Question Is the Backup feature by Windows 10's Settings good enough to backup files like images, videos, games and Image Files with your OS?

[WhatIsAMobo]

I was thinking about not only buying a new HDD to replace my dying one, but I also plan on buying an Ext Drive to backup stuff that matters to me and then keep it in a padded case. Main idea is backing up videos, some games, and I ve read you can save an Image file with your OS at the point where you created that image (wonder which free programs can do that, because I dont know which ones are good for it. I used Macrium in the past for cloning the OS drive to a new one).

I dont have enough money for a NAS. At most all I can do is buy a new HDD (Thinking about the 6 TB WD Red Plus for videos/games/P2P sharing [read by some other users in other places that it could have caused degradation on my old SMR drive] ), and buy a 4TB Ext HDD (dont know which one yet) and have that drive to serve as backup for all these videos, some games and Image files of my current OS in case the NVME SSD I got dies for some reason. Why external? Because I have some ext HDD padded cases I where I could keep it on a shelf, and I could also use Windows Backup system.

But idk how effective it is or if its an efficient idea.

I ll be reading your thoughts! (Pardon my ignorance. I m not very knowledgeable at this).

 

[Lafong]

I'd avoid the Windows tool entirely. System Restore does have some marginal utility, but it's not a substitute for a legit full backup.

Macrium is a good tool to back up Windows and installed applications, using its "imaging" capability.

What is the total space currently occupied on your C partition?

You could use it to back up personal files as well, but it may not be the best tool for that portion of your stuff. I'd look at free software designed for that purpose alone.......SyncBackFree, Free File Sync, and a few others come to mind.

An external would work. Or an internal. Or both. Lots of ways to go. Enclosure and drive purchased separately, pre-assembled pair, bare drive in a dock, SATA, NVMe, HDD, etc. Think about how much capacity you need.

Is your intent to leave this "backup drive" permanently connected and running?

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

I'd avoid the Windows tool entirely.

Macrium is a good tool to back up Windows and installed applications, using its "imaging" capability.

You could use it to back up personal files as well, but it may not be the best tool for that portion of your stuff. I'd look at free software designed for that purpose alone.......SyncBackFree, Free File Sync, and a few others come to mind.

An external would work. Or an internal. Or both. Lots of ways to go. Enclosure and drive purchased separately, pre-assembled pair, bare drive in a dock, SATA, NVMe, HDD, etc. Think about how much capacity you need.

Is your intent to leave this "backup drive" permanently connected and running?

I m gonna check those softwares. As a quick question: Do these programs backup files in a way they can be directly accessed? Or do they save it in separated partitions. I want a tool that I can constantly backup these folders with images, videos, programs and can be easily accessed later on Windows to check them if they still work.

As for this backup drive, now you keep me wondering. Keep it running and constantly backing up? Or backup every X period of time, and then unplug it and keep it somewhere safe?

 

[USAFRet]

As above, the built in Windows tool is subpar.
Avoid.

I use Macrium Reflect.

My process is modified a little bit from this, but here is the basics. And that of others...

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

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

As above, the built in Windows tool is subpar.
Avoid.

I use Macrium Reflect.

My process is modified a little bit from this, but here is the basics. And that of others...

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

I will read that. Thanks!
Btw, I had an issue this year when I tried using Macrium for cloning OS drives (NVME SSD to NVME SSD). My solution was using an older version I had laying around. The newer versions put under a paywall that option. Is Imaging, and the process you do, behind a paywall for regular drives in the current versions?

 

[USAFRet]

I will read that. Thanks!
Btw, I had an issue this year when I tried using Macrium for cloning OS drives (NVME SSD to NVME SSD). My solution was using an older version I had laying around. The newer versions put under a paywall that option. Is Imaging, and the process you do, behind a paywall for regular drives in the current versions?

The current version of Macrium...v9, is indeed now a paid tool.
For me, this is one of the rare tools that I pay for as opposed to the free alternatives.

 

[WhatIsAMobo]

I have downloaded the 8.0 version (back when I did my first OS cloning.). Is it still good for it? Was there any major improvement in this new 9.0 version?

 

[Lafong]

I m gonna check those softwares. As a quick question: Do these programs backup files in a way they can be directly accessed? Or do they save it in separated partitions. I want a tool that I can constantly backup these folders with images, videos, programs and can be easily accessed later on Windows to check them if they still work.

As for this backup drive, now you keep me wondering. Keep it running and constantly backing up? Or backup every X period of time, and then unplug it and keep it somewhere safe?

The likes of SyncBackFree and FreeFileSync back up directly to the target of your choice, with an ordinary file structure. You can typically include or exclude files and folders as you see fit. Works very similar to an ordinary drag and drop copy. No special partitioning required. The target drive can be internal or external...all that matters is sufficient capacity.

Try to think of 2 separate categories in your mind: personal files and Windows/apps. Most likely you'd want to back up the former at least once a day, whereas you might want to back up Windows/apps less often....i do it monthly. But some folks do both daily.

It's all a matter of the rate of change of the 2 categories. Personal stuff typically would change hourly, while Windows/apps might not have significant changes for weeks. All depending on your personal situation.

Macrium imaging does NOT require special partitioning either. All it does is create a huge file....mine are near 30 GB. Save it anywhere it will fit OTHER THAN the drive on which your C partition resides. Takes about 5 minutes.

Macrium can make either "full" images or incremental images. I use full only. Others use incrementals. Study up on it.

I use multiple backup drives....one internal spinning drive connected and running constantly. This is a target for both images and personal files in separate operations. I back up personal files 2 or 3 times a day using SyncBackFree. Images are made monthly using Macrium.

And I have an external enclosure in which I installed an NVMe drive. This receives most but not all personal files using SyncBackFree. This enclosure is connected only monthly, when I want to do the backup. It's about the size of a pocket comb.

And I use an ordinary USB flash drive for a third backup of ONLY my most critical personal files, totaling around 20 GB. This is done be drag and drop, usually monthly.

So for my most critical files I have 4 versions: original, spinning hard drive copy, NVMe enclosure copy, and USB flash drive copy. I have at least 2 versions of ALL personal files: original and spinning drive.

 

[USAFRet]

I have downloaded the 8.0 version (back when I did my first OS cloning.). Is it still good for it? Was there any major improvement in this new 9.0 version?

8.0 is just fine.
It is what currently lives on all of my systems.

On my main system, I have the paid version since v7 (or v6?).

 

[Lafong]

I'm still using paid version 7.3.5672 with no issues at all on Windows 10 Pro.

 

[DSzymborski]

Macrium is terrific and I'm a big fan of Bvckup 2, which does copying of selected areas of your PC with checkups and delta-copying to only move over files that have changed and it doesn't have any feature creep or bloat. There are lots of better options than Windows. But even that is a huge improvement over not backing up things at all! We get a lot of sad tales about people losing data that's important to them and I'm glad you're determined to not be in that group.