In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to establish a reliable data protection system.
We have already mentioned that the most prevalent way to protect valuable data is to create backup The term backup originates from the time when the best way to protect valuable information was to store it in form of archives on external media. It's become now a general notion to mean making duplications of data for protection purposes. copies (backup images in terms of the program) of it. Depending on a type of information you need to protect and the way this information should be processed, the program offers a number of handy backup wizards.
To make your job with the program as easy and convenient as possible, all backup wizards share similar work algorithm. So let us just take as an example the Sector Backup Wizard to describe it in detail.
By going through steps of the wizard, you configure all the necessary settings to launch the backup operation. To minimize the possibility of making any mistake, the wizard provides auxiliary information on every single option. Moreover you can get an in-depth description to any setting, control, or field of the wizard just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.
There are several ways to start the Sector Backup Wizard:
q In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Back up a Disk or Partition…
q On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Back up a Disk or Partition item of the Wizards menu.
q In the Toolbar: click the Back up a Disk or Partition button.
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the backup operation:
q The object to back up. You can back up either an entire disk or separate partitions of the disk (primary, extended or logical). In case of backing up an entire disk, you’ve got the possibility to include into the image such disk elements as the Master Boot Record (MBR is the 0th sector of the disk. MBR (Master Boot Record) contains important information about the disk layout: - The used partitioning scheme; - The starting records of the Partition Table; - The standard bootstrap code (or the initial code of boot managers, disk overlay software or boot viruses). Generally, the 0th sector is used for similar purposes in all existing partitioning schemes. The MBR capacity is not sufficient to contain sophisticated boot programs. That's why the on-boot software is allowed to use the entire 0th track of the disk. For example, boot managing utilities such as LILO, GRUB and Paragon Boot Manager are located in the 0th track.) and the first track of the hard disk. This can be very helpful for serious disk recovery procedures.
q Backup destination. The wizard allows saving backup archives to local or network drives, to physical partitions (without drive letters assigned), the Backup Capsule or burning them to CD/DVDs. You need to select a destination, taking the estimated archive size and available space on the backup destination into account.
q Name and location of the resulted image. Provide a file name for the new image and its exact location. The program automatically offers an easy to understand name containing the date and the time of the archive creation, which can anyway be modified.
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The program automatically calculates size of the future archive and informs the user about space available on the selected destination. |
q Archive Comment. You can add some additional description to the archive that will later help to distinguish it from the others.
In addition, there is the possibility to make further detailed settings (although the default values will do in most cases). To activate the advance mode, you need to mark the appropriate option on the second page of the wizard. When it is marked, the next page enables to define:
q Whether the archive integrity will be controlled.
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Checking archive integrity enables to guarantee that all backup images created with the program are 100 percent flawless. Nevertheless if you decided not to control the archive integrity, the backup operation would take about 3-5% less time. |
q Whether image file names will be set automatically in complex archives.
q Compression level for the backup image (including the No compression variant).
q Whether the archive will be split (if yes, you can set the maximum size for the archive files).
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Splitting images enables to tackle issues caused by a file size limitation of some file systems. |
q Whether the archive will be protected by password.
q Whether the selected disk (or the selected partition) will be copied in the sector-to-sector mode (including unused sectors as well).
q Whether the OS auxiliary files (pagefile.sys, hyberfil.sys) will be included in the backup image.
q Recording speed when the user wants to burn the backup image onto CD/DVDs.
q ISO image folder where the archive that is to be recorded on a disc, is placed.
q Whether the operation will be performed without rebooting the system. The program needs to reboot the system in order to have exclusive access to processing data. In a Windows environment this is difficult to achieve because even when all the other applications are closed, the system service programs are still running. However, there is a way to avoid rebooting. The mode of processing the backup operation without rebooting is named Hot Processing. You can also define specific parameters for the Hot Processing mode.
After the backup operation is completed you receive an image of the selected disk (or the selected partition). This image is placed into the specified destination (a local (mounted/unmounted) or network disk, the Backup Capsule or a CD/DVD disc), its features defined by the wizard.
q Backing up a Hard Disk or Partition to the Backup Capsule
q Backing up a Hard Disk or Partition to External Media (CD/DVD)
q Backing up Files to a Local Mounted/Unmounted (without Drive Letter Assigned) Partition
q Creating a Differential to a Full Partition Backup
q Creating an Increment to a Full Partition Backup
q Creating an Increment to a Full File Backup
The program includes a convenient and reliable restore wizard. With its help you can restore all types of backup images created with the program. It provides easy to understand instructions to configure and perform all the necessary settings. Moreover you can get an in-depth description to any setting, control, or field of the wizard just by clicking the hint button and then the object you need.
There are several ways to start the Restore Wizard:
q In the Main Menu: select Wizards > Restore Wizard…
q On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Restore Wizard item of the Wizards menu.
q In the Toolbar: click the Restore Wizard button.
The wizard offers the following steps to accomplish the restore operation:
q A backup image to be restored. The Browse for Archive page enables to find a backup image you need.
By clicking the Switch to Archive List View link, you can see a list of images contained in the Archive Database (if any).
To get a clear-cut picture on properties of the required image, just click on it and the section below will (i.e. Archive File Details) display a short description.
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To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter. |
By clicking the Switch to File View link, you can find the required image in the browser-like window. The section below (i.e. Archive File Details) will also display a short description of the selected image.
Moreover, on this page you’ve got the possibility to create new folders, delete existing files/folders or map network drives by clicking the appropriate buttons.
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To know more on the subject, please consult the Viewing Image Properties chapter. |
File Backup Restore
q A place to restore the archive to. From the pull-down list you can choose whether to restore contents of the backup image to its original location or specify some other one.
Besides if you select the Original location option, you can additionally define whether to replace already existing files during the restore operation (good for recovering presumably corrupted files) or leave them intact (good for recovering accidentally deleted files).
Sector Backup Restore
q An item of the selected archive to be restored. The program allows you to restore not only an entire archive, but also separate items of the archive. It is very convenient in case of restoring separate partitions from the entire disk archive.
q A place to restore the archive to. Selecting the destination, please note - all contents on the disk selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the operation.
To help you get a clear-cut picture of the operation outcome, the program allows inspecting the resulted disk layout.
Restoring Partition:
q Size of the restored volume and free space before and after it on the disk.
q Drive letter assignment after restore. The pull-down list contains vacant drive letters that can be associated with the restored partition.
Restoring Hard Disk:
q Copy data and resize partitions proportionally. If this option is activated, the program proportionally changes the size of partitions keeping their relative order intact. The option can be useful when restoring to a larger hard disk.
q Perform surface test. Define whether the surface test will be accomplished during the operation or not.
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All contents on the disk selected for restoring purposes will be deleted during the operation. |
The wizard will restore the archived data, and make it available to use in the operating system.
Available operation scenarios:
q Restoring a Hard Disk from the Bootable Backup Capsule
q Restoring a System Partition from External Media (CD/DVD)
q Restoring a System Partition from a Local Drive
q Restoring Vista to a Different Hardware Configuration
q Restoring a File Increment to a Partition Backup
The Recovery Media is a CD/DVD disc, a USB flash card or even a floppy disk from which you can boot for maintenance or recovery purposes. Builder provides the possibility to prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment on external media (CD, DVD, flash memory or floppy disks) to boot and run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. Besides it enables to save data from partitions of your hard disk directly to compact discs or just burn ISO-images.
There are several ways to start the Recovery Media Builder:
q In the Main Menu: select Tools > Recovery Media Builder …
q On the Common Tasks Bar: click the Recovery Media Builder item of the Wizards menu.
The wizard offers the following steps to build recovery media:
q Type of the recovery media. You can place it either on a CD/DVD disc, flash memory or a floppy disk.
q Contents of the recovery set. You can choose whether to use the default Linux/DOS recovery environment (included in the installation package) or your own bootable image (need to provide a path to it). Besides you’re free to add any data you like to the standard image what is very convenient.
q A recording device. The appropriate external media (CD/DVD, flash memory or a floppy disk) needs to be available in the system.
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You can make an ISO image instead of burning a CD/DVD by selecting the Emulator drive. |
q CD/DVD writing parameters (in case you select this kind of media). Writing parameters include writing speed (maximum or minimum) and the ability of ejecting the recorded disc after completing the operation.
The program supports CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-R, DVD+R double layer and also Blu-ray discs.
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If the inserted disc is not empty, the wizard will suggest erasing its contents (if possible). Once the operation has been confirmed, the program will delete the re-writable disc's contents and begin the recording process. |
As a result of the operation, you receive recovery media to use in most emergencies.
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