Drive Image 4, Drive Image Pro 4

The PowerCast feature in Drive Image Pro will be of interest to support departments as it uses Ethernet multicasting to send an image file to one or more clients simultaneously. One system runs the PowerCast Server which can be from DOS or Windows, although the latter method must be on a network with a DHCP server. A fair amount of work needs to be done first as each client requires a unique boot disk with the appropriate network components installed. Fortunately, a boot-disk builder utility is provided which eases this process. The server can be set to start broadcasting as soon as a specific number of clients have logged on and it displays the IP address of each client along with a progress bar. PowerCast speeds are impressive - I installed a 2Gb Windows 98 SE partition to one test client over switched Fast Ethernet in under five minutes, while PowerCasting to two clients simultaneously only took a few seconds longer. The Pro version also offers a DeltaDeploy tool for distributing software installation routines over a network and comes bundled with the well-respected PartitionMagic 5.

Overall, PowerQuest's disk-imaging software offers some useful features and is easy to use, although some technical competence will be required when creating the various boot disks. Apart from the fact that older CD-R and CD-RW drives may not be supported, Drive Image will undoubtedly prove a useful tool for hard-disk upgrades, while the Pro version delivers sophisticated multicasting features.

Author: Dave Mitchell