I have 2 HDD's in my tower with only one being used so I want to create a mirror image on the 2nd drive to protect my data, even though an off board backup HDD is the normal method to backup data. Can this be accomplished? How do I do it?
Windows 7 PRO 64 bit
If you purchase a Seagate, WD or Maxtor, you can get the Acronis Trueimage software (free) and make an image of your OS and
put it on your 2nd internal hdd.
If you need to recover your OS ( including programs, updates, etc) you can do it with a few clicks.
You can also use Easeus for free and any hdd will work.
Seagate - DiscWizard | Seagate
WD - WD Support
Easeus - EASEUS Todo Backup Free 6.0 Download for Windows / FileHorse.com
If downloading the Easeus program, make sure to click "custom" to eliminate all the garbage they would like to include (changing browsers, search engines, etc.)
What you are proposing is called Raid 1. I'm not very familiar on how to set up a RAID so someone else will have to chime in on how to do so.
Many people think most forms of RAID are a backup. While all but RAID 0 will enable a computer to keep chugging along without interruption if one or more drives (depending on the kind of RAID) should fail, they can't protect from drive failure from things like PSU failure frying everything in the computer, a power surge or spike that blows through any surge arrestors frying all the drives (and all the other "innards"), a house fire burns up all your data, floods from rain or a washing machine hose bursting drowns your drives, a virus wiping your drives, a thief making off with your computer, etc.
Backups on some kind of media, such as HDDs, are best when kept off the computer. A bare minimum backup scheme would include one onsite backup (not connected to the computer except when making the backup) and one offsite backup. The more often backups are made, the less data is lost should the drive(s) in the computer fail.
Not true, Lady.What you are proposing is called Raid 1
He simply has to do a backup from his C drive and put it on his 2nd hdd.
When he needs to do a recovery , everything will be restored to original hdd (OS, updates, etc.)
To the OP: You should have the backup in 2 places in case of hdd failure.
Also do a backup frequently ( I do it once a week) to keep everything current.
Apparently you didn't read what I wrote. Whether the OP uses RAID 1, puts images on the spare drive, or merely copies data to the spare drive, whatever takes out the first drive could also take out the second drive. There is nothing wrong with wanting an onboard backup for convenience and operational continuity (and RAID 1 is the easiest way to get that) but it's imperative that there be at least two backups OFF the computer.
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