Best software for system backup?

[ddeder]

I recently had a hard drive fail in my PC. I replaced the hard drive and spent several hours installing Windows, all the updates, applications, printers, scanner and data. I do not wish to go through that again.

I would like to plug an external hard drive into the computer and have a system backup done every night. I have a few questions.

1. I have a 500 GB hard drive in the computer so I plan to use a 500 GB external hard drive. I want the system backup to occur every night. Does most system backup software know to just overwrite the previous night's backup?

2. I have 320GB of used space on the PC. How long can I expect a system backup to take? Will the time vary much depending on the software I use?

3. What software works best for this? I have a Dell PC with Dell Backup and Recovery already installed but it says I need the premium version to do a system backup. I have looked at Norton Ghost and Acronis as well. My PC is running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit if that matters.

4. If my hard drive fails, how do I mirror the data back from the external hard drive to the new internal drive? Can I just boot from the external drive and then open the backup software to run a command to mirror it back?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I'd use Macrium Reflect Free Edition to make an image file of the C partition. I'd store the image on some other physical drive.

I wouldn't complicate matters by trying to do "incremental backups". I'd do full images only, and I probably wouldn't do them daily, but that's your choice. I make images monthly and keep the most recent two. If you make many system changes daily, then maybe you need daily backups.

Incrementals might save you time and space, but I'm unwilling to put a further complication between me and recovery.

Images aren't foolproof. Know what you will do if restoration fails for whatever reason.

To recover, you'd typically boot from a "recovery" disk made within your chosen software, locate your image and your destination partition, and "restore". The recovery disk can be Linux or can use Win PE. The image file is useless by itself. It must be restored to become a bootable partition.

You have to ensure that the recovery disk in fact boots and that you can in fact see the image file and destination partition in the interface.

Ghost used to be outdated, but I haven't checked into it recently. I've used Acronis in the past, but gave it up when it decided it didn't recognize its own image file and I therefore couldn't restore.

Time required will vary. It takes me less than 6 minutes to make a new full image of a 32 GB C partition with Macrium.

An image file made with Macrium typically occupies about 40 percent of the occupied space on the partition imaged. In your case that would be about 120 to 130 GB (40 percent of 320).

You can get it here:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

There is a paid version, but it's not needed for most situations.

 

[ddeder]

Thank you for the quick reply. Is the recovery disk something I would create just once right after I install the software and then store in a safe place? If I have two computers that I wish to do this for, can I create just one recovery disk for the two of them or do they each need their own? Also, does this software know to just overwrite the previous image or do you need to format before each backup?

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yes. You'd make the recovery disk immediately, confirm it will boot; confirm you can navigate it and "see" your image file and the partition to which you intend to restore. Then put it away. But I wouldn't assume it would boot indefinitely. I'd probably replace it periodically, particularly if I upgrade to a new version of Macrium.

I'd be antsy about using the same recovery disk on 2 different PCs, at least with the Linux version of the recovery disk. You might run into driver issues. For that reason alone, I'd probably use the Win PE environment for the recovery disk rather than Linux. You're less likely to have surprises.

Not sure I fully understand your last question, but:

Each "full" image file (before it's restored) stands on its own. Just like any other file. It has a unique name or you can put it in a specific folder if you want. My Jan 2014 image is in a folder with that exact name.

When you make a new image file, nothing is "overwritten". If I make a new image file tomorrow, I'd have Jan 2014 image file and Feb 2014 image file. Both self-contained. Neither one relies on the other.

Maybe you are referring to the restoration process? When you restore, you don't need to do anything to the destination partition beforehand. It will be automatically formatted as part of the restoration process. Whatever was previously on the destination partition will be overwritten. All tweaks, software configurations, licensing info, etc will be intact.

Here's the shortcomings:

It may fail for known or unknown reasons. Have a plan B.

Any changes made to your system after your most recent image file was made will of course not be restored. I don't make many system changes, so it's no big deal if I have to re-install the 2 or 3 programs I may have installed since my most recent image file. If you are making significant and time-consuming changes to C every day, then maybe you need to do daily images. Up to you entirely.

I would NOT rely on imaging for personal data backup precisely because it isn't foolproof. I'd use an ordinary file-by-file program for that.

But it's great when you need it. I've only had to restore once in the last 10 years. Saved me lots of time.

 

[ddeder]

Thanks again for the reply. It's a big help.

Regarding overwriting the previous image, the external hard drive only has space for one or two images before it is full. Since I want to run this frequently, is the software smart enough to replace the oldest image file on the external hard drive so it does not complain about not enough space.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

My image files are small, so I've never had the problem.

Macrium will assign a name by default just before you issue the command to create the file. Let's say it xyz, and you save it as xyz.

When you go to make a second image file, it will default to another name, let's say that is abc.

I'd assume you could MANUALLY change the abc to xyz, and it would then overwrite the existing xyz.

I don't think it will "automatically" delete the oldest image or rename anything.

But I haven't fully examined scheduling possibilities.

I know you can save the imaging routine as an XML so you can easily rerun it. But I don't use the XML thingy. I'm guessing you could use Windows Task Scheduler to automate when it runs?

Instead, I just go full manual--creating each image file as if I had no earlier image files and had no scheduling or space considerations.

I'd certainly suggest you familiarize yourself with Macrium or whatever app you choose and don't assume anything about its behavior.

If you have 2 PCs, you might be willing to experiment on the least important one by actually making an image and testing the restoration process to answer any questions about its peculiarities.

I've got a single PC household, so didn't have the luxury of experimentation and was NOT willing to possibly ruin a perfectly good C by restoring as a test and having a failure. So I just took a chance, without ever having done a test restore. When I later had to restore, it worked as I expected.

But I do know of people who constantly test their image files by periodic restoration when everything is working fine. I don't have the nerve.

 

[readymix]

Thanks again for the reply. It's a big help.

Regarding overwriting the previous image, the external hard drive only has space for one or two images before it is full. Since I want to run this frequently, is the software smart enough to replace the oldest image file on the external hard drive so it does not complain about not enough space.

paid version, yes. see the link above and version comparison.

 

[Cerb]

2. I have 320GB of used space on the PC. How long can I expect a system backup to take? Will the time vary much depending on the software I use?

Yes, it will vary. With USB 3.0 or eSATA, I would expect at least a couple hours. With USB 2.0, I would say you're crazy to bother trying.

3. What software works best for this? I have a Dell PC with Dell Backup and Recovery already installed but it says I need the premium version to do a system backup. I have looked at Norton Ghost and Acronis as well. My PC is running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit if that matters.

You have several options. Acronis is alright, as is Macrium, as is EaseUS. Windows' included backup is fine, too, for what you're doing, but you get way more options from any of the mentioned pay backup tools. Norton I don't know about, these days, and generally avoid.

The pay products give you options for more than just whole image backups, like incremental and differential, which both speed up the process, and allow you to effectively perform file-level undo operations. A 1-2TB external drive, and incremental or differential backups might be worth doing. There are some free programs that can do the same, but you are paying for a much better interface, and streamlined setup. Plus, there are some extras, like iDevice and Android data backup, that may be provided.

Whatever you choose, make sure you have yet another drive available, that you might test your backups, rather than blindly trust them to be restorable.

4. If my hard drive fails, how do I mirror the data back from the external hard drive to the new internal drive? Can I just boot from the external drive and then open the backup software to run a command to mirror it back?

Mirroring is not being done. You generally make a recovery disc that boots up and does the restore. With Windows, you choose the repair option from the install disc, and backup restoration should be one of the options after that.

 

[Virgorising]

Is this a desktop with empty slot in HDD Bay? If so, do what i do and would never choose another way: install second drive. I use HD Clone once a week, any disparity in size in the respective drives is moot, it deals with that. I make both drives bootable via Easy BCD, free. I get boot option screen when I power on.

And, best to do full clone each time. Incremental updates can have issues.

Course, if this is a lappy, you would be dealing with an external drive. But, such as HD clone has that covered.

 

[ddeder]

Thanks for all of the input! It did not occur to me that Windows is capable of doing an image backup. I am now considering just purchasing one large external hard drive and using Windows Backup to create an image file from each PC on this hard drive. I am not concerned with data backups or other options, just want a way to recover in case of hard drive failure.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

even though windows has a built in backup, I'd check out Macrium (or another, but I prefer Macrium myself), because it has features such as compression and encryption of backups among many others.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Yes, Windows has a built in imaging capability, but:

It is nowhere near as flexible as 3rd party alternatives. The interface is not well laid out and many find it and the documentation confusing. If you start looking around on forums devoted to Windows (such as sevenforums.com), you will find many more complaints about the built in app than any of the competitors.

 

[cruelmelissa]

I will Acronis will go for sure and I agree that it is not a way out to reinstall Windows all the time. What I like about Acronis is that it creates the whole image of the disk and backs it up to the external HDD, for example. It backs up continuously as you wish. So, having the image of the whole disk C you are able to restore it easily any time it is necessary.

 

[SNC]

Is this a desktop with empty slot in HDD Bay? If so, do what i do and would never choose another way: install second drive. I use HD Clone once a week, any disparity in size in the respective drives is moot, it deals with that. I make both drives bootable via Easy BCD, free. I get boot option screen when I power on.

And, best to do full clone each time. Incremental updates can have issues.

Course, if this is a lappy, you would be dealing with an external drive. But, such as HD clone has that covered.

Bad idea. If the PSU goes in dramatic fashion it could take all the drives in the PC.

 

[Virgorising]

Yes, Windows has a built in imaging capability, but:

It is nowhere near as flexible as 3rd party alternatives. The interface is not well laid out and many find it and the documentation confusing. If you start looking around on forums devoted to Windows (such as sevenforums.com), you will find many more complaints about the built in app than any of the competitors.

:thumbsup:

 

[Virgorising]

Bad idea. If the PSU goes in dramatic fashion it could take all the drives in the PC.

Well, what I shared has been my backup strategy since my first desktop. Has never failed me yet, so fopr me, mine has been a very good idea indeed.

Someone can conjure all the catastrophic events there are.....for me, goal is to determine the liklihood of each. Re PSU, depend on how it "goes."

PSU going taking out all the drives .....I think unlikely.

 

[Zxian]

PSU going taking out all the drives .....I think unlikely.

I've seen a PSU take out every component in a system except for one stick of RAM and the optical drive. CPU, motherboard, video card, audio card, three sticks of DDR2, and two hard drives.

NEVER keep your backups in the same system as your primary storage. Separate power, separate data connection.

This is part of the reason why I prefer NAS solutions over USB or eSATA. I'm a little paranoid about any direct connection between computer and storage, and a switch gives at least one additional "hop" that a surge would have to jump through in order to reach the destination.

 

[Virgorising]

I've seen a PSU take out every component in a system except for one stick of RAM and the optical drive. CPU, motherboard, video card, audio card, three sticks of DDR2, and two hard drives.

NEVER keep your backups in the same system as your primary storage. Separate power, separate data connection.

This is part of the reason why I prefer NAS solutions over USB or eSATA. I'm a little paranoid about any direct connection between computer and storage, and a switch gives at least one additional "hop" that a surge would have to jump through in order to reach the destination.

Again, catastrophic events re our computers are infinite in potential. Again, what I do has always worked for me. Your strategy works for you.

 

[ichie]

In fact, this question is really hard to ask. Everyone recommend their familiar software, so my is aomei backupper, a freeware.

 

[John Connor]

I use AOMEI too!

 

[Soundmanred]

Bad idea. If the PSU goes in dramatic fashion it could take all the drives in the PC.

Agreed. I've had 2 hit by power surges/lightning and it took out nearly everything.
I have externals for each internal drive I have. 15TB of internal drives with 15TB of externals that only get hooked up when doing backups.

I use AOMEI too!

Congrats, you use what the aomei backup spammer uses.

 

[John Connor]

No, I was looking for something that could copy partitions to partitions since I parted my 1 TB external HDD for several HDDs. AOMEI is what worked for me.

 

[gammaray]

backups are mostly useless if all you want to avoid is re-installing windows after a drive failure. Just do 1 image after a clean OS install and be done with it.

Now if you have data you absolutely need to keep no matter what, i suggest you use a cloud storage, or write your data on a DVD and put it in a safe ELSEWHERE. yes as in, not your home place. In your parent's safe, a family member you trust, or in a bank.

 

[John Connor]

Really??? Incremental clones is what I do since the crap I install grows and so does the data I acquire. I wouldn't touch cloud storage with a ten foot pole!

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I disagree. A complete system image really saved me hours and hours of reconfiguring everything after a drive went down on my primary machine. I like having an image with the OS, all programs I have installed and data all in one drive. It's easy to forget little things that could be difficult to duplicate when doing a backup of only certain files.

Of course, having a copy of your backup off site is also best practice.

backups are mostly useless if all you want to avoid is re-installing windows after a drive failure. Just do 1 image after a clean OS install and be done with it.

Now if you have data you absolutely need to keep no matter what, i suggest you use a cloud storage, or write your data on a DVD and put it in a safe ELSEWHERE. yes as in, not your home place. In your parent's safe, a family member you trust, or in a bank.