simple backup program

I have Win 10 and my system on an SDD. I also several partitions where I store user created data--photos, etc..

I am looking for a simple to use backup program (preferably free) that will let me back up the system and all the relevant files (registry etc.) as well as back up folders on other partitions. And I want to be able to schedule these back ups.

I have looked at Macrium Free but it does not do folders and files.

I have Aomei but it doesn't seem to be reliable--I keep getting a 4101 (?) error code--failure to create file. Have looked at their help page regarding the 4101 but nothing seems applicable. New Drive recognized by the system, plenty of space. etc.. Seemed to work at first (older exHDD) but now won't.

Any one have any other Ideas or advice?

Appreciate it...

Why not use FREE Google backup and sync which will backup as soon as a file is changed photos are unlimiter

cereberus said:

Macrium Reflect Free will backup everything. What it will not do is backup SPECIFIC files and folders i.e. it will backup all folders and folders in a partition but not some of them, rather than all of them. Just backup everything.

Aye, there's the rub.

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Samuria said:

Why not use FREE Google backup and sync which will backup as soon as a file is changed photos are unlimiter

I didn't really want to be on the cloud. Call me old fashioned but I don't trust the cloud.

That said, is there a tutorial on how to do that?

Macrium Free can create an image of any "data only" partitions you may have and you could retrieve those data files from within the image, but it isn't the most elegant way to back up data.

For data only partitions, I'd suggest an ordinary file by file backup program--there are many free ones--FreeFileSync, SyncbackFree, Synctoy, etc.

I'd try to get in the mindset of OS/system backup and data backup as 2 separate goals to be attacked with different tools.

The file/folder backup facility in Macrium Paid isn't too shiny either.

DWFII said:

Aye, there's the rub....

See if this tutorial fits the bill...

How to Use SyncToy for Data Backups

You need to use a backup program like Reflect else you will not be able to recover your PC. Note Reflect lets you mount any partition in an image file as a virtual drive from where you can copy / paste files & folders as you wish. You could store your personal data on a separate partition which then gives you more control over backing that personal data partition.

I use Macrium Free to do an image of my C drive and use MS SyncToy 2.1 to do my data drives. Check the Echo mode on SyncToy.

Jim

Here is what I do for backups.

1). I do use Macrium Reflect free to take images of my PC's occasionally. More often right after install, or before a major update. This gives me a safety net in case I have to recover from something. But at the end of the day, reinstalling the OS and apps is simple and can be done again by hand...so I don't consider this type of backup to be critical.

2). For my data (the stuff that I cannot as simply replace...pictures, documents, notes), I back these up separately. I use robocopy which comes with Windows. Here is what I do.

On my home server, which is a desktop that has some shared drives, I have 2 hard drives. The OS and data lives on drive1. The second drive houses a folder called Redudant copy. Inside of E:\RudundantCopy, I have 7 folders, one for each day of the week. I have 7 batch files that are run by Task Manager, one for each day of the week.

So, on Sunday night, I run SundayDuplicateData.bat which executes the following command.
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe D:\ServerData E:\RedundantCopy\Sunday\ServerData /E /MIR

The /E does empty folders, and the /MIR says to mirror the data in the backup. So, if I deleted 10 pictures from the source drive, it would also delete them from the backup. It keeps that folder mirrored to how my drive is that day.

So, I run a separate batch file each day. So, I have 7 copies of my data on that 2nd hard drive at any given time. Therefore, If I delete something by accident and don't notice it for a few days, I can recover from a copy a few days prior.

In addition to this interal copy to a second hard drive, I also plug in an external hard drive monthly, and I run a backup job that looks like this:
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe D:\ServerData F:\Backups\ServerData /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe D:\ServerSystem F:\Backups\ServerSystem /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe D:\ServerMusic F:\Backups\ServerMusic /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe D:\ServerDownloads F:\Backups\ServerDownloads /E /MIR

So, this backs up not on my data, but also my downloads and music (which are not critical enough to have in the above 7 day rotation). Again I use the /E and the /MIR switches. So, it synchroizes the source drive with my destination USB drive.

I then keep this external USB drive offsite. (keep it at work). This means that if my house is robbed, floods or burns to the ground, all of my backups don't go with it.

And I have a pair of external hard drives too. One month I will backup to external #1 and next month I backup to external #2. Both are kept offsite. That way if one of the externals dies, i have another copy. Absolute worst case scenario, I have lost just the last 2 months of pictures, documents, etc.

This procedure has worked very well for me for years.

Also, I have an office 365 subscription and 1TB of onedrive cloud storage space for each member of the family. We all have our camera rolls on our phones automatically backing up all of our pictures and videos to our OneDrive space. So, in the event that a phone is lost or damaged, we don't lose our pictures. For $99 a year, I not only get to install Office on anything that I want, but I also have 6TB of total disk space in the clould to use as I see fit. It's a no-brainer for me.