I’d have even more recommendations if I had more time.
This comes up often enough that I want to address it and explain why. It’s simple:
- I recommend Macrium Reflect.
- I recommend EaseUS Todo.
These two things can both be true at the same time.
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Backup program recommendations
I recommend both Macrium Reflect and EaseUS Todo because they meet my requirements for a backup program. They’re different, but both are good. Pick the one that works best for you. I don’t care which tool you use as long as you back up.
My requirements
Both programs meet my requirements for securely and completely backing up your machine.
My requirements? A good backup program is able to:
- Create full-disk image backups.
- Create incremental image backups.
- Restore to an empty hard disk (aka “bare metal” restore).
- Extract single files from backup images.
- Schedule backups to happen automatically.
There are bonus features that I could add to the list (for example, I love Image Guardian in Reflect and Security Zone and Backup Protection in Todo), but that’s my bare minimum.
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution
While both programs meet those requirements, they differ in ways that matter to some people.
- Macrium Reflect no longer has a free version. EaseUS Todo does.
- Macrium Reflect is purchased via subscription. EaseUS Todo can be a single purchase.
- EaseUS Todo is headquartered in China. Macrium Reflect is out of the UK.
- EaseUS Todo has fairly aggressive marketing (especially if using the free version). Macrium Reflect is more reasonable/restrained.
And, of course, their user interfaces are different.
People find one preferable to the other for a variety of reasons, ranging from perceived simplicity to perceived professionalism.
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Backing up is that important
I don’t care which one you use. Backing up is so important that if having multiple recommendations means you’re more likely to select one and actually back up, then I’ve done my job.
If there were more hours in the day and it meant more people would back up, I’d probably have a third or even a fourth recommendation.
I hear regularly of many other backup solutions. Some meet my minimum requirements and some do not. Those that do all have pros and cons along the lines of the differences I’ve mentioned already: location, user interface, reputation, etc.
But given that I have two available recommendations that I believe in, I feel like I’ve got ya covered.
Do this
Back up. That much is clear.
Use either of the tools that I recommend, but back up. Heck, even if it motivates you to use a tool I’ve not mentioned, back up.
It’s that important.
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Another one I’ve tried with success is Paragon Free Backup. It fulfills all those requirements and is located in Germany. I’ve recommended it as an answer to an Ask Leo! question from someone who wanted a free non-Chinese solution, and the response was that it worked well. So if any of you feel up to it, you might to try it out and let us know. You can even run two different backup programs while you are testing with no conflicts as long as your backup drive has room.
I bought EaseUS several years ago after reading Leo’s articles. My backup drives are large enough that I have it make a weekly image of my C drive and daily incremental backups of my D drive, with a full backup every 5 days; overkill, but I have plenty of space. I still need to get cloud storage for disaster recovery.
When LastPass dropped the ball, l switched to paid Bitwarden after reading other Leo articles. $10/year is cheap protection, and it’s second nature.
Thanks, Leo!