Mirroring files? How is this done?

[TomBilliodeaux]

How can I make a copy of my (presently new and good installation) W2K OS partition so that I can simply copy all the files to that partition in the event it went North (I'm from the South and when things go bad, they go up north).
I read of MIRRORing. How is this done?

 

[Ladi]

Look into apps such as DriveImage and Ghost. Lots of info on the boards if you search

~Ladi

 

[Spiff]

You have more than one option here. You can:

- use RAID 1 which is drive mirroring. What this means is, the data on one drive is copied to a secondary drive. In the event the source drive goes belly up, you break the mirror and use the secondary drive. If the mirrored set is the system drive, then you will have additional steps to take in making it run. Please note that a mirrored set is dynamic in the sense that it maintains real time copies of the source drive, so as your system gets updated, your mirror will also. Please further note that Win2k Pro does not support fault tolerant volumes. Only the server editions are able to create fault tolerant RAID volumes. However, a hardware RAID solution can be accomplished with any version of Win2k. There are SCSI and EIDE solutions available for hardware RAID solutions. Whether you choose the software solution or the hardware solution, this allows for near seamless continued operation of the system.

- Drive Image Pro from PowerQuest and Norton's Ghost will allow you to create images of partition. Such images can be stored to CD or another HD. In the event you lose a HD or data on a partition, you can restore your system from the saved image.

Both these options are discussed fairly often in these forums and on the net. Is this what you are asking? Or were you asking something else?

 

[TomBilliodeaux]

Yes Spiff,
I knew of the hardware RAID imaging, especially ABIT's mobo that offer this as well as their add on PCI cards, but I did not know if I could accomplish mirroring via software.

As well, I am asking that if I infact do use a software Mirror program such as Norton Ghost 2001 or Symantec CD-ResQ,
I can mirror my W2k system files onto a bootable CD and reverse mirror back to replace the damaged or corrupted files using this software?
I know that I would be outside of W2K to do this (dos or W98).

I have installed W2k and the drivers, and the updates (sp1,etc) for the 3rd time. I would like to keep the completed system files with all the dirvers, updates, etc and reinstall that as one package without having to go thru all the reinstall. I know that I must keep all other files at the same locations for this to work.

 

[TomBilliodeaux]

Norton Ghost 2001 supports NTFS.
Power Quest does not.
Hardware literature is mostly for HD to HD and is not specific about CD support, but probably can.
Cost are about the same ---$50 - $75.

Thanks for the help

 

[Floyd]

Power Quest Drive Image does support NTFS, I use it all the time. The newest version (v4) supports direct copying to CD-R and will span discs as needed.

Best regards,
Floyd