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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 is a great free imaging and partitioning tool


Paragon has long been a name respected by technicians and IT professionals. Their latest release is aimed squarely at home users, and it's a program well worth trying out.

Backup & Recovery 10 Free Edition is an excellent, multi-talented hard drive management app. So, what can you do with it? For starters, it will create and restore images of your hard drives and partitions. There's also a built-in tool for creating bootable rescue media (either CD or USB flash drive).

Tasks can be scheduled to run at regular intervals, and you can also create differential jobs (which only back up files that have changed since the previous backup). On massive partitions, the differential option can really speed up the imaging process.

You can also mount previously created images so you can explore them like any other folder or disk on your computer - or manually add additional files.

In addition to backup and imaging tasks, Backup & Recovery can also perform a number of partition management tasks. Use it to create, format (FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4, Linux Swap), and hide partitions as well as check filesystem integrity and check for surface defects.

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free is loaded with great features. It's simple enough for casual users and powerful enough to be of use to seasoned veterans.

It's free for non-commercial use and downloads are provided for both 32 and 64-bit Windows. You will need to register for a serial number, but it's well worth the minimal effort (just be sure uncheck any 'email me special offers' boxes).

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial, Windows x64

O&O DiskImage offers powerful cloning features for 64-bit Windows


O&O makes a ton of great software, and they're doing a great job of releasing native 64-bit versions of their apps - like DiskImage.

Like Macrium Reflect and DriveImage XML, DiskImage runs right in Windows. It performs well, imaging my C: drive's 70GB several minutes faster than Reflect.

DiskImage has some other very cool features, like the ability to mount images as a virtual drive, burn images to CD or DVD, and clone drive-to-drive. It also supports incremental images which can save huge amounts of time when backing up drives with a lot of data.

Jobs can also be scheduled, making DiskImage an excellent option for disaster recovery on your workstations and servers. While it's not free, a 30-day trial is available for download and the pro version is reasonably priced at around $30US.

You'll need to fill out a form when you download - just make sure to uncheck the newsletter option if you don't want to be contacted. A 32-bit version is also available.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Commercial, Freeware, Ask DLS

My two favorite free, post-install tech tools

We received a question from one of our readers the other day asking about an easy way to resize his 500GB data drive to make room for a Windows 7 install. This got me thinking about two tools that I've been using a lot lately: Easeus Partition Manager and Macrium Reflect.

If you play with a lot of operating systems, keeping a good set of images (or a stockpile of extra hard drives) around is a must. Reflect is incredibly fast and the free version should provide all the functionality most home or enthusiast users need. If not, the full version is only $40 anyway, and well worth it.

Reflect also works right in Windows, which makes imaging drives a task that users of any skill level can easily handle. People I tell to grab the free version sometimes have trouble finding the download page: it's right here.


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Filed under: Security, Utilities, Commercial

Jump through some hoops, get Norton Ghost 12.0 for free

Ghost offer
The only thing better than free software is commercial software that you can pick up for free (legally, we're not talking shady BitTorrent downloads here). And right now you can pick up a full copy for Norton Ghost 12.0 for free after rebates from Buy.com.

Norton Ghost is a commercial application that lets you perform a complete backup of your computer. If your PC crashes, you can use Ghost to restore every single last bit of information, including all your files and settings. Normally the software costs $70, but Buy.com has it for $50. And if you buy it this week, you can take advantage of two rebates that make the software effectively free.

The first rebate is pretty straightforward. You submit it, and you get a $30 Visa check card. That's all there is to it. In order to qualify for the second, $20 rebate, you'll need to demonstrate that you've purchased any other antivirus, firewall, antispam, or antispyware utility from Norton, Symantec, or any other competing company.

In other words, if you've ever paid for security software (and have the receipt to prove it), you can get another $20 off. If you're a fan of freeware, you're out of luck. Still, $20 is a pretty good price for Ghost. Or if you're looking for a free method for performing a complete drive backup, check out DriveImage XML. It doesn't have all of Ghost's features, but it is free.

The Norton Ghost offer expires Saturday.

[via CNet]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Partition Saving - Today's Free File

partition saving freewarePartition-Saving is awkwardly named but incredibly useful app for transferring the bits of one drive to the space on another drive. It's kind of like Norton Ghost, but free. The utility works in DOS only, and I think would be excellent for techs of any stripe. Partition-Saving can also save parts of a drive, like the Master Boot Record or partition tables. The documentation is extensive, and I appreciate the effort, as clearly English is not the developer's primary language. Pretty handy app for freeware.

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