From: nodeleaf.20.eatallspam@spamgourmet.com   
      
   General Schvantzkopf wrote:   
      
   ....   
   >> Ah, external drive. Well, dd'ing from a livecd boot and possibly   
   >> gzipping may work. But why not use gparted or similar programs from a   
   >> livecd?   
   >   
   > Using parted and dd is my backup plan, if all I wanted to do was a   
   > onetime cloning that's what I would use. However I have a second   
   > objective here and that's to get a reliable backup/recovery mechanism for   
   > my girlfriend who is an XP user (I'm strictly a Linux user). She needs   
   > something that runs on XP not something that runs on Linux. Also dd is   
   > inefficient because it copies entire partitions including the unused   
   > space, it's a cloning tool not a backup tool.   
      
   Yes, you are right, but doing a full clone backup from a livecd every month   
   or so, and simple files-changed backups of "Documents and settings" folder   
   every day with xxcopy or robocopy every evening might suffice as well.   
   Or use one of these running-inside-XP tools that use the shadow volume copy   
   functionality of windows, to make a base image and incremental images every   
   day. Acronis true image or Ghost for windows or others may be able to do   
   that, but it isn't for free.   
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    Linux 2.6.22.9-1mdvcustom [LinuxCounter#295241,ICQ#4918962]   
      
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