Any maximum size for ISO file?

[Acnestis]

Hi group!

 

I'm new to the group. Not new to computers. (Not sure if that's an advantage or disadvantage.)

 

Perhaps someone can tell me - before I get completely gung-ho on this project - if this is even possible to accomplish with ImgBurn.

 

Running WinXP Pro RAID-1 configuration on a pair of SATA drives. (This is the BIOS RAID, common on most modern motherboards - this one's nVidia). RAID-1 protects my system from a HDD failure. I also have a removable IDE drive bay.

 

But what protects the array from Windows?

 

I built another system (single SATA HDD) and had some kind of failure - hardware, software, not sure - and the ONLY option, after trying all XP's repair options, including fixmbr, was to reformat the partition and re-install. Done.

 

As an experiment, I also installed XP and MagicISO on the removable IDE drive. I then made an ISO of the C: SATA drive (4.6GB ISO), and stored it on the D: partition of the SATA drive. I then formatted the C: SATA partition. Yes, blew away the new installation of XP.

 

Then, booting to the removable IDE drive, I extracted the ISO of the C: SATA partition from the D: SATA partition with MagicISO, placing the extracted image back on C: SATA HDD.

 

Worked like a charm! Just needed to "clean up" a few things - maybe 15 minutes work.

 

The "new" project:

 

I'd like to do something similar with the RAID-1 system - make an ISO of C:, and store it on the removable IDE drive. However, the C: partition has 25GB+ of files on it.

 

Is it possible to create an ISO this large with ImgBurn? And, also extract it?

 

Anyone been there?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

- Ralph

[mmalves]

It would be easier, not to mention more reliable, if you used a proper HDD backup/imaging program like Acronis True Image: it can make a bootable disc that allows you to restore any HDD/partition backup in a few minutes. Also it's not dependent of having another Windows install in order to restore; you can even save your backups on external HDDs and flash drives.

[laserfan]

Yes, afaict there is no limit to the size of an ISO w/ImgBurn, but you should use the right tool for the job.

 

Macrium Reflect is an imaging software which has a free version, but its rescue/recovery disk is Linux-based and might not work if your PC has very new hardware e.g. maybe USB3.0 or SATAIII. But EaseUS also has a free image program which seems to do it all, including disk cloning. Give that one a try--everyone who maintains PCs needs to be doing image backups.

[dbminter]

I tried EaseUs and don't recommend it. My main problem, if memory serves me correctly, was there was no way to check on the status of a running backup. There may not have even been a way to easily check and see if a backup ran successfully, but, I don't know that for sure.

 

 

I use Macrium paid. The paid version has a "Windows PE" bootable solution, which I use over the Linux. The Linux disc only restores, where as the Windows PE version lets you make backups, too, in its environment. Plus, the 5.0 Linux disc doesn't appear to work. I tried it on 2 different PC's and the restores just there, doing nothing, where I tried running them.

 

 

As for the size of the ISO, the only limits would be the maximum file size supported by the disk's file system. Plus, if you're ever going to burn the image to a disc, you'll have to take into account whatever Blu-Ray disc would support it, which I know nothing about the sizes of BR discs.