Upgrading Laptop to Windows 7 - drive imager

I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
What is the best free Drive imager out there?
My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
I'll do it.

J

If you can get Acronis True Image from somewhere such as giveaway of the
day, it's great. I have also had good luck with Macrium Reflect.

<> wrote in message
news:...
> I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
> Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
> scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
> case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
> What is the best free Drive imager out there?
> My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
> USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
> I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
> I'll do it.
>
> J

Acronis True Image work great
also if you buy another HD a lot of them come with cloning software
or downloadable from the manufacturers website.

peter

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<> wrote in message
news:...
> I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
> Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
> scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
> case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
> What is the best free Drive imager out there?
> My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
> USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
> I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
> I'll do it.
>
> J

> What is the best free Drive imager out there?


Hi,

If it's for an image backup, there are tools provided by drive
manufacturers:

Seagate:

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...ds/discwizard/

As far as I know, Seagate also uses Acronis's engine, and for more
information: http://www.seagate.com/support/discwizard/dw_ug.en.pdf

Western Digital:

Acronyms True Image WD Edition:

http://support.wdc.com/product/downl...ad&wdc_lang=en

Hope this helps and good luck,



<> wrote in message
news:...
> I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
> Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
> scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
> case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
> What is the best free Drive imager out there?
> My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
> USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
> I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
> I'll do it.
>
> J

<> wrote in message
news:...
>I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
> Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
> scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
> case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
> What is the best free Drive imager out there?
> My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
> USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
> I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
> I'll do it.
>
> J

True image has saved me many times. It may be worth the money as it's
really something good to have. I have all three of our machines backed up
to a usb drive. Well worth the money and it's not very expensive anyway.

Thomas

Just watch out for the 2009 version--The later version or earlier version
seems to be better.
"Thomas" <> wrote in message
news:%...
>
> <> wrote in message
> news:...
>>I have a full copy of Windows 7 Ultimate.
>> Since I'm old school I am going to wipe the drive and upgrade it from
>> scratch. Before I do that I would like to back up the entire drive in
>> case something goes wrong and I have to go back to Vista.
>> What is the best free Drive imager out there?
>> My plan is to back up the entire drive onto a network drive or external
>> USB2/Firewire/esata drive.
>> I would rather not have to install the OS to restore - but if I have to
>> I'll do it.
>>
>> J
>
> True image has saved me many times. It may be worth the money as it's
> really something good to have. I have all three of our machines backed up
> to a usb drive. Well worth the money and it's not very expensive anyway.
>
> Thomas