[SOLVED] Whats the best way to back up your computer 2022?

[ccoo84]

I used Macrium in the past but it became unreliable but I can't rememeber why, I also used the make Disk Image & had good results with that, but haven't done any of this since 2017.. Whats the best way to make backups today in this age?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i make separate copies of all of my important user data + custom system files;
game saves & custom config settings, application settings and projects, other user files, etc.

and then full OS & application system images.

these both are incrementally backed up every 2 weeks to a month depending on how much data may have been altered over time.

then i keep all of my media(audio, video, etc) backed up on a separate external drive(3TB)
and all of my installation packages, mods, etc on another separate drive(3TB).

then all of my backups are backed up again to a larger external drive(8TB).

Whats the best way to make backups today in this age?

there really is no "best" way.

many users still use Macrium and have consistently good results.
for many years i, and many others, have also used Acronis True Image(recently updated to Cyber Protect Home i believe).
while others still claim they get along fine with basic Windows backup images.

look for choices between full system images, incremental backups, and possibly cloud storage if that suits you.
just make sure whichever you end up choosing would be a good option for your personal needs.

 

[USAFRet]

I used Macrium in the past but it became unreliable but I can't rememeber why, I also used the make Disk Image & had good results with that, but haven't done any of this since 2017.. Whats the best way to make backups today in this age?

What put you off Macrium?

That is my go to tool, the basis for my entire backup routine. Use it literally every day.

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

 

[kanewolf]

I used Macrium in the past but it became unreliable but I can't rememeber why, I also used the make Disk Image & had good results with that, but haven't done any of this since 2017.. Whats the best way to make backups today in this age?

I have been an Acronis user for many years. Backup by folder, by partition / drive. Full, incremental and differential.
Two copies to NAS and a third to the cloud.

 

[Tac 25]

all imporant files which include (but not limited to) family and friend photos in parties, pet photos, games are redundant across three separate pc's. And as a fourth layer of assurance, the most important files are backed up in multiple 32 GB flash drives as well. It would take something on the level of the house burning down, or a burglar stealing everything for me to permanently lose important data.

 

[kanewolf]

all imporant files which include (but not limited to) family and friend photos in parties, pet photos, games are redundant across three separate pc's. And as a fourth layer of assurance, the most important files are backed up in multiple 32 GB flash drives as well. It would take something on the level of the house burning down, or a burglar stealing everything for me to permanently lose important data.

Those situations are where cloud backup or rotating a couple hard drives to a friends house will cover you.

 

[hotaru.hino]

The "best" way depends on your needs.

I just do this:

• My three copies are an external USB drive, a NAS with RAID1, and a cloud backup service
• I use FreeFileSync to stage the external USB drive with updates
• FreeFileSync is used to mirror the external USB to the NAS
• The cloud backup utility is used to push the external USB data to the cloud

Why do I do it this way?

• I want "normal" access to my files. That is, I shouldn't have to use an extra utility to access them.
• I don't need file history. Anything that needs to have that I've already set up with some other tool (e.g. git) and 99.999% of the time I don't change my files anyway.
• FreeFileSync still does the work of figuring out what files have changed, what needs updating, and copying over only what's necessary.

Though in hindsight I should probably use the NAS to stage things. And maybe get a hot spare for it.

 

[PsychoPsyops]

Any automated software I've seen just doesn't work in my experience.
I simply just drag and drop the files I want to back up to the drive in File Explorer maybe once a month and let Windows Restore take care of the OS with restore points.

 

[USAFRet]

Any automated software I've seen just doesn't work in my experience.

Our experiences differ...

Restore Points?
Good luck with that for a dead drive.

 

[Eximo]

I also don't rely on too much automation, just the occasional Macrium image. When I make a major change I generally back things up.

Main gaming computer doesn't get much attention since most of it is backed up in cloud game saves and the like. (Did recently lose a local Diablo II Resurrected character when the main drive failed, but it was literally a few days play, mostly my first try at the new version) I do have snapshots of some of my older PC builds, but I can't really see going after anything on them. The convenience of things like GoG kind of fills that niche, and most other titles I would be after I still have on disc or can simply 'pirate' to get a copy. (Figure I am in the clear as long as I own a physical one, discs are a hassle but I have turned a lot of my old games to ISO)

Laptop is backed up to its original 1TB hard drive, only has a 256GB drive. (Speaking of that, should probably get an external SSD instead. That drive is getting pretty old)
HTPC boot drive is backed up to an internal 4TB media drive (brand new). Every few months I copy relevant folders to a series of 3TB loose drives which contain various snapshots. Even older ones on a 1.5 TB drive.
Important small files are likewise backed up to 32GB flash drives that I refresh annually. (old ones get turned into bootable OS, installation disks, recovery tools)

One of these days I will actually turn a system of mine into a NAS. Briefly had a FreeNAS going, but it was somewhat unreliable for reasons I never figured out. Always dropping off the network and causing my Windows PCs to freak out whenever you got anywhere near the root of file explorer and it wasn't immediately accessible.

 

[USAFRet]

The good thing about this thread is that people are thinking about data backups, and actually doing it.

A LARGE percentage of problems we see here would be non-problems if there were a good backup.