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O&O DiskImage 15 Professional Short Spin (Raw Comparative Test)
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O&O DiskImage 15 Professional Edition

O&O DiskImage 15 Professional is the latest of O&O Software's product line for disk imaging/backup. O&O DiskImage is the reliable and affordable solution for protecting a user's private or professional data. O&O DiskImage provides all users with everything they need to protect their data just like an IT specialist: it letting the user image and restore entire Server systems as well as individual files. O&O DiskImage enables the convenient and efficient duplication (or archiving) of entire operating systems and individual disks. 


This is a short spin / basic test of O&O DiskImage 15 Professional to add to the existing review of O&O DiskImage 14 Professional. This contents below will also show accompanying "raw" comparison of Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 and Aomei Backupper Professional version 5.2.0 using "file/folder backup and partition backup/imaging. As well as comparison to previous O&O DiskImage 14 Professional.
 
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Along this line O&O DiskImage can effectively restore those backed-up (entire) computers (via bootable medium under Windows PE or it's new DiskImage To Go), entire disks (whether it be restoration of entire storage volume, or restoration as MBR/GPT or dynamic disk), individual drives (whether it be -- single drives (partitions/volumes), primary, extended and logical partitions, simple, spanned, mirrored volumes, system areas, Master Boot Record or any combination of the above mentioned objects), and files/folders to their normal/familiar working environment back in less amount of time, whether it be onto the original computer or to dissimilar hardware (--have changed a motherboard on the target machine or have bought a brand new PC through it's M.I.R. -- Machine Independent Restoring). It also supports SSD drives and the latest UEFI System.

 
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Users who wish to save their data to an external storage medium can take advantage of the integrated plug-and -play functionality which backs up and synchronizes selected files and folders automatically. This automatic-backup feature is ideal for users who because of their busy schedule forget to carry out regular backups. This feature, once configured, will function to run by itself. 

 
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O&O DiskImage 15 Professional has a built-in wizard that accompanies a user step-by-step through the creation of an automatic data backup. This significantly easier to use backup functionality enables even novice users to create a reliable and fast backup of their data immediately. O&O DiskImage not only offers an intuitive user interface , but also an extensive scripting interface that allows professional users to perform all functions of the application in batch files or custom applications.
 
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To optimize the memory requirements, the user can specify the maximum number of backups that should be saved so that old ones are automatically replaced by new images. To offer increased data security the program also clearly displays those drives that have not yet been imaged or backed up so that the user can bring their security up-to-date.

O&O DiskImage uses the file extension (*.omg) for the image files it creates when imaging your entire computer or single drives. A drive image stores or backs-up all used sectors or all sectors (whether it be used/unused). This can be used for further activities such as restoration, validation or conversion.

File/Folder backups uses the file extension (*.obk). Files are backuped directly in the form of data. This type of image includes only file information, no drive information is imaged. 


Imaging methods
Different imaging methods allow a created image to be adjusted for different purposes. User's get a space saving image if you select the setting "only used sectors". If  user wants to rescue data from a damaged hard disk, O&O DiskImage recommend's a forensic image - all sectors are imaged exactly according to their structure
 
  • Image the used sectors of drives (partitions/volumes)

    Where only unencrypted data is included in the image you create. This method gives the user less space needed for a created image. User images "only the used sectors" of the drive. 

  • Complete image of all sectors of the object to be imaged (forensic image)

    Where both encrypted and unencrypted data is included in the image you create. User images "all the sectors" of the drive (whether used or not). 

  • Direct forensic image

    Where encrypted and unencrypted data is included in the image you create. You image "all the sectors" of the drive (whether used or not). It must be noted that "direct forensic" is intended for imaging encrypted disks using encrypted data (encrypted hard disks using encrypted software) whereby the data you image from the "encrypted disk" remains encrypted even after the image is restored. 


After a base imaging (image that serves as "basis" for any changes to that same image), user can create subsequent images as incremental or differential for storing only the changes:
 
  • Incremental image

    Changes saved between previous images and the current disk (save the changes made since the last base image). Incremental image does not require a complete image as base image. The last incremental (or differential image) is enough for doing this. To restore an incremental image, user needs the last complete image as well as all the following images recording any changes.

  • Differential image

    Changes save between the very first image and the current status of the disk (compare present data with the last complete image and store only the changes). The first "successive" image after the complete image is always a differential image. To restore a differential image, user will need both the complete image and the differential image.


Machine Independent Restoration (M.I.R.)
Machine Independent Restoration technology (M.I.R.) provides the option of restoring an image that contains a system partition onto a computer with a different hardware. This means that a restoration of a system image or clone can be carried out not only on devices with identical hardware, but on those where, for example, the motherboard or processor has been replaced.

Cloning allows the user to make 1:1 copies of entire disks or individual drives that can be used instead of the originals. This function provides the user with clones of disks or individual drives, including information about the hard disk layout with all the data saved on it. Clones do, however, require a lot more storage space than an image. Unlike images, there are no incremental or differential clones possible for reducing the data volume of successive clones. In addition, a clone cannot be compressed or encrypted like an image.


NEW in version 15: Substructure Rebuild
The entire O&O DiskImage substructure has been completely rebuilt to enable us to add new functions and enhancements quicker and much more regular. The speed ??of all the base functions has also been increased as a result. This reworking of the substructure was necessary in order to be able to implement new functions and improvements more quickly in the future, as well as implementing suggestions from our customers.


DiskImage To Go
Previously, in addition to regularly backing up your machine, you also had to separately create an O&O DiskImage boot media to restore that backup. Everything is easier now! The DiskImage To Go function automatically turns an external hard drive that you select to store an image on (or USB flash drive with enough storage space) into an O&O DiskImage boot medium, and marks this disk as the preferred storage medium for future system backups. As soon as you connect this external USB hard disk to your computer, O&O DiskImage 15 automatically creates an image of all internal drives and the data partition onto it.

This makes it easy to create a recent backup. And, if something really happens to your computer or you want to transfer your system and all your data to a new computer, then with the O&O DiskImage boot medium you can restore the image stored on it with just one touch of a button, without the hassle of searching for the boot medium and the external hard drive with the backup. It has never been so easy to ensure the security of your data!
 
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Support for VHDX Format
O&O DiskImage 15 brings full support for the VHDX (Virtual Hard Disk) Format. The main advantage of VHDX is its increased storage capacity of 64 TB (terabytes), instead of VHD’s standard storage limit of 2 TB. Another advantage of VHDX is the file corruption protection.

 
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Features at a glance
 
  • Command line function
  • Support for VHDX (Virtual Hard Disk Format)
  • DiskImage To Go function
  • Live Update: Automatic updates to current program versions
  • File-based backup: image files up to 5 times quicker
  • Trigger multiple tasks with portable devices (plug and play)
  • Driver integration when creating a boot medium
  • Direct creation of VHDs
  • Simplified wizard for creating and modifying jobs
  • Creating jobs with the Windows Task Scheduler
  • Image an entire computer with a push of a button
  • Clone drives and entire disks
  • Image only used sectors
  • Incremental/differential images: backup only the changes
  • Save images to network drives
  • Time Schedule for automatic, regular images
  • Advanced burning on CD/DVD/Blu-ray
  • Supports EFI/UEFI systems as well as BIOS
  • Supported files systems: NTFS/FAT32/FAT
  • Easily restore files, folders, drives and disks
  • Restoring onto different hardware (M.I.R.)
  • Boot media contains extra system rescue tools
  • Direct restoration from virtual disks (VHD)
  • Start a job by connecting a device
  • Create a "Boot medium" from the program itself / WinPE Bootable Disk 
  • Even simpler and quicker user interface
  • High-performance compression and encryption of images
  • Support for dynamic and GPT volumes
  • Exclude certain files and/or file types 
  • Check drives and images for errors
  • Advanced report management and email notifications


 
Current build is O&O DiskImage version 15.0.13 (October 29, 2019)
 
PERTINENT LINKS
 


 
PREVIOUS BUILD COMPARISON (O&O DiskImage 14 Pro vs O&O DiskImage 15 Pro)

Partition Backup
For comparison to the previous build of O&O DiskImage Professional (version 14), partition created is "STW81C" with a 13.6 GB used space.  

For a 13.6 GB partition the data below shows that O&O DiskImage 15 Professional took 8.27 minutes as compared to 5.05 minutes backup time of O&O DiskImage 14 Professional. 

Difference of <1 minute between Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Professional. Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 is >3 minutes faster than both Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Professional.


In terms of backup size, O&O DiskImage 14 Professional is the smallest at 12651040 KB while O&O DiskImage 15 Professional is 1262082 KB. O&O DiskImage 14 Professional is <11388958 KB (11.3 GB) as compared to version 15. 

 
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Partition Restore
For partition restore, O&O DiskImage 15 Professional took 4.21 minutes while  O&O DiskImage 14 Professional took only 3.17 minutes. <1 minute difference between them. 
 
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File / Folder Backup 
For a 3.98GB file / folder for backup, O&O DiskImage 15 Professional backup size is 2573083 KB. The same as with O&O DiskImage 14 Professional. 

In terms of backup time, O&O DiskImage 15 Professional came in second with 2.20 minutes while O&O DiskImage 14 Professional clocked at 2.19 minutes. Just a .01 minute difference there. 

 
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File / Folder Restore
In terms of file / folder restore, O&O DiskImage 15 Professional clocked 3.31 minutes while O&O DiskImage 14 Professional was at 3.40 minutes. Just a .09 minute difference there. 
 
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RAW COMPARISON_1 : PARTITION BACKUP AND RESTORE


Partition Backup
Selected alternatives to be compared with O&O DiskImage 15 Professional are (a) Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 and (b) Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0. Partition created is "STW81C" with a 13.6 GB used space.  

For a 13.6 GB partition the data below shows that Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 is the fastest at 6.10 minutes backup time. Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 backup time is second at 9.06 minutes. O&O DiskImage 15 Professional took 8.27 minutes. Difference of <1 minute between Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Professional. Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 is >3 minutes faster than both Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Professional.


In terms of backup size, O&O DiskImage 15 Professional is the smallest at 12626082 KB. Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 was second at 12659733 KB and Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 the biggest at 12662272 KB. Just a matter of roughly .031 ± 2 GB difference between the 3 backup / imaging softwares. 

 
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Partition Restore
For a 13.6 GB partition the data below shows that Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 took only fast 22 seconds flat (this is with Rapid Delta Restore). O&O DiskImage 15 Professional took 4.21 minutes. Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 restore time is at 5 minutes. Difference of < 1 minute between O&O DiskImage 15 Professional and Aomei Backupper Pro 5.2.0. Both do not have the feature the same as of Macrium’s Rapid Delta Restore which is the reason why it is really fast. 
 
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RAW COMPARISON_2 : FILE AND FOLDER BACKUP AND RESTORE


File / Folder Backup
For a 3.98GB file / folder for backup, the data below shows that Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 backup size is the smallest at 2359765 KB. O&O DiskImage 15 Pro the file / folder for backup size is 2573083 KB. Macrium Reflect Home 7.2 was the largest at 2618738 KB. Difference of .213 GB between Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Pro. Macrium Reflect Home 7.2 is >.260 GB larger as compared to Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0. 

In terms of backup time, Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 was fastest at 2.04 minutes. Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 came in last at 2.54 minutes while O&O DiskImage 15 Professional came in second with 2.20 minutes. Rough difference of <1 minute between the 3 backup / imaging software. 


 
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File / Folder Restore
In terms of restore time, Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 (while having the biggest file / folder backup size to recover at 2618735 KB) blew out the competition clocking at roughly <5 seconds! Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 came in second at 2.54 minutes. O&O DiskImage 15 Professional was at 3.31 minutes restore time. Difference of <1 minute between O&O DiskImage 15 Professional and Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0. 

 
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ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:

Ease of use
For those familiar with O&O DiskImage it is relatively the same experience. It is easy to use once you get the feel of the functions in the interface. For the new users the interface may tend to be overwhelming but from experience (based on constant usage -- if user will use it often) it will only take a matter of time till they become at ease with the product. The interface has no improvements and it seems to be the same look as far as version 12. A “revamp” of the interface would not hurt the eye and perhaps O&O Software would go the way of simplicity instead of the old interface where "its all there". 

Backup / Restore (comparison to previous build -- version 14)
The raw comparison above shows that O&O DiskImage 15 Professional seems to be slower to create and restore partition backup images as compared to O&O DiskImage 14 Professional . There is a 2 to 3 minute difference as compared to the latest build. Backup size has a 24958 KB  (.025 GB) difference. In terms of file / folder backup the resulting size was exactly the same for both builds. The only significant difference is with the restore time where O&O DiskImage 15 Professional is faster by only .09 minutes. O&O DiskImage 14 Professional seems to be faster than O&O DiskImage 15 Professional. Results may vary depending on the size and usage (including target location for backup file because as we all know backing up to an external drive is slower than back/restore via internal drive -- and there is still the kind of hardware used). 

Backup / Restore (comparison to alternatives)
Raw comparison between O&O DiskImage 15 Professional, Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and Macrium Reflect Home 7.2.4523 is (I can say) is at par with each other with the exception of Macrium Reflect's restore time which is really super fast thanks to the Rapid Delta Restore feature. Aomei Backupper Professional 5.2.0 and O&O DiskImage 15 Professional data are close. Results may vary depending on the size and usage (including target location for backup file because as we all know backing up to an external drive is slower than back/restore via internal drive -- and there is still the kind of hardware used). 

New: Substructure Rebuild
“This reworking of the substructure was necessary in order to be able to implement new functions and improvements more quickly in the future, as well as implementing suggestions from our customers.” -- This is baseline for future improvements that will be implemented in O&O DiskImage. Users will welcome this in the next coming builds so they can check it out. 


Improved: DiskImage To Go
The DiskImage To Go feature automatically turns an external hard drive that you select to store an image on (or USB flash drive with enough storage space) into an O&O DiskImage boot medium, and marks this disk as the preferred storage medium for future system backups. As soon as you connect this external USB hard disk to your computer, O&O DiskImage 15 automatically creates an image of all internal drives and the data partition onto it. 


Support for the VHDX Format
O&O DiskImage 15 brings full support for the VHDX (Virtual Hard Disk) Format. The main advantage of VHDX is its increased storage capacity of 64 TB (terabytes), instead of VHD’s standard storage limit of 2 TB. Another advantage of VHDX is the file corruption protection.



FINAL WORD

The new O&O DiskImage 15 Professional feels like I am using DiskImage 14 still. Almost all functions are the same (including the interface) and if there are any differences (with exception of the "new features" which I have not tested) I find it only minimal as compared to the previous build 14. O&O DiskImage 15 Professional shows more improvement in terms of DiskImage To Go feature and the inclusion of support for VHDX (Virtual Hard Disk) Format. The "Substructure Rebuild" seems to only be a start and perhaps more will be seen (and felt) as DiskImage develops more new builds in the future. If that is so (Substructure Rebuild) then the next build should be interesting.

No ransomware protection (the same as that of version 14). O&O DiskImage protects your data with the backup that you will be saving. That's it. As they say, “A current backup is the only protection to ensure your data is not lost forever..”. There is no additional protection like Acronis’ Active Protection and Macrium’s Image Guardian. Users are left to use their existing security setup to guard O&O DiskImage backups against threats. While indeed it is the user's main security application (or layer) that "should" protect against ransomware, an additional way of protecting O&O DiskImage processes and backup files will always be welcome, take the case of Macrium Reflect's "Image Guardian". Aomei Backupper Pro 5.2.0 also does not have ransomware protection also but in terms of interface and you will compare it to O&O DiskImages 15's, Aomei's is much more pleasing to the eye and is a "minimalist" (sometimes way more minimalist as I can't see further progress as an operation is ongoing--  bordering of not telling you "what's happening -- no info to user"--- but that's just me here).  


CHEERS!
[-] The following 3 users say Thank You to jasonX for this post:
  • damien76, harlan4096, silversurfer
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#2
Thanks for the very good and professional review for a nice rebuilt software!
software enthusiast!
[-] The following 3 users say Thank You to dinosaur07 for this post:
  • harlan4096, jasonX, silversurfer
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#3
Fully agree!!! I was missing @jasonX's reviews [Image: creative.png]
[-] The following 2 users say Thank You to harlan4096 for this post:
  • jasonX, silversurfer
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