I am trying to find a good software or nice method to make a backup of my windows xp when it's fresh installed with programs and restore it later when I need it.
here's how my hard drive is formatted:
Partition C:windows xp sp2, this partition is the system root and i don't boot from it at all. I keep it 100% clean
Partition D:windows xp sp2, this partition is the partition I want to make an image from, it contains all my programs and everytime I boot my pc I go to this partition
Partition E:windows xp sp2, this partition is a backup windows in case partition D got affected i will be able to continue my work till i install another windows on partition D.
So, as you see I am protected in case I got affected by a virus, I will always be able to boot from another partition to save my files or even do a virus scan, I can even unistall and install new fresh windows on partition D or E without affecting each others because I have a system root partition on C clean 100% not even the network driver is installed on it.
Now my question is what is the best way to make an image of my partition D and install it when I need it without affecting partiton C and E. I just want a fresh image of my windows that I can put on external hard drive and be able to install it without any problems, because installing a new windows with all the softwares is a long process.
I tried Acronis but it seems not working the way I want it to be, it also made my partition E boot too slow.
macrium reflect is free and will backup your partition. To restore you will need the bootcd (macrium reflect has both a linux based bootcd and the bartpe plugin to make a windows based bootcd). Just make sure you restore windows xp to the correct partition that it came from. XP has a habbit of remembering all the "partition ID's", if you restore it on the wrong partition it usually won't bootup. You might want to also get the free "paragon rescue kit 9.0 express" it's a bootcd that can fix drive letters and boot.ini problems. It's a good utility to have when restoring windows xp.
You might also consider using "returnil" that's what I use when I am on the internet. Returnil works great with xp, no virus/spyware has ever affected my drive. Any virus/spyware that might bypass your antivus/firewall won't make it to the hard drive with returnil enabled.
I also do image backups, but mostly as insurance against hard drive failure. Never had to restore one due to virus/spyware.
