Is there a built in product that would let me make a backup DVD, so that I could restore the system to its present status ?
lol! I almost said to be able to back up the C: drive lol!
I am a dual boot system, Windows 7 and I would need to be able to get that included.
If there is not one built in, what do you recommend ?
thanks
No there isn’t. To elaborate: How would you get a Windows 7 install on a DVD?
What you can do, is use “dd” to create backups of entire partitions. This would require an external HDD.
But… rather backup your precious data, and/or the config files ( f.e. the entire /etc folder ).
On 2013-08-19 14:56, hextejas wrote:
>
> Is there a built in product that would let me make a backup DVD, so that
> I could restore the system to its present status ?
>
> lol! I almost said to be able to back up the C: drive lol!
>
> I am a dual boot system, Windows 7 and I would need to be able to get
> that included.
All that into a single DVD… it probably can not fit, too large.
Have a look at clonezilla, it does just that. But I don’t know if it can
clone across several DVDs.
I clone using plain ‘dd’ to a hd insstead. I want something better, as
in having compression and error detection and recovery.
There is a tool that I still have not tested, and now I can not find it.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)
On 2013-08-19 17:58, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> There is a tool that I still have not tested, and now I can not find it.
Package “ewftools”, perhaps program “ewfacquire”.
ewftools - Utilities for the Expert Witness Compression Format (EWF)
It is currently part of the distribution. There is a test susestudio
image that I still have not tested:
http://susestudio.com/a/eD1wrT/dfir-opensuse-gnome-desktop-32bit
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)
Re “my precious data”, is that what is located in >home ?
It seems that if I had that for each user I would be in pretty good shape.
Yes ??
Could I also make a bootable DVD that would have boot up openSUSE and be able to install itself, along with whatever changes I have made from the original install ?
I am trying to protect myself without having to go through all the gyrations we have done so far since my initial install.
On 2013-08-20 15:06, hextejas wrote:
> I am trying to protect myself without having to go through all the
> gyrations we have done so far since my initial install.
What I do for that is either:
dd the entire disk to an image file on another, bigger disk.
separate images:
· image the first few sectors of the disk (mbr, partition table, and
a bit more) to an image. backup the partition table with a partitioner
that can recreate them.
· image each partition of interest into image files.
· skip home image - instead rsync it.
I still want a better method that does compression and error recovery. I
have some issues with the likes of clonezilla.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)
Like you, I used to search for the backup holy grail and never found it. Just think about it: what matters is what you created (in /home), and perhaps the configuration files in /etc. Use one of the many excellent rsync based utilities (I recommend LuckyBackup) and have done with it. Eeverything else takes an evening to reinstall, much less than the search for the perfect backup solution.
But then again, I don’t use Windows anymore. From (now distant) memory, it always reached the stage when I no longer wanted to restore all the crud in the registry, and preferred a fresh reinstall anyway…
That’s what I did gminnerup, installed LuckyBackup and had it make copies of home and /etc.
It runs pretty fast.
I have been ignoring the Windows data and the more that I use openSUSE, the less likely that I am to go back to it, other than at tax time, once a year.
If you run Windows only for taxes then I’d do a way with dual boot (it can be a pain) and install a version of Windows in a virtual machine like VirtualBox. Note you do have to have a real Windows disk not one that is just a image from the computer maker.
That’s exactly what I do, for the same reason (running tax software, on occasion things like Word or InDesign). This also solves your backup problem with Windows files, as the Windows drive is just a (hidden) file on your hard disk and gets backed up with everything else.
Now that sounds interesting and of course, I have no idea how to proceed.
So it looks like I need to hit the books.
Would I install the virtual machine 1st before doing anything to the Windows partition ?
Yes, you need to install VM software before doing anything else. I use VMware but Virtualbox is probably easier to start with. Once you have a virtual machine installed, you need to install Windows in it and all your Windows software, then copy your data over.
It is possible to move an existing installation into a VM but far from straightforward. The procedure outlined above is easier.
gminnerup wrote:
>
> gogalthorp;2580619 Wrote:
>> If you run Windows only for taxes then I’d do a way with dual boot (it
>> can be a pain) and install a version of Windows in a virtual machine
>> like VirtualBox. Note you do have to have a real Windows disk not one
>> that is just a image from the computer maker.
>
> That’s exactly what I do, for the same reason (running tax software, on
> occasion things like Word or InDesign). This also solves your backup
> problem with Windows files, as the Windows drive is just a (hidden) file
> on your hard disk and gets backed up with everything else.
Ditto here. A big advantage you missed is the portability - that file of
the Win virtual system can be moved to just about any machine running the
same virtual machine with no problem. Of course, it will probably be a huge
file but being able to move it to a new home is a major reason I use it,
even if I have dual boot or a machine running native Windows.
–
Will Honea
whonea@yahoo.com
On 2013-08-21 01:16, hextejas wrote:
> That’s what I did gminnerup, installed LuckyBackup and had it make
> copies of home and /etc.
> It runs pretty fast.
> I have been ignoring the Windows data and the more that I use openSUSE,
> the less likely that I am to go back to it, other than at tax time, once
> a year.
I use Windows very little, but those things I need it for are very
important, so it is best to keep it safe. That means I have a backup
good enough to restore that Windows. Ie, I have a dd image of it.
Why don’t I use a virtual machine to keep Windows? Well, because there
are some cases they do not work.
In my case, I need Windows to keep updated some hardware that their
manufacturers only provide Windows software for: my car gps system, my
ebook for reading drm protected books, my android phone… yes, it needs
Windows! 
And unfortunately, a virtual machine simply fails. I tried.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 12.3 x86_64 “Dartmouth” at Telcontar)