Personal windows backup plan?

modi123

Supreme [H]ardness
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Sep 6, 2006
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I need to find a better way of doing my backups instead of guessing what files changed or what not. I am running windows 7, dual boot winXp, and have about three hard drives of various locations I keep my files. I have a 500gb external drive at my disposal.

I've looked at win7's back up option and it seems.. janky. Is there a third party software solution I can use that would be best? Ideally I would have it review given folders and then, if there are differences, back those files that changed up to the external hd.
 
I backup my laptop using 7's Backup utility. Manual backups to an ext USB HDD done at the first of each month, and I've been using it since beta.

Apart from taking way too long (3+hrs for a 150GB system image) it seems to work fine. But I haven't had any disasters necessitating a restore from image backup. (knock on wood)
 
My workstation is on RAID 1 drives. No important data is stored on this machine. As far as the OS and programs, I can fix 99% of any problems, and if for some reason lost everything on this machine, it would not be a huge deal to reinstall (and probably nice to clean up the machine anyway).

The file server OS is on RAID 1 drives, with no updates or anything else that could change the environment. There are no interactive logins to this machine. All data is stored on the following file shares:

The main file share is on an external 5-bay, RAID-5 enclosure with standby cold spare. This is replicated to another external 5-bay, STRIPED enclosure that is powered off 99% of the time to prevent any possible virus infection, etc.

The critical data from the main array is also replicated to a single USB drive. Periodically (couple times a year), all critical data is burned to DVD. All drive arrays are fully encrypted with TrueCrypt, as well as TC containers for the DVD backup. Also, I have matching eSata PCIe cards in the Workstation and Server to allow for access of data if one machine goes down.

All data is copied with scheduled Robocopy batch jobs, and I generally follow the naming convention for files: <file description>_<YEAR><MONTH><DAY>. This will prevent overwrite of similar or updated files.

Yes, I have planned for many contingencies.
 
@REDYOUCH - Damn... That's the level of backups we do at work and I spend my time drinking too much to implement something on that level at home.

I looked at windows 7's back up and heard enough horror stories about the imaging not working and it taking for ever.

I rolled with puresync and have been happy. I have my main folders it scans and it moves in a fairly quick manner to update files. I'm happy... though my buddy has his stuff backed up on an external and then his mass of photos and personal docs on line in case of fire or theft of drive.

Damn.. I should have thought about running truecrypt on the external. I wonder how much that will jack with puresync. I hear a weekend project coming.
 
I need to find a better way of doing my backups instead of guessing what files changed or what not. I am running windows 7, dual boot winXp, and have about three hard drives of various locations I keep my files. I have a 500gb external drive at my disposal.

I've looked at win7's back up option and it seems.. janky. Is there a third party software solution I can use that would be best? Ideally I would have it review given folders and then, if there are differences, back those files that changed up to the external hd.


What I have always done:

Image my system partition (this is a must), I keep it small so it images quickly.
(I now use built in imager in windows 7 and FREE Acronis True Image- FREE WD ed.)
I regular burn my personally created files to DVD-ROM(documents, pictures, code).

That is all I used to do.

The bulk of my drives are occupied by a media collection is largely replaceable and uses a lot of space, so I resisted backing up, but would be a PITA re-ripping, etc...

But after a recent crash I have decided to start backing up my media by syncing to external drives.

So I am also looking for the best synch program there are dozens.

Freefilesync is my leading contender:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/
 
Since you have a few hard drives already, have you considered Windows Home Server?

Take an old desktop and install WHS. It can manage all your drives in one storage pool, can handle incremental backups of up to 10 Windows clients, can do a bare-metal restore from the network.
It's the best backup system I have ever used.
 
I use EzBackitup (free) and select the folders I want to backup in a job. I have 6-7 jobs created and back up my files to external hard drives. I like this software because it can delete files on the ext drive that are no longer on my PC and replaces modified files. After each backup, it creates a log file with what it copied, removed, and any errors it came across. All it does is copy, no compressing etc. which I prefer. It serves my purpose.
 
So I am also looking for the best synch program there are dozens.

Freefilesync is my leading contender:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/freefilesync/


A followup on Freefilesync.

My search stops here. It does exactly what I would want a program like this to do and it is extremely simple of you just want basics and it copies fast, but it also has scripting, automation if you want that.

You just drag and drop a bunch of source->destination directories and then you can save the sets. Then it is one click to sync the whole set.

Bonus points for open source and even more for having a very active update record.
 
A followup on Freefilesync.

My search stops here. It does exactly what I would want a program like this to do and it is extremely simple of you just want basics and it copies fast, but it also has scripting, automation if you want that.

You just drag and drop a bunch of source->destination directories and then you can save the sets. Then it is one click to sync the whole set.

Bonus points for open source and even more for having a very active update record.

I agree with everything you said. I have a couple more file/folder sync apps that I like to use, but FreeFileSync is awesome. The interface is simple and straightforward, and it does a terrific job. It has never choked or crashed, even on scans and syncs of directories 600GB and larger. As you noted, it is actively updated and the installer even has provisions for a portable installation.

Awesome app!

I have tried most of the file sync apps available, and FFS is definitely one of the top contenders.
 
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