CREATING (not Restore) exact drive image with bootable CD

Hi guys,

Actually i'm asking this question for my old XP SP2 machine to create exact drive image (1 physical Seagate drive, 2 partitions, MBR boot) using most-shorcut way but it can be considered a 'general' question as it applies to all OSes on the planet.

After searching the net for a few hours, what i saw is that almost all the imaging softwares offer installing theirselves on Windows at first stage, THEN let us create/build bootable media to boot later. I'm trying to grasp the logic behind this idea, and wonder WHY I CAN'T DIRECTLY DOWNLOAD BOOTABLE-READY ISOs of those imaging/backup softwares to burn and use immediately.

As my drive is Seagate, it does not have much free space to install any imaging software including official DiscWizard software, and i want to download and burn bootable ISO of this software, what i mean, i'm seeking a FREE and RELIABLE imaging/backup software that runs over CD entirely without having to install on Windows.

Just like Acronis here:


DiscWizard describes how to build/create bootable media, but not proving not an option to download pre-created bootable-ready CD here:
http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/005928en?language=en_US

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/211551en?language=en_US

Please help

Thanks in advance!

 

The logic is called $. You can't expect to get all features for free.

If you don't have enough space for installing a program, how are you supposed to have room for a downloaded CD image of similar or larger size?

Are you sure you can't empty C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download or lower pagefile size temporarily to get some extra space, or install the imaging program on some other computer or USB HDD?

I have Macrium Reflect Free installed right now, it uses 370 MB. Highly recommended. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

Thanks for your reply mate. I'll try to answer:

I'm not talking about paid programs, but almost all the imaging softwares have a free/home version (EaseUS, Macrium, Aomei....) and free versions of well-known programs like Acronis along with drive manufacturers affiation/partnership. My thought was, the logic of "creating" bootable cd rather than directly downloading is that the bootable media has to be customized and differs for every system. But it would be unlikely that there should be a standard-one (like Live CDs) to directly boot imaging software without having to create by ourselves. Aren't i right?

I supposed to download the image to a reserved area which takes about 700 MB, and also i have an external drive, which can be downloaded there. BUT I don't have enough space for "installation". And another reason, i want to keep the system clean because i had some crashes with some softwares like Macrium, mentioning on the follow.

Yep, it can be like what you suggessted, as i stated above. But there are another reasons to deal with bootable-CD directly rather than installing whole sofware on Windows first.

Macrium is not working on my XP SP2 system creating bootable media and giving SessionManager BSODs, i tried old and new (v6) versions with no luck, always BSOD. I don't know why. Here is my original thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/macrium-reflect-free-v6-bsod-on-xp-sp2-anyone.778914/

 

One reason is that optical disc drives aren't that common anymore. Another reason is that it's not super easy to burn a bootable CD, it's easier to install a program. My brother can install a program, he most definitely can't burn a bootable CD.
The person who wants to burn a CD still needs software to do so, even if it's as primitive as oscdimg.exe. There's no point in arguing about this, because it doesn't solve your problem.

How about this?

1 - Create System Restore Point.
2 - Install software that works on the USB HDD.
3 - Create CD.
4 - Use System Restore to go back to the restore point created in #1, and delete the program folder from the USB HDD if needed.