Windows 10: Backing up Windows 10 OS

Macrium Reflect Free now supports differential images ie you make a full back up, then a few days later you can make a differential image which just contains the changes. So you can either just recover initial full backup, or full backup+differential backup. Much more space efficient.

Another great feature is you can install it as a dual boot option and you do not even need to use a recovery drive unless hard disk has failed or is badly corrupted.

It also backs up linux partitions etc if you dual boot linux with windows.

I have never had MRF fail on a variety of devices. Windows' own feature has not been developed since windows 7, and has failed me before (but my paranoia of always having at least two full image backups using different software saved me). In fact, MRF is so reliable, I only do an image backup using Easeus Todo now and then.

You can mount image as drives (not sure about windows own system) and extract individual files.

Finally MRF images are more compact and it is much faster, and has good repairing boot options.

To me, MRF is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in the free versions.

 

Good recommendation, never had a problem backing up this way.

 

I believe that you can mount the images (I asked that in another thread a few days ago) although its not a one click operation. You use disk management console and mount the image via that... I haven't had need to do that though.

Thanks, its good to see another vote for Windows backup. In fact I've done 2 restores today while chasing down a bug in Edge as I don't want to corrupt my main set up. It just works *Smile

 

Ok so let me ask you a question on Windows image backup then. Say you can't boot to your C drive, to restore any of your windows image files, and the users boot files on their c-drive are corrupt, how would you restore one of your Windows image backups??

 

Hey, Mike. While you wait for Mooly's response. The system image restore is covered by Brink at https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html

 

I didn't say I didn't know how.....I wanted to know how Mooly would......Word Man.....darn it.....

 

OK, sorry, didn't mean to rain on your parade. Thought it could help any future readers (or OP to decide among alternatives) is all. *Rolleyes Shouldnta named you I guess.

 

Grrrrrrrr ....its ok......thanks.....*really

 

I would use the Windows 'System Repair Disc' which I created from the Windows 'Backup and Restore (Windows 7)' panel which offers the advanced repair options including restoring from a Windows image.

The image I would use would depend on whether the bootable media could see the latest current image which is stored on the same internal disc (different partition of course) as the OS and system reserved partitions. Assuming it could (and it should) then that image is never more than 24 hours old. If it could not, then the next available image is on an external drive and this could be up to 7 days old (I store week end and then full month end images. Month end images are kept for 12 months, week end images are deleted in a rolling sequence).

If the main disk had a problem then that would probably be a good excuse for a replacement and a clean install. All my user files are backed up in 3 separate locations and also duplicated on a second PC.

So no worries... I have a backup strategy that works for me.

Edit... I also use 'File History' with a 15 minute setting which means that copies of any user files are never more than 15 minutes old. File History has actually proved extremely useful over the few months I have used it as it retains copies of all files created and deleted... and sometimes you want an old file or picture long deleted... and with file history its there. All brow-sable manually and available for a copy and paste if required.

 

The basic strategy here is sound and well suited to an nas server.

 

Thanks once again,I am taking the easy route and using the Windows "Create a Recovery Drive" leaving the box ticked "Back up system files to the Recovery Drive".Will this be ok to use on my two laptops or will I have to do one for each?

 

It will definitely work on both pcs if both are eufi, or both are legacy bios. Not certain if the boot disk is clever enough to handle one pc being legacy bios, and one being eufi (in part because the windows system has not been developed for several years).

 

It is a mistake to use Windows backup. If you move the image set to another drive, you lose the ability to select the incrementals.
You are stuck with the last (full, including ALL the incrementals) backup. That is the only selection.
At least that was my experience when I tested it on Win 7.
I found this unsuitable, and used Macrium reflect instead.

 

Enlighten me a little here *Smile

Windows Backup I understand to be the File/Folder imaging utility. I don't know if that is incremental or not.

Windows 'Create a System Image' (not just file and folder backup) as far as I know only does full backups. When you create a new image it overwrites the previous one. That's how I understand it to operate. You think they are incrementals, in which case you would be offered a tree of backups to restore from ?

 

Yes, I'm talking about imaging here. Sorry for using the term backup. I have read that the Win10 imaging utility is the same as was used in Win 7. I haven't confirmed that, and may be wrong about that. I'm not even going to test that assumption.
But Win 7 was incremental imaging, unless you renamed the image target, in which case you another full image would be created. Which would then have to be renamed if you wanted if you wanted to make a full image subsequently.
Without renaming you were presented with a tree of images, based on time/date of the image.
But if moved to another drive the tree was lost, and you could only restore the full image.
There may have been a way to get at the incrementals, but I wasn't interested in that.
It was simpler to move to Macrium for imaging, since I had no need for incrementals, and prefer to name my images once, and move them as desired.