I have some theories.
Some time ago, I posted a recommendation for a specific backup program, and it got me thinking about backing up in general.
It’s a common topic here on Ask Leo! for good reason. Not a day goes by that I don’t hear from someone who could have avoided a serious problem by having taken a backup.
So… why don’t you back up?
Why don't you back up?
Backing up your computer isn’t something most people think about until they lose something important. You’re not lazy; you just haven’t been burned yet. In an ideal world, backups would be built in. They’re not. So please, back up your stuff before you need it.
Computers should just work
It’s tempting to think you’re just lazy, but that’s unfair.
We all expect computers to just work. Unfortunately, that’s not a realistic expectation. Computers aren’t toasters or coffee pots that work fairly consistently without much thought.
Those of us who have used computers for any length of time know better. Not because we’re any smarter, but because we’ve experienced catastrophic data loss at some point or another. We know better because we’ve been burned.
Until you’ve had that gut-wrenching experience, you haven’t seen that the inconvenience of backing up pales in comparison to the disaster of losing precious data (like irreplaceable photos or the documents you’ve worked so long and hard on).
All of a sudden, backing up doesn’t look like such a bad idea.
So how can we prevent you, or anyone else, from having to go through the experience?
I’m not sure we can. I honestly think this is one of those cases where there is no substitute for living through the painful experience (hopefully only once).
All we can do is be ready with solutions so it doesn’t have to happen again.
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Related
How to Back Up Windows
Don’t risk losing everything! I’ll show you how to back up Windows the right way, step by step, using free tools you already have plus one easy extra. Protect your files, photos, and memories so you’re ready when, not if, disaster strikes.#30103
Wishing for an ideal world
In an ideal world, none of us would have to worry about backing up. In a truly ideal world, data would never be lost, hardware would never fail, and we’d never accidentally permanently delete something we would need later.
Needless to say, we don’t live in an ideal world.
But there might be an opportunity to make things better.
The fundamental problem here is that users — you and I — have to recognize the issue and then proactively take preventative action.
What if we didn’t have to?
What if backups were baked in?
What if installing the operating system on your new computer included a true, fully featured backup solution, instead of the typically crippled, hard-to-use applications? What if, like choosing a password, you couldn’t even complete initial setup without having done something to address the risk of data loss — something better than enabling a Recycle Bin and something more complete and robust than Windows’ System Restore? What if every computer came with a backup hard drive or a free and complete online backup service?
I have to acknowledge that the Mac’s Time Machine is pretty close. It still requires user initiative and a second hard disk to set it up, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Even OneDrive’s backup “feature”, while an unmitigated disaster in many respects, at least pays lip service to the concept. But it is a disaster, and it’s no replacement for a “real” backup.
Do this
Please back up.
I know I get repetitive and annoying about backing up here on Ask Leo!, but believe me, it’s with good cause. Not only have I experienced data loss, but I’ve also experienced how easily backups can save my bacon. If you saw people needlessly lose important data as often as I do, I think you’d understand that this is a much larger issue than most people think.
So, what solution do you use? What should the average user do?
Why don’t you back up?
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I keep an backup encrypted flash drive on my person when I go out. I also have a portable HD (encrypted) BU at home (kept away from the PC in case of a voltage spike). My problem is, I use Google Drive, and how do I backup when the cloud/SSD (Windows 11) mirrors my every move?
I have had the catastrophe, and still, I struggle with my backup because it isn’t in any way automated. It relies on me remembering and taking action, and then, only on my precious data. The challenge I face is the size of my dataset. I have a 1 TB SSD drive for my system stuff. All my data – mostly photos – is on a 10 TB spinning drive. Now that drive isn’t full, but I currently have about 4.7 TB of data to backup. A full backup takes a really long time, so it doesn’t get done as often as it could. So, I need an automated system that will allow me to do incremental backups. As I’m on two different drives, I suspect I need a special setup. At some point it would be great to see an article about backing up large data sets.
EaseUS Todo and Paragon Backup free versions and Macrium Reflect paid perform incremental backups.
After using the free version of Macrium for several years, I bought the paid version a couple of months ago.
I set it up to do regular incremental backups. When I boot my computer, I get a pop-up that says incremental backup started. Then a few minutes later, I get another pop-up that says incremental backup cannot be completed. I don’t know why.mI’d like a suggestion or two on how to cure this thanks.
1. Check the amount of free disk space on the partition where you store your backups.
2. Is your backup partition always available when you start your computer?
3. Take a look at the logs in Macrium Reflect. They may offer direction if not a solution.
Ernie
Hi Nancy,
Like many here, I too have had the catastrophe. In addition, I also have an enmorous amount of data which takes a really long time to backup so naturally I put it off. This is how I solved my issue of not backing up and now do it everyday. I did purchase Macrium Reflect many years ago and have been really happy especially since it allows incremental backups:
I have three drives, “C” which is my main drive. “E” which is a drive I just use for my data and “G” which is my backup drive.
On my backup drive “G” I created the following files:
~DO NOT DELETE~ Original Source File
c-drive Users
Business
Computer
Music
Pictures
Videos
Investments
I realized when working on my computer I usually did not work on all of the files at once. I work from home so I’m in my Business file all day and usually look at my Picture or Video file on the weekends etc. My Picture and Video files are my largest and it took a long time for Macriumn Reflect to search all of those files when I just needed to backup my Business file at the end of each day. No need to have Macriumn Reflect search files that I have not changed and are already backed up.
1. To accomplish this all of my data is on my “E” drive.
2. I still maintain a normal “C” drive with all of the folders pictures, videos documents etc. Yes it does have data especially my documents folder!
3. Then I created a new definition file in Macriumn Reflect for each folder. Then ran a full backup for each folder.
Now that I am setup I just run an incremental backup to the folder that I am using. In my case it is a nightly backup to my Business folder and usually my c-drive folder. For me these are used the most. Now lets say it is now the weekend and I want to look and add and subtrack files from my very large picture file. Great I do all my work in my “E’ drive Picture folder and only need to run an incremental backup onn the folder when I’m done. Of course any folders will need to have an increnmental backup if used let’s say you worked in your business folder, added some docs on your c-drive folder and worked in your Picture folder all in the same day.
I will admitt it will take some work to set this all up especially if you are not currently running a seperate data folder however there is a work around which would be to set up a seperate file and folder definiation folder in Macriumn Reflect. Note I run a sepertate data folder because I have a very large picture and Video file which does not need to be on my “c” drive.
Lastly this has saved me twice now.
1. Lost a hard drive about a year ago and had all my data, obtained a new computer and was only down for a day.
2. I live in an apartment and we had a fire alarm and were required to evacuate. It was easy to just grab my backup drive knowing all my data was there so I didn’t panic.
I just set my backup programs to perform system image and incremental backups. That way, everything is taken care of in my backups. It avoids complicated setups. Of course, you can set up those individual backups to run automatically, but one pass of your backup program is the easiest and most effective way to back up.
As for grabbing your backup in a disaster, I thought, I’d just grab my laptop which is my main computer. Then I realized my backup drive is worth more than my laptop as it has many more files than my laptop. Of course, I back that drive up because it has original files.
I have backups scheduled to run once a week using the ROBOCOPY command in BAT files. Just the important folders but no system files. To backup my Thunderbird profile, Thunderbird has to be stopped first to avoid potential corruption. I have to remember to do this manually prior to a backup so it is not done so often. I’m not sure how to stop Thunderbird from a BAT file other than by killing the process.
I very regularly delete all emails from AOL using a browser because I don’t like them floating about the internet forever. i.e. I don’t rely on the web storage.
nirsoft as a command line utility to get programs to close, but last I tried it with Thunderbird (for the same reasons as you – backups), it wasn’t working for me.
I schedule my backup on the first of the month. I back up the documents, music, pictures and any special folders I set up.
I don’t back up program files as the programs normally have to be loaded from a setup file or disk to work correctly.
The problem with the backup program included with Windows is that it expects to be reloading to the same computer, and often will not work if you replace computers.
I don’t like OneDrive since removing a file from another computer affects the file on my main computer. And I don’t want every document file available on other computers.
If you take system image backups, all that is taken care of. And it’s extremely rare that you can restore a system image to dissimilar hardware. Generally, your backup is only good for restoring your data, but your data is usually worth more than your hardware and programs. For example, your photos are often worth more than any amout of money.
I know exactly why some people don’t backup. The software is too f*ing complicated and doesn’t always work. I have tried two of the most commonly recommended applications, AOMEI and EaseUs Todo. I had to give up on both. EaseUS was never able to get its email notifications to work for me. I just recently installed the free version of Macrium Reflect to test it. Thanks to your video, I was able to ignore or accept the defaults for a great many settings. This right here is what stops many people. Instead of recommending basic settings for people, the user is presented with settings they don’t even understand. Even with your video, I had to research on how to set up email notifications for the outcomes of the backups. I had to research how to edit a backup definition (not easy to find). And lastly but definitely not the least, is the fact that my nightly backup does not regularly start at the time I set. I submitted a ticket to Macrium and have been in contact with them several times, including sending screen shots. They are now researching my issue.
For the record, I never use email notifications. For a variety of reasons, but since that seems to be your biggest issue perhaps not doing that could get you further.
If you are not going to back up, at least turn off encryption to make it easier to recover from an issue. I’ve helped lots of people with lost passwords or messed up hard drives, but once we hit encryption, many times it’s a total loss.
I would agree, but there’s no excuse for not backing up and in many cases, encryption is necessary.
I’m currently using Macrium Reflect Free 8 for my backup regimen, which consists of a weekly full image backup and six differential image backups, keeping four backup sets so I can restore a file as much as twenty-eight days old. Additionally, I have file history enabled in Windows 11 as a just-in-case, and I sync my data folders with corresponding folders on mega.nz, using their MEGAsync desktop app to det it up.
All this works very reliably for me, but I dual-boot Windows 11 Pro 25H2 with Garuda Mokka Linux, and Macrium Reflect is a Windows-only program, so if I ever decide to drop Windows all together, I want a solution I can use on my Garuda installation. I’ve read about urBackup, an open source cross-platform backup solution, and I’m wondering if anyone here uses it, and how easy it is to use. Any feed back about it would be greatly appreciated.
With all the above said, if nothing else, I may try using WinBoat in Garuda Linux to get a containerized Windows installation, and install Macrium Reflect Free 8 there if I ever decide that I’ve had it with Windows, or on the other hand, I may embark on a new experiment, by generating a current full backup of my system disk (where I currently have Windows and Garuda installed) and wiping the drive to install Garuda as the only OS, then use WinBoat to containerize Windows for Macrium and the games I enjoy playing from the Windows store, to see how it all works out.
Any thoughts?
Ernie