Backing up an entire HD

[COKEDUDE]

Are there any recommended methods for Backing up an entire HD? I want to backup my data. I do not care about the windows file. I just want my work, movies, and music. I have about 600 GB of work, movies, and music so a bit worried about fragmentation if I just copy and paste.

 

[Barman58]

There are two ways to go about this, create a disk image with something like Macrium Reflect which comes in a free version for personal use. A lot of users on our forums are big fans of this software, although the interface can confuse the user until they become familiar

The alternative , Which I personally use, is a traditional style File backup system such as Aomei Backupper I use the Professional version as I may be backing up client data but the Freeware version is perfectly adequate for home use. It has a simple interface and will also create disk images which are often better for system partitions which I would suggest that you consider as it can mean around fifteen minutes to get a system back working rather than the several hours that is usual

 

[zbook]

A backup image should be the quickest method to back to running again after many failures.

For each method there are strengths and weaknesses.

Macrium is highly recommended in the Forums.

When I had first used this software it failed to make a backup image and posted an error message and code.
The software had found a problem with the EFI partition and the error coded problem solving required a chkdsk /r of the EFI partition.
The hidden partition was labeled and the command was ran.
Then the Macrium backup image worked.
It continued to make additional backups per the default settings.

Recently the drive crashed and the Macrium backup image was unable to used for recovery.
For additional layers of protection I had copied the USERS folder but this was approximately 6 months or more out of date.
All of the important files up to 6 months ago were secure on a storage drive.

The Windows advanced recovery menu on the computer was not accessible.
The Windows 10 iso was initially not able to be used as there was no drive detected.
Over time with multiple troubleshooting steps the drive was detected.
Then running commands in windows RE it was apparent that the operating system was corrupt and could not be repaired.
The Macrium image will record whatever it sees at the time of the image whether good or bad.
So the strength and weakness of the Macrium image is the incremental backups.
It's a strength when the image is fine and the problems occur after the last successful image.
It's a weakness when the image is fine and the problems occur before the final crash. In this case there may be backup images of problems with the operating system, registry, drivers, malware, etc.

So there are various strategies for backup and recovery. They all have strengths and weaknesses.

For Macrium you could make two different backup images.
The first one could be made after a clean install of windows with installation of drivers and applications. Then if there are problems you can always restore this image without files very quickly.

A second Macrium image would be with all of the incremental backups so that the files are up to date.

An additional method is to copy and paste the USERS folder or subfolders within the users folders to another drive. This may take a lot of time but a substantial backup can be done overnight. This could be done every quarter or every month or as frequently as needed.

A the time of a crash you could then have multiple methods for recovery:
a) system restore
b) reset with save files
c) Macrium backup image #1
d) Macrium backup image #2
e) The copy and past of the USERS folder or subfolders

 

[zbook]

This comment was made in our sister forum by NavyLCDR:
You could clone the data partition to the backup hard drive instead of imaging it. After it is cloned the first time, then use a program such as FreeFileSync to just update the backup hard drive replacing only the data files that have changed.

So there are a lot of strategies and you must be aware of the pro and con or strengths and weaknesses of each.

 

[Barman58]

I backup weekly, and prior and post any major rearrangement of the drives

The system drive is an image and the data is a traditional file backup over multiple drives/partitions (no User data is stored on the system drive the User area special folders are held on a data drive). Not sure of the actual size of my data backup but the compressed backup is around 1.7TB and takes around Five Hours to run overnight. The backups, three of each, System and Data, are stored on an eight terabyte External drive, (only active during the backup operation).

I also keep copies of my Media on a NAS drive available to the network devices, The NAS is updated occasionally using a file sync program so does act as a backup to the backup

 

[COKEDUDE]

There are two ways to go about this, create a disk image with something like Macrium Reflect which comes in a free version for personal use. A lot of users on our forums are big fans of this software, although the interface can confuse the user until they become familiar

The alternative , Which I personally use, is a traditional style File backup system such as Aomei BackupperI use the Professional version as I may be backing up client data but the Freeware version is perfectly adequate for home use. It has a simple interface and will also create disk images which are often better for system partitions which I would suggest that you consider as it can mean around fifteen minutes to get a system back working rather than the several hours that is usual

Can you tell me what is better for picking and choosing files? I do not care about my OS files since they are already corrupted.

 

[Barman58]

Aomei file backup has the simpler interface for file backups - Both can give the same result but I would go this way as it's a familiar way of working for me. You are actually selecting at the folders, rather than files, in the main as this is a lot faster than file level selection.

You can select to backup all files of a set type or group of types, (by Extension Eg. .Docx, JPG, this can apply to just a particular section of the backup or the whole thing), if this is better for your way of working, although I prefer to have the backup include all types except those I choose not to, as I feel this is safer

I work in microsoft's way of using a documents folder, a Pictures folder, Etc but expand this by adding my own file structure under the microsoft defaults and also completely separate files structure which are project/Job based, Aomei handles this without any problems.

To set up a backup job I just click the top level of the folder tree, and the system includes all folders and files beneath, I have the option to exclude certain file types - Things such as .log, .Tmp, Etc across the whole backup, and can of course uncheck any folder that is included in a tree that that are not required to be backed up.

The system is designed to remember this selection so it will always backup the selected data in future. so can take a little time the first time - But this applies to any system other than a Backup everything strategy

 

[TechnoMage]

As a PC Tech, my worse day is when I go out on a service call and find that the HD has crashed and the owner has never made any backup of their data files, for the life of the PC. My first experience with apparent data loss was with an IBM AT PC in an Insurance Co. office. There was a fire and the old style CRT (monitor) was melted down over the CPU. I was able to extract the HD, clean it up and get it running so I could copy all the data to disks. After that, the office manager would make backups of all their data files, every night, and take them home with her.

On my own PC today, I have a data backup regimen that I've perfected over the past 30 years.

I've written a Batch File, that copies all my data files, first to a 1TB External HD, and then to a 128GB flash drive. That takes only a few seconds, because it only copies files that have been added or changed.

Then I use an old backup program called simply "Ghost" (ver. 11.5) to make an image file backup of my C: drive, to the 1TB External HD. Then I plug in a 1TB internal HD and I perform a Clone of my main SSD to the internal drive, again using the "Ghost" program.
Ghost may be getting old, but it works just as well today, on Windows 10/64 as it did on Windows 98/32.
I can run 'Ghost' from either a CD, flash drive, or even a bootable SD Memory card.

No matter how you do it....just be sure to backup your Stuff on a regular (at least weekly) schedule.

You'll be glad you did, when your HD howls, growls and goes up in fire and smoke! Having a CLONE drive handy is the quick and easy answer to the problem.

Good Luck, Mate!
TechnoMage