I have 2 desktops in my home office. Either using live sync or synctoy I could set up folders to back one up to the other or sync them. From there I could use Acronis for images, windows backup for images/backups and create a sync toy folder to sync my docs/pics/downloads etc to a drive on one of the desktops while having a readily accessible backup on the other computer.
I agree with Ken and have one piece of additional information
I make a copy when I first install the OS, and then put it away ( in your case you can do it now, if you are sure that there a no problems with the OS). Once a week or month. Another copy can be made with system image. You can even keep it on the same drive as the OS. Have a problem, you have a current image of your OS. Big problem, virus or hard drive failure, you can go back and use the image that you put away.
No more installs, or activations, you will be set
Good luck
Hey Ken,
Thanks for the advice. I think I tried to explain it and made it overcomplicated. It's two tiered backup. One horizontal backup via synchronization between my main desktops, one vertical backup to an additional HD on my main system.
I'm fairly upset with acronis right now, I keep getting mbr bitmap errors trying to restore an image to a different HD. The consensus of the internet is that it's an error with the program.
Edit: I should have made it clear that syncing documents/pics/music/files/whatever/the kitchen sink is separate from doing windows backups and acronis images. I'm still debating on which to use more permanently between acronis and windows backup. The fact that synced files serves as a redundant backup between my systems is a bonus.
I was making things way too complicated. I'm using synctoy to sync my data between my primary and backup computers straight across. Both computers have the same documents, downloads, etc...
I actually use multiple backup systems because it provides Multiple points of failure
If one system fails then I still have a chance of recovery
The only thing I would change is the use of an external drive for backups rather than internal as this allows storage away from the actual systems or even off-site.
For document backup...I suggest instead using something like synctoy or robocopy to copy to 2 external USB hard drives that you keep off site. Because if your house is robbed, or burns to the ground...having extra copies on different computers may not protect you. Also, since these backups only get the changes...they occur very quickly. Often in seconds.
I don't like using tools like Acronis and the like to backup documents since they put everything inside of a container file. If anything bad happens to that container file, you most likely lost everything. If on the other hand, all of your files are just duplicated on a couple of USB drives....worst case scenario you lose 1 or 2 corrupted files...but not the whole enchilada.
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