Backup for laptop??

[albireo13]

I have Lenovo laptop with 512G SSD storage. I use it for mostly documents and streaming video. So far I have not backed it up. I don't need to backup a disc image, mostly just data.
I figure

What do folks like to use for laptop backup solutions?

 

[retire-early]

I have Lenovo laptop with 512G SSD storage. I use it for mostly documents and streaming video. So far I have not backed it up. I don't need to backup a disc image, mostly just data.
I figure

What do folks like to use for laptop backup solutions?

It is rather shortsighted not to make an image of the SSD.

Do you want to waste time waiting for Windows 10 updates after installing Windows 10?
Do you have the media to allow you to do a clean installation of Windows 10?
Do you know how to install Windows 10?
Do you want to waste time hunting for drivers?

 

[jollystomper]

It is worthwhile to have a backup image of the SSD. Or at least of the recovery partition of the SSD. But I do not think you need to have an ongoing backup process for the image/partition, if you are willing to have the Windows updates be reinstalled. I do that with my laptops since they are not my primary machines, so the time to reinstall the updates if I need to on them is of no consequence. I take a disc image about once a year using disc imaging software.

I also try not to keep any of my data on them for backup. They are used mostly for convenience, and any files I create when using them are on shared network drives. So I do not have a process for backing up specific data on them. If I need to I would just replicate the process I have for my primary desktop, keeping all my data in a single folder hierarchy and automatically backing up the folder hierarchy onto multiple network and removable drives.

 

[jim584672]

I use Clonezilla for image backups. Also the rsync command to back up data folders to an external drive.

 

[easysurfer]

I always make backup images of my systems.

Easier to restore from an image than reinstalling.

For my laptop I've been using Rescuezilla as more graphical (which I like) than Clonezilla.

My data is store not on laptop but desktop. For that, I use Macrium Reflect to make scheduled daily backups of my data and system.

 

[Sunset]

OP - As others have said make an image perhaps once per year.
Then copy the data to flash drives or external USB drives every week or whenever you have large changes to keep the data secure.

 

[Ronstar]

I have a Western Digital Elements 2TB external hard drive that backs up my MacBook Pro through Apple's Time Machine.

 

[Freedom56]

A portable external USB hard drive.

 

[OldShooter]

Well, you certainly don't have to be in any hurry to save a backup image. After all, you only need one. Just be sure to do it the night before the fire.

... What do folks like to use for laptop backup solutions?

Good backups need to be automatic. Procrastination is the enemy. I suggest adding an NAS to your network and setting up backup software to run fairly frequently.

I use Acronis software and Synology RAID drives, but that is fairly heavy-duty. Something like this: https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/cloud-storage/wd-my-cloud-home#WDBVXC0020HWT-NESN Although it apparently isn't a true NAS, it is probably adequate. A better option might be this box: https://www.synology.com/en-us/products/DS120j but you will have to also buy a disk. Our local CraigsList routinely offers relatively small (1tb-3tb) discs where people have run out of space in servers. I would not worry at all about buying a used disk if it was strictly for backup. It will run very seldom, as Synology has a "sleep" mode during inactivity.

Re software, check out others' suggestions here. Acronis is big and slow, and it includes features you're probably not too interested in.

 

[Gotadimple]

You can make it simple or hard.

You need a recovery image of what is on your hard drive and you can store it on a USB drive. It lets you start up your system if the files on the hard drive become corrupted.

If you are on a Windows PC, you can buy a USB plug in drive, sometimes called a laptop drive. Mine is 1TB. Then set up Windows to do an automatic backup to the drive on a schedule. I keep mine plugged in all the time to a USB hub.

 

[mountainsoft]

I have Lenovo laptop with 512G SSD storage. I use it for mostly documents and streaming video. So far I have not backed it up. I don't need to backup a disc image, mostly just data. I figure. What do folks like to use for laptop backup solutions?

Image backups are really the way to go. Without it, if your disc fails, or a virus corrupts your data, you'll have a long process of reinstalling the operating system (assuming you have the install disc and activation codes), reinstalling all of your applications, and resetting all of your personal settings. And you would have to do that even if you don't keep any personal data on the machine.

With an image backup you just restore the data to the drive (even a new disc of a different size) and you're ready to boot up again.

I backup to an external USB hard drive using Macrium Reflect. One of the better features is that it only backs up parts of the disc that have changed. For instance, my 2TB hard drive only took 4 minutes to backup last night because it only had to copy drive sectors that had changed.

I also like that I can restore individual files from my image backups when needed (the main reason I avoided image backups for years).

Macrium Reflect can also consolidate backup sets so you can perform repeated backups without filling up your backup drive.

My backups run automatically each night, then I swap my backup drive with a second backup drive I keep off site about once a month.

You may not think you need to backup often, until your drive crashes and you realize how much you've lost. Been there, done that, don't recommend it. Backup regularly.

 

[walkinwood]

I use an online backup too. I don't want to lose all my documents and photographs if this place goes up in flames.

 

[albireo13]

Thanks all.
I think I will get a USB external HD and do image backups to that. In addition, I will backup data and files to the cloud. I have Dropbox for that.

 

[ERD50]

Question for those doing an image of your system: How do you verify that image?

I've always lived by the adage that if you haven't tested your backup, and restored from it, you should assume you don't have a backup.

Back when my main machine was an iMac, I used a program called SuperDuper! which was near perfect - it create an image, and I could then boot from that image w/o making any changes to anything, the Mac just let you select it at boot time (IIRC, you held the option key to show other bootable systems). So I'd make the image, then boot from it and run it a while just to make sure it was working. It was great.

On Linux, you can make an image (using tools like Clonezilla, or others), but as far as I know, you have to jump through some hoops to boot from it, like removing the hard drive you cloned, otherwise they conflict as 2 identical systems on the same machine. I have not found a great solution for that. Though I regularly back up my data (and test it!).

-ERD50

 

[easysurfer]

Macrium Reflect has a verify option. Takes longer of course, but does a verify after the image completes.

 

[jim584672]

On Linux, you can make an image (using tools like Clonezilla, or others), but as far as I know, you have to jump through some hoops to boot from it, like removing the hard drive you cloned, otherwise they conflict as 2 identical systems on the same machine. I have not found a great solution for that. Though I regularly back up my data (and test it!).

-ERD50

Clonezilla is OS independent. It boots into temporary live Linux and will back up any HD with any OS. The image is not bootable and will not conflict with anything. It must be restored to be usable.

 

[albireo13]

Not sure how effective an image would be.
If my laptop died in a year or so, I might likely be replacing it with a different model.
Same OS .... WIN10 but, HW configuration would be different.

Would the image be bootable in a different laptop?

 

[folivier]

One thing about SSD drives I inadvertently found out. They don't write data like a regular HDD does. In a regular HDD when you delete a file or format (gasp) a HDD it just changes the name of the file(s) so it can be written over. Or something like that. But in an SSD it actually erases the files and they may or may not be recoverable.
A few years ago when using a HDD dock to copy a SSD full of photos it erased them. I shut it down before it finished and after trying myself then having a local data recovery expert work on it I was able to recover about 20% of the photos.
So yes, please make a backup. Especially if it's an SSD.

 

[Unpaintedhuffhines]

most of these solutions seem very complicated (to me at least). I use Carbonite for all of my computers. I set it up and then forget it. Once a week (or maybe it's once a month) I get an email that says how many files are backed up or if there are any problems: "hey, computer xyz hasn't been backed up in a week, you should check on it." It's a fixed price regardless of the amount of data.

 

[albireo13]

for disk image backup I am thinking of getting a 1TB USB3.0 Flash Drive.
Any reason to go with a HDD over a Flash Drive for this?

Thx

 

[jim584672]

Not sure how effective an image would be.
If my laptop died in a year or so, I might likely be replacing it with a different model.
Same OS .... WIN10 but, HW configuration would be different.

Would the image be bootable in a different laptop?

If the hardware is different the drivers will not work. If it did work you would lose Win 10 license activation since it checks the hardware.

 

[easysurfer]

Not sure how effective an image would be.
If my laptop died in a year or so, I might likely be replacing it with a different model.
Same OS .... WIN10 but, HW configuration would be different.

Would the image be bootable in a different laptop?

I'll try to answer the how effective an image would be part ...

On my Win computer, I use Macrium Reflect to have scheduled backups done daily as well as additional manual backups (once a month of my data and once a quarter of the system).

I say during the course of a year, I find myself have to restore from a backup about 10 times, give or take. Usually when something I've done (like a setting or testing a program) that makes the system act strange or an update. Easier to just restore from a recent backup than try to figure out what happened and try to undo.

Plus, knowing I have a good image, should I get hit with ransomware, I can just restore back to a time before the hit instead of having the computer locked up.

For me, backing up isn't about replacing a computer but about recovering should something happen to my data (which I can't afford to lose) or system (which would be a pain to reinstall and set up).

 

[ERD50]

Clonezilla is OS independent. It boots into temporary live Linux and will back up any HD with any OS. The image is not bootable and will not conflict with anything. It must be restored to be usable.

Thanks for that info. For me, that is not ideal - if I have to restore to use the image, it's pretty hard to test that image. That means wiping out my original, just to test it right? So if the image is hosed up (or more likely, I screw up something), I'm now dead in the water.

That's why I'd like to be able to create the image, and re-boot into it w/o changing anything on my system, other than pointing to it.

In Linux, the GRUB boot loader (GRand Unified Boot-loader) seems needlessly complex and inflexible (or I just don't understand/appreciate it), as it doesn't allow you to boot from that image (because the UUIDs are also cloned, so create a conflict), and updating it seems ticky and can leave you with an unbootable system until you fix it with a LIVE CD/USB. I've read about the ways to change the UUID on the clone, but I think I only got it to work once, and it was pretty involved.

I've resolved myself too just backing up the data. Fortunately, reinstalling Linux is pretty painless, and I've documented my apps/set up (but are out of date now!). And I haven't had a need to reinstall the system anyhow, so it hasn't mattered (yet!).

most of these solutions seem very complicated (to me at least). I use Carbonite for all of my computers. I set it up and then forget it. Once a week (or maybe it's once a month) I get an email that says how many files are backed up or if there are any problems: "hey, computer xyz hasn't been backed up in a week, you should check on it." It's a fixed price regardless of the amount of data.

The other solutions offered probably sound more complex than they are. But Carbonite might be a fine way to go as well. But, have you tested it? Have you routinely tried recovering a file? If not, see my previous note that says "If you have not tested your back up, assume you do not have a back up".

Also, if you have a major crash, you have to wait for Carbonite to ship you a hard drive (overnight I assume), and you still have to go through a recovery process from that drive - and that might keep you down longer than if you had an image on your shelf.

-ERD50

 

[BigNick]

A good question to ask yourself when you backup is, what would I restore if things went south?

In my case this is just "The contents of my Documents and Pictures folders". That represents Word documents, PDFs, and photos that I care enough about to have put somewhere and named.

Everything else I clearly couldn't care less about, by definition. I can download and reinstall most of the software I have on there. If, after my computer dies and I get a new one, I fail to download some utility because I can't remember that I had it, well, I probably didn't need it.

On that basis, Google Drive is fine for me. With the Windows app you can configure automatic backups of up to 15GB to up to three Gmail accounts. For most people if you have more than 15GB of documents then they probably aren't all that important anyway, unless perhaps you are a graphic artist (you sure as heck didn't type that amount).

Currently I use this two ways. First, my Documents folder is backed up after every change. That covers me in case my hard drive dies in the middle of the day. Second, I make a nightly whole-tree copy of my Documents folder to a backup area, which is then synchronised to Google (without purging deleted documents unless I do it manually) at 3am. So even if I overwrite my manuscript with a recipe the next day, I can get the previous night's state of that file back. (And in any case, I create a new file every day with the date in the filename. Belt, suspenders, and airbag!)

Another advantage of doing this is that all my backed-up documents are right there on my phone or in any Internet café. If I get a new important piece of paper from the government, I scan it and if I'm overseas and get mugged, I can still produce it at the consulate. Sure, sometimes the original is needed, but many times having a copy will be a whole lot better than not having a copy.

 

[Sunset]

When I was using a 250 G SSD, I found (from this forum) the best backup for me was to clone the SSD to another SSD.
I was able to quickly test the clone worked by opening my box, unplugging my original SSD and plug in the new SSD. Then boot up.

I did this to also upgrade from Linux 16 to 18 , made my clone, ensured it worked. then upgraded the "better" of the two SSD's, knowing if it corrupted/failed in upgrade. I could clone again and still have 2 copies of my drive.

I also do tar file backups (compressed backups) of my data files every week or two to some encrypted flash drives.