Which Free Windows Backup Programs Do We Recommend for 2024

With Macrium Reflect Free support ending on 1/1/2024, and many, many free Windows backups failing to support ReFS (now back again in Windows 11 23H2, thanks to additions for "Create Dev Drive" in the Dev Home app) it's hard to find a good free Windows backup program that does it all. So far, I see that only EasUS ToDo Backup and AOMEI Backupper cover all the bases, with MR falling off the table soon. Anybody know any different? Have I missed anything important?

I'm using Tim Fisher's excellent LifeWire article 32 Best Free Backup Software Tools as my point of departure here, just for the record. I'm interested in all opinions and input, because I've got to update my ComputerWorld article on backing up Windows 10 and 11 in the next week or so.

Please share your insights, experiences, and info with me. TIA and best wishes,
--Ed--

Suggest you checkout Hasleo Backup Suite. It's free and works well for me.

I have used AOMEI Backupper for many years and never had a problem. But it all depends on people's taste. You could give it a try and see if it suits your needs.

I am experimenting using ROBOCOPY together with a digital license linked to a Microsoft account. Seeing where I get with that.

That combination lets me reinstall the OS, and change new hardware, and backup my personal stuff.

I don't opt for Dev channel updates. So I have little reason for constant backups.

I'm playing around with MiniTool Shadowmaker.

I have been using EaseUS TODO Backup free since it came out on my desktop PC. It ALWAYS works perfect.

I have a 2nd physical hard drive in the case and Todo's scheduler make a full backup every 7 days and incremental backups in between at 4AM everyday.

I use FreeFileSync to backup my data files (docs, photos, address book, etc) twice a day with it's built in batch files. FFS does not have a scheduler so I have it set to go in Windows Task Scheduler to run those batch files. Also to the 2nd hard drive.

I use CryptSync to copy my sensitive files in real time, but encrypted, like before you would send files to the cloud. CryptSync can also copy files unencrypted so it can be VERY versatile if you are creative.

All three programs are great but serve a different purpose, but after setup need no maintenance and I never lost anything when I needed a restore.

This is all based on a desktop PC that is in use or sleep, but not usually powered down, except for a scheduled reboot at 5AM every morning.

GCG1000 said:

Suggest you checkout Hasleo Backup Suite. It's free and works well for me.

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I just tried Hasleo. It looks nice, the image file was close in size to the Reflect file made a few minutes B4, But the rescue disk I made wouldn't "authenticate". So it's a no-go for that. Making the Reflect Rescue Disk was more straightforward. Hasleo was very simple but it demanded the manual inclusion of other files that the user was presumed to know.

EDIT: I thought I'd look for the instructions for making the Rescue Disk, which I found easily on the Hasleo website. It turned out I should have selected USB instead of ISO because that was a 1 step process to put all required files on the USB key I had. I initially thought I'd have to make an ISO file and then mount it and copy all the files to the USB key, which it turned out did not work. But it did work when selecting USB for the destination. And the Rescue Disk resulting booted just fine.

Thanks for all the replies so far. Please keep 'em coming. I'll be checking out Hasleo. As far as I can tell MiniTool ShadowMaker free version does NOT support ReFS. I did see the poll @antspants, thanks for the pointer anyway. Thanks again,
--Ed--

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about Macrium Reflect Free - you can still download it from Macrium website, although link is not on website.

The last free version still works fine, and probably will for many years to come (V7 still works fine).

The only drawback is if Windows ever does something to break it, as it is no longer updated.

I have done tests of Hasleo, Easeus & AOMEI and they are all ok for full backups of a drive, but once you start trying to be more flexible e.g. only backing up some partitions, life gets complicated - for example in partition restore mode, you can only restore one partition at a time, or all of them. Only Macrium Reflect allows you to (say) restore 4 partitions out of 5 in one go.

The Macrium Reflect GUI may not be intuitive for beginners but is is far more flexible than most of the main players - easy to reorder by drag and drop, expand/shrink partitions etc.

The only downside for some users is the free version does not have incremental backups, but tbh with speed of modern ssd/nvme drives, I do not use these much anymore.

Fortunately, I have 4 V7 paid licences and 5 V8 paid licences, so I am unlikely to change in near future. I am more likely to expire than Macrium Reflect in the next decade LOL. Anybody who uses the paid version knows it is worth the money (for a perpetual licence).

In the end, if you want real quality/flexibilty in an app, you have to pay for it.

If you want a BASIC free version other than Macrium Reflect, all the main players are pretty much the same, and it really does not matter too much which you select. The most important thing is using something!

Re. REFS, I would be very surprised if any of the free versions handled that, as that would be seen as a premium feature.

I can only recommend the same Backup/Restore program that I used first in 1997, and still use today (with a few upgrades).
I got it for FREE in 1997, and after it was abandoned by Symantec, it's still out there roaming around on the internet, FREE for those who want to download it.

The company, "Broadcom" acquired the program that I'm still using, wrapped it in a Windows shell, and makes it available as an ISO.

Ghost 11.5 is the program, and it can be run from a CD or USB Flash Drive. It totally bypasses Windows and can back up a Windows partition even if Windows itself can not boot up the PC. I've been told that it will also back up Linux, or Server, or even just a data disk (no OS).
And, the image files it creates can be preformed with NO compression, FAST Compression, or HIGH Compression.

For those who want to download it and try it, it's available for FREE, from:

Cheers Mates,
TM
PS: For anyone, who wants to use Ghost 11.5, I've attached the Ghost Explorer program file.
Running Ghost Explorer from within Windows, a person can look at the files inside a Ghost Image.

TechnoMage2021 said:

I can only recommend the same Backup/Restore program that I used first in 1997, and still use today (with a few upgrades).
I got it for FREE in 1997, and after it was abandoned by Symantec, it's still out there roaming around on the internet, FREE for those who want to download it.

The company, "Broadcom" acquired the program that I'm still using, wrapped it in a Windows shell, and makes it available as an ISO.

Ghost 11.5 is the program, and it can be run from a CD or USB Flash Drive. It totally bypasses Windows and can back up a Windows partition even if Windows itself can not boot up the PC. I've been told that it will also back up Linux, or Server, or even just a data disk (no OS).
And, the image files it creates can be preformed with NO compression, FAST Compression, or HIGH Compression.

For those who want to download it and try it, it's available for FREE, from:

Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021 Free Download

Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021 Free Download Latest Version. It is full offline installer standalone setup of Symantec Ghost Boot CD 2021.

getintopc.com

Cheers Mates,
TM
PS: For anyone, who wants to use Ghost 11.5, I've attached the Ghost Explorer program file.
Running Ghost Explorer from within Windows, a person can look at the files inside a Ghost Image.

Click to expand...

Nice site Downloading Now
Thank you

Thanks again: I'm going to put Easus ToDo Backup, AOMEI Backupper Standard and MiniTool ShadowMaker forward as "reasonable" free options. But I will continue to recommend MR because I, too, believe it offers better functionality (even if it must be purchased) than those other options. Thanks very much for all the great insights and inputs.
=Ed=

Ed Tittel said:

Thanks again: I'm going to put Easus ToDo Backup, AOMEI Backupper Standard and MiniTool ShadowMaker forward as "reasonable" free options. But I will continue to recommend MR because I, too, believe it offers better functionality (even if it must be purchased) than those other options. Thanks very much for all the great insights and inputs.
=Ed=
View attachment 73051

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Use multi. I was AOMEI & Windows 7 backup & restore. I also occasionally clone my C: drive to an identical SSD using Minitools.

Ed Tittel said:

I've got to update my ComputerWorld article on backing up Windows 10 and 11 in the next week or so.

Click to expand...

When will your article be coming out?

My Free solution for System imaging backups, that is as good or even better then old Norton Ghost Is: Clonezilla...... It works on everything and even on filesystem that isn't supported and encrypted disks, as it has sector by sector cloning as last resource if the file system isn't supported.

For personal data backup i use: Freefilesync.. This works on Windows, Linux and Mac-OS...... and for me that uses both Linux and Windows, i love to have the same Programs/software on every system.. That way i dont need to keep up with functions and updates of several different software and that they work in different ways and so on and on...
3 OS's = 1 software That is the way to go in life.

Marie SWE said:

My Free solution for System imaging backups, that is as good or even better then old Norton Ghost Is: Clonezilla...... It works on everything and even on filesystem that isn't supported and encrypted disks, as it has sector by sector cloning as last resource if the file system isn't supported.

Clonezilla - About

For personal data backup i use: Freefilesync.. This works on Windows, Linux and Mac-OS...... and for me that uses both Linux and Windows, i love to have the same Programs/software on every system.. That way i dont need to keep up with functions and updates of several different software and that they work in different ways and so on and on...
3 OS's = 1 software That is the way to go in life.

FreeFileSync

Download FreeFileSync 13.5. FreeFileSync is a free open source data backup software that helps you synchronize files and folders on Windows, Linux and macOS.

freefilesync.org

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FreeFileSync/RealTimeSync are simply brilliant, IMO

How does FreeFileSync image your system drive?

Stigg said:

How does FreeFileSync image your system drive?

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It doesn’t as far as I know, but it‘s a “Free Windows Backup Program”

Macrium Reflect is often offered at a very good discount. Look out for offers on Black Friday. I bought four licenses for £50 last November.