PowerQuest Drive Image 2002

The ImageExplorer utility, introduced in the previous version, allows you to view the contents of image files, copy files or folders back to their original locations or a new destination and copy other partitions to new or existing image files. When we reviewed Drive Image 5, we lamented the lack of a search facility and this omission has yet to be remedied.

PowerQuest's DataKeeper is the only utility that is no longer included - a pity, as it's a useful real-time backup tool that monitors selected hard disks and automatically backs up files whenever any changes are identified. We noted at the time that it didn't support Windows XP, so we can only assume this has yet to rectified.

It's been a long time coming, but the new Windows interface is a huge improvement to an already sophisticated disk-imaging tool. Norton Ghost 2002 has a slight edge on performance and offers support for peer-to-peer connections, but it can't match Drive Image 2002 for automation, ease of use and overall features.

Author: Dave Mitchell