Windows Backup Software

I have spent the last two nights looking at some backup software for my PC.

I need the software to do the following:

Create an entire image of the PC (first drive is Windows and second drive is file storage)

or

Create images for both drives (while retaining all settings so I can throw the image back on the drive and the Windows installation will be the same before the backup).

I'm trialing a few at the moment but still torn between about 4 of them. I've heard that the latest version of Acronis can be dodgy and stops the PC from shutting down until it has done a validation check.

Thanks.

 

I've got acronis home 2011 and it's the best there is imo, I've not heard anything about the latest version

 

I've got a trial version of Paragon Backup & Recovery on at the moment and I have scheduled it to run at 2 in the morning. The only thing that is concerning me is the fact that in Task Scheduler it is set to "Run only when user is logged on". I have the PC set to put itself to sleep at midnight and then will wake up when it needs to backup.

I shall see how it goes and report back here tomorrow.

 

I use acronis and its excellent, does everything above and more and does it so well!

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

 

I use Acronis Work station to do 2 full system images per day one 2am one 8pm.

I have experienced this delayed shut down however as I only turn my PC off every blue moon (usually to install updates) its not a massive issue. I have got the next version here ready to install as they have it me for free. But its one of those things.... if its not broke dont fix it!!!!

I have never restored from a system image so tbh I couldnt even tell you if it works! I hope I never have to find out. I have however deleted a folder by mistake then days later thought OMG and I then mounted the system image from the other week and simply browsed to the folder and dragged it back to where I deleted it from. I thought that feature was awesome!

It also allows the creation of a virtual machine, you run the job and say create a virtual pc. I am planning on doing this soon so I can use this machine for other things. At present I only use it for accounts etc for my business which imo is a pure waste of it. So I will virtualise it then reinstall this PC and use vmware to run the image so I can then carry on with my accounts package etc and keep it all sandboxed off.

Last Oct Acronis where offering Malwarebytes and Acronis True Image for £20. I also bought this but have never used it is sat here on a disk. I sold the MWB on to a family member for £20 - winner )

Oh and I have Acronis Universal Restore so I can "in theory" restore to dissimilar hardware.

 

Well I the scheduled Paragon backup didn't work over night for some reason...

 

At work we use Acronis 11 however if a backup gets "stuck" it can be a real ball ache to fix.

Currently trialing Macrium Reflect as a possible replacement.

 

I use paragon and never had a problem.

sent from HTC Sensation

 

EaseUS TODO Backup is a fantastic piece of software. Was previously using Acronis True Image 2011 but wanted to change. Very impressed with TODO and it has all the features which are important to me from Acronis.

Plus, it has SSD optimisation, so if you are restoring an image to an SSD, it will automatically align it. Thinking of grabbing the paid for version to support the developers even though there is no additional features that I particularly need.

Cannot recommend it enough.

 

Macrium Reflect

 

The PC has just gone to sleep now, so the results from the Acronis backup will be interesting.

 

Well Acronis failed to backup the second disk even though I created two seperate schedules for each disk. Not looking good so far because there is nothing in event viewer and nothing in Acronis that is telling me why...

 

I've heard of many issues with Acronis in the past so I'd be wary of it (see Beware of Acronis "Leftovers" Issues for a more recent problem).

I'd suggest Drive Snapshot since it has been rock-solid reliable (even when running on an unstable system) which is the key factor for any backup software. It is small enough to fit on a floppy, should you need to, and can run under DOS as well as Windows (handy for creating a recovery CD/USB stick). It's not free, but the download allows for 30-days backup and unlimited restore, making it ideal for once-off backups.

Macrium Reflect looks a good option too, but I've not used it so can't comment further.

 

Acronis is off the list now because yet again it failed to backup both disks, even after starting afresh and checking every single setting.

Looks like it might be Paragon...

 

The best I have ever used is Storagecraft Shadowprotect absoluty brilliant software, hardware independant restore and eveything you could ever want or need

Ashame they charge soo much for it

 

Just read that thread and it seems it's better to backup the PC from the program burned to disc, rather than installing it as it changes a few things. Would you agree?

 

Ran EaseUS backup last night and it has backed up both drives as seperate images. Result! It's a shame that it doesn't have an auto shut off feature.

 

no one suggested the built in windows backup util?

 

I've not used Acronis but would make the following comments about image backup software generally...

To be able to do an image backup on a running Windows install, software has to install a Windows driver or service to be able to (a) access files otherwise locked by Windows itself and (b) intercept data changes made by other programs (so it can jump in and copy the original data first).

Most backup programs can't therefore do an online backup without being installed first, which allows them to put that driver/service in place. Drive Snapshot is one exception since it places its driver in the Temp folder and loads it from there - it requires admin privilege but has minimal impact otherwise as the driver is deleted when finished, only a couple of Registry entries referencing it will remain.

So running a backup program from DVD/USB will either limit you to offline backups (where you boot from DVD/USB and cannot otherwise use your system while the backup is taking place) if the software requires an install, or be of limited benefit if the software doesn't require an install (since it will then install the driver/service/filter gubbins anyway).

 

I've heard things about Acronis and the changes it makes for years. Fact is though, it doesn't seem to cause any issues for me. I have acronis installed on my server too, and i've had no issues with RAID.

All back up software will make changes like this, as it has to install drivers and change registry settings to allow the back up programme to access running services not normally accessible. Without this it wouldn't be able to make a full online back up.

If I ever stop using acronis and move to another system I'd probably take the opportunity to do a fresh install now I know about it not reversing the changes it makes. That's the only thing that bothers me... not that it makes changes... but doesn't undo them.

It's not enough to make me change to another back up util though, as Acronis has never once failed to restore a back up, and after all.. that's what matters to me.