Imaging Question and Story Time.

[fastamdman]

What is the best imaging software? When imaging a drive does it backup the ENTIRE drive including free space or does it just copy what has been used? Aka would a 512GB ssd imaged be 512GB in size, or would it only be what was used, in my case 138GB's.

Virtual Larry - Paragraphs aren't working for me. When I add the correct spacing in posts, it still just mushes it all together. I have contacted my editor though to read through all my future posts, hope this helps.

 

[Elixer]

Most all good cloning software only copies the data the OS marks as used.
Most all good cloning software also uses compression, so, normally, you would see much less than 138GBs.

As for which one is the best, that depends on your needs.
You looking for online or offline?
You looking for scheduling, differential copies (make 1 "full" image, then it makes images on what has changed), and so on...
Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla (free), Acronis are some of them. You can usually get free versions of each of those, and you can get Acronis for free via your HD maker's site as well.

BTW, that was a wall of text before (and nobody would have read through all that), unsure what you mean by "Paragraphs aren't working".
You just hit return at the end of a sentence, and hit return twice to start a new paragraph. Don't use spaces or tabs to make paragraphs.

 

[fastamdman]

Most all good cloning software only copies the data the OS marks as used.
Most all good cloning software also uses compression, so, normally, you would see much less than 138GBs.

As for which one is the best, that depends on your needs.
You looking for online or offline?
You looking for scheduling, differential copies (make 1 "full" image, then it makes images on what has changed), and so on...
Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla (free), Acronis are some of them. You can usually get free versions of each of those, and you can get Acronis for free via your HD maker's site as well.

BTW, that was a wall of text before, unsure what you mean by "Paragraphs aren't working".
You just hit return at the end of a sentence, and hit return twice to start a new paragraph. Don't use spaces or tabs to make paragraphs.

Thanks for the reply and information. I am looking for offline storage only. I was planning on putting it on a 256gb flash drive and on my hard drive for double protection. I wouldn't mind scheduling honestly. I would love an image of my system exactly how it is, that I can toss on my flash drive now and then one that gets updated constantly that can be stored on my hard drive. Out of those programs, what would you recommend based on my needs?

I looked into Macrium Reflect and it looks like the paid versions are exactly what I am looking for. I am just so new to imaging that I figured I would get some advice before I actually purchased the software. Money isn't a concern, I just want a reliable and stable back up of my system.

 

[Elixer]

https://www.macrium.com/product-comparison
Home version would fit then, but, they do offer a trial, so, you really should test the waters with each one and see which one that you like better.

 

[fastamdman]

https://www.macrium.com/product-comparison
Home version would fit then, but, they do offer a trial, so, you really should test the waters with each one and see which one that you like better.

Sounds good, thank you very much. The last of my windows updates just finished installing so I will download it and give it a shot. I will let you know how it goes Thanks again.