Help me with a backup solution

CA50

CA50

Level E
Hi folks

Thinking of backing up my primary system, so in pursuit of a backup application, both free and paid are welcomed.

I am a noob in this section, so please help me out

TIA
 
what kind of backup are you looking at?

if you want disk images and if you are running windows 7 professional \ Ultimate, you can use windows backup itself to take disk images.

you can configure this for files and folders also, this backup stores the images in a vhd file, similar to the one used in virtual PC.

There are numerous others available from other vendors for backup like Norton Ghost, both Seagate and WD package a backup manager with the external HDD's, i think you can download them from their websites.
 
i want to backup the datas in my current system which mainly includes game setups/softwares/music/videos. I am on windows platform. I haven't tried windows backup utility, but does it provide sync feature. I want sync feature so that in future i can just sync the backups and the new datas will get backup automatically , only the new ones and the older ones will not be overwritten.

What is this norton ghost? is it good?
 
i have used acronis true image quite effectively way bak in 2008

its the best

you can backup anything OS/settings/data

when i was on 160GB HD [only 10GB used]

then i use to keep my backup on a DVD .. when ever there is a problem it take only 15min. to revert back to original backup position
 
Is there any smaller utility, i have check norton ghost its 119 mb and acronis is 160 mb, i am on EDGE connection so downloading those would be a PITA
 
I use synctoy to do the job for me. I have a media drive which has my music and my photography collection. They get synced on to my external storage from time to time. Synctoy is free
 
^ tried that, its fast and light. got a query,while synchronizing, does it rewrite the old files or only the new ones

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

have tried norton ghost now, but i don't know how to synchronize a backup with the source data - any help.
Any member using norton ghost, can you post a brief how-to backup
 
CA50 said:
^ tried that, its fast and light. got a query,while synchronizing, does it rewrite the old files or only the new ones
Click to expand...

SyncToy can perform five actions on folder pairs.

Synchronize: New and updated files are copied both ways. Renames and deletes on either side are repeated on the other.

Echo: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames and deletes on the left are repeated on the right.

Contribute: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames on the left are repeated on the right. No deletions

... from the synctoy help menu
 
norton ghost does not sync.

it has these options

disk image--self explanatory

incremental back ups---first image as base and later on as incremental back ups

always make your own back up strategy.

for your purpose , I would advice get first independent ghost/windows back up image.keep it on separate physical location and its your main system back up.

for your game files and all downloads--sync toy is perfect.

if you make image of your hdd,make sure you make your own customized recovery disk and test it as boot media.
 
I would also look at Macrium Reflect, Its similar to Acronis but free for personal use. I believe it can sync and is a 38mb download
 
CA50 said:
I am using synctoy its good, but it doesn't support data encryption, is there any alternative for that??
Click to expand...
Well if you are backing it up on a different drive (obviously) you can simply use windows bitlocker encryption. It works like a charm.
 
i dont recommend windows backup utility, not comprehensive enough.

if u have xp, 7, or vista system, there are many free utilities out there.

if u got server system u might have to pay for a backup tool.

drive backup, true image, and todo backup are all good backup tools.

i've tried them, to find that todo backup is comparatively better in features and price.
 
For the best backup plan use multiple backup strategies.Former posters have already mentioned the best softwares for backing up your data. A good idea would be to separate data from your installation.

I have partitioned my HDDs in such a way that OS and installed softwares are separate from independent data like documents/videos etc

> I use Clonezilla (freeware) live CD to clone an image of my drive with the OS and softwares. An image also stores all your OS and software updates so you dont have to update everything from scratch the next time you reinstall (restore the image).Its like taking a snapshot of your hard disk.

I take incremental backups and store the two latest versions on my external HDD and archive the older ones into DVDs.

Alternatives

=========

Acronis (Considered the best/commercial-ware)

Norton Ghost (Commonly used in corporates/commercial-ware)

> I also use Toucan portable(freeware) to sync-copy folders with my independent data like audio and documents with my external HDD.

Alternatives

========

> Microsoft SyncToy (considered the best)

Finally have a good data restoration software at hand to restore deleted files.(you never know when you ll accidentally delete or format your backed up files :)) Restoration a portable and freeware app is what i use

Alternatives

=========

Recuva (commercial-ware)

I encrypt my passwords using TrueCrypt and store them in my HDD offline out of reach of the baddies. I have also written them out on a diary....just in case. :).

You may want to make your own backup schedule depending on your needs ..but it pays to have an organized backup plan.
 
I used to use Acronis, now use Macrium Reflect which is free for personal use and as good as Acronis in every way. I have it backing up C drive and a Windows 7 PE iso loaded with Macrium reflect in it, which can be booted by Easybcd whenever needed.

So in any eventuality its just a matter of choosing windows 7 PE in the boot menu and using reflect to restore in about 5-10 minutes.

It can also do incremental backups but I don't use that and it may be disabled in the free version, but someone will have to check.
 
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