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What is the best Windows software to use to backup a PC?
- Thread starter hajime
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Sorry, I don't know, have never seen that happen myself.
Back on topic... I used Acronis for years on Windows and it seemed pretty good. I got rid of my Windows PC in 2020 however and run Windows 10 in a Parallels virtual machine. I keep all my data on Mac disks, which Parallels treats as network drives. So it's continuously backed up with Backblaze and Time Machine plus regular Carbon Copy clones. Carbon Copy also backs up the VM, so I have no need for Windows backup software anymore.
The problem with Acronis is that it's proprietary and you can't access the backups without it. I have some old backups from the Windows computer that I wanted to look at awhile ago, but couldn't do it since I no longer use Acronis.
Back on topic... I used Acronis for years on Windows and it seemed pretty good. I got rid of my Windows PC in 2020 however and run Windows 10 in a Parallels virtual machine. I keep all my data on Mac disks, which Parallels treats as network drives. So it's continuously backed up with Backblaze and Time Machine plus regular Carbon Copy clones. Carbon Copy also backs up the VM, so I have no need for Windows backup software anymore.
The problem with Acronis is that it's proprietary and you can't access the backups without it. I have some old backups from the Windows computer that I wanted to look at awhile ago, but couldn't do it since I no longer use Acronis.
As I explained, I have no need for Windows backup software these days. Acronis is all I ever used on Windows.
Right, and it's probably very good. But I don't want to spend the money, I don't really need that old data. I prefer software like Carbon Copy that doesn't use proprietary formats.
I bought a perpetual version of Acronis two years ago. I encountered an issue when I tried to recover from the backup. It was few days after a year of purchase. They refused to help saying that it is no longer support as a year had passed. They even dared to send me two emails asking me to evaluate their customer services. I complained about this and they just ignored me. Never buy from them again.
AOMEI Backupper is the best one I’ve used. Their license includes lifetime upgrades.
www.aomeitech.com
I use the full system clone feature that backs up the entire computer once a month (you can pick however often you like) and then I have it back up all the files on the computer daily (you can also have it back up in real-time as files are modified on the fly).
I’ve used Acronis, Macrium, and many others, and this is the only one I can recommend. Macrium is great, but the interface is extremely confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing. And even if you do, the interface is still messy. I like simplicity of AOMEI.
Their free version lets you do a lot of things as well. You don’t actually need the full version to back up your whole computer.
AOMEI Backupper | Best Backup Software for Windows PC and Server
AOMEI Backupper offers free and affordable data backup & disaster recovery software to protect your computer.
I use the full system clone feature that backs up the entire computer once a month (you can pick however often you like) and then I have it back up all the files on the computer daily (you can also have it back up in real-time as files are modified on the fly).
I’ve used Acronis, Macrium, and many others, and this is the only one I can recommend. Macrium is great, but the interface is extremely confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing. And even if you do, the interface is still messy. I like simplicity of AOMEI.
Their free version lets you do a lot of things as well. You don’t actually need the full version to back up your whole computer.
AOMEI Backupper is the best one I’ve used. Their license includes lifetime upgrades.
AOMEI Backupper | Best Backup Software for Windows PC and Server
AOMEI Backupper offers free and affordable data backup & disaster recovery software to protect your computer.
I use the full system clone feature that backs up the entire computer once a month (you can pick however often you like) and then I have it back up all the files on the computer daily (you can also have it back up in real-time as files are modified on the fly).
I’ve used Acronis, Macrium, and many others, and this is the only one I can recommend. Macrium is great, but the interface is extremely confusing if you don’t know what you’re doing. And even if you do, the interface is still messy. I like simplicity of AOMEI.
Their free version lets you do a lot of things as well. You don’t actually need the full version to back up your whole computer.
Long time very happy user of paid AOMEI Backupper Professional:
No, whether or not you have to pay depends on the boot structure of your computer. If you have MBR/BIOS, then AOMEI Backupper Standard is free. If your computer is GPT/UEFI, then you have to pay for the Professional version. Found out by successfully imaging a certain GPT/UEFI computer in January 2022 with the free version, and being totally unsuccessful (with many strange error messages) to do on that same computer in April 2022. That was when AOMEI pulled the trigger on needing to pay to successfully backup a modern GPT/UEFI system.
That said, the reason I dearly love AOMEI is their relentless pickiness in verification. If AOMEI verifies a backup, there is a very high likeliness it will restore, and boot, successfully. I have found one will get a successful boot far more often when one images on the hardware the disk is living on than by removing the disk and imaging it on another installed copy of AOMEI. I now image and clone by booting from the PE flash disk made with their separate PE Disk Creator program, not the inbuilt feature. That disk has everything you need and will boot from old and new computers, so you don't need two flash drives as before.
The stock "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)" found in Windows 7, 10, and 11 (in Control Panel) works pretty well. It's basically the Microsoft equivalent of Time Machine.
But you can’t verify that your backup is correct or that it will be accepted if you try to restore the image. I’ve had that happen to me in 2011.
I had the same problem with Windows's Backup and Restore. Acronis also failed when I needed it to restore.
I've never had these problems, but I can't imagine that any backup software for any OS is 100% fool-proof.
Can't believe there is so little information on this. One would think the OS of 80% of the market would have hoards of options.
whats the purpose of backup software it will fail when you need it? I once tried TimeMachine and it failed me. Never again. CCC for years, always worked flawless.
whats the purpose of backup software it will fail when you need it? I once tried TimeMachine and it failed me. Never again. CCC for years, always worked flawless.
My experience with CCC has also been great. And I also use it to backup Windows - since I'm running Windows 10 in a Parallels virtual machine on my Mac, Carbon Copy backs it up along with everything else. I don't store any of my files in the virtual machine itself, they are all stored on Mac disks that are backed up with CCC. With Parallels, all my Mac disks appear as network drives in the Windows VM.
It's been a long time but when I used Windows often I used Acronis True Image. I know they're still around, but I'm talking Windows 7 Days...
I actually have my Time Machine backups omit my Parallels folder, and then use CCC to backup that folder nightly. That way I don't have to worry about things slowing down if a Time Machine backup starts when I'm working in Windows.
I also exclude the VM in Time Machine. With Time Machine on, it constantly backed up the whole VM whenever it was in use, filling up my backup disk!
I use Backblaze on two of my Mac’s, but looks like they’ve got a Windows version, too. They’re a reliable company for sure. Not sure how well the Windows app works, though.
www.backblaze.com
Windows Backup Software: Easy, Secure Online Backup
Award winning unlimited online backup for Windows. Backblaze automatically backs up your data to the cloud.
www.backblaze.com