From: "Glenn Meadows" 

There's a new version of Acronis that will allow a restore of an image file
to a totally different piece of hardware.  The implications are that you
can use this to MOVE an existing system intact from an old piece of
hardware to a new one, and it will ask for the drivers during the restore
to the new hardware.

I have NOT investigated this, but it has some interesting implications and
possibilities.

--

Glenn M.
"Gary Britt"  wrote in
message news:45c66edf{at}w3.nls.net...
> OK I see what you are saying.  Your definition of backup is being able to
> do a bare metal restore to a new or replacement machine/hard drive and
> that's not possible for lots of reasons.  I agree it would be nice to have
> this but anybody without a full retail version of win2k or XP hasn't had
> this since Win2K came out.
>
> Gary
>
> Geo. wrote:
>> If for example your install is keyed to a cpu serial number, a backup
>> that you restore to a replacement machine with a different serial number
>> will not work.
>>
>> If your disk is encrypted, and the encryption key is derived from a cpu
>> serial number, a restore of a drive image to a replacement machine will
>> not result in the ability to unencrypt the drive. etc. Same goes for any
>> drm'd files, if you can't recover them then your backup has failed.
>>
>> Backup is not software and it is not the act of making an image of a
>> drive, it is a procedure that includes restore. If the restore fails,
>> then the backup has failed.
>>
>> This is why I keep saying that copy protection and backup are
>> incompatible, they work to defeat each other.
>>
>> Geo.
>>
>> "Gary Britt" 
wrote in message
>> news:45c57d48$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>>> We're talking past each other.  All my statements have been about
>>> Acronis TrueImage backup and I assumed your statements and questions
>>> that followed were about or related to products like Acronis.  So how
>>> does, if at all, your statement about copy protected stuff there is no
>>> such thing as a reliable backup.  My Acronis backups are reliable drive
>>> images.  Now if I had any DRM infected files maybe they couldn't be
>>> restored to new hardware, but everything else that I use could.  Of
>>> course I don't use Vista.
>>>
>>> Gary
>>>
>>> Geo. wrote:
>>>> Read the restore procedure for windows backup.
>>>>
>>>> Geo.
>>>>
>>>> "Gary Britt"
 wrote in message
>>>> news:45c52da9{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>> ??   Everything that I backup is copyrighted?  An
image restore is an
>>>>> image restore no?
>>>>>
>>>>> Gary
>>>>>
>>>>> Geo. wrote:
>>>>>> If the product you are backing up is copy
protected, there is no such
>>>>>> thing as a reliable backup.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Geo.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Gary Britt"
 wrote in message
>>>>>> news:45c4f19c{at}w3.nls.net...
>>>>>>> You have to use products like Acronis
TrueImage if you want a
>>>>>>> reliable backup.  I've never used an MS Backup
Utility since Dos
>>>>>>> 6.2.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Gary
>>>>>>
>>

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