Best Way To Back Up my PC?

BeK

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I recently upgraded to Windows 8 pro and I have very little experience when it comes to backing up my system. I wanted to get some opinions on the best way to back up my PC. I created a System Restore point today and I noticed that I was given the option to create a System Restore point for all the drives on my system along with my C drive. I did in fact create a restore point for my C drive and it literally took 10 seconds to do so.
Would it be wise to create a system restore point for all of the drives?

I have also heard of creating a System Image Backup as well. So the question is, which means of backing up would be more beneficial, and what's the difference between the two? Creating a System Restore Point or a System Image, which would you recommend?
Thanks in advance.
 

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Hi there
this is one of those cases where I would recommend a paid 3rd party product -- these work really well and will in the long run save you so much time that I can't even THINK of booting up a computer without one of these type of products available.

My favourite is ACRONIS but there are others as well. You can make bootable images of your system ane even do a complete "Bare Metal" recovery -- even if you replace an HDD.

While there are FREE versions of some of these you'll probably find they are too restrictive in what they can do.

Incidently the thought of having to find and re-rip 3,000 CD's plus re-create loads of DVD movie copies and scanned data (tax returns etc) makes the 50 or so USD the product cost seem very reasonable.

Plus if you install something that doesn't work you just restore a previous image etc etc.

Acronis backup software and recovery services in UK. Internet data backup software for your home PC and corporate network

If you don't want Acronis then Paragon or Macrium might be good alternatives - but I'd recommend the PAID versions in both cases.

Macrium DID have a problem with W8 but I believe it's been fixed.

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Thanks for sharing. The Acronis looks promising. Let me get this straight though. This application backs up your OS and all of your programs including larger files like games and stores them all on the cloud? Also it backs up automatically as you go? Or is the cloud storage aspect of the software its own entity? Or is the cloud storage included in the $39.95?
I have over 40 PC games. That would be incredible to have all that stuff backed up. It would take forever to re-download from the cloud if ever needed though.
:roflmao:
 

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    Intel i5 4690K
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    MSI Z97 Gaming 5
    Memory
    G.SKILL*Ripjaws*X Series*8GB*240-Pin*DDR3*SDRAM*DDR3 186
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    MSI GTX-970
    Sound Card
    N/A
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    Panasonic 50" Plasma HDTV
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    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Intel 520 120GB SATA III
    SSD 2: Crucial 64GB SATA III
    HDD 1: Western Digital 2TB 7200 RPM
    HDD 2: Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM
    HDD 3: Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM
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    Antec*High Current Gamer Series*HCG-900*900W
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Norton ghost is not an option sadly. The latest edition ghost 15 will install but wont activate. Norton have basically said tough luck to all there customers, just like they did with windows 7. What a wonderful company!
 

My Computer

System One

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    windows 8 prof 64 bit
I agree that third party application to do this but because have not extra money for this until now I still use windows default backup system. It works with couple of settings.
 

My Computer

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    Windows 7
I will start with a question, as the solution depend on it , how many PCs in your house ?
 

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    Gskill 4x4 GB
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    4 x HD 7970
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    Screen Resolution
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    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
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    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i5 4690K
    Motherboard
    MSI Z97 Gaming 5
    Memory
    G.SKILL*Ripjaws*X Series*8GB*240-Pin*DDR3*SDRAM*DDR3 186
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX-970
    Sound Card
    N/A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Panasonic 50" Plasma HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    SSD: Intel 520 120GB SATA III
    SSD 2: Crucial 64GB SATA III
    HDD 1: Western Digital 2TB 7200 RPM
    HDD 2: Western Digital 1TB 7200 RPM
    HDD 3: Western Digital 500GB 7200 RPM
    PSU
    Antec*High Current Gamer Series*HCG-900*900W
    Case
    NZXT*Phantom*PHAN-001WT*Red Steel / Plastic Enthusiast*ATX*Full Tower Computer Case
    Cooling
    Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO
    Keyboard
    Logitech G13 & Logitech Bluetooth Illuminated Keyboard K810
    Mouse
    Razer Naga Epic Chroma
    Internet Speed
    75Mbps/10Mbps
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    Google Chrome
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    Windows Defender
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    Case Fans 140MM (x1), 120MM (x3), 200MM (x2)
I would recommend Macrium Win PE its free for non commercial use and provides the functionality of Norton Ghost. Norton by refusing to update Ghost for Windows eight are unwittingly forcing their user base to start using Macrium and once they do they will be unlikely to fork out cash for a replacement Norton product. Well done Norton customer service at its best. Almost worthy of a Darwin award.
 

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Well on multiple PC I will setup a NAS or WHS 2011 , but on a single PC, why not use the build in restore image to create first an Image and after my favorite is Goodsync, it simply copy the new files you add or change on your PC, so they are no need for restore apps to bring back a files or many of them. Backup software are good if they work, it's sad to find a problem when you need to restore.

I deploy Goodsync in many of my customers place, it's work very well, manually or on schedule. So it's something I test.


don't be confuse, Windows 7 file Recovery is part of Windows 8


image.jpg
 

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  • OS
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    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Hi there
this is one of those cases where I would recommend a paid 3rd party product -- these work really well and will in the long run save you so much time that I can't even THINK of booting up a computer without one of these type of products available.

My favourite is ACRONIS but there are others as well. You can make bootable images of your system ane even do a complete "Bare Metal" recovery -- even if you replace an HDD.

While there are FREE versions of some of these you'll probably find they are too restrictive in what they can do.

Incidently the thought of having to find and re-rip 3,000 CD's plus re-create loads of DVD movie copies and scanned data (tax returns etc) makes the 50 or so USD the product cost seem very reasonable.

Plus if you install something that doesn't work you just restore a previous image etc etc.

Acronis backup software and recovery services in UK. Internet data backup software for your home PC and corporate network

If you don't want Acronis then Paragon or Macrium might be good alternatives - but I'd recommend the PAID versions in both cases.

Macrium DID have a problem with W8 but I believe it's been fixed.

Cheers
jimbo
Acronis works well!
Use it at work on servers and at home. Can back up your whole drive into one file.
If hard drive fails, boot off cd then restore to new drive. Newer version lets you restore
specific files as well.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Products like acronis and macrium by default don't backup to the cloud. You typically back up to an external hard drive.

I have used both. I am a paid for customer of acronis and use the free macrium product with win pe where my acronis product is not licensed our won't work (server operating systems).
 

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Norton cold boot....so using Norton Ghost from Dos is an acceptable solution for Windows 8 don't make me laugh. They SHOULD FIX IT. If you are just going to do a cold image you might as well use the confusingly named windows 7 recovery tool (which you can find using the metro search tool) why it isn't integrated with the windows 8 recovery as an option is just lazy programming or a last minute response to feedback from beta testing. If you want the ability to browse the recovery file and restore individual files, for now you will need Macrium or an equivalent. If you have only just bought Norton ghost 15 before upgrading to Windows 8 you should pursue a refund from Norton. They did not admit the product was incompatible until the after windows 8 was released, and are still selling it with no warning that its not compatible with Windows 8 (unless you read the forums. How many people read forums on a product before buying it, not many!).
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 prof 64 bit
I don't know about the others, but Paragon Free offers this option:
 

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I don't know about the others, but Paragon Free offers this option:

Hi si

Thank you for remaining to finish testing Paragon 12 before I buy.

Ray
 

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I have very good experiences with Acronis True Image, they offer a demo which you can use to create a bootable usb/cd/dvd
Backup software for data backup and recovery | Acronis
You can remove the program after that to make a cold back-up.

And yes, Acronis makes a full back-up of your pc, if you would recover from the back-up it would be like turning your pc on right after you made the back-up. No changes or whatsoever.
 

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I've been using Windows' built-in imaging program since Vista.

The only time I had an issue with it was my own fault (restored an image for the AS5735 onto the AS8951 by mistake).

Sure, it isn't feature-packed, but it does work, and works well.
 

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I want to try the free Paragon after seing this, but one thing I don't like is, at when Paragon must restore a complete drive (a SSD or HDD) it does NOT align partitions in the free version. That is not good for us with SSDs. Is it possible to align the partitions after restoring? Also the "hidden" partitions from Intel Rapid Start and UEFI BIOS?

Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition - Products Comparison
You have to scroll down to "File system optimation"

BTW page up <> page down are very used in Windows. With Metro scrolling from left to right, should we then not have a "page left" and "page right" key?
 

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    Intel Core i5 3570K @4,4Ghz
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    MSI Z77A GD65
    Memory
    16Gbyte DDR3 1866Mhz
    Graphics Card(s)
    GTX770 lightning
    Sound Card
    Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    BenQ BL2411
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1200
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840EVO 240Gbyte, Samsung 830 256Gbyte SSD, Seagate 4TB , Western Digital black edition 1,5Tbyte
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    Zalman ZM850 HP
    Case
    Corsair Carbide 500R
    Cooling
    air
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    Logitech G15
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