Hi Folks,

A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I could
download and test for free.

Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first tried
the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end failed.

But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it back
to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However, when
you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get a
message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not let
you do complete the process.

I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you are
downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a certain
amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about buying
it or not.

I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP for
many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a 60
day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular version
does.

Cheers,
Shane Devenshire

One question Why did you need to clone the drive twice? Cloning the old
drive to the new drive would have been sufficient.


--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
[url]http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html[/url]
Disk Read Error Press Ctl+Alt+Del to Restart
[url]http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938[/url]



"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi Folks,
>
> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
> could
> download and test for free.
>
> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first
> tried
> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
> failed.
>
> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it
> back
> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However,
> when
> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get
> a
> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not
> let
> you do complete the process.
>
> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you
> are
> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
> certain
> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about
> buying
> it or not.
>
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP
> for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a
> 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version
> does.
>
> Cheers,
> Shane Devenshire[/color]

"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote
in message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi Folks,
>
> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop
> hard
> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software,
> which I could
> download and test for free.
>
> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took
> quite a
> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I
> first tried
> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
> failed.
>
> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed
> me to
> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning
> it back
> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours.
> However, when
> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive
> you get a
> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete
> software as
> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will
> not let
> you do complete the process.
>
> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying
> you are
> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
> certain
> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the
> software,
> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice
> about buying
> it or not.
>
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I
> want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel
> MVP for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would
> become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007
> (with a 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version does.[/color]

Thanks, I had downloaded the trial version but hadn't tried it yet. I
hate it when they do that.

Unfortunately, that still is a common practice for trial versions. I
don't mind when an author allows a free download that will do 95% of
what you were expecting and asks a few bucks for the "professional"
version that has a few extra non-critical bells and whistles. But
many "trial" versions are little more than marketing teasers. You get
a taste of what the program can do for you - but just when you can
hardly curb your bursting enthusiasm, you discover that you can't do
it unless you buy the full version.

I've ended up buying some apps that way because I desperately needed a
fix ASAP. But most of the time I mutter a few X-rated curses,
uninstall the useless piece of crippled junk, and mentally put the
vendor on my doo-doo list.

FWIW, someone on one of the groups recommended Agent Ransack for file
searches. It works fine with the free version.

"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:[color=blue]
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I
> want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel
> MVP for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007
> (with a 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version
> does.[/color]

My concern lately with Acronis has been the fact that it's a Russian
software and much of today's SPAM, viruses and fiching also originates
in Russia. How do we know what data is mined in our PCs and sent back to
them through the Internet? Business ethics hardly exists there and
judging from the latest sable rattling from Putin & Co., recalling the
tone of Cold War, I also have to wonder if the successor of KGB might
use Acronis for more than its intended purpose. My 2 cents worth.
JP

"JP" <wiseguyxxxx********.com> wrote in message
news:%239Q2oKi8JHA.200@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> "Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:[color=green]
>> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but
>> I want
>> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel
>> MVP for
>> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would
>> become
>> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007
>> (with a 60
>> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the
>> regular version does.[/color]
>
> My concern lately with Acronis has been the fact that it's a Russian
> software and much of today's SPAM, viruses and fiching also
> originates in Russia. How do we know what data is mined in our PCs
> and sent back to them through the Internet? Business ethics hardly
> exists there and judging from the latest sable rattling from Putin &
> Co., recalling the tone of Cold War, I also have to wonder if the
> successor of KGB might use Acronis for more than its intended
> purpose. My 2 cents worth.
> JP[/color]

I'm far from being a conspiracy theorist but I asked myself the same
question way back when Tetris muscled its way to the top of the list
of time-wasters for office workers.

With the downfall of the Evil Empire a lot of Russian programmers had
to scramble to make a living. Some went into legitimate enterprises
like Tetris, some went to the Dark Side. I share your discomfort but
I would think that any nefarious malware planted in the code would
have been uncovered by now. Maybe not, but I'm not going to lose any
sleep over it.

This kind of bad activity doesn't need to hide in commercial software.
Practically all loss of sensitive personal and commercial data is the
result of the two usual suspects - stupidity and greed. Stupidity in
losing laptops and data tapes, weak identification/password barriers,
clicking links in dubious e-mail, indiscriminant surfing, and not
installing and updating good security software. Greed in the form of
inside theft jobs, and in the irrational belief that this time the
offer really will give you something for nothing. From what I've
read, those are the same avenues being pursued by highly sophisticated
organized gangs in former U.S.S.R. states and elsewhere. Not all the
malware out there comes from pimply-faced teens working in their
parents' basements. It must work or the organized gangs wouldn't be
expanding their efforts. Why kick down the door when you can get
someone to open it for you?

For data backup use Replicator, and for drive image use DriveImage XML.

[url]http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp[/url]

[url]http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm[/url]

Both are free to home users.

"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi Folks,
>
> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
> could
> download and test for free.
>
> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first
> tried
> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
> failed.
>
> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it
> back
> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However,
> when
> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get
> a
> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not
> let
> you do complete the process.
>
> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you
> are
> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
> certain
> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about
> buying
> it or not.
>
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP
> for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a
> 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version
> does.
>
> Cheers,
> Shane Devenshire[/color]

"JP" <wiseguyxxxx********.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:[color=green]
>> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I
>> want
>> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel
>> MVP for
>> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
>> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007
>> (with a 60
>> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
>> version
>> does.[/color]
>
>My concern lately with Acronis has been the fact that it's a Russian
>software and much of today's SPAM, viruses and fiching also originates
>in Russia. How do we know what data is mined in our PCs and sent back to
>them through the Internet? Business ethics hardly exists there and
>judging from the latest sable rattling from Putin & Co., recalling the
>tone of Cold War, I also have to wonder if the successor of KGB might
>use Acronis for more than its intended purpose. My 2 cents worth.
>JP[/color]

Which is completely worthless.

Go put on your tinfoil beanie.

"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi Folks,
>
> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
> could
> download and test for free.
>
> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first
> tried
> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
> failed.
>
> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it
> back
> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However,
> when
> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get
> a
> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not
> let
> you do complete the process.
>
> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you
> are
> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
> certain
> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about
> buying
> it or not.
>
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP
> for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a
> 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version
> does.
>
> Cheers,
> Shane Devenshire[/color]


If it was Acronis Disk Director, there is a warning before you get to click
on the download button..

Acronis® Disk Director Suite 10.0 trial version has the following
limitations:

•All the operations are shown in the software interface and can be planned,
but not executed – no changes to your hard drives / partitions will be done
•The only allowed operation is the creation of partitions of minimum
possible size (usually, 1 cylinder ~ 7,8 MB) – only if you have the free
unallocated space on the drive
•Acronis OS Selector (if installed) trial period expires after 15 days, and
then starts with a 15 seconds delay

--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience
[url]http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/[/url]

"Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=blue]
> Hi Folks,
>
> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
> could
> download and test for free.
>
> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first
> tried
> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
> failed.
>
> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it
> back
> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However,
> when
> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get
> a
> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not
> let
> you do complete the process.
>
> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you
> are
> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
> certain
> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about
> buying
> it or not.
>
> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP
> for
> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a
> 60
> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
> version
> does.
>
> Cheers,
> Shane Devenshire[/color]


Shane...
About a couple of weeks ago you posted a similar query to the MS
vista.installation_setup newsgroup. Just curious if you tried out the trial
version of the Casper 5 disk-cloning program I suggested to you and if so,
what did you think of it?
Anna

On Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:45:15 -0700, JP wrote:
[color=blue]
> "Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:[color=green]
>> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I
>> want
>> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel
>> MVP for
>> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
>> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007
>> (with a 60
>> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
>> version
>> does.[/color]
>
> My concern lately with Acronis has been the fact that it's a Russian
> software and much of today's SPAM, viruses and fiching also originates
> in Russia. How do we know what data is mined in our PCs and sent back to
> them through the Internet? Business ethics hardly exists there and
> judging from the latest sable rattling from Putin & Co., recalling the
> tone of Cold War, I also have to wonder if the successor of KGB might
> use Acronis for more than its intended purpose. My 2 cents worth.
> JP[/color]

Also, "much of today's SPAM, viruses and fishing also originates in" the
United States...

No more American software for me!

--
Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:54:21 -0400, Anna wrote:
[color=blue]
> "Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
> message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=green]
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
>> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
>> could
>> download and test for free.
>>
>> Fair warning - the documentation was not all that hot - it took quite a
>> while to find the clone disk command under Utilities, since the
>> documentation, over 100 pages, did not seem to mention this. I first
>> tried
>> the backup and restore approach which took many hours but in the end
>> failed.
>>
>> But worst of all when I discovered the clone disk command it allowed me to
>> clone my hard drive to an external drive in preparation for cloning it
>> back
>> to the new hard drive, a process that took a couple of hours. However,
>> when
>> you attempt to clone the external copy back to the new hard drive you get
>> a
>> message saying that the trial copy is not really the complete software as
>> seemed to be stated at download, but an abridged version which will not
>> let
>> you do complete the process.
>>
>> I believe that Acronis is misleading users at its website by saying you
>> are
>> downloading a 15 day full version of the software. I can express a
>> certain
>> amount of anger having waste 3/4 of a day attempting to use the software,
>> when if they had chosen to be upfront I could have made a choice about
>> buying
>> it or not.
>>
>> I do appreciate the those of you who recommended the software, but I want
>> you to be aware of this questionable practice. I have been a Excel MVP
>> for
>> many years, and I can assure you that the general public would become
>> extremely angry if they downloaded the full version of Office 2007 (with a
>> 60
>> day trial period!) and it wouldn't do many of the things the regular
>> version
>> does.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Shane Devenshire[/color]
>
>
> Shane...
> About a couple of weeks ago you posted a similar query to the MS
> vista.installation_setup newsgroup. Just curious if you tried out the trial
> version of the Casper 5 disk-cloning program I suggested to you and if so,
> what did you think of it?
> Anna[/color]

Don't know about Shane, but I have bought that program (but not yet
installed it). It's another case where the crippled trial version leaves
you wondering how it will work in real life, though.

There is no x64 trial, and the x86 trial version will not make a clone
larger than the source...So I had to buy on faith.

BTW, I had about three questions for Casper's tech support, and my e-mails
were very quickly answered.

--
Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom

[color=blue][color=green]
>> "Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>> message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...[color=darkred]
>>> Hi Folks,
>>>
>>> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
>>> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
>>> could download and test for free.[/color][/color][/color]
(SNIP)[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> Cheers,
>>> Shane Devenshire[/color][/color][/color]

[color=blue]
> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:54:21 -0400, Anna wrote:[color=green]
>> Shane...
>> About a couple of weeks ago you posted a similar query to the MS
>> vista.installation_setup newsgroup. Just curious if you tried out the
>> trial
>> version of the Casper 5 disk-cloning program I suggested to you and if
>> so,
>> what did you think of it?
>> Anna[/color][/color]


"Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> wrote in message
news:ymt1t7zjt1m0$.7ctb3xqf7iwc.dlg@40tude.net...> Don't know about Shane,
but I have bought that program (but not yet[color=blue]
> installed it). It's another case where the crippled trial version leaves
> you wondering how it will work in real life, though.
>
> There is no x64 trial, and the x86 trial version will not make a clone
> larger than the source...So I had to buy on faith.
>
> BTW, I had about three questions for Casper's tech support, and my e-mails
> were very quickly answered.
> --
> Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom[/color]


Gene:
Actually I'm a strong proponent of the Casper 5 program. We've been using
the program for about the past two years or so (mostly in an XP OS
environment) and we strongly recommend this program for the great majority
of PC users. Many of my acquaintencences and former customers who have used
the program extensively in the Vista OS system tell me the program works
just as well there.

As you no doubt know from using the trial version of the program, it is a
disk-cloning (and partition-cloning) program. It does not have disk-imaging
capability. I had recommended the program to the OP (suggesting the trial
version) when he raised a query (in the newsgroup I noted above) about
backing up his Vista system to an external HDD.
Anna

On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:54:00 -0400, Anna wrote:
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> "Shane Devenshire" <ShaneDevenshire@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
>>> message news:EA0DFF7E-424A-4263-850A-EDD44701078D@microsoft.com...
>>>> Hi Folks,
>>>>
>>>> A week or so ago I requested information on how to upgrade a laptop hard
>>>> drive and was given the recommendation to use Acronis software, which I
>>>> could download and test for free.[/color][/color]
> (SNIP)[color=green][color=darkred]
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Shane Devenshire[/color][/color]
>
>[color=green]
>> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:54:21 -0400, Anna wrote:[color=darkred]
>>> Shane...
>>> About a couple of weeks ago you posted a similar query to the MS
>>> vista.installation_setup newsgroup. Just curious if you tried out the
>>> trial
>>> version of the Casper 5 disk-cloning program I suggested to you and if
>>> so,
>>> what did you think of it?
>>> Anna[/color][/color]
>
>
> "Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ymt1t7zjt1m0$.7ctb3xqf7iwc.dlg@40tude.net...> Don't know about Shane,
> but I have bought that program (but not yet[color=green]
>> installed it). It's another case where the crippled trial version leaves
>> you wondering how it will work in real life, though.
>>
>> There is no x64 trial, and the x86 trial version will not make a clone
>> larger than the source...So I had to buy on faith.
>>
>> BTW, I had about three questions for Casper's tech support, and my e-mails
>> were very quickly answered.
>> --
>> Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom[/color]
>
>
> Gene:
> Actually I'm a strong proponent of the Casper 5 program. We've been using
> the program for about the past two years or so (mostly in an XP OS
> environment) and we strongly recommend this program for the great majority
> of PC users. Many of my acquaintencences and former customers who have used
> the program extensively in the Vista OS system tell me the program works
> just as well there.
>
> As you no doubt know from using the trial version of the program, it is a
> disk-cloning (and partition-cloning) program. It does not have disk-imaging
> capability. I had recommended the program to the OP (suggesting the trial
> version) when he raised a query (in the newsgroup I noted above) about
> backing up his Vista system to an external HDD.
> Anna[/color]

Of course I knew. The very reason I ran the trial version is that I wanted
a program that works the way Casper claims to work. I got tired of having
to run a program to mount a proprietary image when I wanted to fetch
something. There are more reasons, such as Acronis breaking my Vista
installation just by being installed, and no risk-free way in my setup to
be *really* sure that Acronis or Macrium could restore my system if need
be.

While I was trying out Macintosh OS X, I used a program that works much the
same way as Casper. Part of why I liked it: I could easily recover a couple
of files, or, if necessary, I could boot from a backup so I could do
something dangerous :-)

I'm not sure what you mean by contrasting disk cloning and disk imaging.
I'm guessing that you define imaging as creating an image in a proprietary
format and cloning as making an exact copy. I'll look it up later.

Anyway, as I said, I have already bought the program. I am currently
getting ready to organize my external drives and then backup the systems
with the old software. Real soon now, I'll finish all that and install
Casper :-)

Your remarks about Casper are very encouraging to me. Looks like I might
have made the rare correct decision! Thanks, Anna.

Gene

--
Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom

"Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> wrote in message
news:6qmjr6thzl9c.128toyigfwbvu.dlg@40tude.net...[color=blue]
> On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:54:00 -0400, Anna wrote:[/color]

....[color=blue][color=green]
>> As you no doubt know from using the trial version of the program,
>> it is a
>> disk-cloning (and partition-cloning) program. It does not have
>> disk-imaging
>> capability. I had recommended the program to the OP (suggesting the
>> trial
>> version) when he raised a query (in the newsgroup I noted above)
>> about
>> backing up his Vista system to an external HDD.
>> Anna[/color]
>
> Of course I knew. The very reason I ran the trial version is that I
> wanted
> a program that works the way Casper claims to work. I got tired of
> having
> to run a program to mount a proprietary image when I wanted to fetch
> something. There are more reasons, such as Acronis breaking my Vista
> installation just by being installed, and no risk-free way in my
> setup to
> be *really* sure that Acronis or Macrium could restore my system if
> need be.[/color]

I can't even uninstall the Accronis demo (it's not really a "trial
version"). It came with no uninstall routine, and using Vista to
uninstall does not delete it from the Vista list of programs to be
uninstalled. All I can find are a few traces of Acronis environment
statements in the registry, but the **** thing is still on the Vista
program uninstall list and won't go away.
[color=blue]
> While I was trying out Macintosh OS X, I used a program that works
> much the
> same way as Casper. Part of why I liked it: I could easily recover a
> couple
> of files, or, if necessary, I could boot from a backup so I could do
> something dangerous :-)
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by contrasting disk cloning and disk
> imaging.
> I'm guessing that you define imaging as creating an image in a
> proprietary
> format and cloning as making an exact copy. I'll look it up later.[/color]

Anna, can you explain the difference, both in structure and the
advantages / disadvantages of cloning vs imaging? Thanks.
[color=blue]
> Anyway, as I said, I have already bought the program. I am currently
> getting ready to organize my external drives and then backup the
> systems
> with the old software. Real soon now, I'll finish all that and
> install
> Casper :-)
>
> Your remarks about Casper are very encouraging to me. Looks like I
> might
> have made the rare correct decision! Thanks, Anna.[/color]

Gene - let us know how it went with Casper. I'm thinking of buying it
but as you said, they don't have a 64-bit Vista trial version. Oddly
enough, you have to buy it in order to try using the bundled 64-bit
version.

Why? "Ours is not to reason why, ours is to buy, buy, buy." :-D

Seriously, though, I'll be looking for your observations.

[color=blue][color=green]
>> "Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:ymt1t7zjt1m0$.7ctb3xqf7iwc.dlg@40tude.net...> Don't know about
>> Shane,
>> but I have bought that program (but not yet[color=darkred]
>>> installed it). It's another case where the crippled trial version leaves
>>> you wondering how it will work in real life, though.
>>>
>>> There is no x64 trial, and the x86 trial version will not make a clone
>>> larger than the source...So I had to buy on faith.
>>>
>>> BTW, I had about three questions for Casper's tech support, and my
>>> e-mails
>>> were very quickly answered.
>>> --
>>> Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom[/color][/color][/color]

[color=blue]
> Anna wrote...[color=green]
>> Gene:
>> Actually I'm a strong proponent of the Casper 5 program. We've been using
>> the program for about the past two years or so (mostly in an XP OS
>> environment) and we strongly recommend this program for the great
>> majority
>> of PC users. Many of my acquaintencences and former customers who have
>> used
>> the program extensively in the Vista OS system tell me the program works
>> just as well there.
>>
>> As you no doubt know from using the trial version of the program, it is a
>> disk-cloning (and partition-cloning) program. It does not have
>> disk-imaging
>> capability. I had recommended the program to the OP (suggesting the trial
>> version) when he raised a query (in the newsgroup I noted above) about
>> backing up his Vista system to an external HDD.
>> Anna[/color][/color]


"Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> wrote in message
news:6qmjr6thzl9c.128toyigfwbvu.dlg@40tude.net...[color=blue]
> Of course I knew. The very reason I ran the trial version is that I wanted
> a program that works the way Casper claims to work. I got tired of having
> to run a program to mount a proprietary image when I wanted to fetch
> something. There are more reasons, such as Acronis breaking my Vista
> installation just by being installed, and no risk-free way in my setup to
> be *really* sure that Acronis or Macrium could restore my system if need
> be.
>
> While I was trying out Macintosh OS X, I used a program that works much
> the
> same way as Casper. Part of why I liked it: I could easily recover a
> couple
> of files, or, if necessary, I could boot from a backup so I could do
> something dangerous :-)
>
> I'm not sure what you mean by contrasting disk cloning and disk imaging.
> I'm guessing that you define imaging as creating an image in a proprietary
> format and cloning as making an exact copy. I'll look it up later.
>
> Anyway, as I said, I have already bought the program. I am currently
> getting ready to organize my external drives and then backup the systems
> with the old software. Real soon now, I'll finish all that and install
> Casper :-)
>
> Your remarks about Casper are very encouraging to me. Looks like I might
> have made the rare correct decision! Thanks, Anna.
>
> Gene
> --
> Gene E. Bloch letters0x40blochg0x2Ecom[/color]


Gene:
If your experience with the Casper 5 program parallels that of the many
users of that program (and there's every reason to believe it will) I'm sure
you will be mightily pleased with the program.

As many users of that program have told me...their only regret is that they
didn't find it earlier!

I just wanted to make this additional comment...

While the program's straightforward design, simplicity of use, and general
effectiveness in carrying out what it's supposed to do are all hallmarks of
the program, it's most significant advantage (in my view) is its rather
extroardinary ability to create what might be called "incremental clones",
i.e., what Casper terms its "SmartClone" technology. Keeping in mind that
this "incremental clone" is a complete clone of the source disk, *not* an
incremental "file". The result of this incremental clone process is that it
takes the user only a fraction of the time to create subsequent clones of
the source HDD than it would otherwise take using the typical disk-cloning
(or even disk-imaging) methodology. As you can imagine this process gives
the PC user an enormous incentive to *completely* back up his/her system on
a routine, frequent basis thus ensuring that the user maintains a reasonably
up-to-date comprehensive backup of their system. It's hard to imagine a
better backup system for the typical PC user.
Anna