

- Free hard drive cloning software review how to#
- Free hard drive cloning software review full#
- Free hard drive cloning software review Pc#
- Free hard drive cloning software review free#
Occasionally this problem affects the Master Boot Record itself, preventing the OS from booting at all.ĭisk repair, therefore, primarily involves fixing bad sectors and recovering data from them. This can show the drive as empty even though it is not. Sometimes the file system table gets corrupted. Normally, the OS should remap the data to a new sector, but it does not always work, leading to data loss. ShadowProtect Desktop 5 will also let users open images to restore individual files or folders, and images created with the program can be launched as a VM inside VirtualBox, should users want to experiment on an image without necessarily restoring files.When a hard disk starts malfunctioning, it rarely goes kaput all at once. After an initial image is created, the program can then take incremental backups at whatever schedule the user desires. The utility can take images of disks or partitions and save them virtually anywhere.
Free hard drive cloning software review Pc#
With that said, experienced PC users will probably dig a number of ShadowProtect Desktop 5’s features. It also seems like the developers of ShadowProtect Desktop assume their users have a certain level of expertise with image-based backup solutions, because the program’s help system isn’t terribly detailed. One of the advantages to having enterprise-class roots is that ShadowProtect Desktop 5 is about as reliable as they come, but the app also looks somewhat dated in comparison to competing products from Acronis and Symantec. StorageCraft, a respected provider of enterprise-class backup solutions, scaled down some of its wares to produce ShadowProtect Desktop 5. Powerful, easy to use, and has enterprise-class DNA $85, (opens in new tab) ShadowProtect Desktop 5 Symantec System Recovery 2013 can even send backup images and data to an offsite FTP.
Free hard drive cloning software review full#
Like Acronis True Image, Symantec System Recovery 2013 can do everything from incremental backups to full drive clones, and the utility supports virtually any type of storage media, from USB flash drives to network volumes. It is the $85 Symantec System Recovery 2013 Desktop Edition of the software that will be of most interest to you, our good readers. Symantec System Recovery is offered in a few versions, which target home, corporate, or enterprise users. Earlier this year, though, Symantec discontinued development of Norton Ghost and moved on to a new, all-encompassing cloning and backup solution dubbed Symantec System Recovery. The utility was so popular, in fact, that somewhat like Google, the brand became a verb: “Ghosting” a system was synonymous with cloning a drive or taking a system image. Norton Ghost reincarnated, with new name and additional featuresįor years, when you discussed cloning or imaging a system, Norton Ghost came to mind. $50, (opens in new tab) Symantec System Recovery 2013 Desktop Edition
Free hard drive cloning software review free#
If you’re looking for a basic, free solution that does little else but clone disks or create images, or a more comprehensive product that also offers some cloud storage for backups, we’ve got something on tap that fits the bill. We have rounded up a half-dozen hard drive cloning and disk-imaging utilities and will attempt to demystify the selection process for you here. But if you start to dig in and compare the options and capabilities of the multitude of utilities out there, you’ll quickly find that their lists of features are as varied as their price points.įret not. There are plenty of cloning utilities to choose from, and Windows itself even has the ability to create disk images built right in.

And those images can be quickly and easily restored or moved to a new drive (or VM) in the event of a problem.

Assuming they work properly, at their most basic level, cloning utilities make bit-by-bit, accurate clones-or images-of a drive or partition. In some ways, all cloning and imaging utilities are similar.

Free hard drive cloning software review how to#
For a related story on how to clone a hard drive or SSD, click here.
