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Thread ID: 66800 2006-03-07 18:38:00 HDD cloning GrahamBar (9935) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
436435 2006-03-07 18:38:00 What is the easiest (and cheapest) method of running mirror image HHD's(using 2 HDD's) in my home PC in case of a failure? :help: GrahamB GrahamBar (9935)
436436 2006-03-07 19:46:00 www.maxtor.com has 'maxblast' which I'm *pretty sure* does hdd clonign and it is free... drcspy (146)
436437 2006-03-07 20:10:00 RAID array. tweak'e (69)
436438 2006-03-07 20:22:00 The cheapest way would be to use Disk Management in Windows 2000/XP and make a software mirror.
The best way would be to use a hardware solution like adding a PCI RAID card or most new mainboards these days have it built in.
CYaBro (73)
436439 2006-03-07 20:42:00 surely the cheapest is free........maxblast ? drcspy (146)
436440 2006-03-07 20:45:00 MaxBlast 4 is a one-step, ATA/IDE hard drive installation utility. MaxBlast 4 makes hard drive installations and upgrades hassle-free for novices and professionals alike by automatically identifying, partitioning, and formatting any Maxtor ATA or SATA hard drive, making it data-ready in minutes. MaxBlast 4 replaces all previous versions of MaxBlast and MaxBlast Plus.

Creates a bootable MaxBlast 4 installation diskette.

* Compatible with Windows 98SE, Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.
* Breaks the 528 MB, 2.1 GB, 4.2 GB, 8.4 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB and 137 GB capacity barriers.
* Supports both FAT32 and NTFS drive partitions.
* Easy to use, Graphical Interface (GUI) with mouse and printer support.
* Supports up to four ATA devices in the same system*.
* The copy feature lets you make an exact duplicate of your existing hard drive.

www.maxtor.com

it DOES say you need at least one maxtor drive to run this tho......
drcspy (146)
436441 2006-03-07 20:51:00 not as easy as pluging a drive into an array and letting it rebuild.

also with a software solution you need to remember to back it up. with a raid array its automatic and if either drive fails the backup is fully upto date.
tweak'e (69)
436442 2006-03-07 21:48:00 What is the easiest (and cheapest) method of running mirror image HHD's(using 2 HDD's) in my home PC in case of a failure? :help: GrahamB
RAID1 is mirroring two hard drives. It's quite a popular feature on many new motherboards. It's the cheapest RAID redundant option .

All RAID levels, except RAID0, will protect against a disk loss, but will not protect against fire, theft, or anything trashing your hard drive like a virus.

"Ghosting" or "imaging" a drive is a "point in time" backup. It's a copy of your hard drive.

Downsides is it can be a little more complex if you don't have a drive cage, and the images get stale.

Upside It can be stored elsewhere for safe keeping. It's great if you're about to do something like patching you PC, and you want to make sure you have an easy way to recover. You can also have multiple copies so you can "roll back" to a known good state.

Of course an easy way to back up is using a USB to IDE enclosure, and a laptop drive. Either Windows Explorer, or something like Retrospect will allow quick backup of critical files.
kingdragonfly (309)
436443 2006-03-09 18:23:00 Thanks for all the comments, have used Maxblast before, but it requires at least one Maxtor HDD. Looks like a raid card will be the way to go. GrahamB :thumbs: GrahamBar (9935)
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