bare metal restore options - simple is key

[lbonnell]

hello,

hoping to get some recommendations on the best option to backup data on a windows pc so that you could restore to the last backup state if the hard drive were to be replaced...

something comparable to time machine but for windows 7 primarily.
simplicity is key

i am thinking windows home server?

thanks!

 

[Trepidati0n]

Yes...windows home server is ideal for that. Nice to do when one of my inlaws fubars their machine with a Virus. Also, you can run WHS in a VM which can minimize your HW needs.

 

[drescherjm]

How about the builtin windows 7 backup (not available on some home versions) with the backups going to an external drive? To restore you stick the windows DVD in and click a few recovery options. It then finds your backup and asks you if you want to overwrite the partitions..

 

[danswartz]

+1 for the win7 method.

 

[Trepidati0n]

How about the builtin windows 7 backup (not available on some home versions) with the backups going to an external drive? To restore you stick the windows DVD in and click a few recovery options. It then finds your backup and asks you if you want to overwrite the partitions..

+1 for the win7 method.

If a single machine, I agree, this is the best solution.

 

[HammerSandwich]

How about the builtin windows 7 backup (not available on some home versions)...

To expand:

Home Premium has the backup utility, but it won't save to a network drive. I have no experience with Starter or Home Basic...

While Pro & higher can backup to the network, they will not keep multiple generations in a given location.
You should be able to schedule multiple backups to different shares (complicated). Or simply use WHS, which retains nightly backups per PC and dedupes to save space.

One final thing to note is that Win7 Backup saves in VHD. You should be able to mount this in VirtualPC & be running ASAP, though I've not tried that yet.