Is backup software a gimmick ????

the jimmy said:

Macrium seems well liked here, although it's not mentioned in the above link, not that I work let that sway my decision.

I read on their (Macrium's) website the diff between incremental and differential backup, can someone explain this in another way?

Here is their wording

A differential image stores the changes that have been made to the imaged file system since the last full image.

The main difference with incremental images is that they only store file system changes since the last image, either full, differential or incremental.

Both incremental and differential sequences begin from the same starting point which is the first backup in the set. This is the 'base' or full image. The next time you run that same backup the program only looks for changes that have occurred since the first full image. Again, the same for both types.

It is on the next and following runs that the difference occurs.

The differential image always looks back to the original full base image for changes. These means that each differential plus the full image is complete in itself and the two files are all that are needed to restore.

The incremental looks to the last incremental image made for changes and not the first base image. So to restore an incremental backup in a chain needs all the incremental files to be intact. In practice I have never had issue with incremental images and have used and restored from them extensively, but differentials are safer.

IMO it simply isn't possible to maintain an argument that system backups are essential as they are not. Reinstalling the OS and your software is essentially simple but may prove costly and will certainly be time consuming. But I started system imaging with Acronis maybe 20 years ago and have always performed it at least monthly ever since. No way would I ever not do so - experience has hammered that home. I changed to MR about 5-6 years ago when I finally became convinced that Acronis were never going to get it right and more recently I've been using Aomei Backupper free version as it seems equally reliable but also offers several features the free version of MR does not, [n particular incremental and differential backups. Personal data is another matter entirely and I would never recommend using any imaging program for backing it up. Personally I use a file sync program, keeping copies on two separate drives every 24 hours.

Although through the years I have taken every opportunity to convert users to adopting a backup regime I rather suspect that my success rate may be only of the order of 5% and until this capability is incorporated into both the hardware and the operating system as an automatic routine I can't see that changing significantly.

Fixer said:

IMO it simply isn't possible to maintain an argument that system backups are essential as they are not.

Hi there

Either you have a very large bank balance or use your computer about once in 200 years !!!!!

System backups - especially these days where programs are installed from the net is absolutely essential -- re-installing software which might not be obtainable again (e.g manufacturer out of business) etc is definitely an incredibly time consuming business --especially if a simple restore can with decent equipment take around 10 mins -- so what's not to like --even if you rarely have to do a restore.

I hope next time your Bank has an I.T glitch they don't lose your money because they haven't got adequate backups !!!! or you aren't stuck in a hotel not able to pay because the credit card company can't restore your card data after a failed system upgrade -- believe me these things do happen quite a lot these days !!.

Cheers
jimbo

@jimbo45

Pity you didn't read beyond the first sentence before posting.

Fixer said:

...through the years I have taken every opportunity to convert users to adopting a backup regime ...

Fixer said:

@jimbo45

Pity you didn't read beyond the first sentence before posting.

Hi there

your first sentence was highly confusing then.
I did read the post and the two bits were inconsitent with each other

Anyway glad you agree backups aren't a waste of time.

Cheers
jimbo

z3r010 said:

I have to agree they are not essential, in fact, I'd bet I've not made a backup of my PC in over a decade.

Hi there

I'm sure you backup the Forum sometimes -- what happens when you move it to a new server.

I wasn't actually specifying backups on a PC -- I was saying backups of a system whatever OS is running are IMO essential -- especially valuable data too.

If a PC isn't often used or doesn't have anything other than base windows installed on it you might get away with not backing up a PC.

If I lost around 3TB of music files etc I wouldn't be a very happy camper -- especially as some of those aren't easy or even possible to replace again.

Cheers
jimbo