[SOLVED] Best way to Back up pc (like Mac Time Machine)

[leyo96]

As the title say what's the best way to back up my pc so if I lose a file, I get a virus, I have a drive failure, ecc. I'd be able to recover my system with no problems?

Time machine is the only thing I miss from Mac Os since switching a long time ago.

 

[USAFRet]

I use Macrium Reflect. Every night.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[leyo96]

I use Macrium Reflect. Every night.

What is your backup situation at home?

What is your backup situation at home? And if you don't do that, why not? Every single day, I read multiple threads here of "How do I get my stuff back?" or "That drive had 5 years of photos of my kids!!" Be it a dead drive, dropped phone, virus, accidental deletion, formatting the wrong...

forums.tomshardware.com

How does it work? Can you restore single files? Can you restore your whole system from it? Thanks

 

[USAFRet]

How does it work? Can you restore single files? Can you restore your whole system from it? Thanks

Yes. Macrium has the function to mount a backup Image as a drive letter, and you can recover a single file from that.
Yes, I've done this.

Restore the whole system? Yes. My system has 7x dives. Each backed up individually. I could recover from any failed drive, or all of them.
I had to do that last year...a dead secondary SS.
960 GB SATA SSD, dead dead dead.
Put in a new drive, click click in Macrium, poof. All 605GB on it recovered exactly as it was at 4AM that morning when it ran the nightly backup.
That could just as easily have been my main OS drive.

 

[leyo96]

Yes. Macrium has the function to mount a backup Image as a drive letter, and you can recover a single file from that.
Yes, I've done this.

Restore the whole system? Yes. My system has 7x dives. Each backed up individually. I could recover from any failed drive, or all of them.
I had to do that last year...a dead secondary SS.
960 GB SATA SSD, dead dead dead.
Put in a new drive, click click in Macrium, poof. All 605GB on it recovered exactly as it was at 4AM that morning when it ran the nightly backup.
That could just as easily have been my main OS drive.

Wow thanks, I'll give it a shot then

 

[USAFRet]

Wow thanks, I'll give it a shot then

This is the folder/subfolder structure on my target device:

(BB = the nickname for the my PC, and each physical drive gets its own subfolder)

A Full Image (Nov 2, and then a series of Incrementals.
I could recover that drive from any day listed there.

 

[leyo96]

This is the folder/subfolder structure on my target device:

(BB = the nickname for the my PC, and each physical drive gets its own subfolder)

A Full Image (Nov 2, and then a series of Incrementals.
I could recover that drive from any day listed there.

What template do you use for your baclup plan?

 

[USAFRet]

What template do you use for your baclup plan?

Depends on the system involved and its needs.

For my main system, "Incrementals Forever". A single Full image, and a series of Incrementals.
Every once in a while, I'll start it again with a new Full Image.

For my wifes system and small drive space needed, simply a Full Image every night. Keep 2 weeks worth.

For my HTPC, a Full Image once a week. Keep 1 months worth.

 

[leyo96]

Depends on the system involved and its needs.

For my main system, "Incrementals Forever". A single Full image, and a series of Incrementals.
Every once in a while, I'll start it again with a new Full Image.

For my wifes system and small drive space needed, simply a Full Image every night. Keep 2 weeks worth.

For my HTPC, a Full Image once a week. Keep 1 months worth.

I have my main PC with a SSD and a HDD and I'd backup my whole system (ssd and hdd) to an external hdd. Which plan should I use?

 

[USAFRet]

I have my main PC with a SSD and a HDD and I'd backup my whole system (ssd and hdd) to an external hdd. Which plan should I use?

Depends on the frequency of your backups, how much data, your tolerance for long term backups...

 

[wpgwpg]

Let me just add my 2 cents worth and say that I agree with everything USAFRet said. When you use Macrium Reflect, YOU determine exactly what backup plan you want - it's entirely up to you. My main desktop has a HDD and an SSD and I make incremental backups every 4 hours. I keep monthly backups 6 months. On my two test PCs I run Insider builds and make one full system backup each time I install a new build (usually weekly). On my laptop, I make full system backups monthly. So you see the plan you use is 100% up to however you want to create it. The backup is the mostly painless ounce of prevention that saves you from the painful pound of cure as described in USAFRet's examples above.