Is Windows 7 backup any good? Are there better free alternatives?

I don't lose any emails since I login online to the inbox there even while still seeing the WLMail installed locally on the drive. Anything like downloads go to three separate identical folders on 3 separate HDs in case one of the drives should fail I still have everything backed up already.

The two main storage drives look identical when looking over all files and folders. But this is on a desktop allowing for more drives to begin with. For the old Vista build in use by a friend the main drive failed and saw an Acronis image restored on the new replacement drive while that person still needs to learn how to back things up on a second drive there set aside for storage and backup purposes since he is out his photos unless they can still be retrieved with the drive in an external enclosure. The funtionality as far as Windows was gone however mostly due to age and wear.

The idea of maintaining a full system image was illustrated right there when a drive became unusable. Besides teaching someone how to manually back things up to be on the safe side at all times the image bailed him out fast once the new drive was in rather then what he ran into when his own old XP case fell apart literally when hardwares there stufed up on him! When you don't have a backup program scheduled the good ole "copy + Paste" can still save the day as some have to learn the hard way however.

Many simply opt to wipe the main drive yearly to end up with a fresh registry when the clean install goes on as well as reduction of a lot of clutter on the drive. Here I create an image following the fresh install once all programs and updates are on and then may simply restore that image several months later. I ran the last restored image from Oct. 2010 to June 2012 without any issues!

Incremental backups or just simple copy and paste of files and even folders at times or multiple downloads for the same thing on separate drives(in case of a bad download try the next!) is how to keep up if you are not creating replacement images or keeping more then one onhand over time to prevent losses. A copy and paste is a one on one each time where you can verify the copied file or folder afterwards.

gregrocker said:

Has anyone else had problems restoring Win7 backup image to a replacement HD? This advice has been given here for years as valid without any reports it failed until recently.

No matter what you do there will be situations that work for most but not absolutely everyone. Many of us know that Windows imaging is problematic for some people/system configurations. It has never failed me on 3 different PC systems and I have undertaken a system restore to new HDDs on a number of occasions.
Likewise I have used Macrium Reflect to restore to a new HDD and SSD.
Like I've said, try it to a new HDD then you know all your images are lifeboats. Like requested above if you have problems your feedback should help others.

After numerous images on two totally separate systems 1)Vista/XP build used to test and first to see 7 retail and 2)present build I've never run into any problem using the backup options in 7. In fact I tested dual boots when first restoring a 7 made image and afterwards one made with Acronis just to try that idea out and each image restored with ease.

I have been using Acronis more often however since it will compress things down in size as far as how much drive space each new image will take. With the 7 option there's about a 1-2% compression compared to ondrive space used up as to the 15-20% compression rate seen with Acronis there. With the 7 option however you can start the restoration process without the need for the 7 dvd or repair tools cd since the restoration tool will automatically load itself into memory when the system restarts itself once started up while in the Control Panel>Backup & Restore.

The usual causes for any problematic image are a tainted volume on the drive the image is to be created and stored on when it comes time to restore the image. And even more common running a demanding app while the image is being created at the same time which can cause a few hiccups as a result when the program accesses the same parts of the drive the backup tool is accessing for the image. Av programs and firewalls can also hamper the creation of a new image at times.