Good Way To Mirror / Backup Personal Files
Dec 15, 2011
I'm trying to find the best way to
1) create a disk image for disaster recovery
2) synchronize folders and files to protect against accidental deletion, erroneous save-overs, transferring to another computer, etc.
I have a 1 Tb external hard drive which is plenty of space for me to use for both.Can be either one program that performs both functions, or two separate programs. I don't want automatic backups, since I plan to store my external drive in a fireproof safe soon. I need the sync'd files to be browse-able (not contained in a single image file)...just like a flash drive basically. I would like something that only backs up new files or ones that have been changed (to cut back on backup time...but maybe this is standard for syncing and mirroring programs. ??) Needs to be able to handle long file names A nice GUI Cost - free to low (I'd pay up to $30ish...but free would be great) I was thinking of using Windows 7 Backup & Restore for the disk imaging, and then SyncToy for the file/folder syncing...but is this the best option?
View 9 Replies
ADVERTISEMENT
Sep 24, 2009
I frequently backup files for other users and start w/ a new clean OS. I tried looking for some articles online, but none were really informative for me - wasn't what I was looking for.
I was wondering if I could get some help here. Doesn't really matter the OS, mostly XP, Vista, or even Windows 7, but I guess the file structure btw. Vista and Windows 7 arn't really much diff.
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jan 4, 2013
I am replacing my HHD with a SSD and made a mirror image on my backup external drive. When I tried to do the system image recovery, it fails to find the recovery information. It says the no disk that can be used for recovering the system disk can be found.
View 6 Replies
View Related
Jan 10, 2012
I consider myself relatively computer savvy, and I even talked to my IT-professional soon-to-be brother-in-law... but now I turn to you, BleepingComputer. I really need help here.Short Version:I keep all of my personal files on an external hard drive. That 1TB hard drive was getting full, so I bought a new 2.5TB hard drive. I start working from the files on the new drive. After about 30 seconds or so, folders just show as 0 bytes and "There are no files in this folder". The hard drive works on other computers (HP laptop) but not my Dell desktop. This has happened (sort of) with three different, brand new external hard drives. What would cause this?Super Long VersionI'm running a Dell Precision T5400 workstation with Windows 7 64Bit Home Premium. I keep two 1TB redundant drives at all times, synced monthly via SyncToy. The 1TB drives were filling up so I bought two 2TB Seagate external drives. And then this string of events happened:
1) Copied all of the data from the 1TB to a 2TB SEAGATE drive.
2) SyncToy'ed them to ensure that all of the data was definitely there.
3) Retired the old 1TB drive.
4) Began to duplicate the 2TB drive to the other 2TB drive.
5) In the middle of copying, I received the error, (something like) "Cannot copy files as the source file no longer exists".
6) Checked Disk Manager, and the 2TB drive shows up as RAW format now?! It was originally NTFS. Search Seagate forums and you'll find that this is a common problem.
7) Restart. Same problem. The other 2TB SEAGATE drive now has "USB device not recognized" errors.
8) Try restarting, copying over and over. Same results.
9) Plug both drives into my work laptop (Mac Bootcamp Windows 7 64bit). Both show up as "Drive needs to be formatted to proceed".
10) I format both of them and perform check disks on my Mac Laptop.
11) They're fine. Then I plug them into my Dell Desktop.
12) I run SeaTools on them. One has an error and can be RMA'd. The other is "USB device not recognized".I RMA them both and mail them in.At this point, I hate Seagate because they seemingly sold me two faulty 2TB drives.
13) I buy two new 2.5TB Western Digital Hard drives.(expensive. btw).
14) I un-retire my old 1TB drive and plug it into my Mac Bootcamp laptop. Disk has errors. Run the recovery tool. All seems well.
15) I copy my 1TB to one of the 2.5TB WD drives on my HP laptop (it's super old, and I had to go to work with my Mac)
16) I plug in the new 2.5TB drive to the Dell Desktop, and some of the folders show up empty?!?
17) Plug that drive back into the old HP Laptop all of the files show up.At this point, I'm super confused. There's clearly something wrong with my desktop?
18) I perform the following while checking the disk in between each new trial: system restore, uninstall USB drivers/host controllers, start in safe mode. Nothing works. Same problem. Folders show as empty.
19) Plug the drive back into the HP laptop. Files are there.
20) Re-install BIOS on the desktop. Folders show as empty.
21) Run Malwarebytes, HiJackThis... nothing out of the ordinary.
22) The computer doesn't fully start up when the 2.5TB WD drive is plugged in.
23) I run startup recovery. It spits out a bunch of errors. Fixes some, some not.
24) Folders show as empty.
View 13 Replies
View Related
Apr 25, 2011
Like my subject says, my comp won't start up and can't fix things automatically cause the Internet isnt hooked up. I'm worried that everything I have for school and music will be lost..
View 6 Replies
View Related
Apr 25, 2012
I have win 7 home basic in one of my laptop. I wanted to know if all my personal files and programs like ms office will go if I upgrade to win 7 ultimate. I have ultimate's cd with me. I just wanted to know if I will lose all my programs if I upgrade from home basic to ultimate.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Feb 12, 2009
The test result is under Windows 7 build 7000
1. Open backup and restore center
2. Set backup settings
a. Choose backup locations to local disk,for example f:
b. Choose [Let me choose]
c. What do you want to back up?
Only choose the folder of c:program fileswindows photo viewer
Do not choose [Include a system image]
d. Backup summary
Items are c:program fileswindows photo viewer
e. Save settings and start backup
Result:
There is no files under F:TEST-PCBackup Set 2008-09-29 032022Backup Files 2008-09-29 032022Backup files 1.zip
So, the question is why we can not backup this folder at the first time(it should be a full backup)
View 2 Replies
View Related
Jun 26, 2011
I have a computer with three partitions, the first with 100GB exclusively to Windows 7 (already installed), a partition for applications and another partition for personal files (photos, text, music, movies, etc.). I wonder how to configure the location of "My Documents", so that all users have only their personal files on drive of personal files. In Windows Explorer changed in each of the users the location of the Documents, Music, Video and Pictures.
- After changed the location of the folders above, there is still the same folders in C:users , and there are user settings that are there defined, eg Desktop, in C:Users. Is there any way to move all settings and folders to another drive?
- Is there any way to do this operation automatic? for future users I will have to repeat the same operation, how can I indicate that all future users will have their settings and documents specified in this specific drive?
I installed some applications and found that some applications did not demand that the location where it was set to be installed the application, having been installed in C:users and C:Program Files, intended that all applications (except for windows and Office) were installed in drive applications. How do I specify that this is the default drive for installation applications? Keeping the installations of Windows + Office in this drive. Applications installed by the administrator are available for all users or must be given access to other users ? How done? In the drive file, which should contain the users and shared files, meant that each user only gets access their documents and shared. Where and how can make this configuration?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jan 28, 2012
I have a "passwords file" which contains all the passwords for every account I have made. Now I know this isn't the safest thing, since it's on my computer where I can get a trojan and I can get every one hacked. So I wanted a place where I can store this file (maybe online storage)? So it's safe and not on my hard drive. I'm thinking Dropbox? How do I know it's safe and reliable there?
View 19 Replies
View Related
Dec 3, 2012
Any simple backup program that is capable of backing up large files incrementally by splitting the file and backing up only changed parts of the file? The files I'm talking about are files that get altered by appending stuff at the end of the file, e.g. log files or mailbox files, so it's generally possible to split a new version of the file at the exact point where the old version stopped, purely by file size.
Specifically, I want to back up Thunderbird and SeaMonkey mailboxes without having to create additional subfolders within those programs. I understand that if something had changed near the beginning of the file, then the whole file will have to be backed up, unless the backup program is capable of some very clever searching, but mostly the files will change only by having data appended to it.
View 5 Replies
View Related
Apr 24, 2012
I recently obtained a number of large video files. They have several different file types (file extensions). Among those types are:
.AVI .MKV .MPG .MPE .MP4 .WMV
There are other types as well.I'd very much like to perform some simple editing on these files. The most common editing operation is to extract or "split" a large file into several smaller component files. In other words, each of thse large files contain several small files - all strung together.For example, there may be 4 or 5 video clips in each file. Instead of creating one file for each "clip", the person who created these files just concatenated them all together in one file.So, I'd like to "split" each of these clips out of the single file and create a number of separate files - one for each clip.In addition, I would very much like to be able to convert files of one type to another type.I don't know a lot about the attributes of the various file types. I've read about them in Wikipedia and so I know a lttle about the reasons these file types were created and what the various differences are among them. The main reason that I'd like to convert most of these files to a single file type is that I consider it kind of sloppy to leave these files in there original file types.I have used the app Irfanview in the past to perform similar conversions on "still" files such as .JPEG or .GIF files.
1) How easy or difficult is it to convert video files from one type to another?
2) Should I expect to find one app that can do both editing and conversions? Or should I expect to get several different apps - some to convert files and some to edit files?
View 9 Replies
View Related
May 19, 2012
my Windows 7 after restoring it to factory configurations. I installed Ubuntu 12.04, the installation smooth as butter, but after a few days of usage, the GRUB system screwed up. After a LOT of problems I managed to restore my Laptop to its default configuration. Then, I tried to restore my personal files with the DVDs I made, but when the manager finished, it only showed a folder with all my files in it! And it didn't give me any option to restore these files or something!
View 3 Replies
View Related
Sep 4, 2009
Good/Bad of using Program Files (x86) vs Program Files
How do I know what to put where?
How do I knw if a program is x86 or 64?
Running Windows 7 64
View 2 Replies
View Related
Aug 22, 2011
I made a backup disk of different files and now certain Word documents on the disk and when loaded back onto the laptop show with the file extention .LNK and have a type as Shortcut. The laptop had to be wiped clean hence the need to use the backup.
View 1 Replies
View Related
Sep 24, 2012
I was using my desktop like normal then an error came up saying that there was a hdd failure, and that i needed to scan for errors. all my files disappeared and only this error would come up. There would be hundreds of the same msg spamed on my screen. I scaned my hdd for errors using my Bios/Advanced options and no errors came up. I decided to take out the hdd and put it into my External Hdd bay to hook up to my laptop to extract the data off it.When i hooked it up to my laptop it showed up empty. I went into folder options and clicked on show hidden files and folders. Everything came up but it was grey/transparent. I then copied the files to another hdd for backup.
Then i formatted the hdd and put on a fresh new OS. Id like to mention i have a second internal drive that i use for backups but it wasnt backed up recently when this issue happen so i had to take out the main drive and use it as an external to back up onto another external drive.so then when i click on my second internal drive after the reinstall of the new OS it shows empty i have to go in and show hidden files and folders.. now they show again transparent. also i plug in my external to get the recent back up and all those files are still transparent when i move them to my desktop that is freshly OS installed they are still grey/transparent and i have to keep the show hidden files and folders to view them.. so its all my music, pics, documents etc they are all greyed out..i tried to copy my backup IE favs into my new IE browser and they wont show up because they are hiden it shows it copied to the favs folder but in ie i cannot view them if that makes any sense.
View 2 Replies
View Related
Mar 19, 2012
what files Windows Backup backs-up except that it backs up your data files. Are Outlook .pst files included in that? If so, can i presume it will restore those files too?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Jul 8, 2012
I just backup files to an external HD and a second internal HD time to time. Then I get new pictures and designs and need to make up backups of those. Is there a good system that backs up only the new stuff? Many are corel files and some folders are pretty big to backing stuff up yet again takes a lot of time and space.
View 6 Replies
View Related
Oct 20, 2011
I had a Windows 7 HP system that the motherboard was going out, so I sent it back. I did a reinstall of Windows 7 at first and it had me to back up my files to a drive, so I did. I sent it back and now I have my XP system. Can I retrieve those files from that external HD and have them on my XP system?
View 4 Replies
View Related
Aug 8, 2009
YOU MUST DO A CLEAN INSTALL. There is no upgrade path. There are user migration tools you can use, but you will need to backup your files and do a clean install. I have seen several threads about this and just want to clarify. The upgrade from Windows Vista is a valid upgrade path, but Windows XP to Windows 7 is not.
View 9 Replies
View Related
Aug 22, 2011
I deleted these before knowing they are necessary for removal of a service pack. Would system restore or an Aronis image of the system be better to recover these?
View 3 Replies
View Related
Oct 21, 2011
Running weekly backups through the Task Scheduler; periodic checks always show task completed successfully; discovered that "completed successfully" doesn't necessarily mean "completed correctly"; checked in Control Panel >> Backup/Restore and discovered that Windows reports my last 4 backups are not complete...there were files missing. Missing files belong to a hidden user account created for irrelevant purpose. Hero computer tech finds/edits registry to remove hidden account and backups now runs correctly.Problem: I now have 4 backup files that are incorrect and I don't know if that will cause any problems if I forget about their condition and choose to back up to one of them in the future.
View 9 Replies
View Related
Aug 9, 2011
Backstory: My computer decides to crash on me while browsing some site, and it failed to startup after that. After many tries of getting it to work through system restore/system repair, it still would not load up. I then see an advanced option of restoring to the system default, with an option of saving all personal data such as files and documents. After this successful reinstall, I have a huge folder (190 gigs!) worth of my old files sitting in a folder named 'Backup' in the C: drive, all on a fresh version of Windows 7 (ie: default programs and icons like internet explorer). I have tried running Windows' Backup and Restore application, but the aforementioned backup drive does not show up. Is it possible to transfer everything back?
tl;dr: restored old comp to system default, (with an option to save personal files/programs, all in a new folder C:/Backup) but can't figure out how to move/replace this system default back to my old setup.
View 1 Replies
View Related
Jan 29, 2011
i bought windows 7 ultimate 32bit because my girlfriend has a different mother languagewell i have always update , so i download and update every hotfixescan i get rid of the backups after the updates?i find that link-> Windows 7 SP1 Disk Cleanup Toolthat suggests -> Code: dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded now that article talks about remove the hotfixes after the sp1i did not update sp1 , i will do soonbut now i have lots lots of backups due the many paches/hotfixes installedcan i get rid of them ?
View 9 Replies
View Related
Sep 9, 2011
I had windows 7 keep giving me a blue screen more often than not. I decided to reinstall windows. All went well and I don't get any blue screens. Now most of my 500g drive is 2 files (windows.old and windows.old.000). Now I don't have any room to backup my computer. These 2 files take up about 300g. I went to my local computer store and they this is normal for windows 7 and the files just keep getting bigger as time goes on. They advised me that I should have at least 2T drive to keep running windows 7. So my question is, can I delete the old backup files because I'm only using less than 200g on an ongoing bases. My operating system tells me that I don't have backup setup and I don't have room to set it up. I would have just over 300g free if I could delete these 2 files.
View 9 Replies
View Related
Sep 18, 2011
I have a large number of image files on my C: Drive. 337,000 files. Many are duplicates. I want to back these up to a new drive and edit them there. Is there a way of doing this with Windows 7 backup? Or some other free backup utility?
Windows 7 Home and Business 32bit
View 4 Replies
View Related
Jun 24, 2012
For a few years my wife has resisted using any kind of backup solution � even the built-in Windows backup. She has simply made her own backups on the root of an external drive. She simply copies all the files she wants to backup into a folder with the same name as her computer. G:/COMPUTER_NAME/.
Well, yesterday, she decided to start using Windows backup to simplify her life.
I've used Windows backup for years, but when we set up her machine, I was unaware that she had this folder called "COMPUTER_NAME". Well, perhaps you've guessed, Windows backup created it's backup on the root of the drive, calling it "COMPUTER_NAME".
She cried for hours, fearing that 10 years of family photos she's taken are gone forever (they were saved in the folder "G:/Computer_name", but they were not part of her local computer files, and therefore, not saved in the "computer_name" backup file created by Windows).
My first thought was to use some Photo/File recovery program. But after sleeping on the problem, it occurs to me that perhaps the files aren't really gone, since the folder had the same name, perhaps Windows did not overwrite the directory's structure and files, though because the name of the directory and the name of the backup file are the same, the directory is simply not accessible.
best way to try and restore the directory (before trying photo/file restoration programs).
View 4 Replies
View Related
Jan 14, 2013
The hard drive failed on my friend's Win 7 laptop. I replaced the hard drive, now I am in the process of recovering documents that he had backed up on an external hard drive. He was using Windows Backup.When I start the application in restore mode and direct it to the external hard drive, it shows a backup done on Jan 2. But when I browse through the backup folders using Windows Backup, it does not show any of his recent files. I went ahead and restored the folders, but the most recent files in the restored user folders are only from mid November
View 9 Replies
View Related
Oct 24, 2009
I'm trying to restore files from a Vista backup into 7, but, once they're restored I can't find them.
It only affects files that were in the various 'my documents', 'my downloads' etc folders on my Vista install - files from other partitions etc restore fine.
It seems as if the files are definitely being restored somewhere, because if I restore them again I get 'would you like to overwrite these files' dialogs. I've tried searching for the filenames after they're restored but they don't appear. I think maybe it's possible that 7 is restoring them under a different user (although my user name on 7 is the same as it was on Vista).
Is there any way I can view these files?
View 2 Replies
View Related
Dec 11, 2010
I'm considering going from vista to windows 7 (32 bit to 64 bit which I have checked is possible on my laptop).However, I have a couple of programmes on my current laptop which I have lost the disks for (e.g Microsoft Money) or I bought and downloaded from the site e.g recovery software.Given I need to do a clean install, is there anyway of me being able to backup these programmes and then reinstall with windows 7?
View 6 Replies
View Related
Feb 2, 2012
What is the most effective way to automatically create a regular backup of pst files in Windows 7, Office 2007? I see there is a backup download from Microsoft for XP and VIsta which allowed you to schedule regular backups of pst files but I don't see anything for Windows 7. I don't print all emails and as such it is essential that I don't lose any.
I currently create duplicates and archive one set every 2 weeks. The archive file is backed up by a Backup program, but I am wondering if Microsoft has any features similar to the archive feature where you simply backup the pst file, thus saving email, contacts, calendar at once.
View 4 Replies
View Related
Oct 11, 2012
After downloading the latest updates for Google Earth, I began getting a msg saying that "there is not enough disk space on your backup disk." When I attempted to clean it up, I was unable to free up any space. I have a LENOVO 570; the backup disk is labeled: Lenovo: D It says I have @ 10.6MB free out of 29GB Can I delete all the drivers and the applications from the D drive ? And then do a complete restore once the D drive is emptied?
View 1 Replies
View Related
