Disk Image Backup - a Brief Overview

This article is going to focus on the basics of a disk image backup. First I will define what a disk image backup is, then the main reason for why you would want to do it, and finally a list of tools that will help you in doing a disk image backup of your hard drive.

What is a disk image backup?

Disk image backup is basically what it sounds. It is a backup of the disk image (your hard drive). A copy of the hard drive your are backing up is made onto a storage device. A disk image backup is sort of like a snapshot of your hard drive as it is when the disk image backup was done. This snapshot includes all of the settings, preferences, and files and folders on the hard drive. A disk image backup is a very convenient way not only to backup data, but also the state of the operating system as it is (functional and working) in case you need to restore your system later (that is when you would use the disk image backup in the storage device and restore the system).

Why should I do a disk image backup?

The most obvious reason being you are backing up the contents of your hard drive that has all your files so that if your hard drive crashes, you will have a backup of all of your important files on the disk image backup you created. On a personal computer, doing a disk image backup rather than just backing up your files means you are backing up not only your files, but in a way, your whole OS (Operating System).

If your system were to crash, it is true if you had backed up your files, you will still have the backed up version of your files. You would still have to re-install all of the programs/software that was previously on your machine. With a disk image backup, you won't have to do that. All of the software, files, and everything else will be there as you remember it when you did the disk image backup.

How can I do a disk image backup?

Now that I have explained what a disk image backup is and why you should do it, I will list some free tools that are available on the internet that you can use to get an in-depth detail on how to do the disk image backup and also does the actual backup of the disk image.

BackupPC: http://backuppc.sourceforge.net/index.html

Freebyte Backup: http://www.freebyte.com/fbbackup/

Back4Win: http://www.back4win.com/