Windows 7: Backup or Image?

Well, I got the netbook and my refurbished Dell pretty well setup, except for deciding how to approach the backup option to an external drive.

I've got Acronis 2012. Basically what I'd like to do, is be able to set something up that will backup my hard drive periodically as the files change.



That way my external drive will always be up to date, in leiu of a system crash.

I'm not even sure if this is possible, but I won't know unless I ask.

Anxious to hear from the experts.........and there is not an ounce of sarcasm in that whatsoever! You guys rock and the knowledge I've gained here has been priceless!!!!!!

Thanks in advance,
Jack

Check the Acronis PDF guide on this site: Acronis backup software and recovery services in UK. Backup software for data backup and disaster recovery in Windows and Linux - Acronis

Have a look at this tutorial: Backup User and System Files

Are you referring to Windows files--your "system"?

Or your personal data files?

Or both?

How many hard drives and how many partitions on each?

Just one hard drive going to an external drive. I navigated my way through Acronis and set it up to backup daily!

Speaking of partitions, when I went to use Windows 7 Backup on my netbook it was asking for a place to back it up because there was no external drive hooked up.

If I partition the drive, will Windows 7 then recognize 2 drives and I can backup from the main drive to the partitioned drive?

Is there any free software that will make a partition on Windows 7?

The best I could find, price wise, on a quick Google search, was Paragon is offering a 10 day license for $9.95.

Jack

1. Acronis is an excellent option. It is not the easiest to operate, but it does a fine job.

2. Make a folder for you netbook on the external drive and a folder for your Dell. Then image to those folders.

3. Partitions you create with Disk Management after shrinking some space from an existing partition. No program required.

4. Imaging to the same physical disk as the source is not a good idea. What do you do when the disk goes belly up. Use the external

You don't need software to make a partition. You can do it with Windows own Disk Management.

But your plan has holes in it. Big holes.

If your single hard drive fails, you are sunk. Your image file and backups are gone.

You can do it that way, but it's foolish.

Excellent point now that I think about it! Very foolish! I do have 2 externals. So best to back up netbook on one and the Dell on the bigger one since it is a 500G and the net is a 160G?

If I am understanding you guys correctly, in other posts, cloning or imaging is only advantageous if one needs to make room on their main drive?

You can back up to any external you choose. You can back up the Dell and the notebook to the same drive assuming there is enough space.

Not sure what you mean by your last sentence. Cloning is a means of transferring to a larger drive when you run out of space, not in an emergency. Imaging is a method of recovering from a disaster or bad situation.

Cloning is not a backup. Period. Full stop. Cloning leaves you nothing to backup from. Cloning does not create a file that can be used to restore. Imaging does.

Cloning and imaging are entirely different processes..

While I've got your attention Igna, can you explain to me, the difference between Imaging and Cloning, and examples of when it would be beneficial to use both?

Thanks,

Jack

I don't think so. Forget cloning. Imaging is done to enable you to recover from a tight spot (Virus, System failure, etc.).

Before you start imaging your C: partition, check in Disk Management whether you have a 100MB active System Partition. It may be a hidden partition, but in Disk Management you can see it. If that is the case, transfer your bootmgr first to C:. It is a 3 click operation like this: Bootmgr - Move to C:\ with EasyBCD This will make your life a lot easier later because you have to deal only with 1 partition which is C:.