Robocopy: Deleting Folder Files

Mike,

External disks connected by USB are the most reliable backup drive technology.
Even with them, I alternate my backups between two of them so that I am protected from only discovering that a backup disk has a problem when I need to restore something.

USB memory sticks & SD cards are said to be not as reliable as HDDs or SSDs. I've never sat down and collated reliability data, I've just accepted others' opinions.
I regard the choice between USB memory sticks & SD cards as being one of convenience. One type might be more reliable than the other but I've never looked into that.

I only put files on USB memory sticks if I also have their data somewhere else as well. So, just for example,

- - the USB memory stick that is my Windows installation disk is mirrored by the ISO file kept on my main computer and in my backup disks.
- - the USB memory stick that I sometimes use to copy things between computers is always regarded as a throwaway device. I do not delete any source files merely because they have been copied to it.

The only use I make of SD cards is as ready-use extra backups.

- - My main & secondary computers have SD card slots that are hardly ever used for anything in particular so I put in SD cards that live in them without getting in my way.
- - I have an additional RoboCopy script that backs up my main files every hour. I limit the choice of files to suit the SD card capacities. I've recently really gone to town on this & put a 512GB SD card in my main computer so that I can include backing up all my 'documents' and all my audio files [music, radio recordings].
- - This extra backup is useful in cases where, for example, I have updated a source file only to realise later that I wanted to keep a copy of its original state. I rarely need this but I like having it as an option.
- - This extra backup is also useful in case an internal disk fails. This happened to me about six years ago. Despite having good backups, I had been working hard the day before the failure and I lost about four hours work. I shouldn't lose more than an hour's worth if it ever happens again.
- - I keep saying "SD card" but many of mine are actually MicroSD cards in SD card adapters. I format them as Fat32 using MiniToolPartitionWizard whatever their size.
- - I slip the card into my wallet if I leave home.
- - I also have a USB-MicroSD card adapter & a USB-USBC adapter so I can connect my SD card to my phone if needs be. That's the reason for using Fat32; the file explorers in Android phones can read connected Fat32 USBs/SDCards but would need special apps to be able to read NTFS.

I have had a variety of different brands. I have SanDisk USB memory sticks & SD cards. They seem as good as any others.

- I avoid Samsung disks of all kinds because Samsung UK has devolved warranty fulfilment to a foreign company who forces customers to pay non-refundable international postage charges [over £8 the year before last] for faulty disks. [I tracked down an email address for the Samsung UK CEO and got my money back from his office staff but it should not take that amount of effort to enforce proper trading practice.] I don't know how Samsung handle warranty fulfilment in your country.

I also have Verbatim, Lexar, Transcend, Toshiba, ... memory sticks.
I do not have any preference. If I decide to restock [which I always do online] then

- I make sure it is from Amazon not a Marketplace seller to reduce the chances of getting a fake [i.e. to make sure I have someone to complain to if I do get a fake],
- I only consider ones with at least a hundred customer reviews because an investigation by our 'Consumers' Association' found that fake online product reviews might be up to one hundred for any given product,
- I only consider ones with at least a 4 star rating,
- I only consider ones with no more than 10% of all reviews being 1 or 2 star,
- I try to estimate the capacity I need but this can be difficult because the capacity I end up choosing will influence what I end up deciding to do with them. So I decide on a minimum capacity then let the prices influence my choice.

So my recommendation is to use external disks rather than USB memory sticks or SD cards for backing up.


All the best,
Denis

Michael,

Any permanently-connected disk will be exposed to the same malware as the source disk. That's one of the reasons for using external USB-connected disks for backup.

Denis

Yes.
But my point was about whether or not they were always connected or not.
I couldn't give a monkey's how they are connected.

Denis

I think what has been throwing me off is the UK wording.
You are saying.... external disks connected by USB
Here we use the term USB Hard Drive.

There are USB HDD's, SSD's, Flash Drives, SD Card readers, even NAS storage drives, are all encompassing External Disk connected by USB. But we are talking about the same thing. External USB drives, mainly USB HDD's are the best device to backup to. We also encourage backups to the Cloud and more the one drive or device especially if the data is critical to you.
And you should create a System Image File of your computer and save it to one of these Backup Drives in case of disaster, like your main Windows drive fails.

Additional Drive
This morning I purchased a second
Western Digital 1TB 3.5" SATA HDD 7200RPM Internal Desktop Hard Drive for PC/Mac - OEM WD10EZEX 1 TB

This is same drive as I have now in my (active) NexStar enclosure.


Outsourced Storage Solutions
I started looking at Cloud storage last night and decided I do not need to go that route.


Electrical Switch
Also, I came across this idea: XLIZER Double Pole Double Throw Electrical Switch, Knife Switch, Electricity Experimental Equipment, Teaching Instrument Used to Disconnect Two Simultaneous Electrical Connections

Of course computer-life is not that simple, but it seems like good track, given some design work, if one cannot pickup one from the Internet? I have not come across any mention of their use in computers.


Router
Last, I have forgotten about my nominal router that has been in a box for a few years. I need to add that to the mix.

Thanks for your comments and recommendations: they are very helpful.

Yes. I should have remembered that. Sorry. I have eliminated my mistake.