Good simple backup method?

[Eureka]

So, I just got myself a new 1TB 7200 rpm to replace my 1.5TB 5400 rpm data drive in my PC. I want to use the 1.5TB as a backup drive for my important folders, as well as a way to keep an image of my SSD (my SSDs have died on me before). Is there a simple way for me to:

• Store an image of my SSD onto the 1.5TB, that I can just put onto another SSD if it fails through a boot menu (and not having to install Windows or use another Windows PC)
• Select certain important folders on the 1TB, that will sync with the 1.5TB when I want to
• Alternatively, clone both onto the 1.5TB drive

I will not keep the 1.5TB plugged into the PC. I will only plug it in (using a SATA dock on my case) maybe once or twice a month. Is there a simple one button program that will let me do this?

 

[kbp]

Windows Backup

 

[MontyAC]

You can try Macrium Reflect, which is free:

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

 

[Coup27]

There are many imaging programs out there which will do what you require. Acronis True Image Home for example allows you to create a bootable CD or USB stick. You can image your SSD onto a HDD and store it as an image file. In the event of a failure, you can replace the SSD, boot the Acronis CD and restore the image file onto your SSD. This will allow you to restore the whole image onto a different disk. Acronis isn't unique, most imaging programs support this.

A good free file synchronisation program is PureSync by Jumping Bytes. I use this at home.

You could if you wanted to restore your SSD image onto your 1.5TB and still use that drive as a backup destination for the folders you want to sync while booting the SSD as your main OS drive.

 

[corkyg]

My system is very simple - for my laptop, Ikeep two SSDs - they are exact duplicates except for wallpaper (so I can tell 'em apart. They are tagged 1 and 2, and I rotate them periodically after any major chenges. These are OS and programs, not data.

Only one of these SSDs is ever "live." The other is in a padded bag in a static proof envelope. When I travel, I always have a spare tire. If anything untoward happens, I immediately clone the good drive to the bad one and again have a matched pair.

 

[hal2kilo]

Windows Backup

Yep, as long as you have Pro or Ultimate. Make the recovery disk for a complete catostrophic crash. You should be good to go.

 

[SolMiester]

I'm sure all windows 7 versions do the backups and disc imaging, however only Pro and Ultimate will backup to network locations, the other versions to local attached storage only...
I use Windows backup to image my SSD to a NAS drive along with backups, however a USB attached drive works just as well, especially if you are using USB3!

 

[spinejam]

I recently used Acronis TI Home 2013 and it worked great. Created an image of my RAID0 SSDs and saved it to my Seagate 3TB. I decided to test the archive -- changed my RAID0 stripe to 64KB and I was able to restore from this backup in under 10 minutes. Everything worked perfectly.