Reviews of O&O DiskImage Professional Edition

1. 
   DudeBoyz

   Reviewing 6.0.422 (Jan 7, 2012)

   I have been using Acronis True Image with XP but it has trouble with Windows 7 in various ways, both with 32 bit and 64 bit versions. Even 2012 with the extra cost Plus Pack suffer lockups, crashes and corruption.
   
   So, long story short, I tested tons of replacements and O&O DiskImage 6 Pro (I have build 374) is the only one that made the cut.
   
   It's a very good program and I have been waffling between a 4 and a 5. But giving something a full 5 is a tough call, so for now, a solid 4 will have to do.
   
   For almost all full Disk and Partition imaging, I prefer to use a boot disk that is outside of the Windows environment. When you purchase O&O DiskImage, you are able to download an ISO image in addition to the main program that you can burn to create a bootable CD to handle those tasks.
   
   It's a pretty fast boot up and there are some useful items besides just the core app should you need them. Handy.
   
   Using the program to create an image is very intuitive and easy to execute, not to mention fast. As good as that is, it's the restoration that I think sets this app apart.
   
   You can do a Sector restore, which will recreate the image on the destination drive with a focus on maintaining a 1:1 relationship. This means that your destination partition needs to be at least the size of the original or larger. In most cases, that is no problem. But if you want to restore your image to a smaller hard drive or partition, you have that capability.as well via a File based restoration.
   
   While there were problems with version 5.6.x and that process, all apparent issues have been corrected in the 6.x release. With Windows 7 Professional 64 bit I was able to restore an image from a 500 gig partition to a 300 gig partition without error. When the process was complete, Windows 7 seemed to be 100% back and working as if the partition size had not changed at all. All I needed was enough space for the 70 gig or so that the original OS install took up and I was golden.
   
   One of the things I like about this app is that it flags potential issues for you and prompts the user what they want to do. For instance, the program noticed the restore partition was smaller than the original image and asked me if I wanted to try to do a Sector restore anyway, or if I wanted to try the File based restore. When it was preparing to do the restore, it noticed that the image was made from a bootable partition but the destination wasn't bootable. So it asked me if I wanted the program to make that destination partition bootable, and all I had to do was say Yes and bam, it booted up right away once the restore process was complete.
   
   So for the bootable media implementation alone, I think it's worth forking out the $30 USD for the program.
   
   But you can also install the core app on a PC if you want and take advantage
   of the ability to do individual file / folder backup in an on-the-fly and convenient manner.
   
   Good stuff. Highly recommended.

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