Backing Up My Computer

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BobbyFowler

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Is there a simple way to back up my computer? I've done a search & have found various software which you have to pay for. Can this be done free of charge? I've got an external drive & currently have all my music, pics & videos on it. I'm more interested in making sure I have a backup of all the programs currently installed on my computer.
 
What about something simple and free like for keeping a cloned copy of whatever folders/files you need backed up?
 
Synctoy is great for backing up you personal files, but the OP wants to backup his programs.

The only reliable way is to make sure to keep all the original CDs together with license keys in a safe place.
 
Sorry - missed that. Backing up the programs will be no use if you need to move them to another PC unless it is more or less identical to your current one. You can't easily move a boot hard drive from one PC to another due to hardware/driver/low level software issues. To do that you need the original installation images/media. If what you want to do is to maintain a backup copy of your drive so that if your main drive fails you can swap in the compatible clone then you can use one of a variety of disk cloning tools. Usually these will work like SyncToy and do a big copy initially and then just copy any incremental changes thereafter. You need to do this regularly to maintain the cloned image in an up to date state. Note also that the drive to which you backup must be compatible for swapping into the main PC/laptop. For example if you have a laptop that uses a parallel ATA 2.5" drive then the external drive (inside the USB housing) must be the same. In this case a 2.5" serial ATA or 3.5" drive would most likely be no use since it could not be installed as a main system/boot drive into the laptop. I posted some detailed info about cloning hard drives for recovery and backup purposes in the past so try searching for them (try terms such as XXclone or CloneMaxx for example).
 
Technologist said:
That looks similar to 'SyncToy', and would be very useful for backing up data, but, I think no use for backing up programs as the OP wants?
Click to expand...

True. I should have elaborated. But IMO, you can't backup like the OP wants. You made this point as did ClubMan. You either backup the whole system at certain time points, thats everything on the disk. But you can't back up the applications only. I have all my applications on CD/DVD etc. But I also keep a copy of them on a USB drive in a folder called "My Software" divided into Multimedia, drivers Programming etc. In fact I usually install them from the USB drive and not the CD. So what I do is sync this external USB drive with another one. These drives also have folders for music, data, projects etc. Every so often I burn a permanent DVD backup of the important stuff. So I have USB drive 1 as a backup every week. USB drive 2 as a backup every month or two. Then DVD backup every 6 months or so. At least one of these should be kept in a different location, at least in a firepoof safe. Though often isn't.

Personally I find every so often I like to reinstall windows, maybe once every 12 month, to spring clean the system. Its also means if I use a different machine I have all my data and applications handy on an external drive. I can do it pretty quicklly. So cloning the entire drive, or incremental backup doesn't appeal to me. If had a business critical machine then I'd do that.
 
But you can clone the drive so that you have a redundant copy of everything (installed applications, drivers, user data) that you can swap into the existing system if the main drive fails.

Keep an eye out for Gizmo Richard's next free [broken link removed] as he will he covering tips on how to organise your system to facilitate backing up/recovery/migration.
 
Thanks for that - I've downloaded the SynchToy & have synched my C Drive onto my External Harddrive.
 
What are your requirements for such a backup - e.g. in what circumstances would you be looking to use it and for what purposes?
 
I have (or should have) most of my Software CD's stored away upstairs. I work for myself & have all my stuff on my laptop, including Sage. Other things I'd have would be the ROS (Revenue Online Application) Application & Important Graphic Design Software. I've stored my Work Files along with Pics, Videos & Music individually in files on my External Drive in the past. I thought a safe thing to do was just Synch the C Drive onto my External Drive as well. I back up my Sage weekly and email the file to my Hotmail Account. I've also burned a few CD's in the past with my Work Files. I might not have every angle covered but I reckon I've taken most of the precautions.
 
Note that a SyncToy copy of the hard disk is not the same as a cloned copy using one of the cloning tools that I mentioned. In particular the SyncToy backup will not be bootable in case you plan to maintain a cloned drive in case you need to swap it in if the main drive failed (SyncToy and other copying tools do not copy the boot sectors etc. unlike cloning tools).
 
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