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Thread: Best backup software?

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    Insomnia Robscure's Avatar
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    Best backup software?

    I'm looking for the best backup software but it has to be free please.

    I just want to make an image of my drives so that when the **** hits the fan then I can simply flash back quickly and safely without having to worry about errors or corruption or any nonsense that I think can come with file backup software...

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    Re: Best backup software?

    If it's just a drive image you want, rather than a file-based backup, one of these should do:

    Acronis True Image WD Edition

    Macrium Reflect Free

    Clonezilla (not so user friendly)

    Or you could upgrade to Win7 and use the built-in disk imaging utility.

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    Re: Best backup software?

    And what toppings would you like on that Moon on a Stick

    Image level backups can be just as risky and there is possibly less verification tha on a file level backup ie if a word doc gets corrupted , then that corruption would be backed up.

    have you got enough storage for multiple copies of those images ? what sort of retention period are you after?

    as free software goes , I used to use http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/
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    Insomnia Robscure's Avatar
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    Re: Best backup software?

    Well if something happens then I just want to be able to do a complete restore to this point where everything is fine... without having to put in my windows installation CD, redo windows, then recover lost files, and change all of my settings again

    I want to keep my settings, my desktop, my User accounts, my files, etc... the way they are right now.

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    Administrator Moby-Dick's Avatar
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    Re: Best backup software?

    How many restore do you want to keep ?

    say you back up every night and overwrite last nights backup.

    what if you have a problem on a friday that you don't discover untill a monday ? you wont be able to roll back as that last backup has the problem in place.

    Don't forget about Windows system restore
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    Insomnia Robscure's Avatar
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    Re: Best backup software?

    Quote Originally Posted by Moby-Dick View Post
    How many restore do you want to keep ?

    say you back up every night and overwrite last nights backup.

    what if you have a problem on a friday that you don't discover untill a monday ? you wont be able to roll back as that last backup has the problem in place.

    Don't forget about Windows system restore

    No, I just reformatted so I want to create an image right now of my computer while it's working perfectly fine with my basic files...

    I'm using Acronis True Image WD atm, I think that's good...

    Is there a way to make a Windows restore point on this date and keep it? I think they always overwrite and I don't know how to make it keep one for a long time.

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    Re: Best backup software?

    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainCrash View Post
    If it's just a drive image you want, rather than a file-based backup, one of these should do:

    Acronis True Image WD Edition

    Macrium Reflect Free

    Clonezilla (not so user friendly)

    Or you could upgrade to Win7 and use the built-in disk imaging utility.
    I'm interested in this as well as I'm installing a new SSD and I want to clone a drive onto it. Plus back-up images are important. I used to rely on DriveImage XML but on win 7 it doen't look so good. It keeps having problems with VSS and it always wants me to turn off UAC.

    So, what's this utility on win 7? I've tried windows backup and it doesn't always do what I want in the way I want.
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    Re: Best backup software?

    Quote Originally Posted by Robscure View Post
    Is there a way to make a Windows restore point on this date and keep it? I think they always overwrite and I don't know how to make it keep one for a long time.
    As far as I know there's no way to make a restore point permanent - once the space allocated for system restore is used up, they'll start getting deleted (starting with the oldest), regardless of whether they were created manually or automatically.

    I wouldn't rely on restore points to return a badly broken system to a pristine state anyway - I've always seen them more as an emergency "get out of jail" operation to restore basic functionality until a more thorough fix can be effected (whatever that might entail).

    Quote Originally Posted by Ciber View Post
    So, what's this utility on win 7? I've tried windows backup and it doesn't always do what I want in the way I want.
    Start menu > Backup and Restore > Create a system image/Create a system repair disc

    I haven't used Windows 7 backup for a while, but I wasn't very keen on it the last time I tried it (at least for general backup duties rather than a one-off system image) - you don't get much control over what it does, and how and when it does it, and IIRC it has a nasty habit of failing silently under certain circumstances, which is a complete showstopper in a backup app as far as I'm concerned.

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    Re: Best backup software?

    Create a perfect clone, while Windows is running - I've used Casper in the past. It works very well, and can update a clone without transferring everything all over again.

    So, you'd just need to walk over to wherever you store your backups (someone elses house, right?), and replace the drive with the clone. Job done. I've done this in the past when a drive failed.

    http://www.fssdev.com/products/casper/

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    Re: Best backup software?

    macrium saved my bacon a few months ago. Used it to restore the image of a tablet PC drive that couldnt, the tablet in question wouldnt install from a cd.

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    Re: Best backup software?

    I'm having problems as I want to copy a larger partition (HDD) to a smaller drive (SSD).
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    Re: Best backup software?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ciber View Post
    I'm having problems as I want to copy a larger partition (HDD) to a smaller drive (SSD).
    i believe most imaging software will allow the resize of partitions while restoring, or is there so much information that it wont fit? could always move non essential stuff to another drive, images, mp3s etc then image / clone the drive to the sdd

    im not upto speed on sdd drives but if they are like the experience ive had with raid in the past make sure you have installed any revelant drivers needed before doing the image / clone or you may runinto bsod problems etc

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    Re: Best backup software?

    If you want to back up files i could suggest Drop box maybe?

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    Senior Member Ciber's Avatar
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    Re: Best backup software?

    Quote Originally Posted by binaryknight View Post
    i believe most imaging software will allow the resize of partitions while restoring, or is there so much information that it wont fit? could always move non essential stuff to another drive, images, mp3s etc then image / clone the drive to the sdd

    im not upto speed on sdd drives but if they are like the experience ive had with raid in the past make sure you have installed any revelant drivers needed before doing the image / clone or you may runinto bsod problems etc
    None of the free ones are willing to image onto a smaller drive. Something to bear in mind!

    In the end I just copied and pasted seeing as it is not a boot drive. Should have done that in the first place!
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    Re: Best backup software?

    For moving partitions, I used to be a massive fan of Partition Magic years ago, used to do everything perfectly.....then they went downhill and I haven't look at it for quite some time.

    I tend to just use a Linux Live CD and use the GParted tools on the disk now.

    As for general backup, I find Windows 7/Vista backup for taking a system image and backing up other crucial files to be quite efficient and non-intrusive. I backup to a NAS, you can get a cheap ones these days (handy if you have multiple PCs to backup) or just use an external USB/eSata drive.

    I am fairly sure all editions of Vista let you do that, although only Pro and above editions of Windows 7 allows backup over LAN.
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    Re: Best backup software?

    fact is that a good back up is not free.....

    sad but true.

    /one solution of many solutions seems to be....

    grab/build old PC, add new hard drive/s to it .. BUY WHS (£80 ish) and install... back up the entire PC and if EITHER the PC OR the WHS dies, you have the other to use.

    Reisntalll from the back ups, AND host websites, run virtual files, etc etc...... remote access, shared files etc..

    do I love WHS...... ? you know I do

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