Good method to back up Win 10 system?

NavyLCDR · 10 Aug 2015

I use Macrium Reflect exclusively. Just didn't know you could mount an image file made from Windows back up.

GamerwGlasses · 12 Aug 2015

Has anyone tried the new NovaStore Backup 17.1 yet? they have a deal that's is ending today for $50 for 2 PC's. If not, I may opt for AOMEI instead.

John035 · 12 Aug 2015

I have my way, I like mine better. Boot with EaseUS ISO/USB drive, Take a full backup of as many drives as you want, Store on USB drive, call it a day .If I want a single file, I can restore it from it by pretty much drag and drop.

mpooley · 13 Aug 2015

GamerwGlasses said:

Has anyone tried the new NovaStore Backup 17.1 yet? they have a deal that's is ending today for $50 for 2 PC's. If not, I may opt for AOMEI instead.

Yes I tried it last week but was very dissapointed. It started with the install where I kept getting errors. I finally got it installed but was not impressed. The reviews I read said it was the best but not in my opinion! I didn't like the interface much , I can't remember much more to be honest but i ditched it pretty fast.
I liked macrium but it doesn't do backups on an hourly basis without having to write scripts and its twice the price of AOMEI (when you take into account AOMEI comes with two licenses) Also all future updates are free !
I am still evaluating it but I think I will buy it. I haven't had any problems so far and it seems to do what I need.
Interface is pretty good too.

MIke

antares · 13 Aug 2015

swarfega said:

If your a backup freak, you can't beat a NAS. I use one for backing up OS drive images, personal data, and backup plans.

I have a NAS but prefer not to use it to store my backups. I store backups in offline drives, NAS drives are always online and hence prone to failure (yes, certain RAID types decrease failure rates, but still nothing beats offline backups).
Regarding backup methods, I use a bootable USB flash drive with Acronis to create an image of the OS drive.

badrobot · 13 Aug 2015

antares said:

I have a NAS but prefer not to use it to store my backups. I store backups in offline drives, NAS drives are always online and hence prone to failure (yes, certain RAID types decrease failure rates, but still nothing beats offline backups).
Regarding backup methods, I use a bootable USB flash drive with Acronis to create an image of the OS drive.

NAS is always online but doesn't mean the drives are always spinning.

antares · 13 Aug 2015

badrobot said:

NAS is always online but doesn't mean the drives are always spinning.

True, they might be hibernating, but still, they are subject to more stress than an offline drive. I don't think a NAS is a safe place for your backups,however it might be an additional place where you might consider storing your backups mainly for convenience.

badrobot · 13 Aug 2015

antares said:

True, they might be hibernating, but still, they are subject to more stress than an offline drive. I don't think a NAS is a safe place for your backups,however it might be an additional place where you might consider storing your backups mainly for convenience.

The only problem with NAS and image backups is speed that's why I don't also use it to store my images. But the chance of dropping your external hard drive is higher than the NAS drive having failures.

I also have a dedicated hard drive for images only and I use a "toaster" to access it.

antares · 13 Aug 2015

badrobot said:

...the chance of dropping your external hard drive is higher than the NAS drive having failures.

So you're saying that an offline HDD kept in my safe has a higher chance of failing than an online NAS drive?

badrobot · 13 Aug 2015

antares said:

So you're saying that an offline HDD kept in my safe has a higher chance of failing than an online NAS drive?

Yes. The NAS is stationary. I never touched or moved it since I installed it more than 2 years ago. It goes to sleep when not in use. How many times did you move that HDD out of the safe? Static electricity or any form of charge can ruin your data. My NAS is running on RAID 1 mode. If one fails, I still have another one.
The NAS actually protects the drive from surge and monitors the temperature and controls the fan speed to keep it cool when in use. So. it's like keeping it in a safe without having to touch it.