Group test: R-Tools R-Drive Image 3.0

We previously reviewed Canadian company R-Tools’ R-Studio, a good but complex data recovery tool, in 2006.

By contrast, R-Drive Image is a bit of a welcome surprise, since it is unexpectedly simple and very easy to use. The software features a graphical boot mode that makes it possible to restart directly from Windows to restore data to the system and other locked partitions, in many cases eliminating the need to use a restore CD.

The program does have the ability to generate restore disks, either by burning directly to a CD or DVD, as an Iso image for burning to a CD using a third-party burning software, or even to a couple of 3.5in floppy disks if you wish.

Installation using the R-Tools install wizard is simple and very fast, but does require a reboot. The full downloaded program can be used for 15 days for evaluation purposes. Paying customers receive a registration key by email to unlock the software.

From the start-up screen you are offered eight possible task choices; Create an image, Restore from an image, Copy a disk to a disk, Connect an image as a virtual logical disk, Create start-up disks, Check an image file, Schedule/create a script and Disconnect virtual logical disks.

There is no menu toolbar and all operations are wizard- rather than console-based, so for example clicking the Disk Image icon on the opening screen leads to a series of further screens, as each step of the backup setup unfolds. Images and files are stored with the .arc file extension, a well-established archive file format. Unfortunately R-Drive Image doesn’t provide a log file and, although a progress bar is displayed during a backup, there is no record of time taken to complete a task.

R-Drive Image can create images of single or multiple partitions, a logical disk, or an entire hard drive. It doesn’t provide individual folder or file backup but you can choose to restore individual folders or files from a backup image. The ‘Copy a disk to disk’ option does exactly that, allowing you to make a clone rather than creating an image file. Image verification is a separate step, accessed via the ‘Check an image’ icon. This is a process that can take some time, but it’s certainly advisable, particularly before archiving an image.

All R-Drive Image actions can be scripted, by recording while stepping through the necessary wizard. The script is saved as a command line and can be included and run with other commands in a command-line batch file.

To explore and access the files in an R-Tools image you have to mount it as a virtual disk, by assigning it a logical drive letter using the Connect an image wizard. The image will then appear on the host system as a logical disk and can be explored via Windows Explorer.

R-Tools says that its technical support is available 24/7 and that the average email response time is less than four hours. Telephone support is available from 9am-6pm (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday, but since it’s a Canadian operation, this may limit its appeal to UK residents.

Although it’s not as full featured as some disk-imaging tools there’s something very appealing about R-Drive Image, it looks good and the user interface is easy to use, with no loose ends, or confusing multiple paths.

This article is part of a group test drive-imaging software.
See also:
Acronis True Image 10 Home
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8
Runtime Software Drive Image XML
Symantec Norton Save & Restore

Graphs and table of features can be read via our pdf download above.