I have a laptop and never did a backup. Currently I use 95 of 360GB on " C " and 11 of 13GB on " D " .
If possible I would like to backup both the C & D on a external device, however, at this point I don't know what is better image or data.
Please advise what you consider adequate for my system.
Thanks
What is on D??
Do you have any personal files on C?
Typically: back up Windows with an imaging program such as Macrium and back up personal data with a "file by file" backup program that does not use imaging.
You can backup personal files with an image, but that's not as reliable as a file by file method.
For extra security, you might use several methods, programs, and destinations.
I second Ignatzatsonics solution. You need an external HDD to backup to. You can either use the Windows backup system or better still free Macrium Reflect for imaging and a file backup. I use FreeFileSync. Ideally you want to separate your data into a separate partition/drive so that you are not imaging data. I realize that this may be difficult with a laptop but it is worth considering. I have most of my data on an external HDD. The recovery partition you only need to image once as it does not change.
Nothing, with any luck. All you need to have is a hard drive (probably external) to store the backups.
Macrium has a paid version and a free version. The free version is more than adequate for a typical situation. An image of C would include EVERYTHING on C, including Windows and your files.
Separate file by file programs to backup your files only are available for free as well. You can Google for respected apps such as "Karen's Replicator" and "Synctoy"--I think Synctoy is a Microsoft download.
Macrium Free is here:
Macrium Reflect FREE Edition - Information and download
An image of your C will result in a file somewhere around 40 GB in size. It has to be "restored" to be usable/bootable. To restore, you would need to boot from a "recovery" disk made within Macrium. After you make that disk and an image, confirm that you can boot from that disk and locate your image file within the recovery disk's interface. If you can't, you can't restore.
If you have a "System Reserved" partition, it must be imaged as well.
You might consider keeping your personal files on another partition, in which case C would be smaller, resulting in a smaller image file. But that's optional.
Imaging is pretty reliable, but not foolproof. Know what you will do if it fails.
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