• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Advice for Backup software (Win 7 & 8)

T

tyuiop

Junior Member
Hello,
I have just bought a 3TB external hard drive to perform backups: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0084LZJ1M/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers
I was wondering if anyone had backup software advice for my requirements below:
I would like to backup 2 laptops in different ways:
The first is my GFs laptop, there is little organisation of pictures/videos throughout the OS so I would like to perform a whole OS backup, preferably I would like this to be incremental each time so it doesn’t take hours every backup. She is running Windows 7 64bit – only usb 2.0 on her laptop.
The second laptop is mine where I have all my files organised into folders – therefore backing up the whole OS is a bit unnecessary as all I care about are a few high level folders which contain all my documents. Again I would like the backups to be incremental to reduce each backup time. I am running Windows 8 64bit – I have USB 3.0 on my laptop.
I don’t expect to have the hard drive plugged in to either machine 24/7 – I would be manually plugging it in and backing up about once a month. IOW I don’t need to worry about scheduling.
Obviously I’d prefer a free product but if you know of a paid product which fulfils the requirements I’m open to look into it.
Many thanks
 
I use Acronis True Image and I recommend it. And it's pretty cheap too, so that's handy.

Don't bother too much about thinking about how you want your backup to be made BEFORE you see the options in True Image. Often times you'll be thinking of doing something way less convenient and automated than what your software allows you to do.

I also use SyncBack Free, because it's a fantastic tool and very easy to use, but it's more for file backup, rather than system backup.

Some may recommend Windows' built-in backup utilities, but I wouldn't go there. I am yet to find something Windows does better than a third party software does it...
 
I use SyncBask SE (not the free), you can caonfigure it to sync multiple folders.

I use the mirroing method which makes an exact copy of the SOURCE to the DESTINATIO

If a file was changed or deleted on the source, it also gets deleted on the destination.

don't use normal sync otherwise you will have the old files left in tact

use mirror

SyncBack backs up my entire libraries which consist of like 10 diff. folders in the matter of seconds as it detects the changes quickly and does the needful to the destination folder.

best 20 USD I spent on a product ever. no limits on activation as well so you can activate as many times as u want on the same computer and it wont blacklist your key like some software do
 
Last edited:
I like syncback (the free one). My main purpose for backups is file synchronization/mirroring and syncback is easy to set and forget.
 
Brainonska511 said:
I like syncback (the free one). My main purpose for backups is file synchronization/mirroring and syncback is easy to set and forget.
Click to expand...

I sprung for SyncBackPro and couldn't be happier. My buddy runs a business from home so access to his data is critical, if his laptop went down he needed to be able to fire up another and start working while the other is fixed. We set this up on his file server, it checks every 5 min what files changed and syncs them. When he's out and about and comes home and hooks it up it syncs automatically. We then have them backed up to a 2nd internal hard drive on the server, as well as to an external and CrashPlan. Lots of copies but SBP does a perfect job.
 
Macrium does back up files but it also creates disk images and clones disks, so they do have a few features in common. Macrium is more versatile though IMO.

gizbug said:
Does anyone run Macrium AND Syncback, or are they redundant? I know Macrium Pro backs up files
Click to expand...
 
tyuiop said:
Hello,
Click to expand...

I definitely, definitely recommend getting either an online backup service or get a network-attached storage (NAS) device.

Most people connect external hard drives for backups the first month, maybe the second, and go back to forgetting to run through the steps forever after. If you want backups, I highly recommend looking at a setup that requires no effort after initial setup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top