Hi.No worries, we all have catching up to do i'm not exactly a linux guru my self either. talking arch is a linux live CD which means it runs from within memory and in realtime from a CD so can be used on any computer. it is fully talking from the moment the command prompt loads. the interface is text based and uses the speakup screen reader, for those new to linux its like being at a dos prompt but don't worry you won't need to or have to know about the command line for this. when you type clonezilla at the prompt, the recovery environment loads and from there its literally arrows, enter, and space to check/uncheck items and you don't have to delve any deeper if you don't want to. clone zilla has its own modes, beginner and advanced. the beginner mode is mostly automated and is ideal for most users for backing up windows. it allows you to backup either certain sections on your disk (not recommended for windows hard drives), or the hole drive which is normally the way i'd recommend backing up newer windows installs. it will only back up the space that's in use on the hard drive. in other words if you have a 120GB hard drive, and windows is 25GB installed, it'll only backup the used install space so the image will be roughly 12GB in size. clone zilla will compress the image to half the size of the install which is an excellent feature. i used a 64GB pen drive for my install and it only took up around 18GB. if you restore an image to a larger hard drive, you can then pop in to windows and expand the partition so that your windows will use the hole drive. for example if i upgrade my hard drive to 240GB and i restore my image, my image will initially only be 120GB because that's what my original hard drive was. but if i go in to windows and go to disk management, all i have to do is tell windows to expand the partition to use the full 240GB space on the hard drive. again the restore process is fully guided and as easy as they come. the only reason i'm writing the guide is because some options aren't straight forward for those totally new to linux. its feedback from those people that i'm mainly after, though more advanced linux users feedback is also very welcome. appologies to those of you that are advanced users if you already know how to use clone zilla, if you can tolerate the traffic on list that'd be great and perhaps provide your own comments as well. finally, i just got sick of using dos to restore images. i mean who uses dos these days when you have access to cd's with speech output that work with sound cards? most people do not have external speech synths available. i take the point from those people on BCAB using drive snapshot, its a great tool. but for full independence, its just not good enough in my book. i know that sounds harsh but if the options there we should take it. i also intend on providing a guide on how to format your disks as the project progresses. as far as i know noone else has documented the process for clone zilla from a VI prispective, so this should be interesting i just hope noone gets there before us hahahaha...
cheers, Mo. On 17/05/2014 19:58, M F Mason wrote:
Hello Mo, I know nothing about Linux but I am excited about learning. Please could you expand a little on The linux restore environment which you said was a talking CD based on arch and the advantages offered by CloneZilla from within arch. Clearly I have some catching up to do. Many thanks, Mike. At 17:06 17/05/2014, you wrote:Hello Mike.Its always very interesting to read people's backgrounds. all to often on lists like the BCAB list we hardly know anything about the people we're helping out. my motivation for putting together this text guide is because of the frustrations i experienced in backing up windows systems without sighted help and always having to fall back to windows. its not always possible to go running to windows in an enterprise environment for example. hopefully we can get started next week and we won't run into too many hickups. technically the base distribution hasn't been created by me, but i do hope to role my own releases of the linux restore environment in future. at the moment its a talking CD based on arch, and if any of you have ever used CloneZilla from within arch, you'll probably have seen the advantages offered. its 1 thing to read guides online on how to backup/restore using clone zilla, but another to write and carry them out from a VI perspective.all the best, Mo. all the best, Mo.OOn 17/05/2014 16:44, M F Mason wrote:Hello, My name is Mike Mason. My background has been in software development. I worked for IBM as a staff software engineer until 2004 - now retired. . Computing for the blind is a significant interest for meand the idea of being able to recover and restore systems independently as a blind person is something which matters to me a great deal as we have no sighted help in the house.Many thanks, Mike. At 10:27 17/05/2014, you wrote:Hello.This is a test message to the vi-tech-testers list to see if people receive it. perhaps we can all reply with a short introduction or something to test functionality and to ensure everyone's on board?My name's Mo and all of you have doubtless seen me around on various lists. My backround's in PC hardware with over 10 years experience building/recycling computers, as well as server administration and networking wiring etc. I spend my time reviewing products, providing technical support and custom building/recycling computers for people, and providing advice on various hardware for the blind. I'm also a huge fan of the raspberry PI, and the linux operating system and very supportive of any open source project. Projects i've worked on include the Raspberry VI project to make the raspberry Pi accessible, Vinux an accessible version of linux for the blind, and working with Eset, Avast and Natwest to make their applications accessible among others. enough of me... over to you.Mo.
