[Jarrad]

I just upgraded from Windows Media Center to Windows Vista Ultimate and I'm worried.

I used to use the backup utility built into windows to backup all information on my computer (system state, etc.) to a file on an external hard drive. Now that I have Vista up and running it seems like I can only either backup files (Which doesn't include my program files or system state), or the entire computer to an image (which it won't backup to my external because I have compression enabled). Is there any way to continue backing up the way I used to? Or any suggestions for how to backup all information in Vista?

Thanks,

[Jarrad]

I'm also looking at the windows migration utility to treat it as if I were transferring data to another computer, and then if I had to reformat, telling Vista that it IS the new computer and restoring data that way.

Any thoughts?

[Noyb]

For Vista and your External HD ....
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...mage&x=27&y=30

[Jarrad]

Arigatoo Noyb.

It is pretty sad though that Windows' backup system has gotten less, rather than more sophisticated with Vista. Backup was supposed to be a big feature of Vista that encouraged me to go with Ultimate rather than Basic, just like I went with Pro rather than Home in XP.

Oh well.

[Noyb]

You're Welcome
Always used Acronis to Backup/Recover my OS and Copy/Paste for my Data ...
Don't know bout Windows ... And wouldn't trust it anyway ... Specially now that Vista is here.

[Elvandil]

Another advantage to Acronis (and others) is that the image file can be mounted as a drive so that data can be retrieved, or even changes made to the image's contents, without doing a complete restoration.

But a full partition backup is always preferable, when possible, to a simple backup of files, some of which will be forgotten and lost.

Partition Saving (free partition backup and restoration)
DriveImage XML

If you choose to make backups of files or folders, Karen's Replicator is free and has all the needed features.

[Squashman]

Originally Posted by Jarrad

Arigatoo Noyb.

It is pretty sad though that Windows' backup system has gotten less, rather than more sophisticated with Vista. Backup was supposed to be a big feature of Vista that encouraged me to go with Ultimate rather than Basic, just like I went with Pro rather than Home in XP.

Oh well.

How has it gotten less. It has more features now then any other Windows OS.

[jpgrapeape]

I personally found the Vista backup funtionality to be excellent. I upgraded a 40gb hard drive (was a barebones office PC) to 160gb, and used the Vista Backup to do a backup of the PC to an external USB device. I then installed the new hard drive, popped in the Vista CD and selected restore - within 10 minutes had Vista up and running one my new 160gb drive. No complaints at all.

[Jarrad]

By less I mean that before I could backup to a single file on my hard drive and do whatever I want with it. It feels more limited now. I will try Acronis.

[JohnWill]

Backup Applications For All Seasons:

For boot image backups, Acronis True Image, available at NewEgg for $30 downloaded, search for Acronis.

For file backups, Cobian Backup, available free from the author's site.

For synchronizing backup folders, SyncToy, available free from Microsoft.