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Best way to backup?

A few hours ago I messed up my registry and even though I had a backup (of the registry), it didn't restore for some reason. 

After many failed attempts, using system restore, I was able to get things working again, but as with every system restore, a lot of programs were 'broken'. And it was such a pain just to reinstall them.

 

Now I need some help with backups, to help me in case of such a situation (or worse, a drive failure) :

 

1) Windows:

I know that if I create a System image, I can get things exactly how they were in case of any problem, but it takes up a tonne of space. 

Is it really worth giving up so much space? or is there any other way to take any kind of backup that can help me in a situation like this?

 

2) Personal files:

As for personal files, I don't have any sort of backup. Should I just use file history or, something like 'Storage Spaces' with a 'RAID-5 like' config (the parity option)? Any other alternative that you would suggest?

 

Thanks! :) 

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Macrium Reflect for images of the system (grandfather/father/son/incremental) and an off-site backup of files only.

 

Don't rely on RAID for backups. Backups should be kept on drives that are removable from the system except to rewrite changes. For example, my server backup turns on to do the backups and the disk then shuts off one minute later so that any drive wear and vibration will not affect the drive. 

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9 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

Macrium Reflect for images of the system (grandfather/father/son/incremental) and an off-site backup of files only.

 

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Just use the backup in Windows on a external drive. Raid or storage spaces isn't a backup. 

Will check out Macrium Reflect. Thanks!

And,  

I don't have any drives at hand. Need to purchase one, does it matter if its internal or external? Its just gonna store backups anyways. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

Need to purchase one, does it matter if its internal or external?

I'd prefer using external that way you can detach easily. Just in case a virus/malware encrypts your drive, the detached eHDD will be safe from the encryption.

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2 minutes ago, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

 

Will check out Macrium Reflect. Thanks!

And,  

I don't have any drives at hand. Need to purchase one, does it matter if its internal or external? Its just gonna store backups anyways. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I'd get an external hard drive and just backup all your stuff and keep it plugged out and offline until you need the files or need to add some more. That way, that drive will be immune to any power outages or viruses etc.

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1 minute ago, ARikozuM said:

I'd prefer using external that way you can detach easily. Just in case a virus/malware encrypts your drive, the detached eHDD will be safe from the encryption.

 

1 minute ago, pelark said:

I'd get an external hard drive and just backup all your stuff and keep it plugged out and offline until you need the files or need to add some more. That way, that drive will be immune to any power outages or viruses etc.

Thanks guys! xD 

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On 5/23/2017 at 0:45 PM, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

A few hours ago I messed up my registry and even though I had a backup (of the registry), it didn't restore for some reason. 

After many failed attempts, using system restore, I was able to get things working again, but as with every system restore, a lot of programs were 'broken'. And it was such a pain just to reinstall them.

 

Now I need some help with backups, to help me in case of such a situation (or worse, a drive failure) :

 

1) Windows:

I know that if I create a System image, I can get things exactly how they were in case of any problem, but it takes up a tonne of space. 

Is it really worth giving up so much space? or is there any other way to take any kind of backup that can help me in a situation like this?

 

2) Personal files:

As for personal files, I don't have any sort of backup. Should I just use file history or, something like 'Storage Spaces' with a 'RAID-5 like' config (the parity option)? Any other alternative that you would suggest?

 

Thanks! :) 

I heard a rhyme on the TekThing dot com video stream.  3-2-1.

...3 total backups. Of those,

...2 different formats (DVD, mechanical hard drive, a separate computer).

...1 backup off-site.

 

Makes sense to me. My 2 cents...

 

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