What is the top recommended "set and forget" backup solution for Windows 11?
What is the top recommended "set and forget" backup solution for Windows 11?
Good Morning, All,
It appears Acronis has removed support for Acronis True-Image 2021 on Win11. This was the core part of my backup plan, so I’m now looking for a replacement. I understand this topic has been widely discussed, but perhaps we can consolidate the information.
I personally dislike software as a service (SOS) and always prefer to buy a perpetual license once I’m satisfied with the product. I also know that @USAFRet is considered an authority on the matter, so I hope he can offer his advice.
I am very set up and want it to run automatically, which would help avoid the frustration of having something but not using it.
So, with this context:
What should I purchase and how should I configure it?
TIA,
Larry
Are you trying to back up "everything" with a single application?
Or one for Windows/system/installed applications and another for personal data?
Now that Macrium Reflect Free is going or gone, I see more talk about Aomei Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite Free. Never used either.
I use Macrium Reflect paid version for Windows/applications and SyncBackFree for data. I think that's a pretty common combo.
Imaging applications can typically back up "everything", but they have certain shortcomings for personal data backup...you can live with/work around those shortcomings if you want.
I rely on Macrium Reflect.
Each device and each physical storage device follows its own timetable.
Complete drive copies. Depending on the setup, either just a sequence of full copies or full plus incremental ones.
All data is saved in a folder structure on my NAS.
My system and its six drives...incremental every night. Beginning at midnight, then each drive at 0030, 0100, 0130, etc.
Maintained for a rolling 30 days.
Another device in the house receives a full image every other night. Kept for two weeks.
My HTPC gets a full copy once a week.
How often you perform this depends entirely on you. The scheduling is highly adaptable.
Now...some will complain that Macrium no longer offers a "free" version.
Well, none of its rivals have the same path. Acronis, EaseUS, etc...all followed similar routes. A brief trial, then it becomes costly.
But...for me, Macrium proves to be genuinely worth purchasing.
It "just functions".
And yes, I've needed it a few times to recover after a major issue.
USAFet, you're definitely right, especially given how alike your setups are! Another point: just to clarify, what are the sizes of the drives you're backing up and the target storage device?
My setup includes four 6TB spinning platter drives and a 4TB M.2 NVMe drive. I consulted Macrium this morning and they suggested using a 20TB NAS for the target drive.
I own six 1TB drives in my primary system, including various SSD models. For your setup, a 20TB volume is quite reasonable. The volume I’m using right now is 8TB. This applies to my main system and all the others—six systems stored in the same folder structure. Presently, Macrium Images are utilizing around 5TB of actual space on the NAS. A complete image of each drive, followed by a mix of incremental and differential backups.
My small HTPC receives a full image every other day. It maintains a continuous stream of 10 images. However, its C drive holds only about 42 to 43 GB, resulting in roughly 430 GB of used storage.
I'm still using Macrium Reflect Free, it is still available from
MajorGeeks
but I only use it to image my system drive (and I keep the most recent 14 images). For all my data drives I use SyncBack SE (paid for) - but only because I have many Greek filenames and the
SyncBack Free
version doesn't handle those. SyncBack does a file-by-file copy but only of files that have changed, so once you've run the initial backup the nightly backups run quite fast. With SyncBack SE I can also backup to my cloud service for added security. SyncBack is highly customisable with many options for selecting what is backed-up, and how and where it's backed-up.
I backup locally to an external HDD. I have two partitions on there; one exFAT formatted - because that's the most efficient for the large Macrium reflect files, and the other NTFS formatted - because that's the most efficient for the smaller and more varied SyncBack SE files. To protect against ransomware the external HDD is connected to the mains power via a
USB controlled mains switch
. This allows an app on the PC to turn the external HDD on an off.
My 'fire and forget' backup system is based on a batch file that is scheduled to run every night. Here's what it does...
Turn on the external HDD and wait 30 seconds for it to come online
Run the Macrium Reflect system drive image
Run the SyncBack SE backup of my data drives
Wait 30 seconds for everything to close and then turn off the external HDD
Run the SyncBack SE backup of my data drives to my cloud service
I've been running this backup regime for many years now and it's never let me down. My external HDD is only online long enough to run the backups (about 10 minutes). I could make the batch file disconnect from the Internet (to prevent ransomware phoning home for the encryption key) and then enable it again at the end, but with the cloud backups as well I don't think that's necessary.
Very good that all is running smoothly
However, unless you have had to do some sort of recent recovery or otherwise verified that the data is backed up then there remains some level of uncertainty and risk.
Mr. Murphy loves "fire and forget" because we do forget.....
Hi, Guys,
I've now found three methods for performing backups through imaging and cloning: Macrium Reflect (Free Version) which is still available for download; DiskGenius, which is free software; and Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office $69 for a permanent license, which can be used as an upgrade if you have an older version of Acronis True Image or Cyber Protect Home Office. Acronis True Image doesn't support Windows 11, so affordable licenses are often found on Ebay from people transitioning from Windows 10 to 11.
As soon as my new drives arrive next week (I'm upgrading from 4TB to 6TB units), I'll set up the same backup process for each of these programs and compare them in terms of ease of setup, backup speed, and size. I'll share my detailed findings in a few weeks.
Thanks a lot for all the suggestions! I believe USAFret's reply and the backup procedure should be worth paying attention to, given the many similar discussions on this topic!
Larry