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Disk imaging software
Disk imaging software takes a complete snapshot of all the data stored on your computer’s hard drive. It’s a good way to back up everything on your system, so you can reload it – complete with all saved files, programs and preferences – in the event of a major system crash or hard drive failure.
Disk imaging software comparison chart for 2024
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Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office |
O&O DiskImage 17 |
Paragon Drive Copy Professional |
FarStone TotalRecovery Pro 10 |
Macrium Reflect Standard |
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Setup
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Imaging
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Restoring
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Effectiveness
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Features
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Ease of use
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Bootable DOS or CD-ROM
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Image explorer
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Incremental backup
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Deletion capabilities
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Partition / format drives
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Burn backup CD / DVD
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Backup to physical partitions
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Resizes during restore
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Verifies data during burn
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Multicast deployment
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Script creation
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Change SID
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Virtual disk
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Restore individual files / folders
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Self-extract images
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Hot backup
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Skip auxiliary files
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Compress backup
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Split images
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Copy drive-to-drive
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Copy byte-to-byte
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Encrypt / password backup
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Customize label backup
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Set time / dates
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Task editor
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Network
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SCSI
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USB
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CD-ROM
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DVD
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Firewire
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FAT 16/32
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NTFS
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Ext 2/3 FS
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ReiserFS
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Linux swap
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Telephone support
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Email support
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Help files
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Manual
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FAQs / Knowledgebase
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Knowledgebase
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Windows 11
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Windows 10
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Windows 8
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Windows 7
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Disk imaging software explained
Disk imaging software isn’t just designed to guard against problems. It can also assist you when you buy a new computer and want to move everything to it from your old one.
When you transfer a disk image, all your settings and programs will be preserved. Unlike other forms of backup, you won’t be required you to reinstall software and manually set it up the way you like it.
You can also use disk imaging software to create a standard configuration for new computers. This is most often used by businesses who want to have the same software and settings on all of their PCs.
To use disk imaging software, you’ll need somewhere to store the image of your disk. Although you can save it to your main hard drive, this means that if the hard drive fails, you’ll lose the image as well as the original copy of your data.
Many people purchase an extra hard drive instead. This makes it easy to transfer the image to other computers too. All you have to do is plug the hard drive in.
Getting started with disk imaging software
Disk imaging software isn’t a direct replacement for other backup software. You should use the two together, because although disk imaging software makes it easy to reconstruct your entire system, it’s hard or impossible to restore individual files.
For extra security, get disk imaging software with built in encryption and password protection. After all, you don’t want just anyone getting their hands on your data.
Disk imaging software is the easiest way to recover your system in the event of a disastrous crash. Instead of having to spend hours going back to the factory settings, then installing all your software individually, it enables you to restore your computer, the way you like it – with little hassle.