Acronis, Ghost, or what?

What do readers here recommend for Backup software?



I heard that the Backup app in Windows 7 is much better than in earlier Windows versions. Do people find it sufficient, or better to use a third party backup app?



How do the latest versions of Acronis True Image and Norton Ghost compare with one another? Any other competitors in that field?



One thing I didnt like when I had an older Acronis version installed before, is that it had background services and drivers running all the time, even when not in use. Is that necessary? (For instance, I would not do any automatic backups, but only when I choose to.)



I like that the disc imaging apps create an image, that can totally restore a failed system, to what it was at the time of the backup. One disadvantage though, if I recall correctly, is that if one has done a disk defrag, and then does the type of backup (I forget what it is called) where only new and changed files are backed up, that since the disk imaging apps backup sectors rather than files, that since files are moved in a defrag, it ends up backing up much more than necessary, due to the sectors having been changed. Also, due to slack, backing up sectors ends up taking up more space than backing up files. I am not sure about that though. Can someone explain--are the disadvantages I described above for image backup correct?



Which app do people find works best for them for backup, and why?

Reply 1 : Acronis, Ghost, or what?

I use Windows 7's backup to make system image once it is stabalized(i.e. necessary programs installed and SP1 applied). Then nightly automatic backup of user data.



Meet my needs and simple to setup.

Reply 2 : Acronis, Ghost, or what?

Ive used acronis. And my western digital that came with the acer had three partitions. was able to clone all partitions the same size on another drive and delete all 3 partitions on the western digital so I can use all of it, was very simple and easy.

Reply 3 : Acronis, Ghost, or what?

Using acronis free (10.2?), it's simple and effective. It doesn't run any background services or whatever, the compression levels are decent (~35% compression) and it is able to restore individual partitions, boot off a recovery disc ect.



Win7's backup feature is much better than previous versions, but it just doesn't do the comprehensive stuff like MBR backups, differential partitions and so on. It's probably enough for an average home user, but I already have acronis so what the hell.

Reply 4 : Acronis, Ghost, or what?

I like Acronis, never tried Ghost.

There was a nice deal recently @newegg on Acronis 2011 (Home Edition) for around $9.99 AR.