BiNG question...

[Mini-Me]

Howdy.
:)

I was about to download the trial of BiNG, then found this on the same site:

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/imagew.html

I am interested in an imager more then a boot-manager etc, so should I still be considdering the BiNG package, or just go with the imager software instead?

[sburtchin]

IforW is a great package if you want the convenience of a Windows GUI for creating your images, but you will still need to learn either IforD (free with IforW purchase) or BiNG to restore your Windows partition - Unless, you image directly to CD, which I don't like to do because if you make a coaster the whole set is trash. All three create compatible images, so you can use any of them to image/restore for any of the others. Though you are supposed to stop using the trial BiNG and IforD floppies after 30 days, there is nothing on them to prevent you from doing so. If you don't "install" BiNG, you can image/restore from its "maintenance mode" (with the floppy). It is a simple GUI that includes lots of other useful tools and features.

[Paul Komski]

I am interested in an imager more then a boot-manager etc, so should I still be considdering the BiNG package
A number of apps (including IforW) allow for hot-imaging from Windows and that is fine for non-system partitions and is usually not problematic for system partitions either (particularly with WinXP and later). The problem, as sburtchin indicated, is in restoring system images since unless you first reinstall an os or slave a drive to a working system you need to restore from a floppy or CD and that is where BiNG and IforD come into their own.

If you make your images from, say an IforD, floppy or CD you will not only completely eradicate any locked-file problems from a running system partition but will become familiar with the utility when making the images and thus be up to speed when restoring them. There's no need to install or use BiNG as a boot manager but it does have all the functionality of a partition and mbr manager, which makes it a very useful tool to have around.

The trials are free and functional and small downoads so try them out and see what takes your fancy or suits your circumstances.

[jlreich]

One thing that is nice about BiNG even you don't need a boot manager is if you install it you have the program available all the time without the need for finding the disc. And you can set the boot manager to "IT mode" and it will boot bypassing the boot menu booting the only OS or the last OS that was chosen. All you have to do to get into BiNG is hit the "Insert" key during boot. Or as I did for a long time just set the boot menu timer to 2 seconds, leaving me enough time to hit a key to stop the timer if I needed to.

I do this for my kids computer even though I only have one OS on it. That way I can make/restore image without bothering with the disk.

I'm not saying you really need this, but it's worth noting.

And honestly the price for the whole package is excellent. You can't hardly beat BiNG's capabilities. Heck, I would pay $50 just because BiNG can edit a boot.ini file directly. ;) That has saved my butt many times swapping around hard drives. :p

I haven't used it yet but it has been updated to work with vista's BCDedit as well.

[Mini-Me]

OK thanks, guys.
I have downloaded IforW, but will now download BiNG, and try it out too.
:)

[Sylvander]

I have all 3, but my favourite is "Image for DOS" [favourite for imaging C:].
I never use "IforW", though I suppose I could for my data partitions.
Normally use "SyncBack" for those and "IforD" now and again.

Like "IforD" better than "Acronis True Image" and "HP Simple Backup", which I have also.