Backup

Backup

Introduction

DriveImage XML will let you create images of logical drives or partitions into an image file.

Creating an Image

To create an image, in the main window of the program click on Backup.

The program will quickly scan your system for accessible drives and then display a list of all available drives, incl. information about their physical and logical geometry.

Select the drive you wish to backup. DriveImage XML creates images of logical drives and partitions, but not of a whole physical drive - so if you have more than one partition that you want to backup on one drive, you will need to create separate images for each of them.

Backup Wizard

Press Next to start the Backup Wizard. Verify that you've selected the right drive in the next window and press Next.

Select a location for the image file that DriveImage XML will create. Be sure to have enough space on the destination location to store the image.

Options:

Raw Mode - If you select raw mode, DriveImage XML will create a sector-by-sector image of your drive, i.e. of all the sectors on your drive, even the unused ones.
The resulting image file will be the same size as the size of the imaged logical drive or partition. You should choose raw mode if you need an exact copy of your whole drive. With raw mode selected you will not be able to resize the drive once you want restore it later to a different drive.

If you only need an image of the used portions of your drive, i.e. the data on the drive, leave raw mode unchecked. The resulting image file will only be as large as the used area on your drive.
Split large Files - Since FAT file systems cannot handle files larger than 4 GB, check the option for split large files, if the file system on the drive you want to store the image file on is FAT. You might also want to split large files, if you plan on putting the image file onto CD-ROMs later.
Compressed - Turning on compression will make the image file up to 40% smaller. Image creating will be a bit slower with compression selected.
Hot Imaging Strategy - DriveImage XML allows you to create an image of your drive even if it is in use. This requires that the section of the drive that is currently processed for the backup is blocked for write access in order to prevent that files are modified without having those changes reflected in the backup.

DriveImage accomplishes that by either locking the volume for write access rights for all other applications or processes while the image is created, or by using Microsoft's Volume Shadow Service (VSS). When using VSS, before backing up files that are either in use, locked or open, DriveImage XML will request the creation of a Volume Shadow Copy, i.e. a snapshot of the specific part of the drive where those files are located. DriveImage XML will then use the Volume Shadow Copy to access those files. The Volume Shadow Copy will be discarded as soon as it isn't needed anymore.
The program by default will try to lock the volume first (unless you tell it to do otherwise), and if that fails, will work with VSS. If that doesn't work either, the program will warn you that no volume locking or VSS is available and that therefore the resulting backup might be corrupt. You may at this point choose to proceed with the backup anyways.

Click Next and DriveImage XML will create the image. A status bar will show you the approximate time this process will take. Finally you will get a notification telling you whether or not the backup was successfully completed.

Advantage over most Backup Programs

Most other backup programs will create an image file that isn't accessible by means other than the restore function of the original backup program. That means, if either the data integrity of the backup is imperfect or the restore function fails, the backup is useless and the data probably lost beyond recovery.

DriveImage XML works differently. The backup will create two files, a *.XML which contains the drive description and a *.DAT which contains the imaged drive's binary data. *.XML can be opened with several different applications, for example any browser or even a simple text editor. The *.XML file not only contains information about the imaged drive's geometry, file system and the image itself, it also tells you for every single file in the backup the exact sector location in the *.DAT file, which contains the actual data. In other words - even if the image cannot for any reason be restored or you need to process the data in a different way, the data is still there, accessible and usable.

The above mentioned files will be used for restoring or browsing an image.

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