Under Windows XP Pro I used the built-in Backup functionality like this:
I want to keep the approach of alternating where I store my backups, as it gives an extra layer of protection.
However I don't know how File History or indeed "Windows 7" Backup would cope with me alternating the drives, as my understanding is that they try to create incremental backups and I don't see that working well because no one drive would have a complete history.
I don't want to backup the whole computer every time; it's too big and there's stuff I don't need to backup (or I'm happy to backup in other ways)
So should I use File History or W7 Backup, or a 3rd party alternative?
(I've tried Paragon Free Backup and Recovery 2012 which isn't bad, but I found that doing a selective restore takes beyond forever to complete.)
Also, what is the nearest equivalent of the old XP Backup of System State? Could I use the RECIMG command to create backups of the system software etc.? How big are the images and how reliable is the Refresh process?
Thanks in advance for your help.
- I'd backup to two external drives, and use alternate drives for alternate backups. So Backup 1 would be stored on External Drive A, Backup 2 on External Drive B, Backup 3 on Drive A etc. etc.
- Use the option to backup System State information (which saved me more than once when System Restore failed). These were less than a Gb
- Create full (rather than incremental) backups of my files from specified folders. Some folders were within XP's C:\Documents and Settings but some would be on other folders or drives on the computer.
- Use the option to selectively restore files from these backups where necessary.
- I had a full image taken when the computer was new, for when things really went wrong
I want to keep the approach of alternating where I store my backups, as it gives an extra layer of protection.
However I don't know how File History or indeed "Windows 7" Backup would cope with me alternating the drives, as my understanding is that they try to create incremental backups and I don't see that working well because no one drive would have a complete history.
I don't want to backup the whole computer every time; it's too big and there's stuff I don't need to backup (or I'm happy to backup in other ways)
So should I use File History or W7 Backup, or a 3rd party alternative?
(I've tried Paragon Free Backup and Recovery 2012 which isn't bad, but I found that doing a selective restore takes beyond forever to complete.)
Also, what is the nearest equivalent of the old XP Backup of System State? Could I use the RECIMG command to create backups of the system software etc.? How big are the images and how reliable is the Refresh process?
Thanks in advance for your help.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8.1, 10