DriveClone 3 Pro
Reviewed November 2007

What’s It Do?

DriveClone 3 Pro creates a complete disk image of a hard drive which can be used for backup and recovery, to quickly transfer all information from a hard drive to a new hard drive, or to copy a single system configuration across multiple hard drives or partitions. The Pro version adds automatic, ongoing file version backup and system snapshots and a Continuous Data Protection architecture allowing snapshots to occur at the sector level of the system’s primary hard drive. Backup is done to a hidden partition of the user’s hard drive, underneath Windows.


Does it do what it Promises?

Reviewer 1: No, I had serious problems with this application. I purports to do “automatic, incremental backups” but without serious tweaking of the system, it throws error messages. Basically, it needs to be installed alone with no other backup type applications. It does not play well with others.

Reviewer 2: Not in my experience. Backup software is “mission critical” and needs to be fully functioning when one’s system falls apart. At one point, all of my system snapshots were deleted by DriveClone Pro. Then, after doing a full and incremental backup I attempted to restore files only to receive the message that “Backup data does not exist in your selected folder”. For technical support the user is directed to e-mail submission. Only after a ticket is submitted does the user find that the 1-2 day promised turnaround for registered users actually means “If you do not receive a response within 2 US business days, please resend your request…”.

Reviewer 3: What sets DriveClone Pro apart from most of the competition is that it combines two major functions which have previously been the domain of two very separate kind of problem/disaster recovery approaches. The first type, usually referred to as "Backup" programs, will make copies of your data to another location. In the case of major failure of your system for one reason or another, you will usually reinstall the Operating System and the programs and applications that you use. The Backup will serve to recover personal data: one’s work, files, photos, music, and so on. The second type, often called referred to as "Imaging Software" will make a replica of the working drive(s). This will usually be a complete "picture" of the drive at a particular moment in time. In the case of catastrophic failure, the image can be used to overwrite the complete failed drive, and return the system to the moment the image was taken. Normally, whatever caused the failure will have occurred after the moment the image was made. The advantage of the image is that it is a relatively quick and easy method of recovering from a mess, as reinstalling Windows and all applications usually takes a lot of work and time. On the other hand, good backup programs can be set up so that they will be running often enough that very little data will be lost, and these can be used restore very specific data without having to revert to a complete system reinstallation. This program is the first one that I have come across that attempts to provide both backup and imaging functions, from the backup and restoration of quite targeted files and folders through various intermediate stages to complete system reimaging. The user can also create a drive clone (exact replica of his drive) to move his system to a different computer That all said, I found this program to be spotty. Some functions worked well, and others I found difficult to implement.

Reviewer 4: Yes. DriveClone Pro combines all of the advantages of a backup utility, hard disk imaging utility, rollback program, and migration application allowing not only backup of files, or rollback to a previous state through “snapshots,” but it also allows making an exact copy of the hard drive. Thanks to a new “universal restore” function the entire system can be restored in the event of a crash or hard drive failure. And, the entire system can be migrated for replacement or upgraded hardware (even if dissimilar).


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1: Yes, it installed with no problems. One note though, system restore should be turned off for the installation. This deletes all restore points. In the event of a problem, it’s a good idea to have an image stored on another drive.

Reviewer 2: Installation was simple and straightforward.. Upon rebooting following installation a screen pops up indicating that a system image is being made.

Reviewer 3: Yes; however, before attempting the installation, one should check the User Manual on Page 34 to make sure that no software is on the system that would conflict with DriveClone Pro; for example, Kaspersky Anti-virus or Norton GoBack. It should be noted that the Windows System Restore function must be turned off while installing DriveClone Pro. This is not particularly problematic, as the Restore of this program will being your complete system back to a previous point, including all files, programs and folders. This is unlike the Windows Restore, which will only recover certain Windows System settings. The Install Wizard process is a bit long, as it has to set up all its parameters. There must be a lot of free drive space on the boot drive (usually C: drive), as the program will set up a "Secure Area" there. This will later not be available to use, as DiskClone Pro will store file and other recovery information there. I was able to place the program and the shortcuts where I wanted, but it does also install a number of programs in the system boot-up without warning. These are related to scheduling functions and to tracking files that are changing (for the incremental backup of files), so they are quite legitimate; however, I prefer that programs do tell what they are doing as they install themselves. The upgrade process is simple, offering the choice between an upgrade or complete reinstallation of the program, removing the old version and installing the new one. This is an option I really appreciate. Surprisingly, though, it does not pick up the already-installed license key and it must be reentered during the upgrade. Once the installation is completed, the computer must be rebooted.

Reviewer 4: No. This is not necessarily a criticism, simply the reality of installing a highly complex software program. It is a huge 90.5MB download (although, admittedly 1/3 smaller than the OS-sized 137MB download of its nearest competitor, Acronis True Image) so it may not be good choice for anyone not on a relatively fast broadband or cable connection. It does recommend doing some partitioning of one’s hard drive although I tried the software with and without partitioning and it performed satisfactorily in either configuration. It is also recommended that the user disable Windows System Restore and any scheduled defragmentation before installing, I assume to avoid possible conflicts. So, while the installation itself is relatively easy using the standard installation wizards with which we are all familiar, there are a few pre-installation steps that are unique and not usually seen in installing software, and which could cause the inexperienced user some anxiety or difficulty.


Good Points.

Reviewer 1: This is hard to say since I never got it to successfully work completely. It made the first full backup to the new drive successfully after a lot of tweaking but everything fell apart after that.

Reviewer 2: This program uses “imaging”, the most comprehensive method to preserve data. In addition, “system snapshots”, similar to Windows’ restore points, are automatically saved on hidden partitions on the hard drive. While these won’t be helpful if one’s entire drive goes down, they should be useful if the operating system becomes corrupted. My first successful backup was all of the partitions of my laptop’s hard drive to a new MyBook 500GB external drive via USB 2.0. It took about 5 hours for a 120 GB source drive. Immediately after the successful backup I was prompted to schedule my incremental backups. According to their documentation, the backup process is fairly smart, backing up the files needed and omitting unneeded files such as: files in recycle bin, files in system volume information directory, pagefile.sys, files in _$temp directory, hiberfil.sys, files with the extension named with rit and tmp, temporary files of Word, files in Driveclone Pro’s setup folder, files in backup destination directory of the current running backup job, and files in every user’s temp directory.

Reviewer 3: I do like the effort to combine backup functions within a disk imaging program. I found it very easy to set up and create system snapshots, and full and incremental backups of the whole C:\ drive. I chose to place the data on a large drive connected via one of the USB ports. As I was creating a full backup in the first instance, I left it to run at night, when the computer would be idle. It was also easy to schedule incremental backups; in other words, to have the program backup only the files which had changed since the last full or incremental backup procedure. I tested out the ability of the program to restore the system to a previous state; this was also successful, and easy to implement. Somewhat to my surprise, I found that I can also back up my Linux partition, although DriveClone Pro is running under Windows. This works in essentially the same way as the full and incremental backups of Windows. Access to support is always an important consideration, particularly if the program is depended upon to safeguard critical files and data. Access is relatively simple, although in order to be able to create a "Support Ticket” (an online submission of the question or program), one must have a "Registration ID". Once the request is submitted online, a reply is received by email allowing an exchange by further email rather than online. I found their claim to respond to registered users within two business days to be true; however, for a program of this sort, the turnaround is too slow. When restoring one’s computer from a disastrous crash, two business days could turn out to be very long indeed.

Reviewer 4: While not without its faults, there may be no better disc imaging software for the money on the market today. Most, if not all, backup-type software can be described as either drive imaging, file backup, or rollback programs. This is the first software program that I have seen which offers all three programs rolled into one and does each one well. First, DriveClone Pro attempts to make what should be simple, but often incomprehensible, relatively easy by allowing everything to be done through wizards found on the not unattractive and rather simplistic GUI (Graphic User Interface). These wizards have easy-to-understand interfaces and are relatively easy to use, even for a novice. So, while creating a backup hard drive image may lead through many sometimes complicated steps, the wizards ask for the location to store the backup image and the rest is automatic. It is able to do this while Windows is in use, something only a very few disc imaging programs are capable of doing. It offers standard full backups in either full or incremental mode and can be scheduled to perform this task automatically or manually. A rather unique feature called “Snapshots” essentially replaces and improves upon the Windows System Restore. taking system “snapshots” and storing then in a protected hard drive partition so that any previous state of your computer can be attained by selecting the appropriate “snapshot.” DriveClone Pro also offers USB Hot Drive that allows running a disc image saved on a USB hard drive as a local hard drive to keep one’s system operable even in the event of a hard drive failure. Backups or images can be stored on external and/or removable media as well. I think the most outstanding feature is the Universal Restore function that allows migrating the entire system to new or upgraded hardware without regard to sizes, drivers, or manufacturers. Backups, images, and “snapshots” were made with no difficulties and each type of “restore” went smoothly from both an external USB drive as well as CD. Support consists of an FAQ, extensive demos, a downloadable-only users manual, and direct online support ticket request. Support tickets are promised a 1-2 day turnaround time for licensed (non-trial) users and two support requests were answered within 1-2 days with the third answered on day three. The support help was courteous, understandable, and answered my question on the first attempt. There is a 30-day free trial period as well as a 30-dayfull refund guarantee. The price of $59.99 is very competitive and, in fact, less than its two closest competitors, Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image. While I do have certain concerns regarding, among other things, this price (see below), the software performed well and I can easily recommend accepting the limitations below.


Weak Points.

Reviewer 1: I found this program difficult to use. Some of it was due to using a new drive that came formatted as FAT32 and the peculiarities of my system. The new drive was formatted as FAT32, and did not have the “proper” drive letter assigned by Windows so the program could not find it. I fixed all this via Windows admin Tools. Next, I had to turn off ALL TSR (terminate and stay resident) programs that start automatically with Windows. This included antivirus and spyware programs as well as my current backup monitoring application (Acornis TrueImage). DriveClone Pro did the full backup of 57GB in 4+ hours to create a 57GB backup. In my opinion, that was neither very fast nor very user friendly. My next problem was to get it to make the advertised automated, incremental backup at a scheduled time. This would not work and kept returning an error message after the scheduled backup time. In response to my support request, I was advised to “uninstall Acronis TruImage and turn off my spyware programs”. This is hardly “automated”, scheduled backup. If I need to preconfigure the machine each time I want to do a scheduled backup, it is essentially a manual backup, not “scheduled” as claimed. Subsequent support requests produced the same advice, i.e., to disable Acronis and anti-spyware programs.

Reviewer 2: The first time I attempted to back up a partition, the process stopped with the message that it had failed to create a temporary file. There was no clue about whether this would be a one-time or permanent problem, nor any indication about how this problem could or should be fixed. I subsequently found that there was a specific error code listed in the error log. I would suggest to the developers that listing this error code in the initial display would be helpful for many users. It would also be helpful if there was easy access to a list of error codes, their detailed explanations, and the actions needed to correct them. When first set up, the program prompts the user to designate specific drive space on a hidden partition for the “System Snapshots”. I did so, and as I received periodic popup messages stating that the reserve space was getting low and that the oldest snapshots would automatically be deleted to make space for the new ones. I was surprised to see a subsequent popup stating “System Snapshot has run out of space. All System Snapshots have been cleared.” I had reserved more than the recommended minimum space for multiple snapshots and it seems unnecessary and risky to automatically clear out all of the snapshots in order to make room for a single new one. There was no way to identify and preserve a snapshot from a day when the system was working well. After making a full and incremental backup, I attempted to restore specific files. When prompted for a location to restore from, the only option on the drop-down list was “System Default”. There, I found only select files from specific partitions. From the selection of files, I thought that it was choosing the incremental backup of files that had changed, but since I could access it when the external drive was disconnected, it must have been accessing the “system snapshots” which were stored on the system’s internal hard drive. There was an option to browse for the location of the files to restore. When I selected the location where I had my original backup saved I received the message: “Backup data does not exist in your selected folder”. Technical support is largely limited to e-mail with a promised 1-2 day response time for registered users and 3-5 days for others. The policy is listed at www.farstone.com/support. Even this is fuzzy since after registering the product and submitting a “Support Ticket”, the on-screen confirmation message promised a reply within 2-5 days. The confirming email further dilutes the anticipated support response time by directing one to send an email to their support department if no reply is received within “2 US Business Days”. As I submit this report, I have not received a reply to my technical support email request which was sent a full 2 business days, (4 calendar days) ago. Telephone support is only available if: “your computer has been disabled by our software or if you have problems submitting a request through the Support Ticket form”. While this level of support may be appropriate for other products, it is not adequate for “mission critical” software such as this.

Other suggested resources for help include going to the “Frequently Asked Questions” sections. While there were FAQ’s listed for their other products, there was no section for DriveClone. There was one DriveClone suggestion available in the “Product Upgrades and Patches” section, but it was mixed in with solutions for problems with all of their other products.

Reviewer 3: I was not able to get some of the backups to work as I had hoped they would. Strangely enough, they were the "simple" ones. In particular I was unable to nominate particular files or folders for the file backup and file version recovery part of the program. Apart from taking a long time trying to work out exactly how to do it, I was not able to get the process set up so that the files were backed up. In relation to this, I found the manual, which I had downloaded from the FarStone Web site, to be largely the same as the online help. I would recommend that the manual, which can be a good reference tool, and a series of recipes and how to's could remain like that. However, the online help should be much more interactive. At the very least, it should be context-related. Pressing the F1 key, for example, should being up help related to the module or part of the program actually used at that moment. As using the online help was so frustrating I finally just printed the entire manual, to try to find out what I needed to know. I was also astonished to discover that I had to use an outside program to try burn a recovery CD/DVD. I did not happen to have my favourite CD/DVD burning software on the computer I was using with DriveClone Pro. I made the DriveClone "iso" file, then copied it over to the computer where I have the better DVD drive, and the CD/DVD software. I burned the DVD and made it bootable, but when I returned to the other computer, it failed. I eventually discovered a note somewhere saying that a Recovery CD/DVD will only work on the computer on which it is created. In order to store the snapshots and other critical information, DriveClone Pro sets aside its “Secure Area” on the main boot drive. Essentially, this is a partition hidden from Windows, accessible only by DriveClone Pro. In my case, it has taken up quite a large part of my boot drive, leaving me with a rather meager amount of remaining free space.

Reviewer 4: The only potentially limiting weakness has to do with resource use and upgrading. First, I was astounded at the number of running processes and the installation of three drivers. While these resources and drivers may all be necessary due to the fact that this software program does, in many ways, replace three separate programs, I would still hope the developers might look at ways to limit or consolidate some of those running processes and thus lower the resource use. There are only free upgrades for 45 days after which any new version costs $29.99. I think this deceptive marketing since, in fact, they are in reality charging $89.98 for this program if one considers that most software programs offer a year of free upgrades. As to minor or less troubling weaknesses, I thought it quite odd that the installer does not install all of the features of the program by default and that one must to choose the Advanced installation procedure to activate all features. I found the disc imaging to be very slow. On my 2.8GHz system with over 1G RAM it took over an hour at medium compression to copy less than 20GB to an external drive; although, admittedly, I would rather it be a little slow and do the job correctly which it did. I would encourage the developer to offer telephone support. When dealing with something as critical as backups (or more to the point, restoring) even one day is too long to have to wait if a problem occurs, and two to three days can result in a serious handicap and possible financial hardship. Finally, and this is more of a suggestion for improved customer convenience, it would be nice if one could read and print out the EULA online before downloading. I would like to know the limitations in advance of purchase.


Comments.

Reviewer 1: I am dissatisfied with this program. Support, although timely at first. Became less responsive. The application does not function with other typically installed programs that most users would be expected to be running. It was difficult to get working. It never fully worked for me. It was slower than other similar applications I have had the opportunity to use.

Reviewer 2: The user manual does not automatically come with this software when it is downloaded, but is available on their Web site. It gives a much clearer description of the program than the information available within the program itself. Accessing their Web site via the help menu opens Internet Explorer rather than one’s default browser. I currently have version 3.04 installed on my computer. According to their Web site, the most current version is 3.50. There was no automatic prompt from within the program to update to the latest version, nor did I find a way to do so manually from inside of the program. I was able to download the most recent version from the Web site, but reference is made to version 3.5 but the downloaded file is labeled 3.05.

Reviewer 3: The concept of this program is good and certain parts of the program worked flawlessly. However, it was disappointing that there were other parts of the program that were inconsistent in being able to carry out all the functions it is designed to do.

Reviewer 4: Farstone is an international company of over 100 software developers and engineers headquartered in California. It specializes in doing one thing: system recovery. It has been in existence since 1993—a lifetime in the software industry—and provides data backup and hard disc imaging solutions to Intel, Trend Micro, AOL, Phoenix Technologies, and Seagate among others. That, it seems, is a pretty good reference and some indication of a first-rate company and a first-rate product.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: I think not.

Reviewer 2: No.

Reviewer 3: No.

Reviewer 4: Yes.

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home

FARSTONE’S RESPONSE TO REVIEWERS COMMENTS:

We appreciate feedback from the reviewers and as a result, have taken note of ways to improve our future products. To best address the specific issues reported here, we have summarized our responses into categories.

General Comments:
FarStone launched DriveClone 3.0 Pro in May 2007. Since then, we have released a minor update (version 3.05) and a major update (version 3.5). The latest version, 3.5, fixes issues found in previous versions of DriveClone 3 and introduces several new features.

It appears that not all reviewers evaluated the same version during the test period for this review and the differences in their individual experiences may be a result of testing different versions. So we encourage all reviewers to test the latest version if time permits and we welcome new comments from them and to see if the newer version positively addresses the issues presented in this review.

Installation:
In order to ensure a successful installation, FarStone recommends that users uninstall other backup applications before installing DriveClone.

Similar to Antivirus software, it is redundant to have 2 or more applications of same or similar purpose running on a computer at the same time because foreseeable conflicts can be encountered.

We understand some users might have limited free hard drive space when they install DriveClone’s Snapshot module and create their Secure Area. The default size is 10% of the available free hard drive space but users can select a different amount of space to utilize for this function. Once created, the size of the Secure Area directly relates to the number of Snapshots that can be stored. Snapshots are based on a “First-In / First-Out” (FIFO) method and as the Secure Area fills up, the oldest Snapshots will fall off and be replaced with newer ones. The total number of Snapshots that can be stored is based on the size of the Secure Area and the combined size of the Snapshots. Users with a lot of system changes between Snapshots will store larger Snapshot files versus users who have fewer changes. After installation and regular use, if the user wishes to keep more Snapshots and/or for longer periods than their current configuration allows, they can easily resize their Secure Area. FarStone recommends that users make a Complete Backup point beforehand as the old Snapshots will be erased during the resize task.

Product Usage:
FarStone offers three different ways to manage recovery from external, physical media: Recovery CD/DVD, Rescue CD/DVD, and a Start-up Disc. There appeared to be some confusion between these features.

1. A Recovery CD/DVD is a self-bootable disc(s) that contain a complete system backup image. A user does not need to use 3rd party burning tool to burn a Recovery CD/DVD. A Recovery CD can be used to recover a system after experiencing hardware failure.

2. A Rescue CD is a simple way to return your system to pre-installation status if the DriveClone installation is accidentally terminated. Under that scenario, some files and registry information may not be correctly entered. A Rescue CD/DVD is used to clean those files and registry information. This tool will also recover your Master Boot Record (MBR) to the state prior to installing the System Snapshot module if the MBR has been modified during installation. A Rescue CD/DVD can only be used on the computer it was created from.

3. A Start-up Disc allows you to boot your computer and browse for a saved restore point. This is particularly useful when you’re replacing a hard drive. More information about these recovery options can be found at: http://www.farstone.com/resources/demo-dcpro/boot-disk.htm

Although DriveClone supports FAT file systems, if Windows does not assign a drive letter to a partition, it would not be feasible for DriveClone to find a destination path to store the image file when creating a backup.

Regarding the error message that occurred when creating the incremental backup, we would need at least the description of that error message before making comment.

Regarding the speed of a backup job (reference to “5 hours to back up a 120GB hard drive”), DriveClone provides three image compression options which directly affect the backup time. For example, selecting “high” compression for the image during the set up process typically results in longer backup times than selecting “medium” or “no compression.”

It is hard to further validate if 5 hours is a typical benchmark because the reviewer does not state how much data was on the 120GB drive, only stated the size of the drive.

Keyboard accessibility function is already included in the DriveClone roadmap; it will be available in version 4.0 (due out in the spring of 2008).

Technical Support:
FarStone offers a Support Ticket form as a primary means of providing technical product assistance. Support requests are responded to in 1 - 5 business days, according to the following criteria:

• Customers who have registered their product with a valid serial number will receive priority support within 1 - 2 business days.

• Users who do not have a serial number, and are evaluating software or have general product inquiries, will receive a response in 3 - 5 business days.

FarStone accepts support phone calls if a user's computer has been disabled by our software, or, if problems are experienced submitting a request through the Support Ticket form.

Product updates are different than product upgrades. FarStone provides free product updates which include patches and bug fixes throughout the life of the product version. There are no hidden or additional costs for this service. Product upgrades are based on releases of major versions (typically with added features). At the time of a new product release, FarStone provides free upgrades for users who purchased the previous version within the past 45 days. Users who wish to upgrade to the new version but whose 45-day grace period has expired can purchase the upgrade with a loyal customer discount off MSRP.

For more information on support, go to: http://www.farstone.com/support/ 
 

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