Affordable Drive Imaging Solution

excellent
key review info
application features
  • Supports FAT16/FAT32/NTFS file systems
  • (6 more, see all...)

When it comes to computers, the shortest way to a disaster is the lack of a backup file. If you were too lazy to at least create another copy of your most important documents, then you deserve your fate when the hard disk fails and data is lost. With all applications specially designed to create backup not only for files and folders, but to entire disks and restore them at a later time, there should be no problem keeping your files safe and sound.

Drive ImageXML, Norton Ghost, Acronis True Image, these are but a small amount of apps ready to assist you on the job, and the second one in the list is absolutely free of charge. I agree that they don't come cheap, but at least they do a hell of a job and when disaster hits, you only have to restore the lost documents in order to be up and running again.

If none of the above serves you right, here's another disk imaging solution that allows swift restoration in times of trouble. Easy Image is set out for good deeds, coming at a very low price ($19.95) considering its abilities. Testing period is granted for 15 days with all options unlocked. The application is specially tailored to keep you safe from hard disk crashes or operating system failures and to allow you an easy way to restore all the data as it originally were.

If you're familiar with Acronis True Image, Easy Image will seem like a breeze, as it is much easier to harness and obtain the desired backup. As for the quality of the resulting image file, Easy Image does a sector-by-sector recovery, so nothing will be omitted, giving you the possibility of restoring the same image to multiple systems.

The interface is straightforward and not at all abounding in complicated features and options, as the purpose of the entire program is to provide the end user with an alternative to backing up and restoring a drive on the system with the least hassle possible. Following this principle, the interface lays all the options up front. There are basically three main options available (Backup, Explore and Unplug) and if you haven't got a backup of a drive, there is little left to do.

Making a drive image is as easy a task as following the instructions displayed by the assisting wizard, so there is really very little effort inputed in the job. The moment you start the backup process, the wizard will guide you through completion of the task at hand. Easy Image can replicate any of the drives on the system and even of the entire hard disk exactly as it is and all you have to do is to check the items you want to be backed up. The user will also be given information on the total size of the disk, the size of the selected partition and its total number of sectors.

The next step after selecting the items to be cloned is defining the storage location for the image. This can be anywhere on the fix hard disk or removable drive (provided that there is enough space available) or network location. So the program is quite flexible in this sense, offering multiple locations.

Compression of the image will help you reduce the size of the backup with 30% up to 50% of the original, saving you some space. Unfortunately, the application cannot save the image on CD/DVD media but offers you the chance of splitting the resulting archive into preset sizes for later burning them on disks. The image can be sliced into pieces of 256MB, 2GB, 650MB, 700MB or 4GB. More than this, if you constantly create images of the system drive (or any other drive), you can add a description to help you later identify the image (you can't be too creative, as 512 characters are all you have).

After all the settings have been made and Easy Image is on the verge of starting the creation of the image, you are presented with all the details of the job, starting with storage location, name of the image, compression level (normal or high are the only ones to choose from), image splitting size and the item to be backed up right down to the comments of the job. If something is not as it should, now it's your chance to set it right, as the next step will start the backup process.

During our testing, the estimated time of completion was pretty accurate at each attempt. Although it took a while to calculate it, the application finished in the exact amount of time as it displayed, nothing more or less. The process can be hidden (minimizes to system tray) so that it would not intrude on you, and you can continue your business with the computer as in a normal situation although Easy Image will take a good chunk of CPU power and a bite of about 60MB of RAM.

Restoring the drive from the image is characterized by the same ease of use, only you will no longer use the software in Windows to do this, but need to create a recovery media to boot your computer from and access restore option. The disk can be used for two tasks only: either backing up a drive/disk or restoring one.

Creating it is wizard driven also, so there is nothing to worry. The required ingredients for creating it are Easy Image's Media Builder which comes with the software and is fully functional in the trial version, and a CD/DVD-RW. The recovery media can be burned directly onto a disk making it bootable or saved as an ISO image for later burning of your choice. Simply start Media Builder and follow the instructions of the wizard, you can't go wrong. And if you have a rather small backup, you can automatically include it on the disc.

The operating system your computer boots in is a breeze to work with, as it comes with a very comfortable design and backing up and restoring from here is absolutely a breeze due to the wizards guiding your each step (the same steps as in Windows environment should be followed). Actually, both processes are so simple that even my mother turned into a drive imaging expert over night.

Getting back to the options under Windows, Explore feature permits the user to take a peek inside backup images stored on the disk. The image is virtualized and you will be able to move inside freely and undisturbed (no deleting is allowed). Explore feature allows for easy recovery of certain files/folders from the backup in a very easy and simple manner. When you are done, make sure you hit Unplug button in order to unmount the virtual drive.

Easy Image provides great functionality, all wrapped up in a great looking interface and operating system offering the user the necessary ease of use for protecting the data on the disk and swiftly restoring important files. The application successfully transforms the sector by sector drive imaging job from a tedious task reserved only for the more experienced users into an operation easily completed by a newbie with little to no effort.

The Good

You need no experience for using it and successfully create the backup image for the desired drive or even for the entire disk. Media Builder program is user friendly and lets you create the boot disk in no time.

The use of the wizards and the few steps to be taken for completing the job make backing up and restoring operations a breeze.

Explorer option allows virtualizing the image and accessing its data freely, as well as recovering only certain files contained by the image with a simple drag and drop.

The Bad

If you start the recovery media and the computer to perform the restore on does not have a fully functional mouse, you will find it impossible to access Start menu. We tried and could not launch it from the keyboard. Other than this, once you have chosen the type of operation you can continue only with the keyboard (to get past the description screen use Ctr+Tab).

The Truth

Easy Image makes for an extraordinary backup and restore utility as it comes at an affordable price, the wizards make the entire operation a walk in the park. If disk imaging sounds scary to you, with Easy Image there is nothing to be afraid of as it turns everything into a smooth, wizard-driven operation that can be taken care of even by inexperienced users, with the utmost ease.

The last four pictures below have been taken with a camera on a real system as we wanted to test the application under a real life scenario, so this is the reason for their poorer quality.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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user interface 5
features 5
ease of use 5
pricing / value 5


final rating 5
Editor's review
excellent
 
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