dotTech Exclusive: Free Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Home (Special Edition)! [48-hours only]

65 Comments »

1. 

   gully foyle September 9, 2010 at 1:01 PM (comment permalink) -

   Thanks, Ashraf.  While recently building a new Windows 7 64-bit system, I have had to retest many tools and find replacements for utilities which don’t function properly under W7X64.  Fortunately, for the initial backups, I used Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free Advanced to backup at 75GB operating system partition with 30GB of files to a 4GB image in 8.5 minutes.  Failure of a W7 tweak necessitated a restore of the backup image, and in a few minutes the system was restored and running again.  Thanks for this offer; I’ll use it to upgrade the backup installation with the additional features of this version.  Once again, you offer us some of the best software under terms that allow us to easily install and re-install as necessary, just like the EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition v6.1.1 offer which I used to partition this system’s 3 disks.

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2. 

   Bonnie Domeny September 9, 2010 at 1:04 PM (comment permalink) -

   I have Paragon Drive Backup 2010 special edition.  Do you know the differences between the versions?

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3. 

   pokkel September 9, 2010 at 1:06 PM (comment permalink) -

   All went fine on 64Bit ;)

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4. 

   o(o.o)o September 9, 2010 at 1:32 PM (comment permalink) -

   I guess it’s 64bit compatible since the package includes 64bit drivers
    
   http://i52.tinypic.com/1zzgsk3.jpg
    
   Oh and from my experience with a drive backup pro 10 Christmas giveaway, winPE was a whole lot slower on my computers as opposed to the linux bootable. It loaded after about 10 minutes while in comparison, the linux recovery cd was up and backing up my partition after less than 1 minute load time.

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5. 

   Kate September 9, 2010 at 1:34 PM (comment permalink) -

   @Ashraf: That’s good to know. I now realized I didn’t show appreciation for this great opportunity. So, belated thanks.

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6. 

   Suze September 9, 2010 at 2:17 PM (comment permalink) -

   @Craig: The short answer is ‘Yes.’  Paragon distinguishes between backup and copy at this link: http://kb.paragon-software.com/paragon/include/templ/object2.jsp?catId=2124&objId=2605&statId=1511866&foLang=en

   Also, I’ve found that Paragon’s backup = image, and Paragon’s copy = clone (I think most of us think of clone = image, unlike Paragon).

   Hope this answers your question.

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7. 

   blue September 9, 2010 at 3:18 PM (comment permalink) -

   Mega-thanks for the info; the net would be a less informing and informed place without you!

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8. 

   lee September 9, 2010 at 4:52 PM (comment permalink) -

   thanks

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9. 

   Marc September 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM (comment permalink) -

   Ashraf et al:
    
   Can this program back-up an entire image of the hard drive or just specific files?

   Like in my previous post, no mention is made of this capability. Can someone be more specific?

   In other words, like Acronis True Image, can this program back up an entire image of one’s hard drive? Moreover, can it perform a full backup, incremental, and differential back-ups?

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10. 

    swarup September 9, 2010 at 8:20 PM (comment permalink) -

    Thanks Ashraf for hold this great promo.

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11. 

    Home User September 9, 2010 at 8:52 PM (comment permalink) -

    I would also like to know like Marc if this program makes an image of the complete drive.
    Is it like Acronis True Image where it can make an image of everything, where you can restore the operating system and all files and folders? If anyone has used this already and knows please post an answer. It doesn’t seem to be clear, to me anyway, when I read about what this program actually backs up.
    Thanks

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12. 

    Ashraf September 9, 2010 at 9:06 PM (comment permalink) -

    Mr. Boss

    Sorry for not replying earlier. This program does full image backups (like Acronis) and it does file backups – it can do both.

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13. 

    Home User September 9, 2010 at 9:48 PM (comment permalink) -

    @Ashraf
    Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your time you give to help others.
    Thank you and Paragon also for the giveaway. Going to give this a try since it does full image backups like Acronis.

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14. 

    tekknokat September 10, 2010 at 3:26 AM (comment permalink) -

    HELP!!  I have downloaded and run the self extracting archive three times, and each time I get the following message:

    “Some installation files are corrupt.  Please download a fresh copy and retry the installation.”

    I extracted the files into a folder I named “Backup & Recovery 10 Home SE.”  The name of the parent folder is “Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Home (Special Edition) – dotTech.org” in Windows Explorer folder location Desktop\MyName\Downloads, aka C:\Users\MyName\Downloads. 

    This is the factory installed version of Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.  I used a download manager Download Accelerator Plus (DAP) to speed up the download, I use it all of the time, and I never have had corrupted downloads before.  I am going to try to download without the download manager, but I am not anticipating different results.  After that I am going to try not naming the extraction folder a different name as the parent folder, and leaving out “&” and “()” characters.  Other than that, I have had problems with Paragon products in the past, specifically, Paragon System Backup 9.5 not being able to install using the .msi installer May 16, and at least one other time. 

    I was successully able to install the Paragon Backup & Recovery Compact Edition – GOTD March 17, Paragon Partition Manager 10 Personal – dotTech – TheWindowsClub April 26, and Paragon Drive Backup 9.5 Professional Edition – GOTD May 6, as well as Partition Manager 11 Special Edition – GOTD July 15.  I would uninstall any of these if I thought they would help me with installing this freebie here.

    I just purchased Acronis True Image 2010 early this summer, with the Plus Pack for creating a Win PE boot CD, and it has been giving me problems I am just not skilled enough or have enough time to figure out in spite of hours of reading the PDFs, Knowledgebase (worthless), and forum.  I thought this Freebie might be easier, I am disappointed, I thought forking over the money for Acronis would save me from having to worry about complications with backups, images, and boot CDs.  Instead it just gives me blue screens a lot.  Now I can’t even get this freebie to extract properly, I am not a complete idiot, I have been using Windows for over a decade now, and typically don’t have problems like this.

    Thank you anybody in advance who can help me figure this out.

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15. 

    RobCr September 10, 2010 at 3:53 AM (comment permalink) -

    I downloaded OK.
    It extracted OK (It is peculiar, but it worked).
    Have not installed it yet, as one of the options (on the Install screen), allows you to create the bootable CD immediately (without installing the program).
    AND I AM GLAD I DID, as it is having problems.
     
    Meanwhile back to your question.
    Do you have a Seagate drive connected somewhere ?
    (See my earlier post #9 regarding having an external docking thingy)
    Download the free Seagate DiscWizard.
    It is a pruned down (and simpler) version of Acronis TI
    I will be able to guide you through usage of the bootable CD, that you will burn.

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16. 

    RobCr September 10, 2010 at 4:16 AM (comment permalink) -

    For those that think you do not have to read Ashraf’s Install instructions -
    Think again.
    They are a bit unusual (The Install process, not Ashraf’s instructions).
    I opened autorun.inf (uppercase), and it told me to run explauncher.exe, which I did.
    Ashraf says to run launcher.exe
    As best I can tell, they both do the same thing.
    The good news is, when you follow Ashraf’s instruction to -
    Click on Paragon Backup & Recovery Home Special Edition ; Paragon Backup & Recovery Home Special Edition
    It shows two choices on the right.
    The upper one is the start of the real Install program
    If you are nervous about installing the program, you can click the bottom one on the right.
    It will create the ‘recovery CD’ which I prefer to think of as the -
    ‘Run it from a bootable CD (instead of from within Windows)’
    If you choose that first, then you can create the CD without installing the program, and it does not ask for the Serial Number.
    This makes it possible for the super cautious to make an image, then install the program, and you can always Restore back to the image created prior to installing Paragon.
    ‘Now who could argue with that’ (Blazing Saddles)

    The CD booted OK, and I managed to get to the main screen.
    I ejected the CD, and rebooted back into Win7.
    That allowed me to connect my external drive (docking thingy), and I created a folder for my Paragon images (separate from my folder for Seagate DiscWizard images).
    I then put the CD back in, and rebooted the PC.
    All sorts of troubles, and could not get to the CD’s Main screen.
    I disconnected the external drive, and rebooted, and it got to it’s main screen OK.
    I then reconnected the external drive, and it allowed me to navigate in the external drive to choose the folder for a new image.
    If there is anything flaky about my proposed Backup/Restore processes, I will run one hundred miles away.
    I believe Paragon is a good company, but I am running away from this one.

    PS it may work for some of you with more modern hardware ? ? ?
    My PC’s are early 2004
    The free May 2009 Seagate discWizard works a charm.
    I downloaded the very latest Seagate DiscWizard, and it had minor problems seeing my drives.
    I ran away from that 2010 version, and continue to use the May 2009, which is 100% reliable, provided you do not stuff around with the images.

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17. 

    RobCr September 10, 2010 at 4:45 AM (comment permalink) -

    @gully foyle:
    Re your post #25
    It was your magical compression down to 4GB, that swayed me to try the program
    My image of a Partition with 24GB of data, was going to be 17GB (on maximum compression).
    (Possibly your drive is full of files like say BMPs which compress like ‘black holes’, whereas my files do not ?)
    Is your version still available ?
    Does it run from a bootable CD ?
     
    PS Re my recent post. It also stuffed my File system, and the next boot of Win7 had to check/fix the integrity of all files/folders.
    Perhaps those with older hardware should create an image first, with their existing imaging software. I nearly did, but said to myself ‘what could go wrong’.
    I will never say that to myself again.
     

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18. 

    tekknokat September 10, 2010 at 8:12 AM (comment permalink) -

    I said in an earlier post:

    HELP!!  I have downloaded and run the self extracting archive three times, and each time I get the following message:

    “Some installation files are corrupt.  Please download a fresh copy and retry the installation.”

    Well, fourth try is a charm?  I downloaded without the download accelerator, and the files were not corrupted.  I had worried about this happening before, because the accelerator gets the files from different mirrors or from fragments of the same download at different points, and reassembles them for you.  I have never had loss in the past with downloading .avi and DivX files multi Gigabytes in size, or very large downloads like this one.  Something told me to keep trying though, and this time the file extracted as it should. (Could the download host (Paragon) be discouraging the use of download accelerators? Probably not.)  I also chose “Run as Administrator,” and extracted it into a smaller file named “br10_home_se,” named same as the archive file itself.  I am sure not using Download Accelerator Plus made the difference this time, how weird.

    Am I the only one who uses a download accelerator here?  My broadband isn’t slow, but time can never be too abundant, downloading 186MB in 40 seconds instead of 2.2 minutes isn’t worth what I just went through, but I haven’t had this problem before.  I’ll still use Download Accelerator Plus for other downloads.

    Ashraf, have you thought of doing a review of different free download accelerators like DAP, Free Download Manager FDM, or any of the others? That’s something I haven’t seen at dotTech.org.

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19. 

    Skriem September 10, 2010 at 8:38 AM (comment permalink) -

    Nice one, thanks!
    I’ve been using the free version for i while and restored an image for the first time 2 days ago (laptop broke down)==> went allright without any problems.
    But now with this version i can make differential file-backups as wel. Got 1 question: Can i keep the recovery-cd i made with the free version, or do i have to make a new one?

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20. 

    hulkbuster September 10, 2010 at 10:49 AM (comment permalink) -

    Thank you Ashraf for this wonderful Giveaway: but i already have Paragon Drive Backup 9 Personel / Paragon Drive Backup 9.5 Pro that was given as Giveaway few years back. After reading many reviews people complaining about the Recovery Disc: i thought i too would give up on this.
    I mainly use Bootable Disc to perform all my Backup and Restore function. What good would this be without one.
    No offense but that’s only a single man’s opinion.

    BUT KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK: WILL KEEP PACE WITH DOTTECH.ORG

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21. 

    gully foyle September 10, 2010 at 5:19 PM (comment permalink) -

    @RobCr post# 42:
    The hardware is fairly advanced: AMD PhenomII X4 955 3.2GHz; MSI 890FXA-GD70 (SATA3, USB3, 6xPCIe); 8GB 4 sticks) Cosair XMS3 CMX4GX3M2A1600C7; MSI Radeon 5450-MD1GH 1GB DDR3; Seagate 7200rpm 1.5TB and 40GB and WD 5400rpm 500GB; CoolerMaster HAF932 tower; etc.  I was building a new production machine for someone else, with W7X64 Pro from an OEM install disk, so perhaps that format has a lot less junk included.  Beyond that I removed unneed Microsoft “features,” turned off unneeded services, moved /Users/<user name>/… files to another partition.  There are no additional BMPs beyond what MS includes.   Moreover, I had already installed most the system’s applications and utilities, so the Programs Files folder is fairly full.
    I followed Ashraf’s instructions and experienced nothing unusual in the process of downloading, installing, or registering.  Installled in W7X64 with Admin rights and without compatibility checking since it comes with 64-bit drivers.
    After more “tweaks” crashed the system, I restored it with my first image of the entire C: partition [post# 26 above: "for the initial backup, I used Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Free Advanced to backup at 75GB operating system partition with 30GB of files to a 4GB image in 8.5 minutes"] which was actually about 3.8GB.  It restored to the OS partition, rebooted, and the pre-”tweaks” setup was restored in a few minutes.  After I finished more restructuring of the OS, I made another image which came to about 4.2GB.  I removed Free Advanced to replace it with Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Home Special Edition from Ashraf, but still have to rebuild the Recovery CD.  I will try to report back when I have burned and tested it.  I also have the specialized versions of Acronis True Image software from Seagate and from WesternDigital, but used Paragon instead.
    @tekknokat
    I use Free Download Manager, but a lot of servers don’t like to have such software creating multiple download threads off their servers.  Just use the “Save Link As…” context menu command in Firefox or the equivalent in IE, etc.

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22. 

    Grr September 10, 2010 at 7:58 PM (comment permalink) -

    Thanks Ashraf.

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23. 

    RobCr September 11, 2010 at 1:30 AM (comment permalink) -

    If you read the PS in my Post #42 I mention that the bootable CD stuffed my Files/folders on my internal W7 drive.
    I just connected my external drive (where I store all my images).
    Luckily I did it while W7 was running (I was wanting to remove the Paragon 2010 Folder that I had created, as I won’t be using that).
    W7 popped up a warning saying the structure(whatever) is stuffed on my external drive, and offering to fix it.
    If anyone broke into my house and messed with my images, I would kill them.
    Any guesses how I feel about this program’s bootable CD ?

    PS The W7 FIX dialog is looking fairly stalled to me.
    Can anyone SUGGEST an alternative TOOL that I can use for correcting errors in my external drive.

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24. 

    Erik September 11, 2010 at 4:17 AM (comment permalink) -

    I wonder -as Kate #24 was asking – what’s different in Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Home SE and Paragon Backup & Recovery 10 Compact? thank you and keep up the excellent work !

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25. 

    RobCr September 11, 2010 at 4:26 AM (comment permalink) -

    I posted a link, but that triggers moderation, and possible delay.

    If you do a Google for this (without the quotes), it is the 2nd hit (child of the first hit).

    Paragon Backup & Recovery Compact – Free Download

    That shows a comparison chart, against a version similar to the Home Special.

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