I want to do full backups periodically to an external HD, that I can use to restore my computer if needed. No incrementals or definitions, just full backups and user friendly. Can anyone point me to a reliable app? Thanks in advance.
TWL845, Brian K has been studiously testing all kinds of imaging apps to determine which can successfully do what you require... especially if a new disk is needed. See his most recent POST here... I believe "EaseUS ToDO" and "AOMEI Backupper" are probably the easiest to use as far as an intuitive UI is concerned.
I'm checking them out now. It looks like Aomei might be the easiest to navigate, as I am looking the review over.
Kurtis from Horizon Data Sys We offer Drive Cloner Rx, which can create an image file of your hard drive. This might be of interest to you, and if you use RollBack Rx Home Edition freeware (or wish to spring for the Pro version) you can back up your snapshots from that as well in the near future. Any other questions, you can always email me at my email below. Cheers,
According to your signature you already have Macrium Reflect, so I'm wondering why you feel a need for something else?
I am just looking for something a lot more simple to use while I learn the new Version 6 of Macrium and how to use it to my advantage. I'm not a pro so it doesn't come easy for me. I don't leave my computer running 24/7, so at this point I don't know how I can use the scheduling feature. A full backup once a week is ok for me as I see it so far. I would like to have more than one backup app to fall back on any way. I use Raxco Instant Recovery for local backup and a quick snapshot to recover to also.
HI twl845 You don't need your computer on 24/7 to use macriums scheduling. I set one machine to take backups on the hour from 9-5. The other one I schedule hourly's from 9-2 and then one at 5. Also I make them all incrementals except the last one is a differential. Also I use two different definition files to back up to a different location, but no schedule on that one. I also back up with Instant REcovery Archives. Pete
Hi Pete OK thanks for the heads up. What about your external drive which is the destination for your backups? I will have to plug that in before the first backup is due at 9:00am, and let it run the whole time period that backups are scheduled to run. Then wait for it to be safe to unplug as to not lose anything every time.
Ah. Both my desktops have 3 internal drives so all my scheduled backups go to the other internal drives. So I just occasionally do full backups to an external drive as a safety measure, but that's just very occasional. If I ever have to use them I also use Instant recovery to bring myself current.
I totally agree. Just don't try to use them together. They mess up each other. I did that until AOMEI had an update which messed up EaseUS.
Interesting, I've trialed EaseUs and never had a successful restore, although I don't remember if I had AOMEI on board at that time.
This is an important point. Ime it is prudent to make a new complete backup before trying a new imaging program. For incomplete uninstalls, cross file corruptions etc. can happen easily with such deep access program types.
I find that remark quite curious. I've just been using Todo Backup v8.x since January but over that time I've performed several restores of sector-by-sector system backups using Todo and each of those restores were perfect (on a Rollback Rx system)! That said, I must admit I haven't attempted any other kind of Todo backup/restore. Do you recall which version of Todo Backup you were using when your restores failed?
No No No I have no problem with EaseUSo todo backup. I use the PAID version on all four computers every morning. I am up to V8.2 now. Here's what happened: One morning when I went to use EaseUS, I got a message saying that there was a driver issue and I should reinstall EaseUS. I did that and all was well. I was running AOMEI on the same computer just for safety reasons. When I went to run AOMEI I only saw graphics on the UI- no fonts. So, I went to computer number two, I got the same message from EaseUS and of course, the same problem with AOMEI. This all started by an update was due for AOMEI the day before and the fun began. The update corrupted the driver in EaseUS and no idea what corrupted AOMEI. I am now using Macrium Reflect as my secondary back up program but would love to be able to use AOMEI because of it's simplicity. Yes, that's the same reason I prefer EaseUS.
Although they operate quite differently, I found AOMEI Backupper and EaseUS Todo equally easy to use (I did not have them installed at the same time so I can't comment on any potential conflict). Between the two I prefer EaseUS Todo Backup because of its image-merging feature.
Yes, separately they are perfect. I really should just use EaseUS but since the backup for each is on lt about 5 minutes I'll continue to use what I have.
Yep, I understand. I have only needed 3 restores since I have had Windows 7 (Since May 2012). BUT I run two backup programs in case one of them fails. It would kill me to have to reinstall everything.
Hi jadinolf, I just installed Aomei and did a full backup to try it out. It took an hour which is what it takes using Macrium. I assume when you say 5 minutes your talking about an incremental?
TWL845, without some specifics on either yours or Jadinoff's rig (type of storage being imaged, size being imaged, interfaces used, how much of the storage is "used" data vs total size), it's like comparing apples to oranges as far as imaging time is concerned. Examples... Imaging a slightly used SSD to another SATA-based SSD will be brutally fast. Imaging a huge HDD partition with lots of used space to a USB2-based HDD will be brutally slow (in comparison). Really hard to compare...
Hi Frog, I see what you mean. I thought the difference between 5 minutes and 60 minutes would show the difference between an incremental which usually takes me about 5 minutes using AXTM, and a full backup of about 89GB on my HDD. So I guess it is as you say, like apples and oranges. I'm not complaining about the 60 minutes, I just wondered what type of backup he was doing to get 5 minutes.