Poll on Backup software

Good god, I remember Norton Ghost

Dear lord, fellow members. Get a grip. Now, this contentious subject has gotten away from what backup solution one recommends to reasons NOT to backup to how much one hates to read repeated threads about it. It's soooo simple. You're tired of the subject...scroll past the threads. No one forces you to read them. You don't think you need it... don't do it. But don't do an injustice to the visitors of this forum who might be interested in it and who might not be as proficient or willing as you are with reinstalling from scratch. There are plenty of threads how to do that, too, but I never read where folks are tired of reading about them. Jeez!!
(Jesus at the wheel, I pray you let the mod close this thread and let it be 6 months before we see the next one.)

fixer said:

In the early days of home computing (Win 98) I was constantly tinkering and ending up in real trouble, computer unusable. Then I discovered Norton Ghost! Suddenly I was free to tinker to my heart's content knowing I could easily recover no matter what the problem, whether self inflicted, failed software installs, virus infection or disk failure. Suddenly I felt bombproof, free to try anything that took my fancy.

I doubt Ghost for Win 10 or 11 still exists but at the time it inspired developers and has resulted in the choice of cloning/imaging/backup software we now have. Personally, having tried so many of them, I have the greatest confidence in Macrium Reflect and still backup each computer at least once per month using it. OK, maybe these days far fewer people run the risks created by tinkering, but the other risks are still there and should you fall victim to any one of them you will be in real difficulty unless you have recently imaged your system.

So all I am really saying is, whichever system you choose, get into the habit of regular imaging and hopefully the poll might help you decide which to try first.

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That's fine if you tinker and make your system unstable.. I like many others don't., The only adjustment I made was a quick reg hack to change the file options and to remove the more options.

For me I just would rather start over and clean the system up if I have to reinstall Windows. But YMMV

glasskuter said:

Dear lord, fellow members. Get a grip. Now, this contentious subject has gotten away from what backup solution one recommends to reasons NOT to backup to how much one hates to read repeated threads about it. It's soooo simple. You're tired of the subject...scroll past the threads. No one forces you to read them. You don't think you need it... don't do it. But don't do an injustice to the visitors of this forum who might be interested in it and who might not be as proficient or willing as you are with reinstalling from scratch. There are plenty of threads how to do that, too, but I never read where folks are tired of reading about them. Jeez!!
(Jesus at the wheel, I pray you let the mod close this thread and let it be 6 months before we see the next one.)

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This is an open discussion and everyone has the right to contribute one way or another.

Fabler2 said:

I really can't remember when I last did a clean install. Must be years.

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The last time I did a clean install was so I could donate my Acer laptop to my wife's niece. I was running the unofficial release of Windows 11 on it. When I gave it to her it was back to running Windows 10. It was perfect timing. I was looking for an excuse to buy a new laptop that met the Windows 11 requirements and she happened to be in need for a new laptop.

BunnyJ said:

This is an open discussion and everyone has the right to contribute one way or another.

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Here endeth the lesson

My fault for starting it :) But I have found it fascinating. There are things mentioned on here I didn't know existed! Robocopy, NAS.

Clearly some people are just backing up a personal laptop or computer and others have many to maintain and servers etc. Different strokes for different folks

Stigg said:

I'm starting to tire of all the numerous "What's the best backup software" threads, as the OP can easily look through all the existing threads.

But I'll say this instead.
Most people don't care about backing up until after they've lost stuff. And even after data loss, I don't think they're too concerned with backing up. They see it as an annoyance. I've preached "Backup" for years, and they never listen and act. I think for most people, it's probably best to set a backup schedule for them.

I've seen some people devastated by the loss of data, and in particular, family photos. And some just don't care at all. One guy I know had a hard drive failure and lost his family photos. I told him that his photos were gone, and he said, "It doesn't matter, I'll just take new ones."

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I do feel so sorry for people that come here looking for help to recover lost files and don't have backups. Without backups there's not much we can do to help. It would be nice if people would ask us what they can do to protect their files before a disaster and not after.

wimorrison said:

Most of the choices are publishers of multiple products that will create backups and it does not ask which product is being used, only who provides the program.

Nor does the poll clarify the difference between a backup image and a file copy backup.

As an example which Aomei product is being used? You could be using Backupper or OneKey - both products from the same company, and both creating backups but used in different ways.

Any results are therefore meaningless.

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Meaningless anyhow. It's only a poll.

Macrium for OS, Freefilesync for data.

Devlin1888 said:

How many times has that happened? Literally 0 for me across the board.

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That is simply called luck.

Hazel123 said:

It does say which imaging program :)

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I didn't think about it until I read your post. There is a, Other (Please post to explain) option.

TheMystic said:

Popular products are not necessarily the best. Those 80% should still keep their options open and look for better alternatives.


I'm with him on this. I too prefer built-in utilities over 3rd party programs, even if that means the process is a little complicated. Learning to use built-in utilities is good education and time well spent, than using 3rd party programs which can be a potential risk to privacy and security.



That's very true. I can be counted in that list, but I was fortunate because I recovered all my files.


That's quite strange.


Exactly what happened in my case. But AOMEI Partition Assistant saved me and I would be eternally grateful. The program recovered almost 100% of my files, when most other popular programs in Tech Reviews could not even find the lost files, let alone recover them.


Hahaha.

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Even MS is recommending to use 3rd party backup programs.

CornishRattler said:

If I sell a machine I chuck a clean installation on it prior to letting it go. It's the only way to be sure.

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I always pass my old computers to close family after a clean install. I never sold one.

glasskuter said:

Dear lord, fellow members. Get a grip. Now, this contentious subject has gotten away from what backup solution one recommends to reasons NOT to backup to how much one hates to read repeated threads about it. It's soooo simple. You're tired of the subject...scroll past the threads. No one forces you to read them. You don't think you need it... don't do it. But don't do an injustice to the visitors of this forum who might be interested in it and who might not be as proficient or willing as you are with reinstalling from scratch. There are plenty of threads how to do that, too, but I never read where folks are tired of reading about them. Jeez!!
(Jesus at the wheel, I pray you let the mod close this thread and let it be 6 months before we see the next one.)

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Actually, I've been a bit unhappy with the current backup software I've been using, and I found this thread very timely and informative...

glasskuter said:

A fair statement, but what one feels is tiresome could end up being someone else's salvation. Although the main purpose of forums like this is to assist, we also have a responsibility to educate. Nothing is more important than encouraging people to protect their data. If they see a subject with as many responses as these threads always get, we set an example and encourage them to do just that. They don't know what is available to them and they don't always read old threads. I think there should be a sticky thread about it in big bold letters right at the top of the forum list. It's that important.

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I agree 100%! Our Pastor use to preach very close to some of the same sermons, he would always say, I know most of you have heard this message before, but we have new folks that haven't, and it probably would not hurt any of us, including me to hear it again.

Devlin1888 said:

well i coulda told you that about the poll results before it was done xD, i think macrium has a bunch of salesmen and advertisers on this forum for it though xD!, I read more about macrium on here daily than nearly any other subject and guess what, 15 years in, never backed up a full OS and never ever needed it and never been bit by not having it :) Careful where ya click and what ya do and you won't need a get outta jail free card.

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Bzzzzzzzzzzt! Wrong answer!

The reason Macrium is so popular is that when someone has a problem, whether self-inflicted or a Macrium caused problem, the DEVs jump onto it and solve it almost within hours rather than days or weeks. I've seen it happen over on TenForums time after time. Not only do they solve problems, I've seen posts where they've reached out personally to a TF denizen and worked with him/her until the situation is resolved.

And what's really satisfying is that once a problem has been resolved, the TF denizen will post the results for the rest of us. No secrets, even when the fault lies with Macrium. And they don't mind letting us know it was their fault.

Further, although I've partially repaid Macrium by purchasing a 4-pack for my computers, those who can only afford the free version don't get constant nag screens asking them to upgrade! I would hazard a guess that a large percentage of paid Macrium users have bought the product simply because of the excellent support whether they own a paid or free version.

Safe Computing can go a long way, but that isn't the only way your computer can be compromised. I won't bother to tell you the many ways it can happen, but I will tell you that Macrium has saved my bacon three or four times!

Wong answer? oh.. that depends on how people use their devices and if they know how to not get into issues. IE,, they practice safe computing.

Everyone can opt for the way the use or maintain their PC's. I chose not to backup but I do backup my key data,. photos etc and I have a spare drive if my SSD dies. Bottom line is we all do things differently so there's no right or wrong answer.

Wynona said:

The reason Macrium is so popular is that when someone has a problem, whether self-inflicted or a Macrium caused problem, the DEVs jump onto it and solve it almost within hours rather than days or weeks. I've seen it happen over on TenForums time after time. Not only do they solve problems, I've seen posts where they've reached out personally to a TF denizen and worked with him/her until the situation is resolved.

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I can vouch for that. I found a bug in Macrium and got a fix to test within three hours. Details here:

Macrium Reflect Free vs. Acronis TrueImage - Windows 10 Help Forums - post #45

The-Hive said:

I bought all mine new, as they are very important to me so backup is vital

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The last two brand new laptops were bought by my wife from a big chain department store. They were OK but nothing to brag about. Now we buy factory refurbs from Micro Center and we have never been disappointed. I also stopped buying OEM desktop and buy the PowerSpec desktops from Micro Center. They are the closest I can get to a custom built desktop without breaking our bank account.