Best backup and sync tool

Hey all,

Two goals:

1.) I have a brand new Win10 laptop, haven't installed anything at all yet.
Want to back it up somehow so I can (quickly and easily) restore to that factory fresh point later.

2.) I want to sync all my files to an external hard drive (and then sync that hdd to another for dual backup). I want it to be a no-brainer, so if I rename or delete files on my laptop, it reflects it in the backup next time I back up.

Is there a great tool that will do both?
Or need two programs?

I tried SyncToy, which seemed to work great. But it often said it missed a couple files each time, that it couldn't back up some how.

Appreciate any recommendations. Thanks

1) Macrium Reflect Free
2) FreeFileSync

f14tomcat said:

SyncToy is excellent, and native MS. Most likely the files you are seeing "missed" are protected system files, like NTUser.dat. Should be a red message at the top after running it, where you can check that. Edit your sync definitions to omit system files. You would never want to restore them, anyway....just your personal data. The error should go away.

Great. Thank you. But does SyncToy work for Windows 10? I see a lot of Google search questions for SyncToy alternative for Win10.

Never used Win10 till now, only used SyncToy previously on Win7.

I use Macrium for my OS and SyncToy for my data and running on W10.
Years ago I saw posts on missing files and did see a few myself.
I found that if you use the Preview at the bottom of page and then Run it seams to run fine.

I have two external USB drives (MyBook and Ultra) and backup from my main system to each.

My Backup folder is where I store my Macrium image files for my 3 systems as you can see I backup that folder to the external drives using SyncToy.



Jim

f14tomcat said:

Sorry, @Hoffl - been away for a while. Absolutely works with Win 10! ... My screenshot I posted is from Windows 10 Pro 16299, FCU. And it works on all the flavors of Insider builds, too. It's native MS, it just works.

Great! Thanks a lot.

Thanks everyone. Looking to try Macrium Reflect Free. Couple questions:

1. The Macrium videos I watched said you have to connect to internet to (download and) install Reflect to your PC. My new PC is not connected to the internet yet, and I don't want it to be, because I want to capture an image backup before any Microsoft updates (which I assume will happen as soon as I connect to internet...). Is there a way to install and create a bootable system backup without connecting to the internet (to download Reflect or Windows PE thing it seems to require)?

2. If Macrium Reflect is so good and so powerful, how can it be free? I would rather pay for something if I could know for certain it keeps all my data strictly to myself, and never installs a keylogger or "phones home" with my data or something like that. Not trying to be cynical or disrespectful... just very cautious!

Thanks!

Hoffl said:

Thanks everyone. Looking to try Macrium Reflect Free. Couple questions:

1. The Macrium videos I watched said you have to connect to internet to (download and) install Reflect to your PC. My new PC is not connected to the internet yet, and I don't want it to be, because I want to capture an image backup before any Microsoft updates (which I assume will happen as soon as I connect to internet...). Is there a way to install and create a bootable system backup without connecting to the internet (to download Reflect or Windows PE thing it seems to require)?

2. If Macrium Reflect is so good and so powerful, how can it be free? I would rather pay for something if I could know for certain it keeps all my data strictly to myself, and never installs a keylogger or "phones home" with my data or something like that. Not trying to be cynical or disrespectful... just very cautious!

Thanks!

1. You need to download the installer from the net first. Install the software and create the rescue disk (WinPE).