How to make a 0kb copy of disk?

I was wondering what program or software I would use to make a 0kb copy of my entire hard drive. By this i mean it makes a 'image' of every file and folder but does not copy the contents, so in case of a hard drive failure (and external hard drive failure), I can see what files i need to restore (such as music, etc), rather than making a fourth large external backup. Thanks.

 

acronis true image 11 is pretty much the best for backup.. it will do that, or you can make a bootable clone of a hd

 

From a console prompt (aka, "dos window"):

c:
cd \
tree /F /A > file-listing.txt

 

What feature is that called that backs up the harddrive but makes 'images' of all the files without actually copying the files.

 

your using the word image incorrectly.

To image a drive means to clone the entire contents of the drive to another location. Later, the user can simply reload the image onto another drive and they will have all the files that were captured during imaging.

 

Notice the quotes around 'image' when I use it in that context, I know what it means. Want me to call it shadow copy? Either way, I would rather have help that explaining to me something I already know.

Can anyone help me with my previous question?

 

No need to get pissy. How was anyone to know if you understood the idea of images or not? Especially since your question was phrased in such a way that it made it appear you had no idea what a backup is or an image for that matter. Besides that your question was clearly answered in the third message in the thread. There is no "feature... that backs up the harddrive but makes 'images' of all the files without actually copying the files." What you are asking for is a list of files, message #3 told you how to produce that.


By the way "shadow copy" is not the right term either.

Gary

 

I know, unless someone coins the term 'shadow copy'. The file list does not list all the files on the harddrive, tried several variants on the instructions he gave me, but still does not give me a complete file listing of all the files.

The file listing also does not have the convenience of having actual folders which only contain the 'shortcut'/'shadow copy'/whatever term you want to call it, of the files on the drive.

If I was trying to make an image of a drive, why would I want it to be 0kb (essence a shortcut like space usage)? Is there a term for backing up a drive without coping the contents of a file, just the name of the file (not as a file-listing text, but as actual folders).

 

Give WhereIsIt a try. It is made specifically for cataloging file and directory structures, and its search function is helpful as well. This is much more practical than what you're trying to accomplish.

 

They did: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Copy

No. It dosen't exist. The only hope you have of getting what you want is a file list of some sort. The command given worked fine for me. The only files it skipped where hidden system files. Maybe the suggestion bogart made will work for you.

Gary

 

Thank you for the help, I will try the suggestion.

@ScuderiaConchiglia,

I mean coin the term in the method I am describing, 'shadow copy' in that context is exactly opposite of what I am trying to achieve, thanks for the link anyways.

 

See, that is EXACTLY the point, you are trying to use existing terms that mean the complete opposite of what you want to describe and expect folks to understand what your are asking for.

Please understand I am NOT trying to criticise you, only trying to show you that if you want TECHNICAL help, you will need to use the right techincal terms or more importantly not mis-use existing technical terms.

Gary

 

What would then be the term for what I am trying to describe?

Thanks.

 

A File/Directory Listing

 

There is none, because it doesn't exist. Yours is the first time I have ever heard anyone want to create a folder that mimiced the drives folder structure and place empty files in the structure with the same names as the files in the real folders.

As has been pointed out, more than once here, other folks use a directory/file listing for this purpose. Your proposed structure is going to require you to use Windows Explorer and do massive amounts of clicking on folders in folders in folders to review the structure if you ever need to recreate it. And then how would you keep track of where you were in the structure. Let's say you are five levels deep in folders and you complete the review of that level. Then you go back up a level and you are done there, so you go back up another level and the phone rings, now where was I??? Which folder was next??? With a file/directory list it would be very simple to keep track of your progress.

Bottom line here is if you REALLY want to do it your way. Describe what you want, but don't do so by hijacking existing terms, using them in some new way, and then expect folks to have a clue what you are talking about, let alone what you are trying to accomplish.

Gary

 

"I was wondering what program or software I would use to make a 0kb copy of my entire hard drive. By this i mean it makes a 'image' of every file and folder but does not copy the contents, so in case of a hard drive failure (and external hard drive failure), I can see what files i need to restore (such as music, etc), rather than making a fourth large external backup. Thanks"

The only term I hijacked in my original post was 'image', though I qualified it by stating I did not want the contents to be copied. Your complaint toward the method I desire is irrelevant to me, because I already do that when doing a normal backing up and I organize my files in such a way that this would not be a problem.

I described exactly what I wanted, unless I create a new term (which would create even more confusion), I found it better to use an existing term, then qualify it so it is better understood what I am describing.

But I take it there is not current method to do what I want, and a file-listing is less convenient, so I guess I will see if I can develop my method, or I will go without.

Thank you.