Backup software for Win 7...

Robocopy is part of Windows.

Member PParks uses it as follows, via a batch file.

The syntax listed can be easily modified to fit your folder structure/paths.

All you have to do is create a .bat file on your hard drive. Put the following syntax into the file

C:\windows\system32\robocopy D:\data I:\backups\data /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy D:\music I:\backups\music /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy D:\movies I:\backups\movies /E /MIR
C:\windows\system32\robocopy D:\pix I:\backups\pix /E /MIR

The /E includes directories that are empty.

The /MIR tells it to mirror the source and the destination. Hence, if you delete the file from D:\data, it will remove it from the I:\backups\data folder as well.

Robocopy only gets changes...so the first run takes awhile, and subsequent runs are fast..as it's only files which have changed.

Thank you. Where do I save the file?

Where is Robocopy hiding? I search via the Win icon in sys tray, it lists it as a program. I click it, a DOS window opens for a nanosecond, closes, that's it. Searching otherwise finds nothing

Save what file?

Robocopy is part of Windows. It lives inside C:\Windows\winsxs, but you don't need to be concerned with that.

You make a simple batch file and put a shortcut to that batch file on your desktop. It's an icon like any other shortcut.


When you poke the icon, robocopy runs and does your backup. If you backed up 5,000 files from the C drive, you would end up with a copy of each of those 5,000 files on the backup drive.

I can probably show you how to easily make the batch file, but a few details are needed, such as:

What folder or folder do you want to back up?

What is the name of the drive to which you will back up? E? F? If you are backing up a bunch of files that are on the C drive, you would back them up to some other drive--D, E, F, whatever you have available--internal or external. Not a DVD.

Understand: Robocopy does not back up your Windows installation. It backs up files--typically your own personal data files. Movies, pictures, Word documents, Excel files, mp3s, whatever you have accumulated.

If you want to back up your Windows installation, you MUST use an imaging application, which implies some complexity that you have stated you would like to avoid. Robocopy is NOT an imaging application.

I'm not sure Robocopy is a good idea here. It's strictly speaking not even a backup app although it can be used as such. It's really a very, very advanced file copying tool meant to supersede the older xcopy command.

Robocopy can copy complete file/folder trees, just the folder structure but no files, it can copy ACL access lists or not, it can copy file audit information or not, alternate streams or not - it's quite complex and powerful.

It's also meant to be used from a command window, it's not meant to be run on its own. Last but not least, the potential for making mistakes is enormous due to the many commandline options available.

I would strongly recommend not to use Robocopy unless you're 1. very secure in its usage and 2. actually have a very specific reason for using it. There are much simpler applications for general backup purposes - incidentally, Macrium Reflect is one of the most straightforward you'll ever find.


EDIT: The Robocopy executable lives in C:\Windows\System32; there is another copy in the winsxs folder but it's not meant to be run directly from there.

Thank you both

I'm seeking software where I tell it what to backup, i.e. c;/, and it does a full backup. I can use it to restore C:/ in case of a HDD crash or individual files just in case.

If I remember (and short-term memory loss s part of my illness), Macrium sounded great but I could not find a link to download. The URL I was given had a link to a virus scanner or something like that.

I did a search but most programs seemed to promise a lot IF you bought the big, neato-I-am-wonderful-buy-me-buy-me program but the trial was garbage as you could not get a feel for the big picture.

Before i was ill, nothing on a computer scared me. Now ...

You need to stay connected to this forum for an hour or two, rather than posting every other day or so. That way we can have an ongoing conversation.

We still need to know:

Do you want to backup Windows and everything on the C drive? If so, imaging is a must and Macrium is probably your best choice. All you would need is the Free Edition. You would have also have to burn a recovery disk to be able to restore C. You would not buy anything, but it isn't as simple to operate and use as you might like.

Or do you want to back up only your personal data? If so, you can use a simpler program---such as SyncToy, Karen's Replicator, Robocopy or whatever. No recovery disk needed.

If you have a Windows installation disk or a recovery partition or a set of recovery disks, you have a way to recover without using an imaging application. But there is some complexity involved with any of those choices.

We can't be of much help without more details. We know nothing about your PC.

ignatzatsonic said:

You need to stay connected to this forum for an hour or two, rather than posting every other day or so. That way we can have an ongoing conversation.

We still need to know:

Do you want to backup Windows and everything on the C drive? If so, imaging is a must and Macrium is probably your best choice. All you would need is the Free Edition. You would have also have to burn a recovery disk to be able to restore C. You would not buy anything, but it isn't as simple to operate and use as you might like.

Or do you want to back up only your personal data? If so, you can use a simpler program---such as SyncToy, Karen's Replicator, Robocopy or whatever. No recovery disk needed.

If you have a Windows installation disk or a recovery partition or a set of recovery disks, you have a way to recover without using an imaging application. But there is some complexity involved with any of those choices.

We can't be of much help without more details. We know nothing about your PC.

I only get on after dinner for 90 minutes. That's it, generally. I only sit up in bed at that time. I log in every day at this time. I'm in a nursing home and during the day I am out of bed but busy with other things and can't drag out the netbook. I do, on occasion, get on my iPad at night. I'll bookmark this site but again, not every night.

BTW, it's now 6:29 PM and I'm on until 7 PM.

I have my installation disk. I have no photos, but a little personal data and a few programs. I'd just like to be safe, just in case.

I have installed Karen's Replicator, I believe, but haven't used it yet. Tomorrow night I will look for it and try. It isn't on my desktop or Start menu. I thought I installed it .

Give it a go with Karen's Replicator.

It is about as simple as you are going to get.

It will back up your personal files--pictures and so forth. It will not back up your Windows installation or your entire C drive.

It will not back up the installation of your programs.

You need a destination for the backup files to go to.

Karen's Replicator installed fine. Just looked around to familiarize myself with it. I'll do a full backup this weekend then do a weekly changes backup.

Tomorrow I run it. Hope it doesn't take too long!

Thanks to everyone.

The first time might take minutes if you have only a little to back up. It might take hours if you have a lot.

The second time it should run much more quickly (probably under 5 minutes) because the second time you would only be backing up files that were new since the first backup or had changed since the first backup.