Backup just to have another safe copy of files

[tinpanalley]

I've been exploring all these different backup programs. The thing is that what they all seem to do best is create images. All I need to do is backup audio files and photos. But I don't want them locked into an image.

I want them easy to use if need be for retrieval quickly, with the minimal chance of errors, and without having to rely on Windows copy or TeraCopy. I wan to be able to take a backed up HDD later, scan it, and have software tell me "ok, these things have been changed/added/deleted from your parent drive since the last backup, so we'll get your backup updated to match the changes you've made on your main drive"? Does that exist?

 

[yinan]

There is nothing wrong with having them "locked" in an image. Its all you can really do on windows, because at least on the client side, there is no such thing as versions.

Macrium Reflect will allow you to mount the image as a drive and freely explore it in Windows.

 

[tinpanalley]

There is nothing wrong with having them "locked" in an image. Its all you can really do on windows, because at least on the client side, there is no such thing as versions.
Macrium Reflect will allow you to mount the image as a drive and freely explore it in Windows.

Thanks for the reply. However, what benefit does using an image have over having an exact copy of all folders and files as they are on the main drive? The reason I want the files visible is so that I can instantly, with any computer, laptop, etc, plug in the drive and have access to any individual song, or photo without having to load other software.

 

[yinan]

How else will it store them?

 

[tinpanalley]

How else will it store them?

The two folders that each contain several subfolders, copied as they are to the new HDD. Is there a problem with doing it that way?

 

[yinan]

While that would work for simple stuff, it wouldn't work for scheduled backups that do differentials or anything like that. Plus it would waste a ton of space.

 

[tinpanalley]

While that would work for simple stuff, it wouldn't work for scheduled backups that do differentials or anything like that. Plus it would waste a ton of space.

Sorry, I thought I had mentioned in my first post that this is only to backup photos and music that have to be easily accessible. I'll never do scheduled backups because I'll only do one when I amass a lot of new content every four or five months, I don't need room on the HDD for anything else, I don't need to keep versions. The only thing that would be cool, because there is about 800GB is to be able to have some program look at the original HDD and the backup and automaticlly update the backup.

 

[yinan]

You say that now, until you lose something in the middle.
You really should look into Macrium reflect. Cheap, easy to use, fast, and reliable.

 

[tinpanalley]

You say that now, until you lose something in the middle.
You really should look into Macrium reflect. Cheap, easy to use, fast, and reliable.

I'm not arguing with you, but it would help if you explained what you mean instead of just saying things like "until you lose something". I obivously don't know about this stuff so I'm asking. What could I lose? Are you saying something doesn't copy properly and then I don't notice because it's one of a million files in the copy job?

I DO want to explore further. What's a FREE solution to reliably backup to an image like what you're talking about? And will any of them allow me to browse through my backup like a regular folder system and update every month or two for changes in the master?

 

[razel]

Window's built in image backup creates a VHD which you can mount in Disk Manager and access like a normal drive. It's one of my favorite things about it since like you mentioned, there are times when you want to pull a backup of just one file or folder.

It's buried in Win8+ and can be found in the bottom left of the file history screen. You may have to wait for the file history screen to finish looking for backup drives before the 'Create System Image' link appears.

 

[386DX]

Free version of Crashplan will allow you to automatically backup certain folders to an external USB or network location automatically. I believe this is what you're looking for. Just be aware of the limitations of the free version which only does once a day backup vs continuous for paid version. And limited number of previous versions vs unlimited for the paid version.

 

[VirtualLarry]

RoboCopy script? RSync?

 

[slippysoup]

I use SyncToy for exactly what you described in the op

 

[Anteaus]

Beyond Compare does exactly that. I use it constantly.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This may seem parochial to some folks who use backup programs.

All of my "stuff" is duplicated in a drive pool on my server. The server backs up clients nightly. There are certain priority files which I absolutely positively cannot afford to lose, and I understand the OP's desire to have them "quickly accessible" without compression or imaging.

So every month or so, I back up those priority files incrementally.

I use a utility with GUI that I downloaded from an MS webpage, called "RichCopy 4.0." Once you have the base of all existing files copied and backed up to an NTFS hot-swap drive, it will only add new files and replace those that have changed, assuming you chose those configuration options. There are several tabbed dialogs which allow you to configure it. I think you can even schedule backups with it.

But the incremental backup options assure that any subsequent backup operation may not take any time at all, or so little time that it won't annoy you.

 

[Blazer7]

I use Macrium reflect for creating system images/migrating to new disks etc.
For backup I use Syncback free. Syncback supports backup, syncronization and mirroring.
Both programs are very easy to use.

 

[MustISO]

Sync back is what I use as well for file level copies. For OS image I use Acronis and Windows image backup.

 

[VeryCharBroiled]

Sync back is what I use as well for file level copies. For OS image I use Acronis and Windows image backup.

another vote for syncback free for file backups. macrium free for image backups.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll want to look into this "SyncBack Free."

Have any Syncback users tried RichCopy? Because if SB is better, I can dump RC.

WAITAMINUTE: Does this SyncBackFree work with Windows Server OS versions from the console? There's nothing on the 2BrightSparks webpage that indicates any other OS applicability than workstation Windows versions -- 7, 8, 10 etc.

 

[MustISO]

I used to use RichCopy, like SyncBack much better.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I used to use RichCopy, like SyncBack much better.

But there's no server OS in the SyncBack specs. They wouldn't have missed it if they guaranteed compatibility. Somebody has to know something. I'm not just going to install it on my server before I'm sure of it. I'd like to find out . . . . Maybe I'll send their support an inquiry.

 

[tinpanalley]

In the end, with all the suggestions, I did one backup with SyncBackFree and another with FreeFileSync. Both took about the same time (bit weird that I was only getting 95MB/s even though the hdd was connected via internal SATA. I expected faster).
Both programs are great. But I did feel like I knew more of what was going on with FreeFileSync. Real time stats are really comforting when you're transferring big chunks of important data. Both are fine for what I want to do which is just back up files and folders. So I'll probably use whichever one I feel like for any task. I want to try now changing ONE file, and running both to see which program finds that file and updates the backup faster.

 

[nerp]

SyncToy. It's free. Use it. It's by MS. Safe. No ads. No begging for money. No trials. It does exactly as you want. I use it to mirror a server with a large external HD. I connected the HD, click on synctoy, press start, it copies over only the files that are new/changed. Done. Perfect. No dealing with images. No proprietary anything. Just mirror any folder/tree from location A to location B. You can mirror network share to network share, drive to drive, network to drive, drive to network, whatever. Don't waste your money on anything anyone mentioned here.

 

[PliotronX]

CrashPlan is known for the ability to backup to cloud storage but it's free to backup to local storage without the OS limitation. Very easy to use interface and cloud storage for an off-site cold backup is only five bucks a month.

 

[therealnickdanger]

I've read great things about CrashPlan (I think it also lets you backup to a friend's computer if you want), but I've been a Carbonite user for a few years now and it's been great. As an added bonus, you can log into your Carbonite account on multiple mobile devices using the app and it will backup all your phones/tablets individually as well.

For local backups/storage management, I've been using StableBit DrivePool. Select folders, drives, and/or pools that you want duplicated, how many duplicates you want, and it just manages it all beautifully. Add or pull out discs at any time, transfer to a new machine, etc., it's really easy.