Wanted: Backup Strategy

[websquad]

I have a machine with five disk drives:

(C) is for Window 7 + software: 150GB (10,000 rpm: sweet)
(D) is to backup (C): 150GB (just like C)
(E) is for data: 1TB
(F) is to backup (E) 1TB (just like E)
(G) is for paging and spooling (Photoshop, etc): 380GB

My best case scenero is that I'd like for (D) to duplicate (C) and be bootable in the event something goes wrong with (C). Also, and the end of the day I'd like to run a batch procedure to backup what has been changed or added to (E) to (F), and also in that process backup my Microsoft Outlook files.

I've tried RAID-1 for two years and have given up. The RAID arrays were broken too many times, and I just have to get on with my life (LOL). So I'm in the process of rebuilding my system without RAID.

Suggestions appreciated !!

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Member PParks uses Robocopy to backup data from one drive to another using these commands, which you could modify a bit to adapt to your situation:

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.

Your idea of having a live backup of C that is bootable might be possible, but most people here instead use an imaging program. The created file is not bootable, but can be restored to a drive to make it bootable in a few minutes.

 

[Golden]

For more information, try this:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/187346-robocopy-create-backup-script.html

 

[kado897]

Your only real options for backing up C: is disk imaging. You can either use the built in windows backup or one of the many free alternatives such as Macrium free.
My suggestion for your data would be FreeFileSync. The first run after setting it up will rake some time as it must copy all the data you have specified but subsequent runs are incremental and take very little time. I created a job which backs up my data files daily and run it using the task scheduler.
I did a little video of how to use it. Backup With FreeFileSync - YouTube