Review: Drive Image 5.0

Looking for the right image? Dave Cook takes to cloning around as he checks out some powerful disk imaging software.

Product	DriveCopy 4.0
Company	PowerQuest
Web	www.powerquest.com
Price	£39.99 inc VAT, Upgrade £29.99 inc VAT
We like	Windows XP support. A new Windows-based user interface
We don't like	DataKeeper utility is not supported under Windows XP.
Rating	9/10
Requirements

Taking regular backups of the data stored on your computer is vitally important, but it's a routine that's too often neglected. One common excuse is that tape backups take ages to complete. Fair enough, but why back up to tape at all when a utility such as PowerQuest's Drive Image 5.0 can be so much quicker.

It takes Drive Image just a few minutes to create an exact copy of your hard drive or partition. When it's finished, you simply transfer the image to a CD-R/W, Zip, JAZ, MO drive, or a network drive. Alternatively, you could transfer the whole shebang over to another partition - as long as you don't mind backing up your data to a device on the same machine, which admittedly is not always a good idea. Whatever method you choose, a recently updated image of your drive should be sufficient to get you out of trouble in the event of a minor disaster.

New Interface

Thanks to QuickImage, Drive Image's new Windows interface, there's no longer any need to manually revert to DOS in order to configure and execute image sessions. Using QuickImage you can create an image to back up an entire hard disk or just selected partitions. It's also possible to create multiple image configurations, saving them as a desktop icon so that they can be run at a later date.

A QuickImage scheduler is also included, which allows you to schedule a daily or weekly imaging operation. Importantly, these sessions can be scheduled to operate at a time when the computer is not otherwise engaged. You will, however, still need to use a DOS interface to create and restore image files when performing tasks such as upgrading your hard drive, or when carrying out other duties such as deleting or hiding partitions.

Other key new additions include Virtual Floppy technology, which eliminates the need to create boot floppies, and a VF Editor. The VF Editor enables you to custom-build your own floppy files and is useful for loading your own custom drivers. Meanwhile, to aid emergency recovery, Drive Image is now CD bootable (on supported machines), along with support for hard drives up to 80GB.

Automatic

Drive Image 5.0 also allows you to perform automated backups via the handy DataKeeper utility. DataKeeper allows you to automatically backup combinations of important files or folders to your local hard disk, a second partition that contains an existing file system and drive letter, a network drive, or a removable media such as JAZ or Zip drives. You select the folders containing the files you wish to back up regularly and DataKeeper will take care of it automatically.

File compression is available to those that need it, while password protection is also supported to help keep your backups free from prying eyes. Disappointingly, the version of DataKeeper (4.1) supplied with Drive Image isn't supported under Windows XP.

It's worth mentioning that to use Drive Image on SCSI hard drives, your SCSI controller card must support software Interrupt 13. While the majority of SCSI adapters support this option, it pays to check first. If software Interrupt 13 is not supported by the adapter, then Drive Image will not work on drives attached to that card.

Verdict

More than just a data backup solution, Drive Image is perfect for creating identical setups on two computers containing similar hardware.

 

Dave Cook