Want inexpensive solution for backing up computer

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The NAS stuff is over kill at least in my opinion. I need 4 3.5″ bays. I’ll have all the drives loaded when I put them in the box. This will only be for back up nothing else. The C drive and the drive with Program Files and My Documents are back up once a week the others my music need to be sync’d once a week also. I’ll sync them with to my office computer. So basically everything is go to be going to this new box and not back to the others.

Thanks

Marc

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Marc,

Not exactly sure what your question is but I’ll try anyway.

I’d recommend a device like this one and external drives like these. Then download Macrium Reflect Free and create the Boot Media on a USB Thumb Drive. Done.

HTH :cheers:

Happy 2016 :fanfare:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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For a bit less you can use a single external USB3 disk, like this. I’m assuming your new box has USB3 ports.

cheers, Paul

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Like RG I’m not sure what your question is, but are you planning to put your backup disks in the same box as your main drive(s)? If so, I thought that was deprecated as e.g. a PSU failure could take out all the disks. Better to have them separate.

Eliminate spare time: start programming PowerShell

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No I was looking for ideas other than in the office computer. I’d bounced around just getting a cheap used computer or using the USB desk top docking bays. So all your ideas are dead on. I’m going with NAS drives, 3TB and 4TB, in the office computer and one of the new drives and using and an existing 3TB for the back up drives. while replacing

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D1GYO4S?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

Thanks!

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Marc,

Just a note, you do realize that NAS @ 1Gbit is slower than USB 3?

For full system images this can chew up a sizable amount of time and bandwidth.

HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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Inexpensive? Most backup programs can be had for FREE. How’s that for inexpensive?

I’ve tested many backup programs over the 35+ years that I’ve been a Computer Tech, but with all that experience, some good and some bad, I still rely on “Ghost 11.5”, a DOS based backup/restore program which is an update to the original “Ghost” written in New Zealand in 1997.
I run Ghost from either a bootable CD, Flash Drive or even a bootable SD Flash Card. I keep multiple copies of Ghost, just for safety.

It works equally well for all OS’s from 98 to Win-10 and will save a backup image file to any HD, Flash Drive, or even to a DVD.

I’ve had the experience, where my main hard drive crashed and I put in a new drive and turned to a backup, only to find it corrupted and not restorable.
That can ruin an otherwise good day, real fast. Eh?

So now, I make multiple backups, to multiple locations,,,, internal drives, external USB 3 drives and USB 3 Flash Drives and the occasional DVD.

The backup to DVD, using HIGH Compression, is the slowest way to do a backup, so I don’t do that very often. I would do that kind of backup, when I’m going to be out in the yard working on my car, or some other activity that’s going to keep me away from the computer for a few hours.

The main thing to remember about doing backups is: Keep it simple! And keep your backups close to you, so they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Also, make sure that your Backup/Restore program is on a bootable media, and not on your C: drive.

Good Luck and Have a great 2016!
The Doctor

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THIS is what I bought in a bricks-and-mortar store on Boxing Day and it comes complete with a number of utilities, including Acronis True Image WD Edition, which appears to be identical to my 2016 Acronis True Image in all respects that I personally use, and if I’m not mistaken it is available for three installations.

I am still wading through the manuals: 85 pages for My Book and 79 pages for Acronis, but I have saved a fair amount of data to it, and it certainly looks good to me on first impression.

As usual, YMMV, but with no mention of Acronis as part of the deal the true value is lost unless someone tells you about it.

Edited to add: it says ‘Works great with Windows 8’ in the ad, but it says on my box (exactly the same part number) Windows 10, and I have it with Windows 10.

Edit NB: I just realized that I had Acronis beta on the computer before it timed out, and it may be that leftovers have promoted the WD Acronis (whatever that is) to a normal-looking 2016 version. I won’t know until I install it on a completely Acronis-free computer, and I’m not sure I even have such a thing.

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Thanks everyone. RetiredGeek do you have a preference for the USB docks? Also These drives are all partitioned since I’ll be switching them in and out of the dock will I run into any problems using any type of scheduled back up?

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Marc,

See the “this one” link in my OP. As long as all the drives have the same directory structure you shouldn’t have a problem. The partitions could be a problem as you may not know what drive letter gets assigned. I use a program USBDLM to make sure the drives always get the same letters each time.

HTH :cheers:

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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The like threw me. I wasn’t sure if that meant similar to or this exact one.

Thanks

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The biggest problem with most backup solutions is the time that it takes to back up and especially to restore the backup. I have tried many products over the years but for the last 5 years I have settled on Casper, now version 8. Casper uses advanced algorithms to make incremental backups in the shortest time so that after a major program update the whole process takes less than a half hour even with several Windows patches included since the last backup.

The main advantage with Casper is that it makes a working mirror image of the drive you are backing up. This makes it easy to simply switch the boot order on a desktop machine and have your system up and running again in the least possible time. On my laptop, which is my main machine, I use an external USB case for my MSATA main drive backup and another for my 1TB data drive. A couple of minutes with a screwdriver is all it takes to get up and running again after a major problem.

This means using an extra set of drives but the system works beautifully and has never let me down.

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Image restoration should not take anymore than 30-40 minutes max.

If you find restoring images takes longer then you have too much clutter on your primary drive.
Those extra SATA ports on the MB are there for a very good reason.

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The big advantage of Casper is that you simply change the drive out. No matter how fast your imaging solution is it can’t restore faster than that. I have used Acronis, Genie, Paragon, Macrium, Horizon Datasys, Rebit and others over the years and none hold a candle to Casper. A complete drive failure can be overcome in just a few minutes, even on a laptop.

I don’t use a desktop any more as I find it unnecessary and inconvenient synching back and forth. My current laptop has two drive bays and the MSATA card so my master drive (an MSATA SSD) is backed up externally while the data drive is synchronised automatically. Most laptops do not offer extra drive bays so the primary drive is all you have, cluttered or not. My mention of the USB drive case was for the many of us who don’t use desktops.

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Hi Clint, I’ve always enjoyed your comments. Haven’t seen many lately though. I agree, shouldn’t take more than your stated time allotment. J

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I perform a full image of my laptop with Macrium free in less than 30 minutes.
Incrementals on my desktop using Acronis take about 5 minutes.
Casper is paid only, seems a free Macrium or EaseUs (with incremental backup) would be better.

cheers, Paul

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I agree that imaging using Macrium is okay. I do not like having to use the WinPE environment for restoring an image though. I haven’t tried Easus but I have incremental backups in a few minutes each week and the backup is bootable and can be used immediately. Casper also offers fast support.

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Enough of the proselytising, please!

cheers, Paul

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Macrium is now bootable from restart. A rescue CD is not needed. Just added this feature recently!!

https://www.macrium.com/webhelp/Windows_Boot_Menu.asp

Nice but as stated it does not protect against disk failure (or a boot drive upgrade apparently). So you had better make a Rescue Disk too.

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