Windows 10: In search of free backup software

@jayv2251,
From the link you posted, " It’s recommended to use Windows built-in backup options*to make a Window 10 full backup."

Most of the long term members here will disagree with that statement. Windows built-in backup options have proven to be very unreliable and very finicky. A third party backup and restore solution such as Macrium Reflect Free has proven to be much more reliable and flexible. Macrium Reflect offers you the ability to create a recovery USB flash drive or DVD. Assuming you make the recovery USB flash drive or DVD.....

1. You create a full image backup of your hard drive onto an external hard drive. Macrium only saves the used space of your drive, so if you have 200GB of space actually used on your hard drive it will create 1 image file about 180 GB in size (allowing for compression) saved onto the external hard drive.

2. Your 500 GB hard drive fails and you replace it with a 1 TB hard drive.

3. You boot the computer from the Macruim Reflect recovery USB flash drive or DVD and connect the external hard drive containing your backup image.

4. You restore the image to the new hard drive. You have two choices. You can leave everything sized the way it was and after recovery you can create a new partition in the remaining space to store data on - you end up with a new drive letter such as E:\ that is empty but fills the rest of the hard drive

OR

5. You can restore the image to the new hard drive and tell Macrium to increase the size of the OS partition to fill the new hard drive entirely. C: drive increases to fill the entire drive.

The restored image will operate exactly the way it did the moment that it was created. All your data files will be there, all your settings will be there, all your user accounts will be there, etc. The only thing that you will lose is whatever you did between the time you created the backup image and when the old hard drive failed. You can periodically update the backup image saved on the external hard drive to minimize the amount of data you lose when you have to recover it.

Another recovery option with Macrium would be to clean install Windows 10 from a Windows 10 installation USB flash drive or DVD. Then you would re-install Macrium Reflect Free in the new Windows. You then mount the image file saved on the external hard drive and you can retrieve individual files from it like your documents, photos, music, etc. You could also re-install missing device drivers from it. What you would not be able to do is retrieve your installed programs from it - you would have to re-install those from their own installation setup files..

 

I'm starting to get a clearer picture of what I think I might want to do. I just don't have the expertise to know if what I'm thinking is a pipe dream or not. As I mentioned earlier, I just started working from home. While things are tight and such, I have to lay the proper ground work now for future use. I'm currently using my laptop for my 1099 contract jobs. I do see the need in the future to replace this with a desktop, while keeping my laptop in reserve if I'm working more then one contract at a time or an equipment back up should the desktop fail. Outside this, since I need to use the work computers solely for work, I would like to also build a media tower for pc games and running Kodi or Plex media servers. Meanwhile both my wife and daughter would like their own laptops, not to mention once I really get going with my work, I'll be replacing our government phone with smart phones. And I want ALL of these devices backed up regularly.

You commented one issue with using cloud storage for backups was speed. What about drives connected to my router? My current router offers 2 usb slots, and if I'm not mistaken some NAS boxes also connect via Ethernet. Wouldn't this be fast...as well as a bit more secure?

 

Do you want continuous backup or periodical ?
For continuous data backup (same data on 2 disks) some kind of RAID is most transparent and automatic, maybe even cheapest way. All modern desktops have RAID controller and RAID1 may be easiest to use and implement. Just got to make sure you set all data to go to it.
For periodical backup there are many options. Easiest may be to use a large HDD connected by USB3 (faster than USB but also compatible with USB3), backup everything or just data periodically and keep it offline when not using it.
There's also eSATA port on most modern desktops.
Removable HDD tray to install in desktop case, connects to internal SATA port and with right setup you can remove and replace drives without turning machine off.
NAS (Network Attached Storage) containing 1 or more HDDs that could also be in one of RAID configurations. not very fast but can be manged easy enough but most expensive too. NAS has own computer inside an OS. I don't think is viable for backup purposes only, it's more for sharing files between differnt devices.

 

I'm still a bit confused on how I should go about all this. I will of course install the free version of Macrium Reflect, so as to CYA my system. The questions is....as budget permits I need to have a plan on how to protect my system, including both business and personal devices. While I do trust the great folks on here and appreciate the advice given, as many of you have really helped me out in some dire situations. I can't thank you all enough for this.

Having said that, what is a really good source to read on the best way to go about all this. Since I'm running a business, having redundant reliable backups is a must. My family's personal stuff might be even more difficult to deal with. I have ripped my complete 2000+ albums, cassettes , and cd's to mp3. I did the same for my wife's 500 or so cd's and then her father had his complete collection of 600 albums converted to mp3 and some to flac. I have this all zipped and stored on an old hard drive, waiting to be set up on a nas or something. Then there's the few thousand movies we've made into mp4s as well. Haven't even begun to scan all the 1000's of photo's my family has either. Probably talking several terrabytes of data I'll be working on for the rest of my life. How the heck to safely back all that up??? I really need to do some reading about all this!

 

I read somewhere, while RAID is not a backup, a high-quality NAS [I think I read ethernet is best going into it & out of it] certainly is a backup, possibly just the thing for a family business. While I have no clue as to how to set it up and keep it making restorable backups, I do know that many are encouraging not only NAS, they are also encouraging the 3-2-1 backup approach.

 

RAID1 could be used as backup because it writes 2 copies of every file on two disks. A NAS can also have disks in RAID1 with same effect but over network.

 

I'm using a single NAS setup up as RAID 1 with two drives as my backup. RAID 1 keeps the same data synchronized on the two hard drives so they are mirror images of each other. When a failure of 1 drive is detected, an alarm sounds. You replace the damaged drive with a new hard drive and the NAS box set up as RAID 1 will then mirror the remaining good hard drive to the new hard drive. That's why my NAS with two 3TB hard drives only provides 3TB total storage - it mirrors the hard drives for redundancy. RAID 0 would "stripe" files across the two hard drives which would give you a total of 6TB of storage.

If the NAS box itself fails, you can either replace the NAS box, but using a different brand/model may not be compatible with the filesystem on the existing hard drives, or you can connect either hard drive to a computer running Linux and it will read the data on it.

 

Raid is a wonderful way of helping if their is a drive failure but it is useless against infections or any thing else that corrupts data. It just copies the corruption to all the drives in the Raid.
With or without Raid I recommend a backup up plan on external drives. These drives are only hooked to the computer when in use and otherwise unhooked and stored in a safe place. If one want to Raid the backup drives that fine as long as they are unhooked from the computer when done. Now you have more than 1 copy of your backup on different drives.
Figuring the proper method of backing up your system and data varies from person to person.

My system have very little data so I just do Clones of the drive (From ssd to ssd) using Hot Swap bays and Macrium Reflect. When I get in the mood I partition the Clone ssd and do a backup on the second partition.
Then I unhook the Clone/backup ssd and store it in a safe place.
If I had a lot of data I would do a Clone of the 'C' partition to another ssd and a data backup to a hard drive. When done with the process I remove all Clones and backup drives and store in safe place.

It really doesn't cost a lot to set up a backup plan. Some extra drives to use as externals and a free or paid for back up program.
A few minutes of time to learn the in's and out's of the program and your on your way.


Jack

 

Layback Bear

Raid: I agree. I used to run a Raid 1 array but switched to periodic full-HDD Cloning & Imaging for the same reason you mentioned; no protection from malware or other undesired scenarios, bad downloads, user errors.

 

"...Raid is...useless against infections or any thing else that corrupts data. It just copies the corruption to all the drives in the Raid..." I should have mentioned this in my earlier "RAID is not a backup..." post *Smile Thanks, Jack, for mentioned this.

 

But it is..... if in a NAS than it's double backup.

 

Large corporations with thousands of computers don't do backups by carrying a USB external drive to each computer and plugging it it.

 

Another vote for Macrium Reflect! For the home user, there isn't anything cheaper, easier, and more reliable. I've searched for a product like this since the early '80's.

 

Okay I've downloaded Macrium Reflect free version. Priority wise, the files I most need to do a backup of are my favorites, and my Quicken files as well. Although I would like to backup more, these are the most critical right now. Those files I could easily save to a USB memory stick.

I have an idea for something I'd like to build as budget permits. I forgot what they called it, but seen a "box" at MicroCenter once. You could install up to 4 sata devices in it, it had it's own power supply and it USB'd into your system. What are those called, so I can price them out via Pricewatch?

Now where would be the best place to attach this device to? I have 3 USB ports on my laptop, and there's two USB ports in my router. I know this "device" I seen came in different sizes. Like 4, 6, 8 and I think there was even a 12 port version as well. For my purposes, I don't think I need anything larger then the 4 port version.

Unless I'm advised not to do this differently, I'm thinking in the 4 port version, one drive would be for backups, one drive for my movies, and other one for music, and a Blue-ray burner. The burner is for a special personal project, and would be the last item to install.

Going by those of you that have considerable more experience then I, would what I described be efficient, or am I over complicating things? Being realistic, my computer experience puts me at a level where I know a bit more then some, but enough were I could really muck things up if I'm not really careful. I am so glad I found this forum, as many of you have helped me when I didn't know what else to do.

 

The are called drive enclosures. I don't think your Blu-Ray burner would work in one. They are for hard drives only:
https://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-Pr.../dp/B003X26VV4

Connect it to the USB port on your router and you get the advantage of being able to access it from any computer on the network, and probably even over the internet, depending on the router - but it will likely have a slower transfer rate. Connect it to USB 3.0 port and you get the fastest USB speed, but the computer has to be turned on in order for it to be shared on the network, and it would be more difficult to access over the internet.

A lot of us have NAS(s). Network Attached Storage. These are enclosures that actually connect to the network and usually run at the fastest speed the network will pass data.

Amazon.com: Buffalo LinkStation 220 0 TB 2-Bay NAS for Home (LS220DE): Computers Accessories