The Good
* Straightforward and easy to use.
o All major features have a step-by-step wizard that guides users, making it very easy for even novices to use.
* Allows users to copy whole hard drives to other hard drives.
o The source hard drive and destination hard drive need not be the same size.
o The destination hard drive can be used on a computer with different hardware, thanks to the P2P Adjust OS feature.
o Users opt to do a "sector-by-sector" copy of the whole source hard drive, or do a "sector-by-sector" copy of just the partitions on the source hard drive.
o Partitions on the source hard drive can be resized in proportion to the destination hard drive's size.
o Can remove unallocated space between partitions on the source hard drive while copying.
o Filters can be used to exclude the copy of specific files and/or file types.
o Has an incremental copy feature that only copies changes made since last copy.
o Users have the ability to schedule hard drive copies to occur automatically.
* Allows users to copy individual partitions to unallocated space on current hard drive or different hard drive.
o Partitions can be resized while copying.
o Filters can be used to exclude the copy of specific files and/or file types.
o Users have the ability to schedule partition copies to occur automatically.
* Can virtualize whole hard drives or individual partitions and create virtual machines out of them.
o Supports VMware, Microsoft Virtual PC, and VirtualBox virtual machine formats.
* Has basic partition management (add, delete, resize, format, undelete, etc.), hard drive management (error checking, fix MBR, etc.) and basic image-backup/restoration capabilities.
o Partition management supports FAT32, NTFS, EXT2/3/4, Swap2, and Apple HFS file systems.
o Image-backup features allow users to control compression level and has the ability to automatically split backup archives based on size.
* Supports Microsoft VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) while giving users the option to use Paragon Hot Processing instead.
* Supports internal and external hard drives.
* Supports MBR and GPT hard drives.
* "Virtual mode" (in Advanced Launcher only) allows users to queue-up multiple actions and have them conducted in batch (i.e. set multiple partitions to be copied one after another).
* Allows users to create bootable/recovery CD/DVD/Blu-ray discs or USB/flash drives.
o Supports Linux-based bootable media.

The Bad
* The Paragon Drive Copy 10 Personal "Special Edition" does not come with WinPE bootable media. Since there is no WinPE bootable media, the P2P Adjust OS feature (the feature that allows users to migrate data from one computer to another by adjusting the copied data to work on the new hardware) is effectively useless since it only works off WinPE bootable media.
* When creating a virtual copy of a whole hard drive, doesn't disable the use of unsupported virtual machine formats (i.e. if the hard drive size is too large for a Microsoft Virtual PC virtual machine, doesn't disable that option). It does disable when creating a virtual copy of individual partitions, though.
* When running off the Linux-based bootable media, the image-backup feature allows users to password protect backup archives; when run normally from within Windows, the image-backup feature does not have this password protection feature.
* No options to do incremental copy or "sector-by-sector" copy when copying partitions. (?)
* Virtualization and image-backup features can only be used via Express Launcher - Advanced Launcher doesn't provide access to them.
* Has an annoying delay when using Express Launcher between when a user cancels or closes a wizard and the Express Launcher pops back up.

Free Alternatives
EASEUS Todo Backup v2

For final verdict, recommendations, and full review please click here.

Ashraf  –  13 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+203)

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I got version 9.5 on the last giveaway and am very very satisfied with this software. I had a problem with the fact that it does not come with an ISO image to let you burn a Win PE cd/dvd. I did some research and a little programming and put it in the thread at wilders security fourms where the paragon team and one other very generous fellow gave us all instructions and even wrote a program that helps you create your own WinPE cd/dvd and that is a life saver. I use XP so i was able to create the PE using BARTPE, but windows vista and 7 users cant use BartPE because it uses PE 2.1 so SIW2 at the fourm wrote a program that creates it for you. You can find it in this thread.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=257771

be sure to thank him for his efforts.

newJason  –  13 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+86)

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Just to clarify my comment about the P2P Adjust OS feature: Using the P2P Adjust OS only works for "offline systems", hence the inability to use it from within Windows and needing to using it while booting from WinPE bootable media. If you are single-booting (i.e. only have one installation of Windows) there is no way to use this feature from within Windows and without WinPE bootable media you obviously cannot use it at all. P2P Adjust OS may, however, work for dual-booting systems without a WinPE bootable media because the other OS may be considered "offline" by this program when you are booted into the first OS. I cannot verify this dual-booting issue because I am not dual-booting with two Windows installations on my computer.

Cheers.

Ashraf  –  13 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+81)

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Expanding on #6, Kush's comment; Their Key features makes this software sound daunting to your average PC user.

Software companies should begin their sales pitch with a simple scenario as to why the consumer needs this program and how it can help them. i.e. 'Ever want to use another computer as though it was your primary computer?' or 'Imagine your computer fails and system restore doesn't work?'
Why is that so hard? Start with the simple, dumbed down scenario and then get into the technical features. This would increase their business.

PS - I THINK the first scenario best describes what this program does.

Josh  –  13 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+81)

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While Paragon remains a second-tier developer, unlike much of the junk offered here they may eventually become a top-tier developer. While Paragon offers a good price point, I find that their offerings are muddled, trying to make each a jack-of-all-trades while being a master of none. It's also confusing to try to figure out what products you need, since there's so much overlap. They should concentrate on the core features of each product.

I'll illustrate with concrete examples. Paragon Drive Copy tries to do all sorts of stuff, so the comparison with a product which does some of the same things but has a different focus is fair. As I mentioned previously, when I tried to copy a special system recovery partition, Paragon couldn't do it, but EASEUS and StorageCraft ShadowProtect Desktop could. ShadowProtect doesn't try to be all things to all people. They're a top-tier provider of Windows backup solutions, they don't do Linux, etc., yet ShadowProtect was easily able to copy a partition of an unknown type. Some people who post here seem to live in their own little worlds with very distorted views of reality. ShadowProtect could do Hardware Independent Restore, P2P, P2V, V2P, etc., write to existing backup images, etc., years before anyone else; look up reviews for older versions of backup products. I can't stand the way that Paragon installs their useless HotCore3 partial-VSS obsolete driver which intercepts all of your disk access for no reason (it served a function many years ago, not on any of the last several versions of Windows). ShadowProtect (and all of the major backup packages) also install something similar, but ShadowProtect's is a registered VSS provider which serves a function. ShadowProtect is able to easily see all of my RAID visible and hidden volumes (and of course Windows Disk Management can), Paragon is only able to see one small RAID volume, it knows that there is other stuff but doesn't know what it is and can't handle it.

The giveaway version of Paragon Drive Copy doesn't include WinPE because of licensing restrictions (Paragon would have to pay Microsoft), but even if you buy Drive Copy, you only get WinPE 2.1, which is quite limited (there's WinPE 2.2 and WinPE 3). Now, Paragon will have a new version of Drive Copy which may have WinPE 3, but everyone else who still has active businesses are also working on new versions. ShadowProtect has included WinPE 3, Windows 7 support, 64-bit support, etc., for some time. The ShadowProtect Recovery Environment ISO actually includes WinPE 3 and WinPE 2.1. Unlike some others, ShadowProtect doesn't require you to burn a new CD/DVD/BD/USB flash drive, etc., recovery environment with particular drivers for particular hardware. If you have any recent version of Windows, their recovery disc is already likely to contain sufficient drivers to boot, and if it doesn't, you can either remove the ShadowProtect Recovery Environment disc from the drive (or pull the flash drive) and insert a CD, etc., with drivers, or access USB drives, or network storage, etc. Without their WinPE disc, I can't test Paragon's P2P function, but the documentation indicates that it's all manual and you have to supply the drivers. ShadowProtect can usually automatically supply the correct drivers for you. ShadowProtect doesn't try to be a Swiss Army Knife, but it does have an extensive set of tools in the Recovery Environment for getting a computer to boot.

I think that Paragon is making good use of GOTD and that they may eventually become top-tier, but they're not there yet. The giveaways are a good deal (although I still hate the HotCore3 installation). If you're considering purchasing their products, you'll have to consider whether the low prices makes up for occasional deficiencies, it may be worth it to you.

Fubar  –  13 years ago  –  ¿Te ha parecido útil este comentario? si | no (+71)

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