TeraByte Image Single Click Partition Restore

For the past 10 (ten) years, I've been trying to find a replacement for PowerQuest Drive Image 2002 -- ten years of messing with buggy and complicated Norton Ghost and Acronis products, not understanding why there isn't a product which would be simpler and quicker to use.

The reason I liked old PowerQuest 2002 ten years ago is that it actually remembered what you did last - so you would start the program and, if you so chose, just clicked on Next a couple of times, because whatever you set up previously was already selected.



The irony is, I tried this product half a decade ago
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm
but was too quick to assume that (just like many other ones) it didn't have an easy and quick backup/restore option.

Well here it is and there it always was and all you have to do from then on is double click on a shortcut it creates and you can backup/restore any of the other partitions on your multi boot system with just one click!





All these wasted years with Norton Ghost and Acronis .

But it's never too late, I think we should recommend this product over Norton Ghost or Acronis because it does the job quicker and simpler.

Nice find! I will probably be giving this a try soon.

C6,

I've used Ghost for some time and never really liked it. Thanks for the new product assessment, I'll give it a try.

i use ghost and i like it
but i do use a corp version soo... and its free (for me)

but this is would be good for me if ghost stops being free(for me)

is it a 1-1 backup or does it compress the image?

Compression is better and faster than Norton Ghost's, Frank.


I knew these guys were around since before Windows 9x days - this isn't one of those "new" programs. If only I looked closer at their automated features to realize they offered super-fast imaging options.



My pet peeve with Symantec is how, just like unrelated Adobe and Microsoft software, they give you limited to none customization options. Symantec INSISTS on verifying the drive image before beginning the reimaging process, as if all of its customers are n00bs. If you have copies of your images and your systems, why would you need to waste time verifying images... its' the same story again: no one is questioning Symantec's default options but WHY no customization options for us to turn OFF whatever we want? Setup whatever we want, however we want it... at our OWN risk.

And Acronis takes even longer to setup than Norton Ghost, each and every time, though Acronis is better thank Ghost at non-Windows imaging/reimaging. But imho now, none of them are better than TeraByte Image.

There are command lines that simply forces Ghost to not verify the image and force-mount the image or hard drive you wanted to clone.

Of course, this worked with the floppy disk and it was the best version for computer forensics, except if you had to clone a RAID or non-IDE SATA chipset.

c627627 said:

Compression is better and faster than Norton Ghost's, Frank.


I knew these guys were around since before Windows 9x days - this isn't one of those "new" programs. If only I looked closer at their automated features to realize they offered super-fast imaging options.

My pet peeve with Symantec is how, just like unrelated Adobe and Microsoft software, they give you limited to none customization options. Symantec INSISTS on verifying the drive image before beginning the reimaging process, as if all of its customers are n00bs. If you have copies of your images and your systems, why would you need to waste time verifying images... its' the same story again: no one is questioning Symantec's default options but WHY no customization options for us to turn OFF whatever we want? Setup whatever we want, however we want it... at our OWN risk.

And Acronis takes even longer to setup than Norton Ghost, each and every time, though Acronis is better thank Ghost at non-Windows imaging/reimaging. But imho now, none of them are better than TeraByte Image.

Click to expand...

How's the overhead?

What do you mean by 'overhead'? Files are smaller than Ghost's and they take less time to create.

madhatter256 said:

There are command lines that simply forces Ghost to not verify the image and force-mount the image or hard drive you wanted to clone.

Click to expand...

Yes, you can also, painstakingly go through many Windows clicks and UNCHECK this option in Ghost *each and every time* you use Ghost. I have been begging Symantec to give me the option to permanently disable it as an option [just a, hidden if need be, option] but each time their answer was a variation on the explanation of how it cannot be done because they want to 'protect customers from themselves' -- standard Adobe/Microsoft/Symantec approach to customization options.

Cool app. We use Symantec ghost corporate at work. May give this a shot sometime. I'm working on setting up a WDS server right now for the heck of it

Yes, it would be interesting to know how it compares at work.


I use this for personal use and like to image Win7 *from* WinXP and vice versa on a multi-boot system where I simply reboot into whichever OS I want, bypassing the need to use CD or USB startup media, although other than for Windows, there are DOS and Linux versions of the program as well:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-windows.htm
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-dos.htm
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/image-for-linux.htm

They posted a brand new version 2.73 this afternoon but I can't find anything on their web site as far as "What's new" listing for newer versions.


EDIT: Found it:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/upgradehist-image-for-windows.htm

Thanks c6. It is better. First off, the gui is by far heads and shoulders above the acronis one. Secondly, it doesn't tell you it will take over 2hrs to back up the debian home partition. In the last couple of months I suddenly started seeing i/o errors with acronis which required input. Didn't matter if it was the ntfs or the ext4, it errored on both.
I leave it at default settings and it takes less than ten minutes for any partition on my c drive whether incremental or full.

It's not free is it...

FEAST said:

It's not free is it...

Click to expand...

It isn't, but to be fair, neither is Ghost or Acronis.

Well, the one thing I love Acronis for is it's ability to have just about every network card drive out there in existence...ty linux...so fire up Acronis Rescue Disk, restore image from network, all is well - can this do the same?

Yes.

Are you guys still liking TeraByte Image? I am so sick of all of the issues with Acronis and I'm looking for a replacement that offers the same functionality as Acronis B&R 11.5.

I have never heard of it until seeing this thread bumped today. A quick look around doesn't reveal any dealbreakers with it. But every time I see this question come up, the majority recommend Acronis. I still do.

SteveLord said:

I have never heard of it until seeing this thread bumped today.

Click to expand...

Acronis is a 21st century company, new guys so to speak.

TeraByte Unlimited was around before even Windows 3.1 was released -- they're the real deal.



Useful Info on how to create a TeraByte Image Boot CD:

1. Copy tbwinre folder from its default location
C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Unlimited\Image for Windows\V2\tbwinre

to C:\ drive

2. Inside tbwinre folder, create folder Drivers which can contain additional Windows drivers.
Copy contents of included v12.5.0.1066 f6flpy-x64 folder View attachment f6flpy-x64.zip to the tbwinre\Drivers folder.

3. Open imagew.ini file in Notepad and at the end of the file, next to Key=
at the end of the file, enter a valid name and license key then save the file.
(Be sure to enter this info next to the Key= at the end of the file, instead of replacing the example name John Smith and example license key.)


4. If the program was not installed in the default directory,
open TBWinRE.cmd in Notepad and enter correct paths for one or more
[There is no need to do this if the progarm was installed to its default directory]:

ifwpath = Image for Windows path
tbiviewpath = TBIView and TBIMount path
tbosdtpath = TeraByte OSD Tool Suite Pro path

For example:

set ifwpath=W:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Image
set tbiviewpath=W:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Unlimited\TBIView


5. Right click on TBWinRE.cmd > Run as administrator > Select: 2 - Create a TBWinRe CD

The program should run, wait for it to ask you to Press any key to continue... which launches TeraByte's MAKEDISK utility to create the TBWinRE CD.

6. Next > Select a drive or scroll UP to select ISO File > Enter ISO file name, for example C:\TBWinRE > Finish > Wait for it to complete > Close.


* * *

Creating a Bootable USB:

1. Connect your USB Flash drive then type this in Windows 8/7/Vista DOS [Windows XP DOS cannot be used for this]:

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk #
[of USB Flash drive]
• clean
• create partition primary
• select partition 1
• active
• format fs=NTFS quick
• assign
• exit

Now copy all contents of TBWinRE.iso to the USB Flash drive.

To boot from USB flash drive on newer systems, from their BIOS:
Disable secure boot
Enable Legacy Support
Save changes.

You may need to hold Esc when powering up to get to a menu where you can select Boot Device Options then select Internal CD/DVD ROM or USB as the Boot Device.