As some of you'll know, I've not been around much because my comp and monitor died. I just lost so much important stuff as a result of naively trusting the manufacturer's backup utility that came with my comp. I had a ton of stuff that it wrongly counted as system files and therefore decided not to back up: icon files, .wz files, batch files, saved sql queries and heaven knows how many old programs/applications that are no longer available on the internet. On top of this, I had to spend an hour on the phone to Microsoft because I'td upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate and my product key didn't work for reintalling it because Ultimate is no longer included in Windows Anytime Upgrade. (Kudos to the guy at Microsoft technical support who helped me and fixed the problem, though!) Can anyone recommend a recommend a good backup utility that backs up absolutely EVERYTHING on your comp, regardless of file size and type? Freeware preferred but not essential, just as long as it does the job properly, doesn't come bundled with shitware and can be used for restoring your comp to the way it was when you backed it up.
There's a lot of services these days that offer backups on the cloud, which is what I would do if you really want backup stuff (but isn't free). If not that, get external drives (2 or so, in case 1 dies) so you're good to go. Lately I've heard about those viruses that can encrypt your files and crap like that so past week I got really paranoid about my personal stuff as well, but didn't really specially did something about it yet, while I really should, especially on my main machine. I am usually the person that take actions too late :s However, even something as easy as Dropbox can help a lot already.
Thanks Kimberly! Since starting this thread, I think I've found something that might do what I want it to: AOMEI Backupper Has anyone heard anything negative about this utility or company that I need to be aware of?
I recommend DriveImage XML (https://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm). It's free, it's fast, has some customizability, but not much, and it takes an exact clone of your drive. I've been using it for years and have even restored files from backups generated with it with no issues.
Thanks John, Nikki and Kim for your advice! Unfortunately, cloud storage isn't an option for backups in my case - I have really slow internet and a monthly bandwith limit that wouldn't even allow me to upload one complete backup of my stuff. I have no income, so a more expensive internet package isn't an option, either. Oh, and the internet cabling and wireless connectivity in this area sucks balls. External Hard Drives are the way to go for me. What I always used to do was just back up my own files, but what I just learned the hard way is that it's near impossible to back up everything that needs to be saved by doing just this. That and the amount of retrieving, reinstalling and reconfiguring I've just had to do these last few days has been time-consuming and stressful.
There's the built in Windows Backup and Restore utility that can be configured for automatic backups to an external drive: https://www.winhelp.us/configure-automatic-backup-in-windows-7.html
Everytime you backup you should also check the health status of the hard drive you're backing up to. I use hdtunepro or hdsentinel to check the S.M.A.R.T. status of my hard drives. (common S.M.A.R.T. values include number of read errors, number of bad sectors found, drive spin up time, and more. If it reports bad sectors or read errors, you should check with the tool for a few days; if the count is increasing, you should really replace the hard drive because it might stop working soon. Just keep in mind that "raw read error rate" and some other values on seagate drives sometimes actually represent the total amount of data read, and not something bad. The most useful value to watch on those drives is the bad sector count. HD Tune Pro(15-day trial): http://www.hdtune.com/files/hdtunepro_560_trial.exe HD Sentinel (unlimited trial): http://www.harddisksentinel.com/hdsentinel_pro_portable.zip If you have any questions about any of the S.M.A.R.T. values in the tool, let me know. Unfortunately I can't promise I'll be on Royals for long, I'll probably end up forgetting again. In that case, I'm sure Dax would love to assist you. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=SMART+attributes+explanation -Alex
