Poll on Backup software

rpetruzz · Aug 28, 2022

I use NovaBACKUP. I use it across our two laptops and two desktops.

I have a different philosophy for backups than most people I see in the forums. If my PC tanks I just format it and do a clean install. I've been doing this since the early 1980s and in almost 40 years I've tried and never had a successful restore of a system backup. Mayhaps I never figured out how to but I've always found it faster, or no longer, to just do a clean O/S install. Along with reinstalling all my software and then restoring my data from backups of my files.

With NovaBACKUP I backup only my data files. I have almost all of my data stored on a Synology NAS in different file systems. I use external drives to backup the files on the NAS using an algorithm that NovaBACKUP has which COPIES files to the backup drives. There is no catalog of the files. Just files in the same directory structures as on my NAS. The algorithm just copies new files or files that have changed. It does not sync the drives by deleting deleted files. I won't go into it but I had a self induced disaster by syncing many years ago.

I have another oversized external drive that I back up all the same files to redundantly. This drive has a companion drive of the same size and I rotate that drive with it's companion drive to our safe deposit box in our local back every quarter.

I've had my share of drive failures over the years and while painful, reinstalling the O/S and programs, then data has been the safest and cleanest way I've secured my data over the past 20+ years.

kado897 · Aug 28, 2022

rpetruzz said:
I use NovaBACKUP. I use it across our two laptops and two desktops.

I have a different philosophy for backups than most people I see in the forums. If my PC tanks I just format it and do a clean install. I've been doing this since the early 1980s and in almost 40 years I've tried and never had a successful restore of a system backup. Mayhaps I never figured out how to but I've always found it faster, or no longer, to just do a clean O/S install. Along with reinstalling all my software and then restoring my data from backups of my files.

With NovaBACKUP I backup only my data files. I have almost all of my data stored on a Synology NAS in different file systems. I use external drives to backup the files on the NAS using an algorithm that NovaBACKUP has which COPIES files to the backup drives. There is no catalog of the files. Just files in the same directory structures as on my NAS. The algorithm just copies new files or files that have changed. It does not sync the drives by deleting deleted files. I won't go into it but I had a self induced disaster by syncing many years ago.

I have another oversized external drive that I back up all the same files to redundantly. This drive has a companion drive of the same size and I rotate that drive with it's companion drive to our safe deposit box in our local back every quarter.

I've had my share of drive failures over the years and while painful, reinstalling the O/S and programs, then data has been the safest and cleanest way I've secured my data over the past 20+ years.

Sounds a very sensible approach if you can recover your OS and programs in a reasonable time. I too back up my data separately. The last time I rebuilt an OS it took about a week to get it set up the way I like. I can understand your issues with imaging if you have only used the MS tool. I never had much success with that either. Commercial imaging systems are much more reliable, even the free versions. They need to be otherwise they would quickly go out of business.

Badger · Aug 28, 2022

I remember Novabackup from the late 90's. Nice to see they're still around!

blued · Sep 3, 2022

BrianInEngland said:
Because the EU and UK competition authorities would cry 'foul' and block it from being included due to it being anti-competitive beahviour

MS could if not not trying to exclude other backup solutions. Edge or av-malware protection of Defender are included without upsetting the EU. Plus they had a backup solution before but apparently was just not good enough to continue with.

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

blued said:
MS ... had a backup solution before but apparently was just not good enough to continue with.

Good riddance. It was the most unreliable and temperamental backup solution I've ever had the displeasure of using.

blued · Sep 3, 2022

Bree said:
Good riddance. It was the most unreliable and temperamental backup solution I've ever had the displeasure of using.

Never used it. Because its features were too limited with no option to backup partitions or OS. I believe only option it had was to backup whole PC, lol.

TraderGary · Sep 3, 2022

Bree said:
Good riddance. It was the most unreliable and temperamental backup solution I've ever had the displeasure of using.

Do you include Microsoft File History when saying that?

I say that because my backup procedure for years has been to keep all my data in OneDrive and keep a mirror of my data in cloud OneDrive. Then, every night before shutting down, I do a Microsoft File History, alternating between two 2TB SSDs. The SSDs are attached only long enough to do the File History backup as I'm paranoid about Ransomware.

I've recently decided to add Macrium Reflect as a third addition to my backup regimen. I have yet to do it, but I think I will just buy it for the support. Your thoughts?

kado897 · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
Do you include Microsoft File History when saying that?

I say that because my backup procedure for years has been to keep all my data in OneDrive and keep a mirror of my data in cloud OneDrive. Then, every night before shutting down, I do a Microsoft File History, alternating between two 2TB SSDs. The SSDs are attached only long enough to do the File History backup as I'm paranoid about Ransomware.

I've recently decided to add Macrium Reflect as a third addition to my backup regimen. I have yet to do it, but I think I will just buy it for the support. Your thoughts?

Macrium is primarily an imaging system best for OS partitions. The free version is good enough for most users although you are limited to full and differential backups. The paid version gives you incremental backups, file & folder backups, Tamper protection of the backups, and fast delta restore. My opinion it's worth it just for Fast Delta Restore. I can restore my OS partition from a recent backup in under 5 minutes and I do so quite often. MR free or paid is very reliable but Paragon provide fixes for the inevitable occasional bug very quickly.

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
Do you include Microsoft File History when saying that?

No, not at all. My comments are purely aimed at 'Backup & Restore (Windows 7)'s System Image Backup solution - so bad that even MS say use something else.

Microsoft said:
System Image Backup (SIB) Solution
We recommend that users use full-disk backup solutions from other vendors.

Features removed or Deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Some interesting changes. Https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...ll-creators-up

www.tenforums.com

TraderGary · Sep 3, 2022

kado897 said:
Macrium is primarily an imaging system best for OS partitions. The free version is good enough for most users although you are limited to full and differential backups. The paid version gives you incremental backups, file & folder backups, Tamper protection of the backups, and fast delta restore. My opinion it's worth it just for Fast Delta Restore. I can restore my OS partition from a recent backup in under 5 minutes and I do so quite often. MR free or paid is very reliable but Paragon provide fixes for the inevitable occasional bug very quickly.

If I buy the paid version, is it a one-time purchase, or do I need to pay again every year?

kado897 · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
If I buy the paid version, is it a one-time purchase, or do I need to pay again every year?

It is a one time purchase for that major version. Major versions don't change very often and when they do a hefty discount (50% the last 2 upgrades) is offered on the upgrade. There were 4 years between V7 and v8. Paramount continue to support the previous version for at least a year if you chose not to upgrade.

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
If I buy the paid version, is it a one-time purchase, or do I need to pay again every year?

Macrium is a lifetime licence for all future updates to v8.x. If/when a v9 is released you can continue to use your licensed v8. or buy a discounted upgrade to the next version. There are some users out there still happily running v6.

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

kado897 said:
Paramount continue to support the previous version for at least a year if you chose not to upgrade.

They have been known to issue an update for older versions long after that. They did that for v6 when MS updated W10 and broke all current versions of Reflect. V5 only missed out on an update because its coding made it too difficult to retro-fit the fix.

kado897 · Sep 3, 2022

Bree said:
They have been know to issue an update for older versions long after that. They did that for v6 when MS updated W10 and broke all current versions of Reflect. V5 only missed out on an update because its coding made it too difficult to retro-fit the fix.

View attachment 38186

Yes they do, but they only guarantee one year I think.

TraderGary · Sep 3, 2022

If I buy the home, single user, can I back up each of my 3 home computers? Or do I need to buy the 4 computer version for $135?

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

kado897 said:
Yes they do, but they only guarantee one year I think.

That is correct....

Macrium Product Support Policy

Macrium is pleased to offer three stages of product support. Stage 1: Current Support Stage 2: Extended Support Stage 3: Self-Service Support

www.macrium.com

...but they have been known to issue one or two updates beyond that for critical issues.

Bree · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
If I buy the home, single user, can I back up each of my 3 home computers? Or do I need to buy the 4 computer version for $135?

The licence is for one PC. There is no difference in the software between Free and Home, so you could put Free on all your less important machines. I have 4 licences, but a lot more machines than that. All the others run Free.

It's only the licence key that determines which features you can use. You can (and I have) transfer the licence from one machine to another. For a Full/Differential image, or for scheduling, Free and Home function identically - those are not Premium features.

kado897 · Sep 3, 2022

TraderGary said:
If I buy the home, single user, can I back up each of my 3 home computers? Or do I need to buy the 4 computer version for $135?

You need a separate licence for each. I personally only use the paid version on my current main computer and the free version elsewhere. If you get a new computer you can transfer the licence.