Best Way to Backup Documents + Pictures + Videos?

[Newcomer7]

Hi

Which one of the following will you vote for backup our data?

a) Windows Backup (come with Windows 7)
b) Sync Toy 2.1
c) Manually

I have been doing backup manually to an external hard drive, partly because someone said it was the easiest and safest way. Also, I tried Windows backup but the backup files look very unfamiliar ... I mean it must have been compressed or something but it is not like other folders on our PC and can be looked at by double click etc.

I understand the advantage of backup programs is that they can pick up any file change and only save those on the external drive without you remembering what have been changed. But if I cannot see the backup files easily I will only know whether I can actually restore them when needed. Manual backup is just like 2 computers and I can be sure one of them will work....

Advice please :sarc:

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi welcome to SevenForums,
I basically do it manually as well,
If you check out the Sticky threads on top of this section you'll find a wealth of knowledge on the topic,
Cheers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Of the three you listed, I would select SynToy with manually pulling a poor second. I personally prefer FreeFileSync over SyncToy.

 

[Golden]

With SyncToy you can see the backups if you need to.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/278866-synctoy-backup-user-data.html

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

With SyncToy you can see the backups if you need to.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/278866-synctoy-backup-user-data.html

The same is true of FreeFileSync or any other folder/file syncing program.

If the data is on a dedicated drive, you could also use a cloning program, which will also allow you to see the backups. However, once the initial backup has been made, additional backups will take longer since all the data has to be cloned again.

 

[whs]

I have all my user files in a seperate data partition and image that partition with free Macrium. The images can be scheduled and they can run in the background.

I had a few bad experiences with sync and chose the much safer imaging way. It is also easiest to restore if you lose the whole partition as has recently happened to me.

 

[GeneO]

SyncToy. With a little bit of work you can configure it to sync according to a schedule. I have mine wake my PC at 3AM every morning and do the sync.

 

[Newcomer7]

A Big Thank You

Thank you for all your replies, you are genius

In the past, I tried to ask questions including the same one here on answer.microsoft.com but I did not get many response ... maybe just need to be patient and wait... but you guys are so kind and enthusiastic

 

[Golden]

 

[Newcomer7]

Oh... just found something: there are two different downloads available. I can understand 32 bit and 64 bit but why "86"? My machine is 64 bit. Presumably I should choose the bottom one?

SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x86.exe and

SyncToySetupPackage_v21_x64.exe

 

[Golden]

x86 = 32bit, x64 = 64bit

If your Windows 7 is 64bit, then yes you should use the bottom one.

 

[Newcomer7]

Super fast reply !

Thank you again

 

[Golden]

No worries