Simple Back Up

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  1. carrotmuseum
    Posts : 209
    win 7 pro updated to win 10 pro 64bit
       New #1

    Simple Back Up


    I have a single 1tb external hard drive and two Win 10 laptops - both 64bit - one is win 10 Home the other is Win 10 pro. Both have a 500gb hdd.

    Is it possible (and easy) to back up both laptops to the one hard drive?

    I need a full back up of Windows, settings, programs, data files, in fact EVERYTHING I had before a total disaster happens.

    Can I do this within Windows or else can someone recommend a proprietary, hopefully free alternative software?

    On a second, but related issue. Can I get away with a recovery drive USB for the system, and then just copy my data files to the external hard drive, with drag and drop?
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  3. Tony K
    Posts : 5,833
    Dual boot Windows 10 FCU Pro x 64 & current Insider 10 Pro
       New #2

    Yes, you can back both up on that drive. Just point the software to back it up there. May as well get used to a 3rd party backup, for MS is deprecating the Windows 7 backup in 10 with the next update. A lot of members here use this:

    Macrium Software | Your Image is Everything

    Of course there is other backup software out there.
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  4. f14tomcat
    Posts : 56,830
    Multi-boot Windows 10/11 - RTM, RP, Beta, and Insider
       New #3

    carrotmuseum said:
    I have a single 1tb external hard drive and two Win 10 laptops - both 64bit - one is win 10 Home the other is Win 10 pro. Both have a 500gb hdd.

    Is it possible (and easy) to back up both laptops to the one hard drive?

    I need a full back up of Windows, settings, programs, data files, in fact EVERYTHING I had before a total disaster happens.

    Can I do this within Windows or else can someone recommend a proprietary, hopefully free alternative software?

    On a second, but related issue. Can I get away with a recovery drive USB for the system, and then just copy my data files to the external hard drive, with drag and drop?
    @carrotmuseum

    Addressing this part....

    Yes, you could, but the mentioned Macrium Backup software gives you the best protection. And you can keep multiple historical copies of your system backup, which would include all your data files. It is easy to use an image backup to retrieve individual files, should that be necessary. There are lots of other file-only backup options available. Drag and drop (Explorer copy) would work, but would be tedious and error prone. I'd stick with the full image via Macrium or another available option.
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  6. carrotmuseum
    Posts : 209
    win 7 pro updated to win 10 pro 64bit
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Ok thanks, is Macrium easy to understand/use. Is there a simple instruction list available somewhere?
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  7. Tony K
    Posts : 5,833
    Dual boot Windows 10 FCU Pro x 64 & current Insider 10 Pro
       New #5

    carrotmuseum said:
    Ok thanks, is Macrium easy to understand/use. Is there a simple instruction list available somewhere?
    It states on the download page:

    Coming soon: Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition
    Macrium Reflect KnowledgeBase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase - KnowledgeBase v7 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
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  8. f14tomcat
    Posts : 56,830
    Multi-boot Windows 10/11 - RTM, RP, Beta, and Insider
       New #6

    carrotmuseum said:
    Ok thanks, is Macrium easy to understand/use. Is there a simple instruction list available somewhere?
    Online user guide is here. And you can download the entire thing as a PDF (374 pages).

    Macrium Reflect v6 User Guide - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase
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  9. cereberus
    Posts : 15,485
    Windows10
       New #7

    carrotmuseum said:
    Ok thanks, is Macrium easy to understand/use. Is there a simple instruction list available somewhere?

    See this excellent tutorial in the most excellent tutorial section

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials

    You will see several Macrium related tutorials - it is the firm favourite of members here by a long way. A poll some months back indicated over 65% of members here use it.
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  10. Tony K
    Posts : 5,833
    Dual boot Windows 10 FCU Pro x 64 & current Insider 10 Pro
       New #8

    cereberus said:
    See this excellent tutorial in the most excellent tutorial section

    Backup and Restore with Macrium Reflect Windows 10 Backup Restore Tutorials

    You will see several Macrium related tutorials - it is the firm favourite of members here by a long way. A poll some months back indicated over 65% of members here use it.
    Thanks for that, cereberus. I'm going to have to learn it. That makes it a lot easier.
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  12. carrotmuseum
    Posts : 209
    win 7 pro updated to win 10 pro 64bit
    Thread Starter
       New #9

    According to the features table in that tutorial the free version does not back up files and folders!
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  13. Tony K
    Posts : 5,833
    Dual boot Windows 10 FCU Pro x 64 & current Insider 10 Pro
       New #10

    carrotmuseum said:
    According to the features table in that tutorial the free version does not back up files and folders!
    Correct. This would be a complete system backup via mirroring. If you want just files and folders backup:

    Open Settings app (Hold Windows key + I) > Choose Update & security > Choose backup > Use File History by adding a drive.
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