There's been nothing to touch PowerQuest's Drive Image and PartitionMagic programs recently, and this hard disk cloning tool does little to dent the company's reputation. The big change for Drive Image Pro 3.01 is that it supports Windows 2000.

The package runs under DOS, using a windows-based interface that makes it easy to navigate. It is aimed at those who need to deploy multiple copies of a hard drive, such as system integrators and managers. With just a few clicks you can create a single image of your hard drive, and two levels of compression are available. Once you've done that, you can use the Powercasting feature to deploy a copy of the image file onto computers across your network.

There's also DataDeploy, which enables the deployment of new programs onto the network. After monitoring the changes made to your hard drive during the installation program, DataDeploy builder lets you customise the installation program to suit your environment's needs. You can then use the manager program to roll out the application.

PartitionMagic Pro 5.0 is included in the package. This excellent utility allows you to resize hard disk partitions on the fly. Be aware, however, that 5.0 does not include Windows 2000 support, although a version that does should be available for download around the time you read this. If you're a home user, this is way beyond what you need - Drive Image standard will be enough. For large IT specialists, however, Drive Image Pro 3.01 is an excellent product, useful for system integrators and power users alike.

Contact PowerQuest UK 01189 755955