Backing up hard Drive

mkcj

We want to back up our hard drive.

We are total novices with regard to this.

We can only think of buying an external hard drive and copying to it but obviously as there gets more on the original drive it takes longer to copy the lot to the new drive.

Do we need some sort of software that will let us copy just the bits that have changed to the external drive?

any advise much appreciated.

RumRat

What operating system are you using and what sort of budget did you have in mind?

StuC75

Many drives will include some kind of backup software with the drive which can be installed. This can be set to do only Incremental backups of the files - so will be quicker in the long run as it will only do those files that have changed since the last time.

depending on the size of data you have to backup it could also be an idea to use Cloud based services as this can ensure that you have an online back 'should the worse happen'..

i.e. - you use the hard drive to backup your files and drive is kept in the laptop bag or by the desktop.. If you lose the laptop bag or house burns down both the original & backup are lost.

also the only backups would be as & when you ran it - services like Microsofts One Drive will keep a history of changes that you can see online should you need to recover or view a previous version..

Most backups will only cover user files - do ensure that you have the OS Installation files safe \ backed up as well..

mkcj

RumRat wrote: »

What operating system are you using and what sort of budget did you have in mind?

Thank you for your reply.

We have windows 7.

We do not have a budget in mind. If it could be inexpensive all the better.

We do not want a web based system where you pay monthly.

StuC75

I have about 30gb on Microsoft One Drive and that is free.

Files can also be synched between different machines at the same time and is integrated with Xbox and smartphones \ ipads \ tablets...

mkcj wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.

We have windows 7.

We do not have a budget in mind. If it could be inexpensive all the better.

We do not want a web based system where you pay monthly.

Tiexen

mkcj wrote: »

We want to back up our hard drive.

We are total novices with regard to this.

We can only think of buying an external hard drive and copying to it but obviously as there gets more on the original drive it takes longer to copy the lot to the new drive.

Do we need some sort of software that will let us copy just the bits that have changed to the external drive?

any advise much appreciated.

The important thing is to make copies of photos, documents etc, things that can't be replaced - you can use portable hard disc - memory sticks - or cloud (Dropbox is free and very good) its even better to use more than one.

grumpycrab

Taking a step back the title is "backing up hard drive". Do you have a backup of the hard drive? If it died in 5minutes time would you be able to recover it?
(worry about real time changes later).

The following should give enough info to be able to create an IMAGE of your hard disk AND a REPAIR disk. A quick explanation. If your hard drive dies you use the REPAIR disk to boot the computer and either 1.repair the drive if its minor damage or 2. copy the IMAGE you created to a new hard drive.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/how-to-create-a-system-image-in-windows-7/

mkcj

Thanks everyone for the advise.

closed

buy a portable hd, install macrium free http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx , image the hard disk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCGQJmQqQuI

and repeat every month or two, shouldn't take long - you don't have to wait and watch it.

create macrium recovery cd/dvd.

If you require more frequent (ie quicker) backups, you can use the incremental/differential backup option available in paid for versions of macrium etc.

burn additional copies of photo's etc to dvd in case both hard disks fail at the same time.

SLSpooner

I've messaged you on how to do it.

S.

MothballsWallet

grumpycrab wrote: »

Taking a step back the title is "backing up hard drive". Do you have a backup of the hard drive? If it died in 5minutes time would you be able to recover it?
(worry about real time changes later).

The following should give enough info to be able to create an IMAGE of your hard disk AND a REPAIR disk. A quick explanation. If your hard drive dies you use the REPAIR disk to boot the computer and either 1.repair the drive if its minor damage or 2. copy the IMAGE you created to a new hard drive.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/4241/how-to-create-a-system-image-in-windows-7/

I take it you need a blank DVD for creating your system repair disc, but is it better to use DVD-R or DVD-RW media?

Also, what about that intelligent system repair disc option ("bitstreaming"?) that build a Windows reinstall disc that contains all the drivers you need for your system configuration as well?