What is the difference between an image backup and a regular backup?
Let's start with a typical computer. You're running Windows XP. Over that last couple of years you've noticed hundreds of updated files being downloaded. Plus a couple of really big service packs. You've installed a popular Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, Power Point). You've created hundreds of files with this software. You've downloaded four or five programs from the internet (Picassa, Adobe Reader, FireFox, etc.). Then there is web browsing and your favorites. Your email addresses that just pop down automatically when you're sending an email to someone you communicate with on a regualar basis.
Your hard drive gets infected, then crashes.
A) You have a regular backup.
B) You have an image backup.
|
A) You have a regular backup.
- You purchase a replacement hard drive and install it in your computer.
- You find the XP system disk (if you have one, some computers don't come with it) and install XP.
- You then need to install all the updates and service pack 2 and service pack 3 - three to four hours.
- You now need to find the subsrcription information for your antivirus so you can reinstall that - 1 hour.
- Now where are those Office disks? At lease 1 more hour to install.
- What programs am I missing? Add another 1 to 2 hours remembering, finding, downloading, and installing.
- Now the email name and password have to be reentered along with the pop3 and smtp information.
- Finally we can copy the backup back on to the computer and start to get back to work.
- By the way, you didn't backup the bookmarks and all the email addresses are missing.
B) You have an image backup
- You purchase a replacement hard drive and install it in your computer.
- You get out the bootable image restore software.
- You restore the image to the new hard drive.
- You are backup up and running. Everything is just as you left it.
|