What is the best way to do file backups for free?

[McDougal]

There are so many ways to do file backups.....partitions, external hard drives etc. etc. I've found the default Windows 7 backup tool to be pretty buggy sometimes, so I don't use it. I'm not interested in making image backups, because it just takes up too much space and a re-install is simple enough to do. That being said....I'm only interested in file backups.

What I currently do is create a second data partition on every computer I own (except for the old ones with really small hard drives). I just configure my libraries to be separate from the OS partition, very handy for re-installs. Just to be sure I copy all of my files to another computer on the network with a larger hard drive, its rather unorganized and messy lol, but it works.

I was wondering if there is another more efficient, free way for me to keep all of my files backed up and safe from dangers?

Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it !

 

[johnnya]

Hi McDougal and welcome back to the Forum. Many people here at the Forum use a free File/Folder backup program called Cobian. If you search on the Forum site with "Cobian"
you will find lots of threads discussing this free product. I use it myself and find it very easy and reliable. You can do Full or Incremental backups. I still also use imaging backup using Macrium Reflect. You can download the free Cobian for the
link below. And YES you can backup to networked locations.

Cobian Backup

Hope this helps.
Cheers
JohnnyA

 

[McDougal]

Great, that program is exactly what I was looking for !

Now I just need to figure out how to configure it right....

Thanks for the help !

 

[johnnya]

No problem. It is always a pleasure to help out.
Regards
JohnnyA

 

[Roderunner]

Hi McDougal, I don't believe in using any app to backup my files. I use two simple tools, 7Zip and my mouse. I make a new folder in both of my external hdd's named whatever takes your fancy. I then zip i.e. compress them and store in ext hdd's. I prefer doing them singly as its easier to un zip them. I never have anything on C: drive, any file I need instant access to is on my single hdd's partition.

 

[ickymay]

personally i love bart backup

 

[gregrocker]

This is how to link User folders to another partition or (preferably) HD: User Folders - Change Default Location - Windows 7 Forums

This keeps the system image lean so that if Win7 becomes irreparable you can reimage it to the OS/Programs partition in 20 minutes and your data is safe and waiting in its own partition.
Backup Complete Computer - Create an Image Backup - Windows 7 Forums
System Image Recovery - Windows 7 Forums

However you still need to backup data, so you can use the automated method or to keep it leaner and more simple just periodically drag all active User folders to external or secondary HD. Backup User and System Files - Windows 7 Forums

Edit: The leanest automatic backup which only uses the actual disk space taken by the files stored and then updates only the latest file changes on your backup is SyncToys linked below by PhoneMan. I had forgotten about this option but will add it to my toy chest.

 

[Phone Man]

I use Download details: SyncToy 2.1 from Microsoft.

I use the Echo mode so whatever changes I make on my main drive is updated on my backup drive.

Jim

 

[pparks1]

I use robocopy which is built right into Windows to do my file level backups to an external USB drive. In fact, a pair of them which I keep offsite in the case my house burns down.

Robocopy is great because
1). it comes for free with Windows 7
2). it only copies files that are newer or have changed since you last run the backup
3). The files are simply loose files on the destination drive. It's not a backup file or anything else which requires software to read.

Here is some sample syntax, use this as a reference if you want to try this out.

robocopy C:\users\pparks1\music H:\Backups\PPARKS1\Music /mir /dst

robocopy C:\users\pparks1\Downloads H:\Backups\PPARKS1\Downloads /mir /dst

robocopy C:\users\pparks1\pictures H:\Backups\PPARKS1\pictures /mir /dst

robocopy "C:\users\pparks1\Documents" "H:\Backups\PPARKS1\Documents" /mir /dst /XD "C:\users\pparks1\Documents\My Music" "C:\users\pparks1\Documents\My Pictures" "C:\users\pparks1\Documents\My Videos"

 

[Roderunner]

Hi pparks1

robocopy can give trouble if W7 SP1 is installed.

 

[mjf]

Many third party (non image style) backup software uses spanned zip archives. Lose or corrupt the first (or any I think) then I believe your data is lost.
Windows file/folder backup is SLOW but produces independent zips which can be recovered. This is a reason for me staying with the Windows version.

 

[damien76]

personally i love bart backup

--Is this one freeware..?

 

[linux731]

I recommend COMODO Backup. It's free, and it is by COMODO! I mean, COMODO is amazing.

 

[pparks1]

Hi pparks1

robocopy can give trouble if W7 SP1 is installed.

Do you have any links to information about what the problem is? I have yet to notice any issues.

 

[Roderunner]

robocopy can give trouble if W7 SP1 is installed.
Do you have any links to information about what the problem is? I have yet to notice any issues.

Sorry, I don't use Robocopy, only read it on another forum, even then it never gave much info.

 

[ickymay]

personally i love bart backup

--Is this one freeware..?

yes and fully configurable

 

[mjf]

I may have overlooked something but I found spanned zip archives presented a recovery problem as I mentioned earlier. I believe Comodo fell into this category and produced .z01,.z02..... If one, particularly the first, was damaged the others appeared totally lost.

With Windows you get a sequence of .zip files. Each can be opened independently. This appears to make your file/folder backup more robust.

Windows file/folder backup definitely has limitations, so what third party backup software has robust recovery?

 

[whs]

Hmm, a lot of good suggestions for file backups. But since you already image the system, why don't you also image the data. Since it is in a data partition, that is easy to do. That's how I do it and I do not have to deal with 2 different programs.

Another thing I do is to enable System Restore points on the Data Partition. That is handy if you loose an individual file. You can always recover it with Shadow Explorer. System restore points (shadows) on data partitions are relatively small. So you need only a few GBs for a good collection.

 

[essenbe]

I like Sync Toy. I use the echo mode and backup to an internal and external drive. There is no compression, it is an exact duplicate and you can browse through them at any time. It will only change the files that you change.

 

[Oaken]

Another alternative to consider is FreeFileSync.

FreeFileSync is synchronization and comparison software that in more than a years use has proven as accurate and reliable as it gets. Making Microsoft's Sync-just-a-Toy by comparison. One of it's best features is the ability to create batch files automatically, via the programs interface, for running recurrent comparisons as scheduled tasks. Which is ideal if you want to mirror-backup data to other drives without running cumbersome backup software. I use this for folders up to 70 GB (my music collection) without any issues at all.