Looking for good tools to back up my computer so I can fix things quickly?
Looking for good tools to back up my computer so I can fix things quickly?
I work as a computer repair tech and I want to buy a good program for copying files (backing up) and making sure they are safe. I was looking at Macrium Reflect, but it costs $580! Do I need to pay that just to copy my customer's computers? Would the free version or something cheaper work for me to do my job? Any thoughts would be great thanks!
If you are a plumber who needs to buy a truck to carry your tools or an arborist who needs to buy a good quality chainsaw or a solar panel installer who needs to buy a good quality hammer drill, then business level tools cost money. Or, you can half-ass it, which hurts your customer's systems. Have you looked into what the technicians license gives you?
If you work in plumbing, you might think buying a truck is necessary. But if you're an arborist, getting a chainsaw isn't just about having one; it's all about using good quality gear. Same goes for solar panel installers—those tools need to be solidly made. If you try to cut corners on your equipment, you'll hurt the customer's systems more than anything else. Have you checked what a technician license actually buys you?
I have not tried Macrium, but Acronis True Image lets me make a simple bootable disk. I put this on my extra PCs and on the computers of customers to keep their stuff safe.
I will definitely test Acronis. I'll also check Windows file utilities like FFU and WIM. Thanks a lot!
The short answer is NO. There are free programs out there that do the same thing, so why pay money for something you could get for less? I have used Clonezilla for a long time and it works well for me. It might not have as many features as some expensive commercial tools. The program runs on a Live-CD, which means you don't need your computer's operating system to be installed first. Some of the main advantages I like about Clonezilla:
It saves a lot of other files (in the same place where image files are kept), including: A complete list of all hardware devices. S.M.A.R.T. data for every connected hard drive and SSD Checksums for your backup file. The content of the BIOS (you could theoretically use this to fix BIOS settings too - I haven't tested it myself). It can check if your image is safe to restore (the software does that anyway, so you don't have to worry about programs not working). Since the base OS is Linux (Debian or an Ubuntu variant are both available), support covers most file systems used for Linux and also NTFS and ExFAT. That means you can make a full backup even if someone uses Linux too.
I had been using CloneZilla before. Is it still broken if you try to copy a drive that is too small, like your hard drive? I remember it would just fail when trying to make a bigger one than it already was.
Last time I had this problem, I used Gparted to shrink the partitions first because I didn't realize Clonezilla could do it straight up. But, according to this article, shrinking should be able to fit into a smaller device. I haven't tried it yet, but I guess there is plenty of space on all the partitions involved so that the resize won't fail. In hindsight, it was kinda stupid not to test because I know for sure it works when you expand an hdd up. [edit] Forget most of what I wrote (unless using Gparted, which part are correct) - in the conclusion under the same link, it actually says Clonezilla cannot clone a larger disk into a smaller one.
Right, that's exactly why I quit using it back then. Just wanted to check if things had changed in recent years. Other tools like Macrium or Acronis just show how much space you actually use right now, not the full size of your drive or partition. So with a 1TB source drive but only 300GB used, I'd have 500GB left on target if it was just about consumption. Macrium handles this automatically, even their free version. But to answer the OP's question: you probably don't need to pay for the pricey Technician edition unless that specific feature is really what you need. If it matters to you, then grab it. That's why they offer a 14-day free trial. In good hands, CloneZilla does an amazing job. Macrium adds some extra features too.