Windows 7: Backup is Too Big

Been poring through these forum pages for backup methods, but can't find an answer to my problem, so thought I'd make my first post and ask:



Windows 7 64 bit -
I have a 2 TB hdd for backup up files (mostly photos), but my files come to 1.5 TB, and the drive fills in no time once the incremental backups begin. It takes about 18 hours to do one full backup and it's getting ridiculous in terms of time to delete them all and start over. Is there another way to handle this?
I'm wondering about unplugging the 2 TB hdd and saving it, dropping in a new one and then just copy/paste any changes or new work to that.
But in the event of a crash, would I still be able to recover files from the full backup hdd I previously removed?

The answer would be yes.

Thanks for the quick response.
Is there a more preferred method than this? How do you like to handle large file backups?

I like to put them to a large USB Drive myself so they can be seperate from the entire machine and another put in it's place easily or added for that matter in case I needed it.

For me personally, with photos, I don't use a backup application to backup my files.

Instead, I run a utility like robocopy (which comes with 7) to make a duplicate copy of my files on the external drive. I create a batch file on my hard drive with syntax similar to the following
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe C:\pictures X:\backups\pictures /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy.exe C:\movies X:\backups\movies /E /MIR

With robocopy, the first run takes a while as it copies over the files. All subsequent runs are fast as it only gets files that are updated or have changed since the last run. With the /MIR switch, if you delete a file on your source drive, it will also delete it from your destination drive when you next run the job.

I keep 2 external drives, (offsite) and plug them in occassionally and run the above batch file. Been using this method for years and years and years and it's solid (for me).

There are various ways to backup or safeguard files, some better than others, I understand that. But what do you do with a 1.5 TB load? The full backup alone takes most of a 2 TB drive. Do I need an enclosure that houses several of these big drives?

Yes, or have multiple drives and break up your data into multiple collections and ensure that each collection fits on a drive.

Just googled and found this, the Mediasonic ProBox 4 bay enclosure Mediasonic
I could connect with eSata.
How does it look for the job?

Make sure your eSATA ports support the port multiplier option.

Also, have you considered how you will keep your backups safe in the event that your house/apartment is robbed, burns or floods? A secondary copy right next to your existing computer doesn't do much good if your house burns down.

Good point. Already lost one whole roof back in '92. Live in the Hurricane belt.