How long does it take to create a system image file?

[BlackManINC]

 Because I'm trying to create one right now and its taking forever. Its been an hour now and the bar hasn't even reached half way. I have about 867 gbs of data to backup. How long does it typically take to backup that much data. 

[Aaron_T]

Depends on the software and the interface you are using to transfer and store the backup data, but 2-3 hours seems perfectly reasonable to me for that much data.

[BlackManINC]

Just now, AaronThomas said:

Depends on the software and the interface you are using to transfer and store the backup data, but 2-3 hours seems perfectly reasonable to me for that much data.

 Well, shit, didn't think it would take that long. Oh well, gotta roll with it. I'm just using what came with the operating system to back it all up, the "file history" page, if that's what you mean. 

[BlackManINC]

@AaronThomas  sigh, dude, this shit is STILL backing up. I seriously doubt it should be taking this long. Its not like I have a life time worth of data to back up. What the hell is going on?

[Aaron_T]

10 hours ago, BlackManINC said:

@AaronThomas  sigh, dude, this shit is STILL backing up. I seriously doubt it should be taking this long. Its not like I have a life time worth of data to back up. What the hell is going on?

Is this the process you are using to "backup" your user files? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17128/windows-8-file-history

 

Also, are you backing up to an external drive or a network location, and what are the specifications of whichever you're using?

[necrose99]

Linux,  ive imaged drives with clonezilla within a few hours. Or less if drive isn't all that full.

[BlackManINC]

1 hour ago, AaronThomas said:

Is this the process you are using to "backup" your user files? https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/17128/windows-8-file-history

 

Also, are you backing up to an external drive or a network location, and what are the specifications of whichever you're using?

 

No, I'm using the the 'system image backup' feature in the bottom left corner of the 'file history' page. Its still going after all this time but its more than half way there. There is no reason why this should be taking this long. 

 

53 minutes ago, necrose99 said:

Linux,  ive imaged drives with clonezilla within a few hours. Or less if drive isn't all that full.

Maybe this is what I should have used, because this is really ridiculous. 

[AndrewJB]

I've used Macrium reflect in the past to do system backups. It managed to back up my Ubuntu installation in 3 minutes I believe (going by the created and modified timestamps), and took 50 minutes to backup my Windows 10 user directory (158GB).

[BlackManINC]

19 minutes ago, AndrewJB said:

I've used Macrium reflect in the past to do system backups. It managed to back up my Ubuntu installation in 3 minutes I believe (going by the created and modified timestamps), and took 50 minutes to backup my Windows 10 user directory (158GB).

 But does it backup the entire state of the computer at once like a system image backup does?  Does it backup your O.S, system files, installed applications, personal data, etc? There are different types of backups. System Image backups are also called "snapshots" in virtual machines, performing a similar function. It takes a 'snap shot', or a picture of literally every aspect of your computer minus the bios. It makes it much easier to restore everything exactly as it was in the event my bios or original internal storage devices goes tits up, so I don't lose anything. It took less than an hour to do it for my dads laptop, so I don't know why this is taking so long for my PC, even though I have more than twice as much data to copy over (about 83 gbs vs 867 gbs) . 

[BlackManINC]

 Its FINALLY done!!! The shit took over ten hours to complete. Now my mind can rest easy knowing that my entire system is backed up. I certainly ain't looking forward to doing this again. 

[AndrewJB]

22 hours ago, BlackManINC said:

 But does it backup the entire state of the computer at once like a system image backup does?  Does it backup your O.S, system files, installed applications, personal data, etc? There are different types of backups. System Image backups are also called "snapshots" in virtual machines, performing a similar function. It takes a 'snap shot', or a picture of literally every aspect of your computer minus the bios. It makes it much easier to restore everything exactly as it was in the event my bios or original internal storage devices goes tits up, so I don't lose anything. It took less than an hour to do it for my dads laptop, so I don't know why this is taking so long for my PC, even though I have more than twice as much data to copy over (about 83 gbs vs 867 gbs) . 

Yes it does do system image backups in the free version, along with incremental backups. Backing up my user directory (folder backup) is a paid feature though.

[BlackManINC]

1 hour ago, AndrewJB said:

Yes it does do system image backups in the free version, along with incremental backups. Backing up my user directory (folder backup) is a paid feature though.

 I see, so does do it faster than the windows version? Using the system image feature that comes with windows took up to 20 hours to finish.