does a system image backup copy everything?

[Reise Martin]

Including settings downloaded files images ect passwords mozilla setting ect

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there, Reise.

Basically - yes. The system image makes a copy of your OS drive along with all your personal files and installed programs. So it should have everything the way you have configured it (along with the saved passwords in your browsers).
You can find more about it here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/what-is-a-system-image

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD

 

[Reise Martin]

Hey there, Reise.

Basically - yes. The system image makes a copy of your OS drive along with all your personal files and installed programs. So it should have everything the way you have configured it (along with the saved passwords in your browsers).
You can find more about it here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/what-is-a-system-image

Cheers!
Boogieman_WD

Thanks. So im currently performing a system image backup from my 1tb wd black to a 2tb wd green. Once that has done do I need to take any further action to backup any files ect or is my pc now complete and safe backup. Do I leave the wd green plugged in the pc or remove it and place it in safe place for future backup use ect do i have to use windows file history backup ect

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Well as Microsoft have suggested in the description for System Image - you can use either Windows Backup or a different backup tool in order to be able to backup your important files regularly. This way you won't have to image your whole drive if you need to backup just a few files and the other way around - you wouldn't have to restore the whole image for just a few files which might be in it.

As for removing the drive - that's up to you. Basically the true meaning of backup is having a copy of the files you want to back up, which you already have at a different place. E.g. you have your important files on your computer at home and a backup of those files, which is on an external drive, different computer, cloud service, etc. stored at a different location. This is why if you have your backup drive in the same system is not considered as a backup, as it is exposed to the same possible risks as the source drive with the original files e.g. - flooding, fires, viruses, electrical surges, etc.

So the bottom line is this - you don't have to disconnect the secondary drive from your computer, but it would be safer for your data if it was stored at a different location. Basically it's up to you.

 

[mjslakeridge]

Hey Reise, this is my backup strategy. In my main computer I have 2 hard drives. The C drive contains my operating system and all the various programs I have installed over the years. My D drive contains various files - MP3, recorded TV programs, photos, Word Doc's etc. About once a month, I will use Acronis True Image Home to make an image of my C drive and store it on to my D drive. I do this mainly to recover in the event the C drive fails, or if I get a nasty virus and want to recover back to a point in time before the computer was infected. I keep the last 2 or 3 backups, erasing the oldest one each time.

For my D drive, I just copy and paste the directories that are important to another computer on my home network (including the Acronis backup images) and store on the storage drive of that computer. Not all of the files are that important (like the last years worth of NFL's Houston Texan's games), so I don't copy them at all. If I lose them, no big deal, I will be erasing them anyway when the next season begins.

For the most important files, I also copy them over to an external WD My Passport drive which is then disconnected from the computer. The main thing about backups is to have a strategy, follow that strategy, and document what is stored where.