Is there a backup program I could purchase simpler than Macrium

NeedUpgradeHelp · 17 Jan 2020

Hi,

I am somewhat IT challenged, and things that others on this forum say are simple often seem complicated to me. I have looked at the Macrium Free tutorials, and although it is great that it's free, I do not find it easy to understand. Is there a program that is well rated that I could purchase that has a more intuitive, easy-to-follow, simpler interface? One program that some say has an easy, intuitive interface is EaseUS. Is that a good program?

Thanks.

dalchina · 17 Jan 2020

You can try Aomei Backupper or Easeus ToDo Backup.

The GUI's fine and well supported programs.
Be prepared for some less than clear error messages- Chinese in origin.

O&O DiskImage is good.

There are quite frequent giveaways of the Pro version of the above.

Macrium is the most reliable though.

Before considering GUI issues, you do need to have grasped the basics of disk imaging - base (initial image); differential images, incremental images, whether to schedule imaging, where to store disk images, the need to have a bootable flash drive for your imaging program ready to use...

f14tomcat · 17 Jan 2020

The basics of Macrium really are not that difficult to master. It is very thorough and complete, which can be a bit daunting to start with. Most of the options that seem complicated are not needed by a first time user just to get started. They can be eased into.

And as stated, it is the most reliable. The time spent to master the basics is well worth it.

pparks1 · 17 Jan 2020

Macrium free is great software and I think once you spend a bit of time with it, you will start to understand what you need. Tons of folks use it here on this forum and will happily help you with any issues you have.

What I did for my 12 year old son who just built a new PC and is starting to use Macrium, I installed VirtualBox, we installed a Windows 10 VM, and installed Macrium onto it. We created a secondary hard drive onto it and we backed up the Win10 instance, and then experimented with breaking it and restoring it...so that he was comfortable using the software.

Macrium can do a ton, but to successfully backup and restore images is just a few steps.

Try3 · 17 Jan 2020

Did you look at our local tutorial?

Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect - TenForumsTutorials

You can post questions at the end of it.

Denis

Anibor · 17 Jan 2020

dalchina said:

Macrium is the most reliable though.

Why is Macrium more reliable than, say, DiskImage? or AOMEI, or Terabyte? Has anybody done, say, 10000 restores which each one and compared the results? If not, these kind of statements are just personal opinions based on personal experience.

dalchina · 17 Jan 2020

Thank you so much for your comment. That's based on my own experience albeit in limited cases, and reflects the comments of others I've read here.

Don't believe me? Do your own research here and read the threads which support that.

Conversely, prove it isn't.

Tutman · 17 Jan 2020

NeedUpgradeHelp said:

Hi,

I am somewhat IT challenged, and things that others on this forum say are simple often seem complicated to me. I have looked at the Macrium Free tutorials, and although it is great that it's free, I do not find it easy to understand. Is there a program that is well rated that I could purchase that has a more intuitive, easy-to-follow, simpler interface? One program that some say has an easy, intuitive interface is EaseUS. Is that a good program?

Thanks.

I have grown quite fond of Minitool Shadowmaker, and they have a free version too. It backups pretty quickly and is reliable and has a simple to understand user menu and interface. MiniTool ShadowMaker Home Page

RolandJS · 17 Jan 2020

I have been using, for some time, both Macrium Reflect and Image for Windows. Both have learning curves, however, as previously stated, one can zero in on the basics of making backups and restores.

Sidecar Bob · 18 Jan 2020

FORUM MODS: If you feel that I'm hijacking the thread please split this into a new thread.
(I'm a mod on a couple of other forums so I understand that every forum does things differently)

I'm pretty much in the same boat as the OP. I am capable of doing a lot of stuff for and with computers and if i was only working on my own I would probably take the time to figure out Macrium but I have just revived a computer for my daughter and her husband. They have lost all of their data and we want to make sure that doesn't happen again so we agree that some sort of backup is needed but 1) There is no way either of them is going to figure out Macrium and 2) they live 4 hours away so I can't go there and make sure it is backed up regularly.

AND she coming to visit and planning to take it home with her so I need something that I can install on their computer and have running and set up by the end of tomorrow.

And before we go much farther I would like to know why I couldn't just use Win10's built in backup app?

Also, I have a feeling that if I ask them to plug a flash drive in and run the backup app periodically that it will never get done. Is there any way I could have them leave a USB drive plugged into the back of it all the time for that?