External hdd question For backing up original hdd

[dfox227]

I bought a system with preloaded software. I did not get a recovery disc. My question is ...can i make an copy of my hdd just like it is on my system with an external hard drive...and if i can..how do I go about it. I am afraid that if my original hdd dies I'm screwed as far as my operating system goes and also all the other preloaded software I have.
thanks

 

[Bob Anderson]

Well, you don't seem to be getting any help.

You have a number of options, but here is what I would recommend:

Get an external USB hard drive, and get a copy of Acronis True Image. You can make a perfect image of your main drive, and store it on your external drive. You can make as many images as you want, as you load new software, etc.

-Bob

 

[dfuze]

Bob has excellent advice. I've used True Image in the past and it works great. I believe they still have a free version on their site (I got version 7 from them a while back).

 

[corkyg]

Another vote for cloning with TI. I do this regularly on 3 systems. Each has duplicate or reserve drive that is a perfect clone of the master source.

The best way to do that with TI is to let it create a fully capable bootable CDR - then use it. Don't do it from Windows - that gets messy because of sharing violations.

The TI bootable CD uses a Linux based GUI that is easy to use. If your target drive is the same size as your source, it's a piece of cake. If not, there is a "proportional" option that even handles different size drives, RAID arrays, Firewire, USB, etc., etc.

 

[dfox227]

Thanks for all you help.