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Drive Image XML Free (Read 10666 times)
ben_mott
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Drive Image XML Free
Jan 14th, 2007 at 2:50pm
 
useful information:
You can run DriveImage XML from a WinPE boot CD-ROM.

http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
the above windows PE has the driveImageXML on once you make your Bootable CD.

DriveImage
DriveImage XML V1.18

Price: Free

System Requirements:
Pentium Processor
256 MB RAM
Windows XP or 2003
DriveImage XML is an easy to use and reliable program for imaging and backing up partitions and logical drives.

The program allows you to:
# Backup logical drives and partitions to image files
# Browse these images, view and extract files
# Restore these images to the same or a different drive
# Copy directly from drive to drive
# Schedule automatic backups with your Task Scheduler

Image creation uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS), allowing you to create safe "hot images" even from drives currently in use.

Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools. Never again be stuck with a useless backup!

Restore images to drives without having to reboot.

DriveImage XML runs under Windows XP Home, XP Professional and Windows Server 2003 only. The program will backup, image and restore drives formatted with FAT 12, 16, 32 and NTFS.

Since this program is currently distributed as freeware, we don't offer technical support for it. Please refer to the program's help file and documentation.

Please refer to the program's FAQ to see if your questions are already answered.
New
You can run DriveImage XML from a WinPE boot CD-ROM.

and it is all Free !! there must be a catch some where !!!!
the programs FAQ:

Q. What are my support options?

A. Since DriveImage XML is a free program, support is very limited. You can email us any questions you may have, however we do not accept support questions though our phone support.

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Q. What files are created by DriveImage?

A. It depends on whether you create a multi-file image or not. A multi-file image will have a .xml file and a .dat file and files beyond that are numbered .001, .002, .003,… until the end of the drive. If you do not create a multi-file image, there will be a .dat file and a .xml file.

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Q. Where are these files stored?

A. You will be prompted for a location in the software and you can choose where ever you like, however the default location is My Documents.

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Q. What Operating Systems are supported?

A. With the software installed on a PC, supported file systems are Windows XP, Windows Media Center, and Windows Server 2003. However you can create a BartPE CD with our software on it and boot from any of the Windows 9x or Windows 2000 machines and back them up as well.

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Q. Can I restore the image to a smaller partition?

A. No, currently you can only restore your data to a partition that is exactly the same size or larger, regardless of the data size.

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Q. Can I write the data directly to a CD/DVD?

A. No, you have to write the data to a hard drive first, then if you have chosen multi-file images, you can then burn those files to CD or DVD.

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Q. Are there any command line parameters?

A. For the backup there are the following commands:

/bx       Backup drive x, e.g. /bc
/tx       Write backup files to x, e.g. /td:\backups\drive_c
/r       Raw mode, e.g. /r or /r-
/s       Split image, e.g. /s or /s-
/c       Compressed, e.g. /c or /c-
/v       Try VSS first, e.g. /v, do not use with /l
/l       Try locking first, e.g. /l, do not use with /v

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Q. What about command line parameters for restoring a drive?

A. There currently are not any.

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Q. How do I restore an image back to a working state?

A. Note that you must put the image into an existing partition. If necessary create a new partition with Windows Disk Management first. You do not need to format the drive. The size of the partition you create will determine the size of the drive - for example if you create a 20GB partition and then restore a 10GB size image to it, the size of the drive will still be 20GB.

To start Windows Disk Management click:

    Start>Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management

If Windows Disk Management does not start, you can use the following commands from the command prompt:

    net start dmserver
    net start dmadmin
    diskpart

To restore an image to an existing partition, click Restore in the main program window.

Note on boot drives: If you want your computer to boot from the new partition you must set it to "active" with Windows Disk Management.

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Q. How much does the software cost?

A. Currently the software is free to everyone. You can use the software on as many drives or computers as you wish.

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Q. Why am I getting a VSS error when I try to backup a drive?

A. This error can occur if VSS (Volume Shadow Services) is not running properly on your system. This is not a DriveImage error. It is usually caused by poorly configured Windows systems.

Please verify in Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services that the following services are enabled:

    MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
    Volume Shadow Copy

Also make sure you are able to stop and start these services.

Possible reasons for VSS failures:

For VSS to work, at least one volume in your computer must be NTFS. If you use only FAT drives, VSS will not function. The required NTFS volume does not need to be identical with the volume you want to image.

You should make sure that VSSVC.EXE is running in your task manager. If the problems persist, registering "oleaut.dll" and "oleaut32.dll" using "regsvr32" might help.

Without VSS you still can make images with locking or without locking.

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Q. I restored my boot drive, why does it not boot?

A. To boot from a drive:
# The boot partition should be located on the first drive (DISK0), which is usually the master drive.
# The boot partition should be the first partition on the drive.
# The boot partition must be a "primary" partition.
# The boot partition must be "active".

If your drive still does not boot you can try to set a new "Disk ID". Windows remembers old drive letter assignments which can cause problems when trying to boot from a cloned drive. You can force the removal of old drive letter assignments by setting a new Disk ID. Click Tools->Set new Disk ID and read the instructions.

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Q. I want to browse an image. Why is the screen empty?

A. The image was created in RAW format. In RAW format, DriveImage does not interpret the data. Thus it has no knowledge about individual files.


Regards Ben
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Re: Drive Image XML Free
Reply #1 - Jan 15th, 2007 at 3:56pm
 
I chuckled when I looked at this as I just mentioned my use of runtime.org's GetDataBack in a post I just made.  That program gave me one of the most joyous moments of my recent (say, last 10  years) life.

I actually called their tech support line with a really mundane question and after a few rings somebody answered "hello". Nice guy, maybe the only guy I suspect. Definitely not Symantec.

I'm puzzled by what this is. I thought Symantec owned Drive Image.
 
 
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ben_mott
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Re: Drive Image XML Free
Reply #2 - Jan 17th, 2007 at 1:41pm
 
I noticed that it is included in UBCD4WIN PE Bootable CD
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
..and here is a thread where that tool and other alternatives are discussed:
http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=16534

regards Ben
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Re: Drive Image XML Free
Reply #3 - Jan 19th, 2007 at 9:24pm
 
I've been using UBCD4Win... with Ghost 8 added... for a few months now.... very nice project with lots of useful tools. I even added all my DOS bootdisk images as multiboot options so everything I need is on one single disc.

Thought I would give DriveImage XML a try... never used anything but ghost before.

With XP booted I popped in the CD and ran DriveImage XML... from the CD from within XP ( I didn't boot from the CD ) and continued to backup my C: partition that was in use... "hot image"... to my D: partition. It took 25 minutes to create a 2 gig image (compressed) of my 2.5 gig of data.

I then booted to Partition Magic in dos and formatted C: ... I have a Ghost image of it already, just in case.

Then I booted UBCD4Win and checked that C: was empty then used DI XML to restore it. Rebooted and all worked perfectly.

Pros:  Hot Image running OS without having to install extra software. It's free!

Cons:  Slow and not many extra features.

But hey! better than nothing!
 

If anything can go wrong, it already did, and you just now noticed it.
 
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