How to Backup a Windows PC conveniently and safely

[elelbaba]

You know it, I know it: Backups are important.

So i want to start backing up my data. After looking into it for quite some time i can't believe that i did not find a convenient setup that makes sense to me.

So my first idea is: Automatic backups with Windows File History. (Pros: You get a History of your Files and it is convenient. Cons: no protection against Randsomware etc. basically just as good as a RAID 1 setup since the external drive has to be plugged in all the time)
This does not seem to be enough. So i am thinking about adding another layer by backing up the backup drive manually every month or so to another hard drive that is not connected to the pc all the time. I know, i wouldnt have protection against a fire or theft or anything similar but i think i can live with that risk. But this seems very inconvenient to me again because i dont know a better way of backing up the first drive to the second then copying the data manually and deleting the old backups. Are there programs that do this in a nice way (only copying the stuff that changed, maybe even providing a history etc.)?

 

What do you think about my plans? Is there anything i did not think about or are there flaws in my reasoning? What is your backup setup if you have any?

This is my first post so please tell me if i did anything wrong post wise (like from Forum etc.)

[Electronics Wizardy]

How about veeam? They have a free version for desktops, you get a image you can restore a dead drive to, and it supports swapping multiple external drives. And will auto delete the old backups.

 

[emosun]

I just use macrium reflect and backup the os drive every few months , takes a long time but the pc can do it overnight.

If you care about fire safety or theft but dont have a fire safe , just keep the backup drive offsite somewhere like either a deposit box , friends/family house , or just in the trunk of the car. 

[jaslion]

A nas.

 

Or just do the backblaze client on the system and everything that isn't a program will be uploaded and backup up. Then have a secondary drive and use something like goodsync or whatever to copy all the folders you want to backup to it (general folders like desktop, documents,...) and enable file history. Then you have a local and offsite backup and are covered.

 

For a nas you do this exact same thing but over the network basically. It's what I do and kinda sorta cheat the way backblaze is intended to be used on only one pc which it is but it contains all the data of all systems through goodsync syncing.

[elelbaba]

Thank you for all suggestions but I am sorry, i really don't see how a nas helps me in my situation. What would be the benefit of a nas compared to an external drive that is always connected to the pc? I guess a virus would have to get through the network to the nas so there is probably some security gain there but i would really like an external drive that is mostly not connected to anything as a 2nd level backup. Also a nas would be quite the investment "just" to backup one pc. I mean i would probably abuse it and store other stuff on it to and then i would have no backup of that stuff so i would be at the same point as where i am now right?

 

Blackblaze looks kind of interesting but 60$ a year is to expensive for me. I don't think a cloud solution is what i am after.

[Radium_Angel]

22 minutes ago, elelbaba said:

What do you think about my plans?

The weakest link in any backup plan is the user having to do things manually. You'll forget, make excuses, etc.

Go with a nice program that has scheduling and versioning built-in.

I use EaseUS todo backup, but there are plenty of other good options out there.

[elelbaba]

3 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

The weakest link in any backup plan is the user having to do things manually. You'll forget, make excuses, etc.

Go with a nice program that has scheduling and versioning built-in.

I use EaseUS todo backup, but there are plenty of other good options out there.

That is a good point but how to do automatic non cloud backups without leaving the backup drive connected to the pc all the time?

[Radium_Angel]

1 minute ago, elelbaba said:

That is a good point but how to do automatic non cloud backups without leaving the backup drive connected to the pc all the time?

Well, you don't. The backup device has to be connected.

My backup drive is internal to my PC and is added to via the backup program nightly.

I have several NAS devices as well, but they serve as a long-term file storage of files that don't change.

[elelbaba]

1 minute ago, Radium_Angel said:

Well, you don't. The backup device has to be connected.

My backup drive is internal to my PC and is added to via the backup program nightly.

I have several NAS devices as well, but they serve as a long-term file storage of files that don't change.

so why don't you just use RAID 1? I guess the FileHistory protects you from accidental deletes which is nice but otherwise i dont see the advantage. And as you probably know "RAID is no Backup".

[Radium_Angel]

3 minutes ago, elelbaba said:

so why don't you just use RAID 1? I guess the FileHistory protects you from accidental deletes which is nice but otherwise i dont see the advantage. And as you probably know "RAID is no Backup".

RAID is no backup, but I will argue it is (but that's a story for another time) 

a backup drive provides versioning and protections (you can set passwords, encryption etc) 

Plus I like my stuff partitioned off in case of disaster. Hence the multiple NAS I have (four of them)

[elelbaba]

I see. I guess i will look into backup software and then do the automatic backup to another (external or internal) drive. And then i will do one backup to an of site drive like every year or so. Like that the worst thing that can be expected to happen with reasonable probability is that i loose all the new data of the year to theft, fire, malware etc. but i would still have an at max one year old backup. I do store my important current documents in the cloud anyways so i guess thats an amount of data safety that i should be able to live with.

Thank you all again!

[unsorted]

Worth a try: https://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/toucan

 

For full hard drive back-ups (and less-than-ideal interface) you could look into CloneZilla
.

 

1 hour ago, elelbaba said:

What is your backup setup if you have any?

I save all important files manually to Blu-rays these days. I only occasionally do full-hard drive back-ups (usually of a 'new' drive in a 'basic' state). I am prepared to re-install the OS if something goes wrong with the drive, but irreplaceable data is backed-up (or at least should be). Frequently-edited data is saved on USB sticks, SD cards, etc. for the short-term. Long-term it's all optical.

 

I wish I could tell you the stories of corrupted data on SD/USB sticks and hard drives, but the flashbacks would not be pleasant.

 

[elelbaba]

13 hours ago, Radium_Angel said:

Well, you don't. The backup device has to be connected.

My backup drive is internal to my PC and is added to via the backup program nightly.

I have several NAS devices as well, but they serve as a long-term file storage of files that don't change.

I am looking to buy an internal drive to backup to now. Havent shopped for a HDD for quite some time so maybe you guys can help me out. Is there anything i should look out for? Do you even have a concrete Drive that you recommend? It should have at least 2TB since i have two 1TB SSD's installed that should be backed up.

[Radium_Angel]

2 minutes ago, elelbaba said:

I am looking to buy an internal drive to backup to now. Havent shopped for a HDD for quite some time so maybe you guys can help me out. Is there anything i should look out for? Do you even have a concrete Drive that you recommend? It should have at least 2TB since i have two 1TB SSD's installed that should be backed up.

I'm a big fan of the 2TB Seagate Barracudas, been quite reliable to me (disclaimer: In all the years in the professional IT world, I've never had a Seagate die on me. And indeed it's one of few companies that will still offer a 5 year warranty on their drives.)

[LogicalDrm]

-> Moved to Windows

[elelbaba]

On 1/4/2021 at 1:14 AM, Radium_Angel said:

Well, you don't. The backup device has to be connected.

My backup drive is internal to my PC and is added to via the backup program nightly.

I have several NAS devices as well, but they serve as a long-term file storage of files that don't change.

I have one more question. Is there a way to only spin up the backup drive when the backup is running? I really like my fast boot times with only ssd's.

[Radium_Angel]

1 minute ago, elelbaba said:

I have one more question. Is there a way to only spin up the backup drive when the backup is running? I really like my fast boot times with only ssd's.

The drive, assuming a hard drive, will always be spinning, so ready at a moment's notice. There is a power setting to spin down drives when not in use, but as far as I know, it's for all drives, you cannot set that on a per drive basis.