DriveImage XML

3.0 stars

"Wasted two days using this"

January 6, 2013  |   By getterdunnow

Version: DriveImage XML 2.44

Pros

It copied the files to my new drive

Cons

1) After the copy, the new drive would not boot. Eventually I got it to boot using Startup Repair on my Windows 7 64-bit repair disk.
2) Got dialog box re Steam.exe error (not a problem on old drive)
3) It did not copy the 100 MB System partition. I had qualms about this from the start since the program only let me select one partition on old drive.
4) Got error message that the system could not save the resume file during reboot.
5) Could not run CHKDSK on new drive. Got message that it could not open volume for direct access.

Additionally, the program took 7 hours to run. Spent another 8 hours trying to use what it copied before giving up.

Summary

Used DriveImage XML Private Edition Version 2.44's Drive To Drive option

Copied 650GB of Windows 7 data from 750GB Seagate Barracuda drive to a 1TB Seagate Barracuda drive.

Caveat: After doing the copy, I read the Help file for the Drive to Drive option. It makes it clear that I was supposed to create a new partition on the new drive first. I didn't. But, when the program completed, there were no error messages, so I don't know if this had anything to do with the problems listed above.

I didn't want to keep fixing the problems, and opted for another method of copying files to the new drive. Decided to use Seagate DiscWizard. Used the automatic Clone option. Took 3 hours. It overwrote the files that DriveImage had copied to the new drive. When done I was able to immediately use the new disk to boot without error. And, when I checked the partitions, all three were just like the original C: (and, the new primary drive was C:). Incidentally, when first booting to use the new drive, I went into the BIOS and disabled the old drive. One last thing: I couldn't get CHKDSK to run at startup this time either. But, I did get it to run from the Command Prompt on the Windows Recovery Options screen.

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1.0 stars

"cloned drive is not bootable"

December 19, 2012  |   By pfeldman

Version: DriveImage XML 2.44

Pros

The interface is simple and easy to understand.

Cons

I couldn't make the application work.

Summary

I attemped to clone a Windows 8 boot drive to a secondary drive. Unlike some cloning applications, DriveImage XML will not clone a larger drive to a smaller one, even if the used part of the source drive is smaller than the target drive. So, I followed these steps to clone the drive:

1. Download gparted-livecd-0.14.1-1.iso from sourceforge.net. "GParted is a free partition editor for graphically managing your disk partitions. With GParted you can resize, copy, and move partitions without data loss ..."

2. Right-click on the .iso file and select the option to burn it to a CD.

3. Boot on the CD and use GParted to reduce the size of the source partition to match the size of the target drive.

4. Download DriveImage XML version 2.44 (drive cloning software) from runtime.org and install it. Note: One must right-click on the installer and select "Run as Administrator" from the context menu.

5. Use DriveImage to perform the cloning operation.

6. Use GParted to return the source partition to its original size.

All of the above steps appeared to work, but when I attempted to boot on the cloned drive, it was not bootable. A comparison of the original and cloned drives showed that user files and application files are the same, but apparently the boot sectors were not copied. It is fairly clear that GParted did what it was supposed to do, so it appears that DriveImage XML is buggy. I think that I may try Acronis next, although some people have reported problems with that application as well.

Dr. Phillip M. Feldman

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5.0 stars

"Excellent product that will clone a hard drive quick."

November 10, 2012  |   By deckers1

Version: DriveImage XML 2.44

Pros

Everything works, if you have to be fast there is no other way.

Cons

If the main drive is slightly bad when you start, it will make a copy of a bad drive. But how would they be responsible for that?

Summary

I can't ask for a better deal. Cloned my drive in a few minutes {around an hour}.

I am very happy with it. Don't look elsewhere, trust me, it works and you will not have to buy anything, ever.

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5.0 stars

"Stable, not over-complicated and it works!"

October 20, 2012  |   By HowardBallinger

Version: DriveImage XML 2.44

Pros

In Win-7, start it to "run as administrator" with a right-click. You'll be reminded if you don't. The interface is great -- just do read the screens so you'll know what you're up to. The third dialog -- the one headed "Backup" -- is to select where the backup will go.

Of course the test is whether it will restore your drive. I did that once, a few years ago, with DriveImage XML together with a Bart-PE startup CD. Put my new (larger) HDD in the machine, hooked it up, and the old drive was recreated on the new one just perfectly.

Cons

I don't see a way to restore specific files with DriveImage XML, only the whole drive (maybe I'm missing something). But anyway I use another, conventional backup program in addition to this one, so I can restore a list file or two.

Summary

Excellent software, and it's reassuring to know it's been around for years and still works! And I appreciate the opportunity to have it for personal use at no cost.

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