Anyone use Casper cloning software by fssdev?

garuda · 21 Jun 2020

I know this forum seems to prefer Macrium clone S/W, but I've been using Casper for years and have gotten good results, I think. But I would like to touch base with another Casper user here, before trading teams on cloning.

I'm not familiar with the tech nuts&bolts of Macrium, and their sales/tech support seem reluctant to answer tech ques about the mechanics of the clone function until you buy the product. For example, Casper ignores certain superfilous temp files, deleted data frags in blocks, etc. when cloning. Not sure whether this is good or bad. Thanks.

Win10 v.1909

cereberus · 22 Jun 2020

Macrium Reflect Free does all that.

demostro · 11 Mar 2021

cereberus said:

Macrium Reflect Free does all that.

No, the free version does not offer Rapid Delta Clone, which I believe is Macrium's version of Casper's Smart Clone.

cereberus · 14 Mar 2021

Smart clone is not the same as rapid delta clone. Smart clone analyses sectors by sector and ignores unecessary sectors e.g. sectors with deleted data. Even the free version does smart cloning by default.

Rapid delta cloning is a very advanced feature whereby Reflect compares source with a previously cloned drive and saves ONLY changes to source drive to the target drive.

No other software I know has this advanced feature.

demostro · 15 Mar 2021

Sounds the same as rapid delta:

SmartClone is revolutionary technology built in to Casper, which enables the rapid updating of a backup hard disk.
How does SmartClone work?

Because there is no need to re-clone data that remains unchanged, SmartClone rapidly determines which differential updates need to be made to the destination hard disk, and then uses this information to safely eliminate the redundant transfer of data during the cloning process. The result is a dramatic reduction in the time required to re-clone an entire disk.

If all you need is cloning, casper is the cheaper alternative, since it doesn't require a sub.

cereberus · 16 Mar 2021

demostro said:

Sounds the same as rapid delta:

If all you need is cloning, casper is the cheaper alternative, since it doesn't require a sub.

I rarely clone and mostly do image backups. Rapid Delta Restore is great.

PS Reflect licences are one off purchases not subscription based.

jimbo45 · 16 Mar 2021

Hi there
With decent SSD's / NVMe's these days and if you keep your Windows partition restricted to the OS and standard applications (I.e have user data such as multi-media files stored elsewhere -- either on the Cloud, or other disks) then a Macrium image will only take a few minutes to create or restore .

As for data I back that up to NAS and can be retrieved very quickly if required so I'm not sure what value in the case of rapid delta restore brings for typical home users. Is the time saved that critical in the case of Home computers -- you aren't running Airline control software or the Chicago Options exchange !!!.

For cloning the easiest in any case is to use the DD command (on Windows it's available if you use the WSL). Free and always works whatever the file system.

Cheers
jimbo

demostro · 16 Mar 2021

cereberus said:

I rarely clone and mostly do image backups. Rapid Delta Restore is great.

PS Reflect licences are one off purchases not subscription based.

That's good to know, thanks

cereberus · 17 Mar 2021

demostro said:

Sounds the same as rapid delta:

If all you need is cloning, casper is the cheaper alternative, since it doesn't require a sub.

I checked casper site. This is not true. You have to buy a licence to clone. You can do a basic clone with free version of Reflect.

I see no significant advantage of Casper and Reflect has a great track record.

demostro · 17 Mar 2021

cereberus said:

I checked casper site. This is not true. You have to buy a licence to clone. You can do a basic clone with free version of Reflect.

I see no significant advantage of Casper and Reflect has a great track record.

License yes, subscription no. I should have been clearer when I said "sub." I still prefer Caspar: light footprint, straightforward, not clunky, and super fast after an initial clone. Been using the same version for years. That said, I'm open to trying Macrium again, and will give it a looksie.