Drive Image Upgrade

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-16 20:07

I just got an email today from PowerQuest about the release of Drive Image 7 and I thought I'd pass it along, since there are a number of Loungers who use their product. I'm in the process of buying the upgrade ($40 US) but I don't know if the hype THIS TIME is correct or more smoke-and-mirrors. It says that you can backup from within Windows, but it has "said" that in prior versions too. This version is specifically for XP Home and Pro and Win2000, but when you buy it, you will evidently get a copy of the version for prior OSs as well. One item I'm concerned about, since I've always used floppy to backup AND restore images, is that is says you will need the CD to restore an image! Well, buyer beware and read the fine print.

http://www.powerquest.com/driveimage/

**lmd** · 2003-06-17 16:59

Big Al,

Thank you for the info. I have not received any notification yet, but I'll be perusing the lounge for your opinion/review once you receive it. I would hope that those of us who have complained to PQ regarding the Win XP Pro problems would get either a free upgrade or a very sweet deal to move up(?) to the next version. Thanks for the heads up!

LMD

**cowboydawg** · 2003-06-17 21:04

I use it all the time With WinXP Pro and have never had one glitch.

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-18 09:50

Just a prelim little report, folks. After purchasing and downloading (I hope a CD is also in the mail!), I did a somewhat UNSUCCESSFUL install! I'm pretty sure the problem was one ot two things, but I can't be sure until I do further testing. PowerQuest says on their web site that this version REQUIRES the Microsoft-Dot-Net "framework" (whatever the <img src=/w3timages/censored.gif alt=censored border=0> that means!) They provide a link to download it in case you don't already have it installed. Well, I didn't bother since I already have it installed because of some other software I installed recently. Also during the install of Drive Image 7, it asks if you will be saving images to a network and I answered "YES" since I DO save my images to a dedicated backup machine on my LAN.

When I got finished, re-booted and tried to run Drive Image, that sucker wouldn't run for <img src=/w3timages/censored.gif alt=censored border=0> ! I went to Control Panel and found out that the MS-Dot-Net I had was version 1.0 and the PowerQuest site shows a link to version 1.1. I UN-INSTALLED both pieces of software, downloaded the 1.1 and THEN re-installed D.I. 7, this time saying "NO" to the question about saving to a network. Well, now the program will execute OK and I even tried running its Backup Image Browser to see if it would let me look at the files in existing images saved on my LAN. That worked OK also, but I haven't yet tried to create an image to see if it will let me choose the machine on my LAN.

So, you can see why I don't know which of the two topics above was the problem, if either! More later.....

**cowboydawg** · 2003-06-18 13:55

Hey Doc . So It's working OK now, you just haven't tried backing up to your Network Drive yet, right? Or maybe I need to stop checking so early in the morning before I have my coffee.

**lmd** · 2003-06-18 16:41

Thanks, Big Al (and loungers), for your continued assistance! In checking the Drive Image website two things struck me: 1) The minimum memory needed is 256 MB and, 2) The drive image 2002 that was certified for Windows XP that we own is no longer certified for Win XP! The supported operating systems are Windows 95c or higher, NT Workstation 4.0 (SP6a), Windows Me. Hum, no XP. It works for some but not for others. To be continued...

LMD

***JoeP517*** · 2003-06-18 17:00

BigAl, I was lucky to have had .net 1.1 already installed. Uninstalled DI 2002 then installed DI 7 with no problems. Am not backing up to a network either. Have run a backup to another local HD. Runs mucho faster than 2002. Used the Image Browser a little. Worked fine also. Have to try in on some older backups that I have on CD soon. Good luck with your further adventures.

Joe

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-19 10:22

Thanx guys for posting your comments and observations! I too don't understand that stuff about DI 2002. Their web site says you will get a copy of DI 2002 when you buy version 7 but I don't see anything in the zip download file that looks like it Also, as I mentioned earlier, their web site says you will NEED the CD for restoration or something like that, so I'm hoping that my CD will come in the mail. It does appear that version 7 does NOT support floppy use since I don't see anything in the menu structure to support making DI 7 floppies.

Now, as for me, I still don't know whether that MS-Dot-Net version was a problem. I suspect not. However I can safely say that after I re-installed DI 7 and chose "NO" on the network question, it sure as <img src=/w3timages/censored.gif alt=censored border=0> WILL NOT let me save an image to another machine on my LAN. I mean I tried everything I could, including mapping the destination drives. Access Denied! So, I better try again to change that NO to a YES. There ain't no place I could find that would let me do that, so I ran SETUP again, hoping to just "repair" install. No way - running SETUP again "ass-u-mes" you want to remove the product! What a bunch of dunces. Anyways, I re-installed for the 3rd time and chose YES on the network question. When I was putting in my (administrator) user name, and password, I realized that I had put in a wrong password on the very 1st time I installed, so this time, every thing is hunky-dory.

Unlike you, Joe, I've only run ONE image backup and I chose the smallest partition I have. Ran like a charm, really fast and to my LAN destination. You've probably noticed that they changed the file naming convention, but I did a browse on both the new and an old image and both opened up correctly. So, it looks like progress, albeit with a few "bumps" in the road that I wish PowerQuest had not done. This weekend I'll try to complete the cycle and backup all my partitions, including the boot drive. By the way, on the one image I created, I chose NO compression and I noticed that the resulting image file is EXACTLY the same size as the one from last week (it's my web pages partition and nothing has changed)

**cowboydawg** · 2003-06-19 15:35

I knew you could do it Sarge. Your tha man. I will be getting the upgrade soon. Does it look much different? A guy was asking in another thread for a product he could Schedule backups to a network Drive. I pointed him to Drive Image and told him to read the info. I will let ya know when I get the New Version.

**lmd** · 2003-06-19 17:00

Big Al,

I checked PQ's site and could not find that link to the Microsoft .Net framework 1.1 download. Could you post the link?

Thanks,

LMD

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-19 19:32

You may not be able to get to it from PQ's site unless you're a registered customer with a login. Here's the MS link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...&displaylang=en

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-20 09:57

To add some more to my report so far on Version 7. I decided not to wait until Saturday, when I normally run my backup images of five partitions. I have six partitions on three drives, but one of 'em is the swap file. I did the four partitions that are non-boot first and saved the C: drive for last. As is my custom, I chose NO compression, since I don't need it (yet). On my LAN backup machine, I have two big drives to which I alternate backup images every weekend. Everything went swell with the first four, although my initial observation about speed was incorrect. With the previous DI the speed I was getting across the network was 120-140 meg/min. With this new version, the elapsed times calculate out to 86-103 meg/min.

Now the C: drive! I started this one but had to leave the house while it was still running. When I returned about 5 hours later, it had aborted with a message of "access denied." There was also included what looked like a memory address, and an error message number. I couldn't find the error message number in the Help file. So, I tried again. This time, DI flew through the progress screen in a few seconds, like it was trying to resume the backup, but I got the same access denied, with a DIFFERENT error message number.

I then started the backup again and this time I changed TWO things. I changed the destination to the alternate backup drive AND told DI to use its recommended "standard" compression, even though I don't need to compress. This time the backup finished in 33:32 on 4,185 gig. (about 125 or 130 meg/min). The bottom line is that I don't know whassup since the first four backups went to that drive just fine. The largest of those is just UNDER 3 gig, so maybe one has to use compression when you get up to 4 gig or more, I don't know. I do know that Windows will not let me DELETE that aborted file! FWIW and I hope Joe, Cowboy and others will continue to post your comments here, since we do have a lot of users of Drive Image in The Lounge.

**cowboydawg** · 2003-06-21 04:08

I downloaded DI 7.0. The only problem I have is it won't do a Drive Copy to a smaller Drive. Example: 40GB Maxtor C: Drive with about 15GB of Data won't Copy to a 30GB Maxtor as It would with DI 2002 6.0 Version. With DI 2002 6.0 I could do a Drive Copy from a 40GB with 20GB of data to a 30GB Drive, and have many times. It use to delete the data on the Destination Drive and then Copy the data from the Source Drive C: The only thing I haven't tried is deleting the data from the destination Drive first, because I never had to do that before. So needless to say I am confused why Version 7.0 will not do what 6.0 would. By the way I ran 6.0 and did the Drive Copy without a hitch. Go figure. <img src=/S/bouncenburn.gif border=0 alt=bouncenburn width=31 height=31>

**bigaldoc** · 2003-06-21 08:31

They've been known to "break" stuff from one version to another, Cowboy. Maybe if you delete the file first..... I know in either version 4 or 5 (can't remember) I would have to delete the previous image before I could create a replacement two weeks later. The menu would ask me if I want to replace, but then DI would crap out and not run.

By the way, I re-tried that boot drive image that failed on me day before yesterday and I let it use "standard" compression and the <img src=/w3timages/censored.gif alt=censored border=0> thing worked like a charm. I read something in Help that said images across a network will go FASTER if you use compression (I expected the opposite to be true) and boy did it ever, as I reported in my earlier post. I still can't figure out why I got the "Access Denied" message. I've tried using their browser to open ALL the images I just created and everything seems to be just fine.

If you or Joe have a partition with more than 4 gig on it, when you image the thing, try with NO compression and see if it fails on you like mine did. I've looked and looked through Help for any size limitations and can't find anything. Now I'm gonna try their web site but I'm not too optimistic. The only drawback in me asking you for this test is that it gets ALL the way to the end before it aborts (about 40 minutes on my 4.1 gig)

**Phil Rabichow** · 2003-06-21 20:03

Well, I can't find it right now. But I seem to recall in Version 6, there was an option to copy only the used portion of a drive, so if you only used 20 GIgs of a 60 Gig drive, only 20 Gigs were imaged. It there no place to pick that option in DI7?

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