Continuing Exercises: Backup Using ISO File
     14 years
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A week or so ago, s4v8 posted that he was in the middle of doing a backup using ImgBurn. see http://www.poi-factory.com/node/36307.
That got me to thinking about the several backups I have that are taking up space. Did I really need that many on my PC or would only the latest one do? But, what if I wanted to check out something like the various sizes of JCV files.
Having most of the backups on DVD seemed to be a good alternative. Every time I make a major change to my nuvi, I could make an image of the nuvi and write that image to DVD - keeping only the latest "image" file on my PC.
Then, it dawned on me that I have a smartphone that I want a good backup of - especially since my Droid failed in March and I wound up with a replacement that did not have a backup of all the free apps I had downloaded. I determined that the following technique would work for my phone when it was attached to my PC.
So - thanks s4v8 - you get the credit for this idea
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Continuing Exercises: Backup Using ISO File
Of course, you have already backed up your GPS by copying it’s files to your PC, so you are ready for the unexpected. Then, when you updated the maps, you made another complete backup. Later, when the firmware was updated, you made another backup. All of a sudden, you notice that there is a lot of your hard drive is being taken up with GPS backups.
What if you were able to make the backup to a DVD?
What if making a backup to a DVD took less time that just copying files?
One technique for backing up to DVD is to make an “image” of the files on your GPS and then write that “image” to a DVD. Both these steps can be done using a piece of software called ImgBurn. You can download ImgBurn from
http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
(but see note 1 below)
Step 1: Connect your GPS to your computer
Step 2: Build "image" using ImgBurn
2.a: Start ImgBurn
2.b: Click on the middle option in the right panel “Create image file from files/folders"
2.c: In the top middle of the dialog box which appears is an Icon of a “folder”. Click on that folder.
2.d: In the “Browse For Folder” box which appears, navigate to the drive for your GPS and select it. (note: you want to image the entire drive).
2.e: Click Ok
2.f: In the destination Box, browse for a folder into which the file name you type in will be placed.
2.g: Click on the blue arrow.
2.h: Confirm the Volume label or just wait for the timer to run out.
2.i: ImgBurn will read the drive and give you the size of the files it will image
2j: Click Ok and Image burn will proceed to create an ISO file of the GPS
Step 3: Burn to DVD
3.a: Start ImgBurn
3.b: Click on "Write image file to disk"
3.c: Click File > Browse for a source file and navigate to the ISO file you just created
3.d: Click Open
3.e: Load a DVD into your DVD writer
3.f: Check “Verify”
3.g: Click the blue arrow to write and verify your DVD
3.h: Click Ok to the “Operation Successfully completed” message
3.i: Depending on how you have your PC settings configured, you may get a pop up dialog for your DVD drive asking if you want to “open folder to view files using Windows Explorer”. If so, click the Ok button. Otherwise, navigate to your DVD drive using Windows Explorer and look at the files that are now on the DVD.
Additional Steps
What about the ISO file you created on your PC?
Well, you could delete it if you want because you have a backup on DVD. You could just leave the file there for later reference, but you will need a way to read that ISO file. 7-Zip portable will work. Get this software at http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/7-zip_portable
Just download the “7-Zip….paf.exe” file to a new folder on you computer and run it. It will extract the program to that folder (no “install” as you are used to). You can then delete the “7-Zip….paf.exe” file. Run 7-Zip and point it to the ISO file. Select the file and click File > Open
Note 1: I prefer to use a “portable” version of ImgBurn – which means that you run ImgBurn from the folder to which you downloaded it; it does not require an “install”; it does not write to the registry and leaves no tracks on the computer. However, to get a “portable version requires that one “extract” the internal files from the “.exe” file using another product called Universal Extractor. If this interests you, then go to www.portablefreeware.com and search for both products.
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I do not have a "hidden" partition on my nuvi. If any of you try this technique that do have a "hidden" partition, would you please "hide" it again before doing the "image". I wonder if it is possible to see it in the "image"
I used to back up files on
I used to back up files on DVDs. I created a few DVD's that 6 months later could not be read. 3-4 years later, very few of the DVD's I have burned are still usable. I prefer to store info on hard disk drives, their reliability (in my experience) is much better than home-burned DVD's.
On the other hand, commercially produced CDs and DVDs have been quite reliable.
@Jgermann
A great thank you for writing it up. I caught the initial post by s4v8 and thought it was a great idea. I was going to try it when I got a chance.
Nuvi 2460LMT.
Could it be bad media?
I used to back up files on DVDs. I created a few DVD's that 6 months later could not be read. 3-4 years later, very few of the DVD's I have burned are still usable. I prefer to store info on hard disk drives, their reliability (in my experience) is much better than home-burned DVD's.
On the other hand, commercially produced CDs and DVDs have been quite reliable.
I had to go do some work on the sound system at church this morning and, while driving, I listened to a various CDs I have burned over the past 10 years. All of them played.
I would expect that the DVD backups of my units would be readable long after the unit itself had failed.
Could it be bad media?
Perhaps, but I have tried many different kinds of media on many different DVD & CD burners, over the entire time computers have been creating optical media.
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I would expect that the DVD backups of my units would be readable long after the unit itself had failed. My experience differs drastically from yours and from your expectations. In my experience hard discs are far more reliable as long-term storage than home-burned optical media. The exception is for hard discs that are regularly used - those do fail or wear out due to the usual problems.
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I do back up some of my key installation media to hard discs, as ISO files - I can then duplicate the installation media to a fresh optical disc if so needed. I have not had problems with freshly burned optical media, only with ones in storage for months.
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I back up my regularly used hard discs, by cloning the entire disc to an identical one (or more) kept in storage. When my computer's hard discs fail (as they will), I can swap the bad discs for a good one in 5 minutes. Compare that to how long it takes to restore a complete hard disc system by any other method.
Be interested in details
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I back up my regularly used hard discs, by cloning the entire disc to an identical one (or more) kept in storage. When my computer's hard discs fail (as they will), I can swap the bad discs for a good one in 5 minutes. Compare that to how long it takes to restore a complete hard disc system by any other method.
like what does the cloning.
Tell us as much as you have time to write.
Be interested in details
Seagate hard drives have worked pretty well for me. Seagate offers a free utility, made by Acronis. The only restriction is that at least one disc in the system you are working on be made by Seagate. Since most of my discs are Seagate, not a problem.
Utility is called Seagate DiscWizard. Their page for it is here: http://www.seagate.com/support/downloads/discwizard/
Otherwise,works the same as Acronis TrueImage.
I've only had 2 hitches in the system. \
--- One was a free offer I found on a website for Acronis TrueImage. I snapped it up, and thought I would get the functionality of DiscWizard with no restrictions as to the maker of the hard disc. When I installed this and tried to run it, Acronis tells me it won't clone a hard disc. Then I went back to my previous installation of DiscWizard, and it told me the same thing - the previous time I ran DiscWizard, I didn't have that problem. So apparently the Acronis freebie disabled the cloning function of DiscWizard too, the programs are almost identical. I uninstalled the Acronis-branded freebie, and also DiscWizard. Then I reinstalled DiskWizard from my original download. This restored my ability to clone a hard disc. This happened just the other day. I have 2 750-GB HDD's, both made by Seagate, that I use on my newest Lenovo laptop. One is backed up by the other periodically. After I cloned the older drive, I swapped it out with the newer drive, and it ran just fine. {By the way, Windows 7 has a backup utility with a good reputation. I have not figured out how to clone drives with it, which is my preferred way to back up HDDs.} With the right small Phillips head screwdriver, I can swap HDD's within 5 minutes. This is much faster than any other HDD restoration method I have ever read about.
My Lenovo laptop has a removable optical disc, and an optional disc drawer which will accept a HDD. I put my backup HDD in that drawer, install it on my laptop, and my backups are created at the speed of my motherboard's bus. Before I had the drawer, I used a special eSATA interface HDD external enclosure, which moved the data just as fast. Not many laptops have an eSATA interface possibility. I need this because I back up 400 GB of material at a time. I could use a USB-based HDD enclosure, but this would take far too long. If you are backing up less material, this is not important. About 1 hour 45 minutes is needed to clone an HDD with 400 GB of data.
-- The other problem I had was when I upgraded from a 500 GB HDD to a 750 GB HDD. Some HDD manufacturers uses a different method of data allocation called Advanced Format on newer HDDs, and the first cloning gave me an HDD that would not launch Windows 7 properly. On the 750 GB HDD the cloned Windows 7 installation would start its boot process normally, with the usual first splash screen, followed by a black screen with "autochk program not found - skipping AUTOCHECK" then followed by a BSOD
STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error} __The Session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000003a (0x00000000 0x00000000" I was able launch Lenovo's Rescue Partition on the 750 GB HDD, and recreated the OEM factory software situation on the new HDD. That ran fine, except that Windows Update wouldn't work properly. I also have an official Microsoft Windows 7 factory stamped SP1 software upgrade - that also refused to install itself on the bigger disc,although it had never given me trouble before.
I did extensive online research & found that the "Advanced Format" drives have 4k-type sectors, and can cause problems with performance if their partitions aren’t correctly aligned (whatever that means). My new 750 GB HDD indeed was "Advanced Format." I learned that an Intel Utility called "Rapid Storage Technology" cured the sector recognition problem. That also cured my Windows Update and SP1 installation problems. Some Windows 7 installations have this problem, and some don't. As of Nov. 2011, not even Microsoft had a solution for this problem. Haven't checked lately to see if they have a kb about solving it. Once I had my 750GB HDD running its Windows 7 properly, DiscWizard would clone it with good results.
Other than the above, Seagate DiscWizard is a great cloning utility for owners of Seagate HDD's. Highly recommended.
Using ISO's from within the operating system.
I have found utilities for Windows that will "mount" an ISO stored on an HDD and can access its files and run its programs as if the ISO had been burned onto an optical disc, and the disc was in the optical disc drawer.
Tonight I learned the upcoming Windows 8 system will be able to do this natively without any extraneous software needed. For what it's worth.
Thanks, artfd
for the explanation
I am currently using Acronis True Image but may decide to switch to Macrium Reflect in order to get incremental backup capability. I am a fan of Leo Notenboom and this is what he currently is recommeding (www.ask-leo.com).
I should probably consider the two hard drive route as HDs are relatively cheap nowdays. I currently use an external USB drive for my backups with the USB drive being kept in a fireproof safe.
I also have Carbonite for my data files. While they offer an "image" option, I do not use it.
I have a RAID array in my basement
I make sure I save all data to the network drive, and life is good. With the price of drives, and PCs, you could easily build a mirrored 2TB array for under $400. I have two 1.5TB drives mirrored on a spare PC. With a 1GB Ethernet connector, backups are relatively quick.
Striving to make the NYC Metro area project the best.