Need Help with making a disk image

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and I have a couple questions that I need help on.

First of all, I just recently got a HP laptop and I got all my programs I want on it and I did some tweaks to make it faster and etc. I think I want to make an image of my computer(?I think this is what my friend said it was called) in case something bad happens and I don't want to do a reformat back to factory settings. I don't know if I completely get what an image is, I think it is a exact clone of my pc or hard drive. If someone could clear that up for me that would be cool. Anyways, what is the best free image thing out there? I heard of SeaGate Disc Wizard because I have a SeaGate EHD, but I don't know if thats good let alone know how to use it. Another good free one I heard is DriveImageXML. Which of these do you guys prefer? Or is there a better one I have not heard of?

Thanks and looking forward to your guys' help!

 

Also, just to verify, this BACKUPS EVERYTHING right? Like the changes in the registry, services I have disabled, scheduled tasks I have made changes to, and customizations?

 

Yes, Seagate DiscWizard works great. Just download it from the Seagate site. It's made by Acronis and simple to use.

 

Thank you for responding Hiker!
It's free right? Because I heard of Acronis and I heard that cost money.
But does Seagate DiscWizard do what I think and want it to do? Read my 2 post please!!!

 

I usually clean up before doing a back up, run ccleaner, and defrag. Open SDW, click back up, click custom and carefully follow the directions including verify. Some functions won't work and ask you to upgrade to True Image for $30. Make sure to burn a bootable disc if case you need to restore.

 

Yes, it takes a identical image, everything.

 

The functions I can't use that cost 30$ are those necessary? Because if it is I would have to use a different program. I am on a budget. And what do you mean make a bootable disc in case I need to restore? The System Restore from windows? or restore with SDW? Why would I need to restore a image of an image I just made lol

sorry im very new to this image and backup stuff

 

It's going to run 3 processes full time, even without the program open or the EHD attached. trimounter, discwizardmonitor and shedhelp for total of 12,000K.

i suppose you could kill them but I don't bother.

 

The functions are for partial, incremental back ups, email, scheduled backups etc.

I back up mine after a fresh install then at different times adding software manually

 

Yes it's free.

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/discwizard

 

Cool thanks for the info. How come you choose this over DriveImageXML?

 

I found out about it first!

I first used it to clone my internal 60GB Seagate HDD to a 120 GB Hitachi and swapped them out. Now I use the old HDD as backup. I've never had a problem backing up and since the clone worked I'm assuming restore will.

 

Let me see if I read this correctly.

Why would I need to restore [an] image of an image I just made lol ???

An image is essentially a backup for all purposes. The whole purpose of a backup is to be able to restore it later. A bootable image would be nice but not necessary. Without a bootable image, you would need an accessible copy of Disc Wizard to restore your backup. This means if you ever needed to wipe your harddrive, you would have to at minimum reinstall a copy of your OS and then reinstall your backup software to restore your backup.

 

anyone tried DriveImageXML? i am thinking of using it to make an image before i start using my new laptop extensively... reliable?

 

Ok let me see if I understand. An image is like an exact copy of your PC of when you make it. So lets say I make an image after this post and place it on my external hard drive. I somehow get a nasty virus that messes up my computer. So what I have to do is open up back the program and restore the image I just made? And my pc is back to where it was after I made my post? Correct?

 

How do you restore an image??!?!?!

 

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