Multiple Backup Images on USB Disk

WHS, that is not jumping through many hoops to rename a folder. But, I use Macrium too and another backup program as well. I have lost too much valuable data that is not replaceable before. Data that cost me a great deal of money and grief. I am just trying to make certain that never happens again. I guess you might say I wear both a belt and suspenders. I won't be caught with my pants down again. And BTW, I back up Macrium on two different externals. They break too. I do all my backups on at least two externals.

essenbe said:

WHS, that is not jumping through many hoops to rename a folder. But, I use Macrium too and another backup program as well. I have lost too much valuable data that is not replaceable before. Data that cost me a great deal of money and grief. I am just trying to make certain that never happens again. I guess you might say I wear both a belt and suspenders. I won't be caught with my pants down again. And BTW, I back up Macrium on two different externals. They break too. I do all my backups on at least two externals.

I fully agree with your strategy. I use 3 different disks for daily, weekly and monthly images - for both system and data (that is in a seperate partition). The "monthly" is always disconnected when not in use. Better be safe than sorry. But once per year I also do a complete reinstall of the OS. There is alway wear and tear that is just to much trouble to chase down.

Whs, this is a curiosity question. I have always been leery of using internal disks for backups. I know many people do, but I have always been afraid that if something were to go wrong, it could ruin all of the internals. That is why I use externals. Am I wrong in that. It would be much easier to use other internal drives, and probably more efficient.

essenbe said:

Whs, this is a curiosity question. I have always been leery of using internal disks for backups. I know many people do, but I have always been afraid that if something were to go wrong, it could ruin all of the internals. That is why I use externals. Am I wrong in that. It would be much easier to use other internal drives, and probably more efficient.

If you have multiple physical internal drives, there is nothing wrong with using an internal drive (of course one that is different from where the original resides). That is a lot faster than a USB attached drive (unless you have a USB3 configuration). You do, however, not want to image to a partition on the same physical drive where the original resides. If that drive goes south, so does your image.

I make one exception to that - that is on my wife's laptop with which she travels. Here I made images into a partition of the same physical drive - the one and only. I figured that is still better than having to reinstall from the recovery partition. And should the drive go south, then everything is lost anyhow. She does, however, keep all her data on a USB stick.

I use a folder on one of my internal drives for my daily images (they are scheduled to run automatically each morning). That's how I get the 3.5 minutes for a complete system image.

mjf said:

whs said:

If you want to make your life easier, use Macrium for imaging. That is a lot easier and flexible. You can keep as many images as you like. You manage the images yourself. Imaging with free Macrium In my book, the Windows7 imaging sucks - but that may be just me.

The question posed was very specific and related to Windows System Imaging. If it was a general question on recommendations for imaging then push your Macrium bandwagon. Otherwise give it a rest.

Who are you to tell me what to post? I am not "pushing" anything. I am just trying to give good advice based on 52 years experience with computers.

I use Acronis True Image home version as it is pretty cheap and does allow you to create lots of images, each with a different name, most times it includes the date and time. but you can name it whatever.

I have 4 small esata external drives and each week I create an image of my C and another one of my D drive.

Acronis allows you to extract a file or directory from any of your backups.
It is fast and has never failed me on about 5 or 6 complete image restores.

If your a user group member, you can get a good discount from the user group store at ugr.com.
good people and I have no financial interest.

Rich

There is also a free Acronis. Would that do the same thing? Acronis True Image Home - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com