Paragon Backup Recovery - 10 Suite User Manual

PARAGON Technologie GmbH, Systemprogrammierung

Heinrich-von-Stephan-Str. 5c z 79100 Freiburg, Germany

Tel. +49 (0) 761 59018201 z Fax +49 (0) 761 59018130

Internet www.paragon-software.com z E-mail sales@paragon-software.com

Backup & Recovery 10 Suite

User Manual

Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................4

Key Features .................................................................................................................4

Product Components ..................................................................................................5

Getting Started .............................................................................................................5

Distribution .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH......................................................................................... 7

System Requirements ........................................................................................................................ 8

Installation .......................................................................................................................................... 9

First Start ............................................................................................................................................ 10

Building Bootable Recovery Media ...............................................................................................15

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Environment .................................................................... 17

Booting from the WinPE Recovery Environment............................................................................ 19

Basic Concepts ..........................................................................................................23

System and Data Protection ........................................................................................................... 23

System Virtualization........................................................................................................................ 27

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service ......................................................... 28

Dynamic Disks.................................................................................................................................. 30

GPT versus MBR ................................................................................................................................ 31

Apple Boot Camp ............................................................................................................................ 31

64-bit Support ................................................................................................................................... 31

Copy Operations ............................................................................................................................. 32

Drive Partitioning .............................................................................................................................. 32

Scheduling........................................................................................................................................ 33

Drive Backup Pro Functionality.................................................................................33

Interface Overview .......................................................................................................................... 33

Settings Overview ............................................................................................................................44

Getting Information on Disks and Backup Images....................................................................... 61

Data Backup and Rescue ............................................................................................................... 67

Copy Tasks ....................................................................................................................................... 77

Partition Management..................................................................................................................... 82

Hard Disk Management .................................................................................................................. 92

Task Scheduling ............................................................................................................................... 95

Scripting ............................................................................................................................................ 99

Extra Functionality.......................................................................................................................... 101

Typical Scenarios .....................................................................................................112

Backup Scenarios .......................................................................................................................... 112

Recovery Scenarios....................................................................................................................... 139

Cloning System Hard Disk ............................................................................................................. 180

P2V Scenarios................................................................................................................................. 182

P2P Scenarios ................................................................................................................................. 199

Extra Scenarios for WinPE .............................................................................................................. 201

Troubleshooter..........................................................................................................203

Glossary ....................................................................................................................205

Introduction

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite is a complex disaster recovery and system migration solution that combines two different approaches to the system and data security:

• The time-proved traditional, typical for the Paragon Drive Backup’s product line. Its main characteristics are rich functionality and excellent flexibility, exactly what I-need-full-control users like;

• And the brand new, realized in Paragon System Backup. It’s based on the minimal user participation and simplicity and will certainly be appreciated by those who are not willing to look into technical peculiarities, those who only need the result - guaranteed protection of the system and data with the minimal efforts possible.

By implementing in this product all cutting edge technologies, including the next generation of Paragon Adaptive Restore™, that provides for a successful migration of a Win2K+ physical system to a different hardware platform (P2P) as well as support for the system virtualization (P2V), the latest trend in the system migration, protection, and evaluation, the company has offered all the necessary facilities to build a bullet-proof shield against any disaster.

Here in this guide you will learn about key benefits of the product, how to get it ready to use, as well as where to find extra information on how to handle the product’s interface and accomplish typical operations.

Our company is constantly releasing new versions and updates to its software, that's why images shown in this manual may be different from what you see on your screen.

Key Features

Let us list some of the product key features:

• Out-of-box automated system backup to initiate protection of your system and data on a regular basis just after the product installation.

• Advanced notification system to keep you informed about the level of danger your system and data are in through the color indicators (green, yellow, red) in the system tray.

• Smart backup engine to effectively distribute resources among other applications when backing up in the automatic mode with System Backup, so you keep working on the computer and feel no discomfort.

• P2V Copy

to migrate a Win2K+ physical system to a virtual environment in the online mode.

• P2V Restore to migrate a Win2K+ physical system backed up with a Paragon disaster recovery tool to a virtual environment.

• P2V Adjust OS to recover the startup ability after unsuccessful virtualization with a 3rd party tool.

• Support for major virtualization software vendors including MS Virtual PC, VMware Workstation, and VMware Fusion.

• Next generation Adaptive Restore™ (P2P Adjust OS) to successfully migrate a Win2K+ physical system to a different hardware platform (P2P) by allowing automatic injection of all required drivers and the other actions crucial for a migration of this kind.

• Smart Driver Injector to make the process of adding new drivers for P2V and P2P operations smooth and easy.

• Smart Backup Wizard

unique intelligent work algorithm and a highly intuitive user interface, you can easily back up exactly what you need - the whole system, e-mail databases (MS Outlook, Express, Windows Mail) media files or office documents of the My Documents folder, or any other files and folders.

• Support for the latest Windows 7.

• Selective Restore

Wizard without the need to restore the whole image.

• WinPE 2.1 based bootable recovery environment to enjoy support of a wider range of hardware configurations with the option to add drivers for specific hardware on-the-fly.

• Automatic data exclusion

process of building up contents of the future backup image, by excluding irrelevant data such as movies, music, etc.

to secure system and data with the minimal efforts possible. With a

to easily extract files and folders from a backup image with the Restore

with an advanced system of filters will help you automate the

Product Components

In order to cope with different tasks, the product contains several components:

• Windows based set of utilities

launcher you may find and run tasks of any complexity in the field of data and system protection, hard disk partitioning and cloning, etc.

• Linux/DOS based recovery environment

run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. Both platforms have their strong sides, for instance Linux can boast support of FireWire (i.e. IEEE1394) or USB devices. It enables to burn CD/DVD disks. However there can be some difficulties with detecting new hardware. DOS in its turn has no problems of that kind but is limited in features. The Linux/DOS recovery environment requires no installation and can be of great help when the system fails to boot. Besides it offers a Windows XP like environment.

• WinPE based recovery environment

offers a WinPE 2.1 based bootable media. Unlike the Linux/DOS recovery environment it can boast an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version can. However its system requirements are much tougher.

is the crucial part of the product. With the help of an easy to use

Getting Started

is a multi-platform bootable media that enables to

. Especially for keen followers of Windows, our product also

In this chapter you will find all the information necessary to get the product ready to use.

Distribution

Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite is distributed in two ways:

• Boxed package from Paragon Technology GmbH and resellers

• Downloadable package over the Internet at the company’s web-site

Distributive CD

The boxed package includes a distributive CD that is in fact a bootable Linux/DOS recovery environment with auto-run of the Windows installation, thus it can be used as a ready-made solution (see Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Environment

). But if you’re going to run the Windows

components, you need to install them first (see Installation).

If you want to download an update/upgrade of the product, it will be in form of the downloadable installation package as described in Online Distribution

The WinPE recovery environment can only be obtained through the company’s web service. You will get the required download link after the product has been purchased.

Online Distribution

Backup & Recovery 10 Suite purchased over the Internet will be in form of an MSI package. After installing the product you can launch the Recovery Media Builder to build the Linux/DOS or WinPE

recovery environment.

The WinPE recovery environment can only be obtained through the company’s web service. You will get the required download link after the product has been purchased.

Registration

Paragon Technology GmbH provides a wide range of online services through its web-portal -

www.paragon-software.com/support/

• Registration of new users;

• Registration of purchased products for registered users;

• Available around-the-clock downloading center, where registered users can get product

updates/upgrades as well as all the necessary documentation;

• Downloadable free demo versions and open documentation for all users.

It is recommended to use Internet Explorer 5+ or any compatible browser.

To register as a new user

To register as a new user, please do the following:

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/

2. Click Create of the Create a Paragon Account section;

3. Fill out a registration form;

;

4. Click Register.

The most important field in the form is an E-mail address, as it serves as a login to enter the system. Besides your access password will be sent to this address as well.

To register a new product

If you are a registered user and would like to register Backup & Recovery 10 Suite, please do the following:

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/

2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;

3. In the Password field enter a password received after registration;

4. Click Sign in;

5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;

6. Click Register new product of the Products section;

7. Enter your product serial number in the Serial Number field. You can find it in the product box or obtain from your reseller. Click Next;

8. On the next page you will be asked to provide some additional data. Also you will need to decide whether you want to get confirmation on registering the product by E-mail or not. Click Next, and then click Finish.

That is all. The product is now registered.

How to Download Updates/Upgrades

Downloading of updates/upgrades can be fulfilled in the following way:

;

1. Run an Internet browser and visit the page: www.paragon-software.com/my-account/;

2. In the Email field of the Authorization section, enter an E-mail used for registration;

3. In the Password field enter a password received after registration;

4. Click Sign in;

5. If the user name and password are valid, you will get to your account;

6. Select My Downloads of the Products section to see what updates are available for you;

7. Select the desired update and click Download.

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH

If you have any questions about the company products, please do not hesitate to contact Paragon Technology GmbH.

Service Contact

Visit Paragon GmbH web site

www.paragonsoftware.com

Registration & updates webservice

www.paragonsoftware.com/support

Knowledge Base & Technical Support

Pre-sale information

kb.paragon-software.com

sales@paragonsoftware.com

System Requirements

Windows based set of utilities

To use the Windows utilities, you should install them first. But before that, please make sure your computer meets the following minimum system requirements:

• Operating systems: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 and XP SP2/Vista/7 64-bit

• Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher

• Intel Pentium CPU or its equivalent, with 300 MHz processor clock speed

• 128 MB of RAM (256+ recommended)

• Hard disk drive with 100 MB of available space

• SVGA video adapter and monitor

• Mouse

Linux/DOS based recovery environment

To use the Linux/DOS recovery environment on your computer (it doesn’t matter what operating system is installed), please make sure that it meets the following minimum system requirements:

• IBM AT compatible computer with i486 or higher CPU

• 256 MB of RAM

• SVGA-compatible monitor

• Mouse (recommended)

• On-board BIOS supports booting from CD/USB first

WinPE based recovery environment

To use the WinPE based recovery environment on your computer, (it doesn’t matter what operating system is installed), please make sure that it meets the following minimum system requirements:

• Intel Pentium III CPU or its equivalent, with 1000 MHz processor clock speed

• At least 512 MB of RAM

• SVGA video adapter and monitor

• Mouse

Additional requirements

There may be additional requirements if you want to use advanced features:

• Network card to send/retrieve data to/from a network computer

• Recordable CD/DVD drive to burn data to compact discs

• External USB hard drive to store backup data.

Installation

As we have already mentioned only Windows components of the product require installation. So to install Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite under Windows, please do the following:

1. Run Setup Application. Click on the *.MSI file. This application will guide you through the process of the program installation. The setup utility is compiled with the InstallShield SDK, hence it contains the standard user interface and set of installation steps.

In case there is some previous version of the program installed on the computer, the program will offer the user to uninstall it first.

2. Starting Setup. The Welcome page informs that the application is being installed. Click the Next button to continue.

3. Confirm License Agreement. The License Agreement page displays the Paragon License Agreement. Read the agreement and then select the appropriate option to accept. If you do not agree with any conditions stated there, the installation process will be interrupted. By clicking the Print button, the License Agreement may also be printed out.

4. Provide Registration Information. On the Registration page you are to provide your product key and serial number.

5. Provide Customer Information. On the Customer Information page you are to provide the standard information, i.e. a user name and an organization. Besides you need to decide whether to make the program available for all users of this computer (if several) or only for the current one.

6. Select an Installation Folder. The Destination Folder page allows you to choose a folder where the program will be installed. By default, the installation folder will be created as:

C:\Program Files\Paragon Software\Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite. To select another folder, click the Change… button.

After you have selected the required folder, click the Next button to continue.

Do not install the program on network drives. Do not use Terminal Server sessions to install and run the program. In both cases, the program functionality will be limited.

7. Confirm Installation. On the Ready to Install the Program page click the Install button to start the installation or the Back button to return to any of the previous pages and modify the installation settings.

8. Copying Files. The Copying Files page shows the overall progress of the installation. Click the Cancel button to abort the setup.

9. Finishing the Installation. The Final page reports the end of the setup process. Click the Finish button to complete the wizard.

To accomplish online backup/copy of locked partitions/hard disks the program uses a kernel mode hotcore driver, thus the system reboot is required to complete the installation procedure.

First Start

According to the product concept, there are two different ways you can take just after the system restart:

1. Agree to go through the automatically launched configuration wizard of Paragon System

Backup. Actually it’s the easiest way to initiate protection of your system and data, so that’s

what we recommend you to do.

2. Disagree and manually launch the product to accomplish operations you need

Anyway, no matter what option you’ve preferred initially, you’re free to change your mind and take the other one any time you like. Moreover, you can use both simultaneously, thus double protect your computer.

With System Backup

To let Paragon System Backup initiate protection of your system and data in the automatic mode, please do the following:

You cannot work with Paragon Drive Backup Professional or any other wizard of the product while the console of System Backup is open and vice versa. When System Backup operates in the background however, except the case when it’s in the process of making a backup, you’re free to do that.

1. Agree to go through its configuration wizard.

2. If you’ve got an external USB storage device, please plug it in now. Anyway, the wizard will prompt you to do that.

3. The wizard will analyze the disk system and then consider the most appropriate place to store backup images. Anyway, you’re free to see results of that analysis and make your own choice (if there are several options).

If you’ve not plugged in an external USB storage device, the capacity of which exceeds the amount of data of the system hard disk (highly recommended as provides for a higher level of security), the wizard will most likely suggest creating the on-disk snapshot storage by taking some free space from the last on-disk partition. Depending on the configuration however, it may even state that you don’t have enough space to keep snapshots of your computer, thus no way of protecting it.

In this case it will offer to print out a detailed instruction on all the necessary technical characteristics of the required storage device to buy it at a local computer store. Anyway, it’s a stub track.

4. If the wizard has found a place to create the snapshot storage, you will need to approve it and then confirm the suggested timetable to update the backup on a regular basis (every week by default) or set your own.

5. That’s basically it to make the program create the snapshot storage. If you’ve got only one partition on the disk, the program will require the system restart to accomplish the operation as it has to do with resize of the system partition. If this is the case, System Backup will additionally check your partition for the file system integrity during the next system restart. Please don’t worry, it’s done on purpose.

6. Once the snapshot storage is ready to use, the program will make an initial snapshot of your hard disk and keep automatically updating it according to the set timetable.

No operation will automatically be accomplished if the program console is opened, as it’s assumed that you’re in the process of making modifications.

To know more on how System Backup works, please read hints by clicking on the links or consult the help system you can find in the program console.

Manually

To start Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite under Windows, please click the Windows Start button and then select Programs > Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Suite > Paragon Backup & Recovery.

The program provides wide opportunities in the field of hard disk structure modification, so just to be on the safe side, please make a backup of your data before carrying out any operation.

The first component that will be displayed is called the Launcher. In general it enables to run wizards and utilities, to specify program settings, to visualize the operating environment and the hard disk configuration, to launch the help system or to go to the program’s home page.

To know more on how to handle the product’s interface and accomplish typical operations, please consult the help system you can find in Drive Backup Professional (Backup & Recovery > Switch to Full Scale Drive Backup Pro).

Building Bootable Recovery Media

Recovery Media Builder can help you accomplish the following operations:

• Prepare the Linux/DOS recovery environment (included in the installation package) on external media (CD, DVD, or flash memory) to boot and run utilities under Linux or PTS DOS, and that way to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes (strongly recommended);

• Prepare a custom Linux/DOS recovery environment by adding any data you like to the standard image;

• Prepare a bootable recovery environment from any ISO image, including our WinPE 2.1 image (strongly recommended);

• Create from the master CD the Linux/DOS or WinPE recovery environment on a CD/DVD disc, or flash memory.

Below you can find how to build our WinPE 2.1 based recovery environment on a thumb drive:

1. Plug in a thumb drive of at least 250 MBs in size. Please note all data on that drive will be deleted.

2. Launch the Recovery Media Builder.

3. On the Wizard's Welcome page, click the Next button.

4. Select the Flash Memory option.

5. Select the User specified CD/DVD image (.iso file) option, then browse for an ISO image of our WinPE 2.1 recovery environment or manually type in a full path to it. By selecting the Typical option you can build our Linux/DOS recovery environment, which we highly recommend you to do as well.

You can get an ISO image of our WinPE 2.1 recovery environment through the company’s web service.

6. Select the required thumb drive from the list of flash memory devices available in the system at the moment (if several).

7. You will have to confirm the operation.

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Environment

The Linux/DOS recovery environment can be used to boot your computer into Linux or PTS DOS to get access to your hard disk for maintenance or recovery purposes. It also has the PTS DOS safe mode, which may help in a number of non-standard situations such as interfering hardware settings or serious problems on the hardware level. In this case, only basic files and drivers (such as hard disk drivers, a monitor driver, and a keyboard driver) will be loaded.

Startup

To start working with the Linux/DOS recovery environment, please take the following steps:

1. Start up the computer from our Linux/DOS recovery media.

Recovery Media Builder

can help you prepare the Linux/DOS or WinPE

recovery environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.

To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the onboard BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first.

2. Launch a boot mode you need (Normal, Safe, Low-Graphics Safe) in the Boot menu.

By default the Normal Mode will be automatically initiated after a 10 second idle period.

3. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right choice.

4. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.

Boot menu

The Boot menu contains the following commands:

• Normal Mode. Boot into the Linux normal mode. This mode uses the full set of drivers (recommended);

• Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS mode. This mode can be used as an alternative of the Linux normal mode if it fails to work properly;

• Low-Graphics Safe Mode. Boot into the PTS DOS safe mode. In this case, only the minimal set of drivers will be included, like hard disk, monitor, and keyboard drivers. This mode has simple graphics and a simple menu;

• Floppy Disk. Reboot the computer from a system floppy disk;

• Hard Disk 0. Boot from the primary hard disk;

• Find OS(s) on your hard disks. The program will scan hard disks of your computer to find any

bootable operating system.

To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.

While working with the recovery environment you might experience some inconvenience caused by possible video artifacts. It is just a result of changing video modes and in no way will affect the program functionality. If this is the case, please wait a bit and everything will be OK.

Normal Mode

When the Normal mode is selected, the Linux launch menu appears:

• Backup & Recovery (enables to copy and back up separate partitions or entire hard disks, carry out basic partitioning operations, etc.);

• Simple Restore Wizard (allows restoring hard disks and partitions);

• One Button Copy Wizard (helps to carry out such a technically complicated operation as

cloning of hard disks just by pressing one button);

• File Transfer Wizard (allows coping files/folders to another disk or a partition as well as recording them to CD/DVD);

• Boot Corrector (helps to correct the Windows System Registry without Windows being loaded);

• Network Configurator (enables to establish a network connection under Linux);

If you are going to use network resources, first launch the Network Configuration Wizard to establish a network connection.

• Log Saver (helps to collect and send the necessary log files to the Technical Support);

• View the mounted partitions (the list of all mounted partitions will be displayed);

The Linux/DOS recovery environment assigns drive letters to partitions the way it is done in DOS, i.e. one after another, primary partitions at first. Thus mounted partitions may have different drive letters from Windows.

• Eject CD/DVD;

• Command Line (allows experienced users to execute any operation);

• Reboot the computer;

• Power off the computer.

To move within the menu, please use the arrow keys of the computer keyboard.

Safe Mode

When the Safe mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has nearly the same functionality as for the Normal mode except the Network Configurator and Log Saver commands. Besides due to certain limitations of the PTS DOS environment, there is no possibility to burn CD/DVD disks.

Low Graphics Safe Mode

When the Low Graphics mode is selected, the PTS DOS launch menu appears. It has the same functionality and looks similar to the Safe mode but graphically simpler.

Booting from the WinPE Recovery Environment

The WinPE recovery environment can be a real alternative to the Linux/DOS recovery environment. Providing nearly the same level of functionality it offers an excellent hardware support and the same interface as the Windows version does.

Startup

To start working with the WinPE recovery environment, please take the following steps:

1. Start up the computer from our WinPE recovery media.

Recovery Media Builder

can help you prepare the Linux/DOS or WinPE

recovery environment either on a CD/DVD disc or a thumb drive.

To automatically boot from the recovery media please make sure the onboard BIOS is set up to boot from CD/USB first.

2. Once it has been loaded, you will see the License Agreement. Read the agreement and then mark the appropriate checkbox to accept. If you do not agree with any conditions stated there, you won’t be able to use the program.

3. Once you accept the agreement, you will see the Universal Application Launcher. In general it enables to run components of the product, load drivers for undefined hardware or establish a network connection.

4. Click on the required operation to start. Hints on the selected at the moment item will help you make the right choice.

5. Consult the help system by pressing ALT+F1 to know more on the subject.

Our WinPE 2.1 based recovery environment offers excellent hardware support. However in case it doesn’t have a driver for your disk controller, your hard disks will be unavailable. Please consult the Adding specific drivers to WinPE scenario to know how to tackle this issue.

Adding specific drivers to WinPE

Our WinPE 2.1 based recovery environment offers excellent hardware support. Anyway you’ve got the option to add drivers for specific hardware with a handy dialog.

To add drivers for specific hardware, please do the following:

1. Once you accept the agreement, you will see the Universal Application Launcher. Click Add Drivers.

2. In the opened dialog browse for an .INF file of the required driver package located on a floppy disk, local disk, CD/DVD or a network share. Then click the Open button to initiate the operation.

To know how to map a network share, please consult the Configuring network scenario.

3. You will be notified on the successful accomplishment of the operation. Click Yes to load another driver or No to close the dialog.

Our WinPE 2.1 recovery environment is 32-based, thus you need to use 32-bit



drivers for injection.

Basic Concepts

This chapter explains terms and ideas that show how the program works. To understand these helps to obtain a general notion of the operation performance and makes it easier for the user to operate the program.

System and Data Protection

The data protection issue is a growing cause of worrying for more and more people today. Indeed, it is hardly to find a person who will be particularly happy when all precious information on the hard disk is irreversible lost as a result of its malfunction. So how this tragedy can be prevented?

File Backup versus Sector Backup

Since the advent of the computer age people were in the search of ways to guarantee data safety. As a result we’ve got now two principal approaches: the file-based backup and the sector-based backup. The main difference between the two lies in the way data is treated.

A sector-based backup operates with an image (or a snapshot) of the whole disk system or its separate partitions. It not only includes the contents of all user-made files, but additionally contains the exact structure of directories, information about file allocation, file attributes and other related data. Thus it enables to successfully process system or encrypted partitions of any file system type, no matter what kind of information they contain.

In contrast, a file-based backup takes into account a file system structure and only functions on a file or folder level. So it is very efficient when archiving separate files or folders, but in no way will help you back up a system partition.

You should understand pretty well that each of the two approaches is only good when properly chosen. In the comparison table below you can see when this or that approach will suit you at most.

Sector-Based Backup File-Based Backup

Merits

It does not dependent on a particular file system. Thus it can successfully process system or encrypted partitions of any file system type, no matter what kind of information they contain.

Functioning on a file/folder level, it is ideal for archiving separate files or folders.

It can create an exact image of a partition, including its service data. Thus it is ideal for a backup/restore of a system partition or a fast deployment to a bunch of identical computers.

It allows archiving data of the same

It enables to automatically build up contents of the future backup image by using an advanced system of filters.

volume with different backup policies.

It is easy and efficient when creating

backup chains.

Demerits

Resulted backup images may contain a lot of redundant data.

It depends on a file system structure, so you won’t be able to process unknown file systems.

It is ineffective when trying to maintain a backup chain, especially when little

It cannot be used to back up a system partition.

amount of data is being changed.

It is much slower when processing large

amount of data.

Backup Types

At the present moment the market is offering various types of backup imaging to meet the needs of any user. Besides supporting them all, our program offers a unique backup type, called File Increment to a Sector Backup.

Full and Differential Sector Backups

A full sector-based backup image includes all contents of a partition or a hard disk at the moment of its creation. If you roll back your system to the initial state on a regular basis, that’s exactly what you’re looking for. But if you want to have multiple backup archives of the same partition reflecting certain time stamps, unchanged data will inevitable be duplicated in all archives and take additional space on backup media. To tackle this issue there has been developed a supplementary technique called Differential Sector Backup.

A differential archive only contains data changed since the time of creating a full archive, which forms a base (or a parental image) in this case, thus considerably saving your system resources. It is realized by the exact bit-wise comparison of the previous partition's data (saved in the parental image) with the current data (that is actually the partition itself). To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image and one of its differentials, what is very convenient.

This function is only available for single primary and logical partitions.

Full and Incremental File Backups

A full file-based archive only contains files and folders. It is really efficient when backing up an e-mail database or particular documents, as no redundant data is processed. But if you care about maintaining a files history, you can benefit from one more supplementary technique called Incremental File Backup.

An incremental archive only contains data changed since the time of creating a full or incremental file-based archive. It is smaller and takes less time to create, but you will require the initial full image and all of its increments to restore the latest point of this kind of backup.

File Increment to a Sector Backup

File Increment to a Sector Backup is a unique technology on the market so far that bridges two principally different approaches of the data backup: the file-based backup and the sector-based backup. With its help you can now create a sector-based backup of your system to get it back on track in minutes in case of a virus attack or a hardware malfunction and then just make file-based incremental images to the previously created sector-based backup to keep updated only information that is critical for you. Thus you will considerably save your system resources.

Backup Storage

Our program supports all present day techniques of storing backup images. Let’s take a closer look at them all to understand what kind of storage is able to provide better security:

• You can place a backup image to a local mounted or unmounted (without drive letter assigned) partition. Despite the fact that it is the most convenient way, try not to use it. You can delete your backup just by accident or lose it as a result of a hardware malfunction, or a virus attack;

• You can place a backup image to an external mounted storage to provide for a higher level of data protection and system independence;

• You can place a backup image to a special secured place on the hard disk called the Backup Capsule that has an independent system layout (e.g. a separate partition) and will stay operable should the active file system be damaged. To avoid an accidental removing or unauthorized access of the backup data, this partition is hidden and thus cannot be mounted in the operating system. However it won’t help you in case of a hardware malfunction;

• You can place a backup image to external media (CD/DVD) to guarantee a high level of data protection as long as the backup media is kept secure;

• You can place a backup image to a network drive to stand a better chance of success in case of a hard disk failure. Moreover, by storing it on a special-purpose server you may be pretty sure nothing will happen to it;

• Finally you can place a backup image to an FTP server to provide a new level of system and data protection.

Known Issues on FTP

1. You need to check out yourself Windows Firewall or programs of this kind let our program work with the required port (21 by default).

2. File backup and restore to/from FTP, including the selective restore functionality are not available.

3. SSL login/password encryption is not supported.

4. You can browse an FTP server in the passive mode only.

5. Parallel access to several FTP servers is limited - only one password for all servers is available.

Adaptive Restore

Windows family operating systems are notorious for their excessive sensibility to hardware, especially when it turns to replacement of such a crucial device as HDD controller or motherboard – actually Windows will most likely fail to boot as a result of this operation.

With our technology (available in the P2P Adjust OS Wizard

) you can make your Windows bootable on some other computer by allowing automatic injection of all required drivers and the other actions crucial for a migration of this kind. Actually, this operation for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003 and Windows Vista/7/Server 2008 differs a bit, so does the wizard’s work algorithm.

Adaptive Restore for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003

It actually implies three operations:

• Providing the ability to change the Windows kernel settings to the most suitable for your new configuration. The program will automatically add all available Windows HAL and kernels to the boot menu (the boot.ini file) to choose the required platform in case your system fails to boot (Uniprocessor, Multiprocessor, or Old legacy PC without ACPI). You can later remove them from the menu either under Windows or with Boot Corrector.

If you’ve got a 64-bit operating system, no options will be added to the boot menu.

• Automatic replacement of the boot critical drivers (HDD controller, PS/2 and USB mouse and keyboard) to the default Windows drivers to provide the maximum level of compatibility. Once your Windows starts up, it will initiate reconfiguration of all Plug'n'Play devices, so we do recommend you to provide the latest drivers for your motherboard and processor at this step, as it can considerably improve the overall performance of your system.

• The option to inject 3rd party drivers to guarantee your system will start up on the new hardware. Actually you’ve got two options, either provide a path to your own driver repository

(collection of all drivers to your hardware devices located in one folder) for the program automatically pick and install only those drivers required for your OS (recommended), or manually specify drivers critical for the guaranteed startup of your system on the new hardware.

Adaptive Restore for Windows Vista/7/Server 2008

It is based on the fact that these operating systems do not delete their distributive driver repositories after the setup, but simply make them inactive in the Windows Registry. So thanks to our technology these driver repositories can be made available during the restore procedure to let Windows Vista/7 or 2008 Server automatically find and install any lacking driver with no action from your side required, what is very convenient.

Anyway, not all drivers can be found in the built-in driver repositories, especially when you’ve got to do with specific SCSI or Serial ATA controllers. For situations of this kind you’ve got the option to inject

any 3

party driver, either by providing a path to your own driver repository (collection of all drivers to

your hardware devices located in one folder) for the program automatically pick and install only those drivers required for your OS (recommended), or manually specifying drivers critical for the guaranteed startup of your system on the new hardware.

Adaptive Restore Application

Let’s consider a number of situations when the Adaptive Restore feature can help you out:

• If you need to upgrade to newer hardware while keeping all your programs and settings intact;

• If you need to replace failed hardware and cannot find an exact match for your original system specifications.

Known Issues

1. After transferring Microsoft Vista and later versions to different hardware, you will need to reactivate license of the system. It’s normal behavior as these systems keep tracking any change of hardware. Re-activation is legally justified in this case, as you transfer your system to another PC.

2. If you’ve installed several operating systems on one partition, we can only add drivers to the latest version of OS. Microsoft highly recommends that you install an operating system on a separate partition.

3. Please note drivers are not cached during selection. That’s why if you select a driver to add to the system, but it’s already unavailable during the operation, the program will end the operation with an error.

System Virtualization

With new powerful x86 computers, system virtualization has become extremely popular. It’s a software technology that enables to run several virtual machines on one physical machine, providing resources of that single computer are shared across several environments. As a result one and the same physical computer can have multiple OSs and applications operating simultaneously, thus opening up enormous opportunities for both, business and home users, exactly:

• Avoid underutilization of up-to-date powerful computers;

• Increase flexibility of a physical infrastructure;

• Provide for increased availability of hardware and applications;

• Cut expenses on hardware and energy;

• Guarantee smooth and cost saving system migration;

• Enjoy working with old applications you can’t launch on your current PC;

• Take advantage of having multiple operating systems on one Windows PC, including Linux,

Mac OS X, etc.;

• Forget about hunting for replacement of the failed hardware, and many more…

Known Issues

1. You should install integration services (e.g. VMware Tools) on the virtual system yourself. We only guarantee its smooth startup.

2. At the startup, a virtual machine (e.g. VMware Workstation) might notify you that the used virtual disks are of old format and require update. You can update your disks, since this procedure involves change of a version only, nothing else. This is done on purpose not to lose compatibility with the older versions of VMware.

3. After transferring Microsoft Vista and later versions to a virtual disk, you will need to re-activate license of the system. It’s normal behavior as these systems keep tracking any change of hardware. Re-activation is legally justified in this case, as you transfer your system to another PC.

4. If you prefer to create a SCSI HDD when converting to a virtual disk of VMware Workstation or VMware ESX Server, we pick a driver for the HDD controller just the way VMware does, i.e. according to the found OS:

• Windows 2000/Windows XP – Buslogic;

• Windows 2003 (all editions including WinXP x64) and later versions – LSI Logic.

Thus if you will then connect the created virtual disk to a virtual machine with another type of the adapter, the system won’t start up. Please use our P2P Adjust Wizard to install the required driver.

5. If you convert a partition/hard disk with Windows XP to a SCSI virtual disk of VMware Workstation or VMware ESX, it’s required to add the VMware SCSI driver from outside, since Windows XP doesn’t have it. To do that we try to find an installed version of VMware Workstation on your computer to extract the necessary driver. If failed to find, we will ask you to provide a path to the VMware Tools ISO image.

6. We can smoothly convert a hard disk with several operating systems. But according to Issue 4, when converting to a SCSI virtual disk of VMware Workstation or VMware ESX Server, for different versions of OS, different controller drivers will be installed. VMware however cannot emulate different hardware for each operating system of one virtual machine. To tackle this issue, please use our P2P Adjust Wizard to install the LSI Logic driver under Windows 2000/Windows XP, then select the LSI SCSI controller for your virtual machine.

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service

Offline versus Online Data Processing

In the course of time there have been developed various methods of data processing. Despite different work concept, all of them can be divided into two principal groups: offline (cold) and online (hot) data processing techniques.

As the name infers, offline data processing can only be accomplished when the data is in consistent state (the operating system and all the applications are completely shut down). Actually it is the most preferable way of image creation or data cloning, since software can obtain an exclusive right to process data that guaranties high level of operating efficiency. However, the offline data processing is absolutely out of question when dealing with 24/7 production environments.

In contrast, online data processing enables to create a consistent snapshot even as the data is currently modified. It is particularly useful for systems with high availability requirements, but it won’t be accomplished until all active transactions are complete. The point is to provide a coherent state of all open files and databases involved in a process, taking into account that applications may still keep writing to disks. As a result an online data processing cannot boast high operating speed.

Our program supports both offline and online methods of data processing. As far as online method is concerned it offers its own hot processing algorithm together with the possibility to use snapshot technologies provided by the Microsoft VSS framework.

Paragon Hot Processing Technology

Paragon Hot Processing is an online copy/backup technology for Windows NT+ family operating systems. Developed back in 2001, nowadays it is integrated with all copy/backup solutions offered by the company.

Paragon Hot Processing is not exactly a snapshot technology, though it has much in common with it. During an online copy/backup, the program uses the kernel mode driver HOTCORE.SYS to intercept and control disk write activity of applications and the operating system. The hotcore driver as an integral part of the program is installed during the setup procedure (that’s why the system reboot is required to complete the setup procedure). For the most part the driver is in the idle mode until it is activated with the program. While in this mode it bypasses any calls having no effect on the overall system performance, but a few kilobytes of the system memory.

Paragon Hot Processing technology offers copy/backup of locked partitions and hard disks under Windows NT+ family operating systems providing both high operating efficiency as well as low hardware requirements.

It is not recommended to use Paragon Hot Processing with active SQL Server, Exchange or Oracle databases since the backup image contents may be corrupted.

Volume Shadow Copy Service

Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is designed to provide the copy/backup infrastructure for the Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 operating systems. It offers a reliable mechanism to create consistent point-in-time copies of data known as shadow copies. Developed by Microsoft in close cooperation with the leading copy/backup solution vendors on the market, it is based on a snapshot technology concept.

Initiated by a VSS aware copy/backup utility, VSS creates snapshots for the selected volumes and represents them as virtual read-only devices, called volume shadow copies. Once the shadow

copies are created, the copy/backup utility starts processing the data while applications keep writing to original volumes.

Unlike Paragon Hot Processing the VSS technology provides a unique possibility to make a synchronous snapshot of multiple volumes. This very feature can be particularly beneficial when backing up active SQL Server 2003, Exchange 2003 or Oracle databases located on multiple volumes the way it is recommended by Microsoft to improve the level of database performance and reliability, thus providing 100-percent data consistency.

To use VSS it is necessary to have a mounted 300 MB+ NTFS partition.

Dynamic Disks

As you probably know, MS-DOS, Microsoft Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/Vista/Server 2003/2008 support four primary partitions per physical hard disk, one of which can be extended. Certainly there is the possibility to create logical drives within the extended partition. Such types of disks are called basic. Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003/2008 follow the same strategy: You can have a maximum of four primary partitions, one of which can be an extended partition with logical drives. However, these operating systems also introduce a new disk configuration type - dynamic disk - which must be understood to effectively configure and manage hard disks.

Dynamic disk is a physical disk that doesn't use partitions or logical drives. Instead, it contains only dynamic volumes. Regardless of what format you use for the file system, only Win2K computers can access dynamic volumes directly. However, computers that aren't running Win2K can access the dynamic volumes remotely when connected to the shared folders over the network.

Dynamic disks can co-exist on a system with basic disks. The only limitation is that you cannot mix Basic and Dynamic disks on the same hard drive.

There are five types of dynamic volumes: simple (uses free space from a single disk), spanned (created from free disk space that is linked together from multiple disks), striped (a volume the data of which is interleaved across two or more physical disks), mirrored (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is duplicated on two physical disks, and RAID-5 volumes (a fault-tolerant volume the data of which is striped across an array of three or more disks).

With dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart Windows.

Limitations:

• Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers.

• Dynamic disks are not supported on Windows XP Home Edition-based computers.

• You cannot create mirrored volumes or RAID-5 volumes on Windows XP Home Edition,

Windows XP Professional, or Windows XP 64-Bit Edition-based computers.

Thus, the dynamic disk is a new way of looking at hard disk configuration. Dynamic disks offer you more management flexibility without the partition limitation of basic disks. Dynamic disks can contain an unlimited number of volumes, but they cannot contain partitions or logical drives. Dynamic

+ 178 hidden pages

Paragon Backup Recovery - 10 Suite User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Introduction

Key Features

Product Components

Getting Started

Distribution

Distributive CD

Online Distribution

Registration

To register as a new user

To register a new product

How to Download Updates/Upgrades

Contacting Paragon Technology GmbH

System Requirements

Windows based set of utilities

Linux/DOS based recovery environment

WinPE based recovery environment

Additional requirements

Installation

First Start

With System Backup

Manually

Building Bootable Recovery Media

Booting from the Linux/DOS Recovery Environment

Startup

Boot menu

Normal Mode

Safe Mode

Low Graphics Safe Mode

Booting from the WinPE Recovery Environment

Startup

Adding specific drivers to WinPE

Basic Concepts

System and Data Protection

File Backup versus Sector Backup

Backup Types

Full and Differential Sector Backups

Full and Incremental File Backups

File Increment to a Sector Backup

Backup Storage

Known Issues on FTP

Adaptive Restore

Adaptive Restore for Windows 2000/XP/Server 2003

Adaptive Restore for Windows Vista/7/Server 2008

Adaptive Restore Application

Known Issues

System Virtualization

Known Issues

Paragon Hot Processing & Volume Shadow Copy Service

Offline versus Online Data Processing

Paragon Hot Processing Technology

Volume Shadow Copy Service

Dynamic Disks