System Image

By admin on May 28, 2012 in System Image | 1 comment

Hi everybody. Have you ever booted up your computer and when you tried to log in your system files just would not show up?  You might try to use safe mode and possibly even system restore to try and get your file system working again. When all of these attempts fail you have two choices: You can reformat the computer and completely wipe the drive or you can restore your computer from a newly updated bootable image you created on a removable hard rive. The second option will always be the best option because you will retain all your files and programs once the system is restored. The sad part is that very few people use this method to back up their system. In our offices, every one of our computers has a matching hard drive that is ready to go in case of a major breakdown. Being able to do this is not as complicated as you might think. In the following column, I will explain what you need and how to do it. In order to perform a complete bootable image clone of your hard drive you will first have to purchase an external drive that is at least as big as the original already installed on your computer. If you are more technically inclined, you can install a second drive right inside your case. The second thing you will need is a good imaging software. We use and recommend Casper. We have been using it for many years with excellent results. Once you have all your tools, it is time to start backing up! These directions will follow that of using Casper but will applicable for other imaging software as well. The first thing you will need to do is to install the software. Follow the install wizard, as you would with any new program install. Once the software is installed you can run it from the desktop shortcut. You will be presented with a wizard. The wizard will show you several options. You want to choose the option to copy your entire had drive. This is the option that will give you a bootable backup. In most cases, you will use the default options for...