Using Copy in Windows XP to back up Whole Hard Drive

[MD507]

What is the best way I can copy my whole Hard Drive using a copy command or XCOPY command to an external USB Hard Drive . I have Windows XP , 2nd version. And what is the command to do that?

[Deerpark]

Why would you want to copy your entire hard drive like that?

[MD507]

I was hoping to make it easier so I wouldn't need a third-party software backip my whole hard drive. So if my Internal HD crashes all I need to do is copy the whole hard drive from my external USB hard drive, back to my Internal HD.

[patio]

This strategy is doomed to failure...Windows isn't designed to do this.
As a third party app i highly suggest Acronis True Image for your needs...
Version 10 which is more than adequate for your application is about 20 bucks shipped from newegg.com if your in the States.
Trust me there are NO reliable backup strategies using just Windows.

P.S. Also it is unwise to save a backup to an external HDD...they fail also. Better to burn it to CD/DVD which ATI allows you to do.

[jerryheavyarms]

I definitely go with what Patio said. You can use Acronis True Image to backup your hard drives. Ive used it thrice. What we have is Acronis 9.

[GuruGary]

But, if you really do want to try to back up your entire hard drive, you can use this:

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xcopy C:\ E:\ /e /h /k /c /d /yThis assumes that your hard drive is C:, and your external USB is E: and that you want to back it up to the root of the drive.  This will not back every single file, but it should get all files that are not in use (files like pagefile.sys, registry hives, etc. won't be backed up with this method).  It is suitable for backing up your data files, documents, pictures, etc., but you won't be able to use it to restore your entire hard drive.

Here is what the switches do if you are interested:
/e: copy all subdirectories including empty
/h: copy hidden and system files also
/k: keep the hidden / system file attributes on the copied files
/c: continue copying if an error is encountered (like a file is in use)
/d: copy only newer / changed files
/y: overwrite existing files

Notes: the /d and /y aren't necessary if this is a 1-time copy, but if you run the command on a regular basis, they will significantly speed up the backup because xcopy will only copy files that have changed or don't exist on your destination.  Also, xcopy has limits on paths and file names and performing an xcopy on an entire hard drive will sometimes result in an "out of memory" error (usually in extremely long paths or filenames).  I get around this by using the robocopy program which is a free download from Microsoft.

If you want a full backup, I would go with something like Acronis as suggested by Patio ... although I do have to respectfully disagree with his opinion that backing up to CD/DVD is better than an external hard drive.  All storage media is prone to failure, and all storage media will fail eventually.  I personally prefer an external drive over CD or DVD media.