I second Ron's recommendation in re BootIt NG. The defaults are reasonably
safe and the biggest risk is that the machine loses power or has some other
catastrophic failure during a resize or move operation, though I believe
there are some safeguards even then. Definitely want to have a UPS backup
power supply attached. In any case, BING is what most of us old-timer MVPs
use, so you have a wealth of support available right here in these NGs. In
fact, many of us were on the unofficial "beta" team when BING was being
developed, and a one or two MVPs were deeply involved in its development and
still assist in the BING forums. Besides, the most risky operations are the
same operations that PQ does. It's just that with PQ you set up a script and
then it does its thing during a restart, whereas with BING you do it more
directly.

As for imaging, BING includes one such function, and has an even more
feature-full stand-alone version. It's pretty decent but my impression is
that its slow. That said, most people I know and trust will suggest Acronis
as being the most versatile.

--

Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
http://grystmill.org/articles/cleanboot.htm
http://grystmill.org/articles/security.htm

"1966olds" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi Ron,

I tried Boot-it a few years ago and to be honest, it scared me a
little. Or I should say I was scared that I would get myself in trouble
because it could do so much. Course that was in pre-Win Xp days when
even booting from a non-primary partition seemed radical. And I'm a bit
rusty as a I haven't changed the configuration of my disks in awhile.

Is there anything as powerful as Patition Magic is/was, but maybe with
some more safeguards than Boot-it to protect me from myself? If not,
I'll give it another try.

Also... for drive imaging. What would be the closest replacement for
Drive Image? I use that very heavily and rely on it not only to save me
from disasters but for trying out new programs and such without gaving
to worry about uninstalling.

Thanks,
Larry



Ron Badour wrote:
BootIt Next Generation is available from:
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/
and it does partitioning, makes a compressed image, does many other
partitioning chores and is a boot manager. It is not quite as easy to
use
as Partition Magic but it is half the cost and has more features. Unlike
the crippled PMagic demo, BING is a *full function* demo you can try for
FREE for 30 days. The web site has a lot of support articles.


--
Regards


Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo



"1966olds" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

Running Windows XP (SP2) and still using Partition Magic 7.0 (with an
update or two) and Drive Image 2002. No problems yet, but I realize
eventually I'll need to jump to another product.

I'd like to know, if possible, consensus as to best current mainstream
replacement for both. I know Symantec bought Powerquest and their
product was "Ghost", but haven't heard or seen any mention of that one
lately. Have seen the brand name Acronis mentioned, but do not know
anything about them. I trusted Powerquest all these years and am
hoping I can get some info on how best to fill the void when some day
both products I am currently using become obsolete.

Thanks for any info / opinions,

Larry