I'm revamping the backup strategy on my main desktop machine at home and thought I'd ask the brain trust here for suggestions on backup software. I've used the Windows backup utility in the past, but would like something better/more flexible. My brother uses SynchbackPro, which I certainly could download and use, but I'd like some other options before I make a final decision. I'm not opposed to buying software, but would prefer to keep the purchase under $100. Of course freeware would be great, assuming it works well and doesn't create other problems for me.

Just in case its of value, I have a 250gb SSD boot drive and two 1TB spinning storage drives to image/backup.

So what would you recommend???

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bigdeal,

Are you looking to backup on site, or to back up to a server based system somewhere? Or do you care?

Being in that business I always like to SELL something.
However, some free things work well.
Not sure what OS you are running but I will assume W7 or W10.
I just had an IT client on a machine I built a couple of years ago with a Samsung SSD that died.
I installed a FREE package form VEEAM.
Now, they usually specialize in Server and mostly VM backup packages that I sell.
However, not satisfied with the built in backup which is OK but not as intuitive > I installed VEEAM Endpoint Backup and now called VEEAM Microsoft Agent.

Link > https://www.veeam.com/windows-...ver-backup-free.html


Note they (my client) did not even know it was being backed up but the end result it was and worked great and I was able to fully recover everything after installing new SSD and restoring the backup.

Another good feature is that you can now get an email after every backup is run to remind you to monitor it.

There are plenty of other good products that cost money and I sell them too ~ mostly server based but this one is pretty good.
Note: near-line or local backups are the first priority for me but there online backups work too and have limitations and advantages but not free.


Good Luck.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Are you looking to backup on site, or to back up to a server based system somewhere? Or do you care?

For now, onsite. Just bought a new/larger 4TB USB3 Seagate Backup drive specifically for this purpose. Eventually I'd like to implement a NAS on my network, then use the Seagate drive to back it up, giving me three copies of everything.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Being in that business I always like to SELL something.
However, some free things work well.
Not sure what OS you are running but I will assume W7 or W10.
I just had an IT client on a machine I built a couple of years ago with a Samsung SSD that died.
I installed a FREE package form VEEAM.
Now, they usually specialize in Server and mostly VM backup packages that I sell.
However, not satisfied with the built in backup which is OK but not as intuitive > I installed VEEAM Endpoint Backup and now called VEEAM Microsoft Agent.

Link > https://www.veeam.com/windows-...ver-backup-free.html


Note they (my client) did not even know it was being backed up but the end result it was and worked great and I was able to fully recover everything after installing new SSD and restoring the backup.

Another good feature is that you can now get an email after every backup is run to remind you to monitor it.

There are plenty of other good products that cost money and I sell them too ~ mostly server based but this one is pretty good.
Note: near-line or local backups are the first priority for me but there online backups work too and have limitations and advantages but not free.


Good Luck.

I downloaded it and it is a bait and switch!!....Over $700.00 to enable full functionality.
AND that's for only a year!!

Crashplan.

Don't look back.

Completely automatic incremental backups to local disk, option to backup to a remote computer, and a paid option to backup to their cloud.

Runs in the background using idle power, emails alerts on backup status.

Goodsync

$29.95 for a windows desktop.

https://www.goodsync.com/lp?fr...0Trademarked%20Terms

quote:

Originally posted by Lee38:

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Being in that business I always like to SELL something.
However, some free things work well.
Not sure what OS you are running but I will assume W7 or W10.
I just had an IT client on a machine I built a couple of years ago with a Samsung SSD that died.
I installed a FREE package form VEEAM.
Now, they usually specialize in Server and mostly VM backup packages that I sell.
However, not satisfied with the built in backup which is OK but not as intuitive > I installed VEEAM Endpoint Backup and now called VEEAM Microsoft Agent.

Link > https://www.veeam.com/windows-...ver-backup-free.html


Note they (my client) did not even know it was being backed up but the end result it was and worked great and I was able to fully recover everything after installing new SSD and restoring the backup.

Another good feature is that you can now get an email after every backup is run to remind you to monitor it.

There are plenty of other good products that cost money and I sell them too ~ mostly server based but this one is pretty good.
Note: near-line or local backups are the first priority for me but there online backups work too and have limitations and advantages but not free.


Good Luck.

I downloaded it and it is a bait and switch!!....Over $700.00 to enable full functionality.
AND that's for only a year!!

Umm, NO it is NOT.
It is free and works great for a desktop.
What FUNCTIONALITY are you looking for that it does not have????
I installed it on a client two years ago and recovered it after the SSD crash.

Make sure are downloading the right thing.

https://www.veeam.com/windows-...p-free-download.html


Version info:
https://www.veeam.com/veeam_ag...ns_comparison_ds.pdf

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Not sure what OS you are running but I will assume W7 or W10.

Yes, I should have addressed that in my initial post. I'm running Win10 on all my PC's right now.

quote:

I installed a FREE package form VEEAM.

Thanks for this. Doing some reading and watching YouTube videos about this product now.

quote:

There are plenty of other good products that cost money and I sell them too...

Just curious, if you were to suggest a paid for product, what would it be? Any thoughts about Acronis or Macrium Reflect?

I got a question: what's wrong with just copy and paste files?

I have a 4 tb disk, I create yyyymmdd My Docs and yyyymmdd My pictures and I drag and drop files from my puter to the folders.

I don't have to worry about using a restore program that may or may not restore the files I want from whatever date I want.

I've been using Sync Back Pro for years to back up to flash drives (3 in rotation) and an external drive. And I also Encrypt all my important Folders.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I got a question: what's wrong with just copy and paste files?

I have a 4 tb disk, I create yyyymmdd My Docs and yyyymmdd My pictures and I drag and drop files from my puter to the folders.

I don't have to worry about using a restore program that may or may not restore the files I want from whatever date I want.

A couple reasons. One, I want an automated solution that is reliable and that I don't have to tinker with, and that will provide multiple layers of backups to recover from if need be. Two, Microsoft sucks! By that I mean my desktop started a Windows update cycle last week and when it was finished, it re-booted into the dreaded blue screen of death, wherein Windows would neither load nor recover. I finally gave up trying to diagnose and fix the situation, and spent a few hours reloading and re-configuring Windows 10 and all my user software. I had no external recovery available because the last image I'd 'manually' made of that drive with Macrium Reflect Free was over a year old. Lucky for me, I store all my data on two separate drives (one drive for personal files, one for work files) which was not impacted by this debacle. Simply being able to restore a 'current' backup copy of that boot/operating system drive would have saved me untold time and frustration, and had my PC back up and running in minutes instead of hours. And finally, having three separate drives in my desktop that need to be backed up regularly, but on different schedules, creates a time and logistical problem I simply don't want to deal with.

I use Acronis on all my pc's and laptops. Works great and also has a cloud storage option available to backup to if you want that option.

Also use it for cloning when switched old regular drives to SSD drives. Would highly recommend. I am sure there are others, but Acronis has worked flawlessly for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:
I got a question: what's wrong with just copy and paste files?

I have a 4 tb disk, I create yyyymmdd My Docs and yyyymmdd My pictures and I drag and drop files from my puter to the folders.

I don't have to worry about using a restore program that may or may not restore the files I want from whatever date I want.

Because backups should be automatic. Murphy's law dictates that your computer will crash when you've forgotten to make your last backup.

Copying files over might be ok for a casual user, but how frequently are you manually making copies before you decide the process should be automatic? Are you making backups daily? How about hourly or continuously?

Manual backups take up a ton of space. Good backup software saves only the changes from the last version at the bit level. If you make a change to a 50gb video clip, you don't need to manually save a second, third or fourth version of the clip as a backup. Good software saves just the changes

Good software also lets you keep multiple versions of files, so you can reverse mistakes made to files, and because it's only saving the incremental changes, each version only takes up a fraction of the space of the original.

Nova BackUp by NovaStor. It runs automatically 1st of the month and every week.

RMD

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:
Crashplan.

Don't look back.

Completely automatic incremental backups to local disk, option to backup to a remote computer, and a paid option to backup to their cloud.

Runs in the background using idle power, emails alerts on backup status.

This!

quote:

Originally posted by sig226fan:
I use Acronis on all my pc's and laptops. Works great and also has a cloud storage option available to backup to if you want that option.

Also use it for cloning when switched old regular drives to SSD drives. Would highly recommend. I am sure there are others, but Acronis has worked flawlessly for me.

This. Been using it for years. Real backup. Set and forget.

quote:

Just curious, if you were to suggest a paid for product, what would it be? Any thoughts about Acronis or Macrium Reflect?

It's not really about whether it is free or not but first > it works and second > what additional functionality do you want?

Paid product for a desktop I would use Acronis True Image 2017 True Image 2017, (I am an Acronis partner but mostly do Server backups). Acronis has one of the most efficient and fastest backup engines on the planet. True Image is very versatile for a variety of backup strategies.

No experience with Macrium Reflect.

If you need a varied and more complex plan then those are the ones that go beyond the free versions.
For a basic but effective program the VEEAM works well.
Just try it (it's free) > compare the backups it offers, see how long to backup , test the email notification and by all means TEST THE RESTORES (most important factor of any backup).

For a server a whole lot of thought needs to go into it and it can (will) get more complicated and costly.

I use an external HD with resident Western Digital software for constant backups, layered with a remote backup to Carbonite in the cloud. Carbonite is mainly for if my house burns to the ground or is blown away, but it's awfully nice being able to retrieve documents/pics etc. from anywhere, anytime, to another computer or phone.

I've got Macrium running on a couple of servers and PCs and it's been fine. Granted, all I've had to do is a couple of file restores. Nothing major.