I guess.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Very Popular
      AndrewSteel earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • Veteran
      Taliseian went up a rank
      Veteran
    • One Month Later
      Clizby earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      Timaximus earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Timaximus earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      170
    3. 3
      +Edouard
      162
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      85
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      78
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!