NOTE: The method I will describe may not work with other versions of Photoshop Elements.
Requirements:
1. Keep only your OS and your programs on your C drive
2. Keep all your data, including your photos, videos (including HDVSplit recordings) and music, etc., on an external drive.
Methodology:
1. C Drive. When you’ve gotten your OS and programs working the way you desire, INCLUDING ALL THE VARIOUS PROGRAM SETTINGS, create a mirror image of your C drive with Acronis (“Compute with Confidence”) True Image Home by choosing the Backup Option. Put the first copy of the mirror image on your second internal drive, if you have one, after you’ve created an Acronis Secure Zone on that internal drive. Put additional copies of this mirror image on your external drives. Then, ALWAYS run the Validate Backup Archive function after each copy has been completed. Once you’ve gotten all your validated copies placed, run Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. This will allow you (by pushing F11 at startup) to start your computer with Acronis in the event Windows will not load. Once you’ve started with Acronis after a crash, you can go to any of the locations where you’ve stored your mirror images of your C Drive–and restore your OS and programs in minutes.(It took about 45 minutes this morning to restore 18GB of OS and programs to my main computer.)
2. External Drives. I have 3 identical 1TB drives. Drive X goes wherever I go (apartment, car, office, etc.). Drives Y and Z are at stationary locations. Whenever I add a photo or video or music to Drive X, I subsequently start SmartSyncPro to Copy Source (X) to Destination (Y or Z), depending upon whether I am at home or the office. Now, if Drive X should crash, say, while being transported in my car, I will lose ZERO data
Fine Print:
1. I do NOT create “incremental backups” with Acronis. All my backups are “full backups” of my C Drive. If you do an incremental backup each time you add something to your C Drive, but you failed to realize that you have an incompatibility at the time, when a problem occurs and you wish to Restore your C Drive, you may not be sure which increment not to restore.
2. Here’s one of the beauties of Acronis: I have 3 identical computers. If ever my main one fails to the extent that I cannot use Acronis to Restore function (for example, my main computer loses its video), I can Restore one of my mirror images to one of the other two computers and be up and running in no time.
3. I keep my PSE 4.0 catalog--and all the data that it keeps track of--on Drive X, with copies of the catalog and data on Drives Y and Z. In the event my main computer crashes and I need to move to another, I do not panic. First, I Restore Drive C with one of my mirror images to a second computer, then I open with PSE 4.0 the catalog on Drive X and–Voila!–it’s as if nothing happened..
4. But what if Drive X itself is the one to fail? Here’s how I handle a failure of Drive X. Last week, when I attempted to backup Drive X to Drive Z, Drive X crashed (a 1TB LaCie just 3 months out of warranty). So the next day I brought Drive Y home from the office (where I had last backed up Drive X the day before) and proceeded to back it up to Drive Z. The result was that not one byte of data that had resided on Drive X was lost
5. But now I’ve got only 2 external drives, Y and Z, and my method requires 3. Here is one way to create a new Drive X: After purchasing a new, empty 1TB drive, I can use the Restore Source from Destination operation in SmartSyncPro to create a new Drive X that looks like, and functions like, the one I had before the crash.
Amazingly, Acronis True Image Home, which also does lots of other neat things, sells for only about $50, while SmartSyncpro is about $30. If one takes into account the hundreds of hours it takes to build a PSE catalog that is full of photos, videos, tags and collections, I do believe these two items are absolute must-haves.
DISCLAIMER: This procedure has worked for me a number of times, but I accept no responsibility if it does not work for others. Further, I’ve used it ONLY with PSE 4.0. I have read that this procedure may not work on later version of PSE. Lastly, I have no financial interest in either Acronis or SmartSyncPro.
