How does a backup on an external hard drive look like.

[xX4m4zingXx]

Hello sevenforums members,

I want to backup my system and then do a clean Windows 10 installation, so my whole system is fresh after installing Windows 10.
Is there a good way to do that?
My real question is: How does the backup on an external hard drive look.
Does it backup in a seperate backup folder, because I have more things stored on that EHD.
Thanks in advance

Greets Ruud

 

[mitchell65]

I would use Macrium Reflect from here:
Macrium Reflect Free
Look at the tutorial and the use "create an Image" rather than cloning your disc. Make sure you then create a rescue CD . The tutorial tells you how. If you have any doubts as to how this works come back here for guidance. It is important to get it right. It is always a good idea to create a backup image from time to time on a regular basis. Then if you are unlucky enough to have a major crash you can be back up and running within the hour.

 

[xX4m4zingXx]

Okay and what's the difference between an image and a complete Back-up?

 

[mitchell65]

No difference at all. When you use Macrium to create an image file of a particular disc on your PC it backs up every dot and comma on the disc so that when you restore that image your PC will be in exactly the same state that is was in when the image was made!

 

[xX4m4zingXx]

But I can't restore individual files if I do that, because I am not thinking of restoring my whole pc.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Methinks you may be confusing terms.

All a complete backup measn is the entire drive has been backed up. That can be accomplished in several ways.

An image is a snapshot of what's on the drive or partition you are imaging, sort of like a photo negative. The image is used to recreate the data on the drive, sorta like a photo negative is used to create a print. Windows Backup is an imaging program as other programs like Macrium Reflect. Many people here, including me, prefer Macrium Reflect over Windows Backup.

Cloning is making an exact, bootable (id the clone includes the OS) copy of the original drive or partition. Macrium Reflect is also capable of making clones. Cloning is best used for making a duplicate drive to replace an older drive.

Imaging and cloning are the only ways to create bootable copies of System files (OS and Programs). However, they are inefficient for backing up data since they take up so much room and can take so long. What many people recommend is putting the System files on their owen drive or partition and use imaging to back them up.

Data is best backed up using a folder/file syncing program, such as FreeFileSync set to mirror mode. A folder/syncing program works by comparing the data on the drive, partition, or selected folders of the source drive with the data on the destination drive (the backup), then copies data on the source drive that is not on the destination data and pastes it to the destination drive and deletes data on the destination drive that is not on the source drive. The result is an essentially exact copy of of the source drive. FreeFileSync can also be set to send deleted files to a versioning folder or drive to protect against accidentally deleted files or files that get corrupted. Since only files that have been added, changed, or deleted are involved in the process, updating a backup takes considerably less time than making a copy of the entire surce drive would take.

 

[xX4m4zingXx]

That was a very good explanation, that's something where I can do something with. I am going to use that program to Back-up my pc and put it on an external disk. Btw can I use the syncing program to sync with a server on an VPS?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If your server appears on your computer as a HDD letter, then I don't see why not. I use external HDDs for my backups.

 

[xX4m4zingXx]

Well, that's not the case, because the server is on a computer somewhere in the world

 

[GokAy]

Is it FTP? FFS can sync to SFTP, or perhaps as long as you can map that server share you should be able to use it. WebShare should work too as long as you map it.

How To Map A Remote Server to a Drive in Windows Explorer

 

[mitchell65]

I would still suggest tht an image of the Windows 7 setup be made before any update is attempted to Winows 10. Just for the very simple reason that if things go wrong or you change your mind and wished you had stayed with 7 than you can very easily restore to a position before you made any attempts to upgrade! It is very good insurance and you can always delete the backup file later if you don't need it, though I would tend to keep it for a while anyway!

 

[GokAy]

Mitchell65 has the best advice anyone can give to you, xxAmazing dude.

 

[xX4m4zingXx]

Okay, so what you are saying is that I should made an image of the whole system INCLUDING the os files

I'll create a seperate thread for my VPS question.

 

[GokAy]

If you can reach your server with like \\servername\folder or FTP/SFTP, then you should be able to use it for syncing. It is easy to try. Just try to sync 1 file or folder.

I posted a link about how to map a server, then sync to the mapped drive.