HDM 2011 Suite new user questions

- i can do incremental backups only with files? (not with partitions, disks, systems?)

- how can i set up automatic deletion of older incremental backups ? (or are ALL needed?)

- The Differential backup method creates always only one more file (other than the initial base backup) that holds only the differences since the first base backup? And each differential backing up only updates this single file?

- What are the limitations of the current freebies comparing to HDM 2011 Suite ?

- what practices (or functions) should i avoid that are known to be big time consumers?


Thank you
Nick D.

 

I'm also a new Paragon user.

You can compare features at the Paragon website. Select the product you want and then look at a pane on the left and you should find something like Compare Editions. However, if you are comparing the Hard Disk Manager Suite with the capabilities of Backup & Recovery it isn't so simple - you have to manually compare. Your question suggests you are more interested in Backup and Recovery than the partitioning and other tools of HDM.

It appears that only differentials are allowed for sector-based images. AFAIK the diffential files are kept separately and are not updated. By keeping them you can roll-back to a specific date by using that differential and the full.

I can't tell you much about deleting old backups but when this comes up a common response is to use Cyclic Backup but it is not available in all products. I only image my OS&Apps partition and keep my data files elsewhere. I only do full images created manually so I pay little attention to scheduling and automatic deleting. I don't use programs like Paragon for data files.

Incremental backups require the full backup and every incremental in the chain unlike differential backups that only need the one you want and the full. This is a bit of a weakness with incrementals because if you have a bad one in the chain all later ones are useless. The general rule is incremental backups are quick to do and longer to restore, differential backups longer to do (needs all changed files included since the full was made) but quicker to restore.

As far as time goes, the more you backup the longer it takes. Files and folder backups take more time than sector-based backups because the file system is used more extensively. Imaging tends to run at a lower level on the disk so access is faster.

Probably the major thing you can do to reduce time is to think about your data structure and what data you really need to be backed up frequently. My personal preference is to have the OS&Applications on 1 partition and make images of it. Other data such as documents, spreadsheets, photos that get worked on frequently are in their own partiton and get backed up daily with incremental backups (but not with Paragon). Large games like Flight Simulator and similar are installed on their own partition rather than C. These files rarely if ever change so there is no need to keep backing them up. Also you have the original installation media so it's not a big deal if they are lost. I usually make one image of the partition after say a new game is installed and that's about it.

If you take proper care of your media and serial numbers then reinstalling the OS and applications should be nothing more than an irritating time sink although a silver lining is that you probably won't bother to install all the junk you currently have installed. The files you need to pay the most attention to ensuring they are securely backed up are the ones you create yourself and are available nowhere else at any price. These tend to be your photos, videos, spreadsheets, etc.

If you want to see my view on data backups see my post #5 in this thread:
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=306246

 

- and something else, where i do find the users manual? (pdf?)

 

Seems to be a bit hidden. Go to the Downloads and at the bottom left there is a box "Product Manuals". This takes you to another page with the products listed and there is a DOWNLOAD button under the MANUALS heading for various products. Or follow:

http://www.paragon-software.com/downloads/manual.html

 

Thank you again

i have been using Acronis for ages till version 10 and XP. Suddenly Acronis failed miserably both in partition managing and backing up when i tried their latest editions with SSD and Windows 7. Partition manager ruined a partition upon resizing (never happened before), also crashing on right mouse clicks (?!), True Image and Partition Manager having no support for SSDs and 4K sectors HDDs (i am now using both) plus True Image UI changed to unfriendly and confusing for me. I dont actually get this. Both programs were working flawlessly reliably and very friendly for years for me & XP. All versions (till 10). How and why they suddenly ruin it like that impresses me (and dissapoints me a big deal as i have now to search, research, explore, try, evaluate, train, learn, new software and rearrange my backups based on the new software)

 

Cyclic Backup ? is that the correct term ? exists with the name as a feature in some paragon products ?

 

Yes.

Cyclic Backup

Establish an automatic data backup that is fully compliant with the Set-and-Forget Backup Policy​

The above is what it says from HDM2011 but it is only available in the more expensive Pro Edition but it does exist the the Backup & Recovery products but perhaps not the free one. Like I said, I see it mentioned but I haven't any idea just what it really does and how you use it.

 

I actually purchased the "Pro" version for the cyclic backup capability. Have been using cyclic backups fro at least two years now. It is truly SET-AND-FORGET.

It's great because you can tell it how many backups to keep, like, 2, or 3, or whatever.

Matter of fact, it saved my bacon last week when I had my first ever total catastrohpic HDD failure... That sucker was D-E-D dead. no spinning, no noise, it was a brick.

Purchased a new drive, booted to the revocery DVD I burned when I installed it, and I was back like nothing happened in under 3 hours, most of that time waiting for the backup to copy itself to the new drive.

I tried Acronis before Paragon. That lasted less than 4 days. I don't know what the fuss is with Acronis. Comapred with Paragon, Acronis is "Amatuer Hour" relatvie to Paragon (IMHO).

 

Thanks for the info

I see that cyclic cannot include MBR / Track 0 of the disk at the same archive with the partition i am a backing up (OS partition). Will i need this track / MBR in order my restored C:\Windows partition to be bootable either on the same disk or a different drive ?

btw, what cyclic does when the pc is not plugged-in at the specific time and day of the schedule ?