Create an exact copy of the system with all programs using Acronis True Image. Disk backup and HDD recovery from backup

25.08.2019 Safety

26.06.2017

Acronis True Image is a tool for creating backups of entire disks and individual files. Thanks to this program, you can install Windows not in 2-3 hours with all the programs and drivers, but in 20 minutes, for example. In addition, you can restore absolutely all files that were in the system before deleting and reinstalling. Using Acronis True Image after a system crash, you don't have to worry about documents that have been working on for a long time.

Acronis has a free program for Seagate and WD owners. The functionality of the applications is limited.

Free software versions

Bootable media for Windows 10 PE with programs and Acronis True Image 2017

The cloud is paid in Acronis, a Premium subscription with a cloud for 1 TB costs 3400 rubles per year. Another option is to rent, buy a server or other cloud storage at a cheaper price (only with it it will not be as convenient as with the Acronis cloud).

Free method of data protection

I am using free cloud and copy files there. For greater reliability, I delete the backup copies from the computer, while copying the files to the folder that I disconnect from synchronization. Open your cloud settings and look for Custom sync or Sync settings. And turn off the synchronization of folders where your backup files are stored. Pros - free, cons - you need fast internet and a lot of memory in the cloud for copying. For example, if you managed to get 1 TB as a gift in the Mail Cloud, then use it. No, then register several accounts in Yandex Disk, for example.

The best option for the reliability of your data is to copy backups to an external drive that is not connected over the network. This will prevent viruses and other infections from reaching the backup. By the way, this is relevant after an attack by a ransomware virus.

Alternatively, you can set up a backup to the network.

The advantage of your server over the cloud is that the speed of access over the network is many times higher than the speed of access to the cloud (1 GB per second versus 100 MB per second, for example, this is in the best case). The files will be immediately available for recovery at high speed. But in this case, you can spend more on electricity per year than those 3400 rubles, so you need to think about whether you need to save at all. Speed is of course a plus, electricity costs are a minus. This is if you need to make a backup at home for yourself, for companies, energy costs do not play such an important role. If the possibility of fast backup and the minimum access time to the backup is preferable, then naturally your own server or external drive will be the best choice.

Backup encryption

Before backing up your data, you should be aware of some important functions. The first is encryption. Before creating a backup, you can set encryption parameters and set a password for the archive so that no one but you can open the archives. To encrypt your data, click on Encrypt backup. Enter your password in the appropriate field and click Save.

The second method is more detailed, here you can already set the encryption method, and not just the password. Before creating a backup, click on Options and open the Advanced tab, open the Backup protection line. Here we enter the password and select the encryption method. The higher the number after AES, the harder it will be to crack the password.

Copy Schedule

Another great option for backing up your data. Decide how often you will back up your data, determine which data you need to back up often, which once a month. And create different copies in the program. To configure the schedule, click Options and the Schedule option will open in the first tab. All parameters, except for one, do not require attention, I think everything is clear here. But what is Continuous copy mode? This is a frequent backup mode, data will be backed up every five minutes. Therefore, do not use this mode to back up the entire computer, as the backups will take up a lot of memory. Only enable continuous backup for very important data.

Spoiler - Using Acronis Nonstop Backup - Acronis help

Using Acronis Nonstop Backup

The Acronis Nonstop Backup feature makes it easy to protect your disks and files. With its help, you can recover disks, files and their versions.

The main purpose of the Acronis Nonstop Backup function is real-time protection of data (files, folders, contacts, etc.), but you can also protect partitions with it. If you choose to protect an entire partition, you can recover the entire partition by following the image recovery procedure.

It is not recommended to use this function as the main method of protecting your system. Use any other schedule to protect your system. For examples and more information, see Custom Schema Examples.

Limitations of Nonstop Backup

Only one continuous copy can be created.
Windows Libraries (Documents, Music, etc.) can only be protected with continuous disk-level backups.
Unable to protect data on external hard drives.
Nonstop Backup and Try & Decide cannot work at the same time.

Principle of operation

After starting Acronis Nonstop Backup function, the program will create an initial full backup of the data selected for protection. Then Acronis Nonstop Backup will constantly monitor protected files (including open ones). If a change is detected, a backup copy of the modified data is created. The shortest interval between incremental backups is five minutes. This allows you to restore the system to any point in time.
Acronis Nonstop Backup checks file changes on disk, not memory. If, for example, while working in the Word editor, the save operation is not performed for a long time, the current changes in the Word document will not be backed up.

You might think that with this backup speed, the storage will be full immediately. Don't worry, because Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation only backs up so-called deltas. This means that only the differences between the old and new versions are saved in the backup, and not the entire changed files. For example, when using Microsoft Outlook or Windows Mail, the existing PST file can be very large. Moreover, it changes with every email received or sent. A backup copy of a full PST file after each change may take up too much storage space, therefore Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation backs up only the changed parts of the file in addition to the original backup file.

Storage rules

Acronis Nonstop Backup keeps all backups for the last 24 hours. Older backups will be consolidated in such a way that Nonstop Backup will keep daily backups for the last 30 days and weekly backups until all free space on the nonstop backup storage is used.

The merge is done every day between midnight and 1 am. The first merge will be performed after the operating time of Nonstop Backup is at least 24 hours. For example, Nonstop Backup was enabled at 10am on July 12th. In this case, the first merge will be performed between midnight and 1 am on July 14th. Then the program will combine the data every day at the same time. If the computer was turned off between midnight and 1 am, the merging will begin when the computer is turned on. If Nonstop Backup has been disabled for a while, merging will start when it is enabled again.

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Copy method

If you are really worried about the safety of your data, you need to decide how often you will make backups. If you selected Continuous Copy Mode, you do not need to configure the schedule.

Full copy - a full copy of all selected folders and files is created each time.

Incremental backups - each backup retains only the changes that have occurred since the previous copy was created. The disadvantage of this method is that all backups must be kept to restore files. If you delete one copy, you won't be able to recover the files.

Differential Backup - Here, each of the following copies retains the modified data after a full backup is created.

Spoiler - Full, incremental and differential backups - Acronis help

Full, incremental and differential backups

Acronis True Image 2017 New Generation offers three backup methods.

Full backup

The result of a full backup operation (also called a full backup version) contains all the data that existed at the time of the backup. For example, every day you write one page of a document and create a full backup of that document. Acronis True Image saves the entire document every time you back up.
1.tib, 2.tib, 3.tib, 4.tib are full backup versions.
Additional Information

The full backup version forms the basis for subsequent incremental and differential backups. and it can also be used to create an offline backup. Creating an offline full backup can be the best solution if you frequently reset your system or do not want to manage different backup versions.

Incremental backups

The result of an incremental backup operation (also called an incremental backup version) contains only those files that have changed since the LAST BACKUP OPERATION. For example, every day you write one page of a document and create an incremental backup. Acronis True Image saves a new page every time you back up. The full version of the backup is always created first.

2.tib, 3.tib, 4.tib are incremental backup versions.

Additional Information

Incremental backups are most useful when you need to frequently create backup versions and be able to revert to a specific point in time. As a rule, incremental backup versions are significantly smaller than full or differential ones. On the other hand, incremental backup versions require more work from the program during recovery. In the above example, to recover all work from the 4.tib file, Acronis True Image reads data from all backup versions. If the incremental backup version is lost or damaged, all subsequent incremental backup versions are useless.

Differential backup

The result of a differential backup operation (also called a differential backup version) contains only those files that have changed since the LAST FULL BACKUP was CREATED. For example, you write one page of a document every day and create a differential backup method. Acronis True Image saves the entire document except the first page, which is stored in the full backup version. Note. The full version of the backup is always created first.

1.tib is the full version of the backup.
2.tib, 3.tib, 4.tib are differential backup versions.

Additional Information

The differential method is intermediate between the two previous ones. This approach requires less time and storage space than a full backup, but more than an incremental backup. To recover data from a differential version of Acronis True Image, you only need the differential version and the latest full version. Therefore, recovering from a differential version will be easier and more reliable than from an incremental one. An incremental or differential backup created after defragmenting the disk can be much larger than a regular one. This is because the defragmentation program changes the location of files on the disk and these changes are reflected in the backup. Therefore, after defragmenting the disk, it is recommended that you create a full backup again. To select a backup method, you must define a custom backup scheme.

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How to make a system backup

By default, when starting the wizard, a full backup is configured, so in the first window you only need to select the location for saving the backup.

Ideally, it is better to use an external drive for saving, since even if the computer becomes infected, the data from the external drive will not be deleted in any way. In this case, it will not be difficult to recover from the external drive. When choosing a FOLDER for copying, copy all backup files either to an external drive or to the cloud. Otherwise, if the system disk fails, all files will be lost, including the saved backup.

After entering all the necessary parameters (encryption, maximum file size, compression degree, enabling image verification, etc.), click on Create a copy.

The time it takes to create the backup will depend on the size of the files.

How to backup files

It's easy to back up your files. We do everything the same as for the system backup, only instead of the entire disk we select the necessary folder and files.

Cloning a hard drive

To completely copy the disk, in the backup parameters, check the Back up sector-by-sector checkbox. Also, if you need to create a more accurate copy of the disk, and not just the files on it, check the Archive unallocated space checkbox.

Then click on Create a copy. In general, to make a copy of all files and hard disk in Acronis True Image 2017 no more steps are required. To restore a disk or individual data from a backup, you will have to perform a couple of steps more, which of course is unlikely to affect the speed of data recovery. Everything will be restored quickly, in any case, spend 2-3 times less time than a standard Windows installation.

How to restore the system completely

To restore the system, you need to write an ISO image of the bootable media True Image to a USB flash drive or disk - download the image from this link - https://yadi.sk/d/UYKGvGZe3JVPKa

Or go to Tools - Boot Image Wizard. Select image parameters and save method - ISO image or write directly to a USB flash drive.

To recover from the backup, use the computer from which the backup was made - otherwise the system may not start and there will definitely be problems with the drivers, or use the exact same computer with the same processor, motherboard memory and video card.

We insert the media into the computer and boot from it. To do this, when you turn on the computer, open the BIOS or UEFI program and adjust the boot priority. Depending on the model of the motherboard in the system unit and the laptop model, it can be - F1, F2, Del, F10, Esc, etc. Or just press the keys immediately to select the boot source before loading Windows - F9, F11, F12. Depending on the motherboard manufacturer and laptop manufacturer, the hotkeys will differ. When checking all system devices - many different white letters when computers are turned on - keys must be specified to open BIOS settings and select a boot source.

After booting from the media, launch Acronis True Image. From the Windows 10 PE media, look for Acronis in Start - All Programs - Backup and Recovery - Acronis True Image 2017. From the Acronis media boot, just click on the Acronis True Image name and wait for the boot.

Click in the Recovery - Disks parameter, since we need to restore the system disk. Accordingly, to restore individual files from the entire backup - Files and folders.

In the next window, you need to select the backup file from which all data will be restored. To do this, click on the Browse button and look for the system backup file in the file explorer. Connect external media if you need to recover from an external hard drive, for example. Click Next after selecting the backup archive.

Here you need to select the volumes to be restored. Be sure to check the box in front of the disk where Windows is installed and in front of the boot disk (area) - here it is usually signed in parentheses Reserved by the system. Be sure to uncheck the section where the backup is stored. Click Next.

Select the disk to which the recovery will be performed. Click Next.

After you select a drive for recovery, a check will be performed on all partitions on the drive that will be recovered. During setup, you can change their size, letter, change the type of section. We will not do this, since we want to get exactly the system that we had before the breakdown, before the action of viruses, for example. It is the parameters of the old system that are now set by default in the backup parameters. We will not change anything here, and in the next windows, click simply Next up to the Completion window.

Click Finish and start system recovery.

When restoring, do not change any parameters, the system will create a complete copy of the disk itself automatically. In most settings, you only need to click Next.

It took me only 10 minutes to restore the system with all the files, settings and installed programs with drivers in the test bench. How much would I spend installing everything in a standard way? Hours 2-3, here is such a good program for system recovery.

Plus, a full backup of the system does not have to be done in the program installed in Windows, it is enough to boot from the bootable media and make a backup. The only drawback when using bootable media is that you cannot automate this process to copy the necessary files and documents.

Data recovery

To restore files from a backup, find the backup file made in Acronis True Image and double-click on it. The file will open in Explorer as a folder and you can drag and drop the necessary files onto your computer. The main thing is that you have Acronis True Image installed on your system, otherwise the backup files will not open.

This was one of the file recovery options. Now open Acronis True Image, click on the copy from which you want to recover files, it can be either a complete copy of the system or a copy of individual files and folders. Click on the Restore files button.

In Acronis Explorer, select the necessary files and folders for recovery. In the left part of the window we are looking for the folder that needs to be opened, in the right part we are already selecting folders and files to restore. After selecting the data, click Next.

Then you can manually set the folder to save the recovered data. By default, the folder is selected as in the created backup. To change the path, click Browse and select the required folder. Click on Restore.

We are waiting for a while while the files are copied to the selected folder.

The same can be done using bootable media.

Backing up to an external hard drive and recovering information from an external drive are convenient ways to keep your data safe. Handy Backup makes a backup to an external drive using a plugin Computer and various tools for automating tasks.

Copy by USB connection

The data backup task can be configured to start automatically when the selected USB drive is connected to the computer. It doesn't matter which USB port the external drive is connected to.

Saving in original format

The information from the backup copy can be used without prior restoring, since all the copied data is stored unchanged, and they can be used directly at the storage location.

Compression and encryption of data

The backup to an external drive can be compressed to save space, or encrypted using a built-in algorithm for added security.

Supported external drives for backup

External USB drives: from Western Digital, Toshiba and any other manufacturer, capacities from 250GB to 3TB and above, using USB 3.0 interface or even wireless access, can be connected for backups using Handy Backup.
USB storage devices ("flash drives"): familiar to many USB flash devices of all types, as well as memory cards (via a USB card reader). Windows and Linux drivers are used to access the devices, eliminating USB device compatibility issues.

Automatic backup to external hard drive

Handy Backup fully automates backups to an external USB drive, allowing you to automatically start a backup task whenever a USB device associated with the task is connected to your computer.

External disk for backup: link to task

The program always “remembers” a specific USB device associated with a specific task. Therefore, it does not matter to which USB port the selected external drive is connected. Handy Backup will automatically recognize the desired device when connected.

Handy Backup is a flexible and powerful tool for backing up and restoring an external drive. Get to know it by downloading and installing the most modern version of the program with a full set of tools and functions for a free trial period of 30 days!

How do I back up an external hard drive?

To create a task for backing up data from an external drive, please use the following sequence of actions:

Open Handy Backup and create a new task by clicking the button on the main panel, the key combination Ctrl + N or by selecting the corresponding item in the menu.
Select the task type in Step 1 - data backup... If you want to use the auto-start function when the USB device is connected, check the “Advanced Mode” checkbox.
Expand the data source group in Step 2 Local and Network Drives.
Select plugin Computer... In the right window, click on the letter corresponding to the name of the connected external disk for backup.
In the window that opens, indicate the data that you are going to save as a backup copy of an external disk, marking this data with “check marks”.

In Step 3, specify where to store your data.
Next, configure the task as you like. These steps for backup tasks to an external drive are no different from the task settings for other types of data.
At Step 6, check the box that allows you to start the task when the external disk selected in Step 2 as the data source is connected to the computer.

In the following steps, complete the creation of the task and give it a name. Everything is ready!

Backing up to an external drive

Creating a backup task to an external hard drive using the Computer plugin does not differ in logic from the backup of an external drive described above. Just indicate external drive for backup in Step 3 as storage.

Recovering data from an external hard drive

Open Handy Backup and create a new task. Select the task in Step 1 data recovery... At Step 2, specify your external hard drive as the storage for recoverable data and select a file on it backup.hbi containing the recovery information you want.

Automatic data recovery from an external hard drive is possible, but we do not recommend using it in order to avoid the loss of sensitive data, except for cloning tasks (see below).
You can clone information from backups of an external hard drive by changing the location for data recovery using the “Change location” button in the recovery dialog. In this way, you can create tasks for automatically cloning data from disk.

Video tutorial: Create an automatic backup to an external drive

The video below shows a step-by-step process of creating an automatic backup task to an external drive (USB) when connected to a computer.

Attention: Following the instructions given in this video file assumes that a copy of Handy Backup is already installed on your machine. If you do not have Handy Backup installed yet, please download and install it.

At the moment, people are divided into two types: those who initially create backups, and those who began to make them. Attention should be paid to the word steel. If a person has never faced the loss of important documents due to some mistake, his own or a system one, then he will not understand humor. If you have come across, then such a user will be far from laughing.

This incident can be easily prevented by knowing what a backup is. This is a backup of certain files. Further details.

General information

A backup is a backup of system or any other files. This is done so that in the event of any failure or damage to the operating system by a virus, the necessary documents can be restored.

The backup is performed manually and automatically using special programs. In the second case, you should download a utility that will do everything for the user. In the first case, you can copy certain files that are valuable to any storage. It should be noted that the utility is able to save even an entire operating system.

And what is it - a backup, if you translate from in English? This term is translated as stock. The word is borrowed from this language. In addition, among other meanings of the word, it can be noted that it is allowed to translate it also as a reserve or repeating one. That is, using this term, you can describe an action in which information is rewritten to another medium.

It should be noted that even the ancestors knew what it was - a backup. However, at that time it was not yet called that. All valuable manuscripts were copied several times. In ancient times, libraries were often burned, so it was very important to keep the chronicles in several copies. Beyond that, the moneylenders have mastered backups. They kept lists of who owed them in several copies.

When to back up

For comparison, it is necessary to indicate such an example. When any organ of a person is no longer working, it will be useless to take pills or any mineral supplements in order to improve its function. Accordingly, the same can be applied to the backup process. You need to keep documents constantly. Even if a person does not store the most important information on his computer, the operating system works smoothly and without any glitches, you still need to make copies of your documents.

If a person wants to download a program and test it, but he has not used it before, then it is necessary to make a backup of the operating system. It happens that utilities damage system files or other important documents that affect the performance of the system.

At the same time, you need to understand that before reinstalling the operating system, you should definitely transfer your music and movies to a spare hard drive. As a rule, the installation program now works as perfectly as possible, not allowing a person to delete important information for him, but sometimes there are still incidents. Moreover, it never hurts to play it safe once again.

Where can you save a backup

What is it - a backup, we already understood, then you need to figure out where you can make a backup? As a rule, there are two most reliable ways to save your data as much as possible.

They must be transferred either to the cloud or written to a USB flash drive, disk or other physical medium. Let's consider both methods, considering all their pros and cons. Every person should know where the backups are stored.

Writing to an external drive

As a rule, the capacity of any external storage device is several terabytes, respectively, it can store a large number of important files, huge archives. The advantage of this method is also not only a large capacity, but also ease of use and transportation.

It should be noted that the only drawback of this method of creating backups is the instability to mechanical damage. That is why you should buy more expensive devices that are not only able to withstand any impacts, but also impervious to moisture.

Flash drive

If you need to save system files, then an ordinary flash drive will be enough for this. It is quite cheap, every year more and more options with maximum capacity appear on the market, and you do not need to install drivers to use it. The reliability of such a device will be at its best. In addition, modern models are now able to withstand the effects of moisture.

Among the shortcomings, it should be noted that the flash drive may fail. At the same time, utilities that could recognize that a USB flash drive is no longer usable for use simply do not exist. The storage time on the device is not infinite, and the write speed is low. If you put a USB flash drive and safely forget about it, then, unfortunately, after about six months, the user, turning it on, will notice that there is no data on this device. This problem is especially relevant for devices with a large volume, where manufacturers have not learned how to properly protect the device from information leakage.

CDs

Despite the fact that these devices are already out of fashion, they are still irreplaceable in some cases. No need to use the 700 MB options. A disk with almost 9 GB of memory can be a good medium. However, it should be noted that these devices must be protected from temperature extremes, defects, as well as sunlight. When it comes to reliability and storage capacity, DVD is the go-to choice. Such blanks are quite reliable.

CDs work well as well, however their maximum capacity is 700 MB. At the moment, this is a ridiculous indicator. Blu-ray discs are very spacious. They are capable of holding more than 30 GB of information. However, not every device has drives installed in order to read and write to them. Moreover, they are maximally sensitive to mechanical stress.

Cloud

The cloud has become very popular over the past few years. How to make a backup to this system? You just need to upload the necessary files to the cloud, and autosave will allow you not to worry about the safety of the downloaded information. It should be noted that a cloud is a server of a third-party company that provides a certain volume or free space for a nominal fee or free of charge.

The most popular clouds now are Dropbox, Google and Yandex. It should be noted that the second option gives the user 15 GB of space for free, which will be maximum enough for home use.

How to create a Windows backup

If a person has worked with Windows 98 before, then he is well aware of system failures. The operating system was, in principle, not bad, but if any utilities were 100% incompatible, it was always clear that a system error would lead to reinstallation of the operating system. However, in the new versions, the manufacturer still provides for a Windows backup. In Vista, as well as versions 7 and 8, this feature has been brought to near perfect condition.

Let's take an example of creating a backup of the Windows 7 operating system. It can be done very simply. You should go to the control panel, find the "Backup and Restore" item there. Click on the menu with the left mouse button and go to the "Image creation" sub-item. A pop-up window will open again, in which you need to choose any of the three options for creating a backup. You can do this on a disc, upload it to the network or use a hard disk. You should put a tick in front of the item where the person is going to carry out the backup. After that, you should save the settings. You need to note that if the Internet connection is poor, as well as unstable, then the attempt to save the operating system to the network will fail.

All this can also be done using special utilities. The most famous backup programs are those created by Norton and Acronis. Often, users use utilities from Nero. It should be noted that although their functionality is excellent, not everyone is ready to pay for it. But if a person needs increased reliability and safety, he still has to pay attention to paid services. For ordinary users, the internal tools of the system will be enough to create backups.

Mobile devices

We have already described how to make a backup on a computer. However, what about mobile devices? A large amount of important information is now stored on these units, and we are talking not only about phones, but also about tablets. At the moment, the most common system is Android, and that's what we'll talk about. How to make a backup of such a device?

It should be noted that we will not copy ordinary photos and videos, but programs and their settings. It should be noted that if all this is lost, then not only will it take a lot of time to recover, but also there is no likelihood that they will be completely restored. To begin with, I need to point out the excellent Titanium Backup utility.

What you need to back up

First, to make a backup, you need to do two things. Get root rights, that is, administrator rights. At the moment, there are practically no phones that already have such rights when they are sold. Therefore, the user will have to suffer a little to get the admin options. The second thing you need is the Titanium Backup utility. It performs well at work and is of high quality. To create a copy, be sure to use it.

Recently, a friend of mine asked me to explain to her how to back up data. She is a humanist, so she needed options in which nothing needs to be configured. Since she is not a stupid person who loves to understand the problem herself and make a decision, I decided to collect basic principles for her and describe the pros and cons of certain options (as I see them). I decided to publish here in the event that it is useful to some of you - to help a friend or relative. I would be very glad to have comments on how the text could be made simpler and clearer.

Basic principles

1. Regularity and frequency

Backing up data should be as regular as taking the pills. It is for this discipline that one can thank oneself if suddenly there was some kind of collapse. Sometimes losing even just a few working days due to the fact that a backup has not been completed can be very painful. To answer the question - how often it is possible to make a backup, having understood the data for what period of time it would be least painful for you to lose. One of the best options is to back up your data once a week on weekends.

Separation

It is desirable that the data be stored on a separate external hard drive (or other medium), stored in a separate location from the main data. The principle is quite obvious - if a problem occurs, it will be localized in one place. For example, if the hard drive on your computer breaks down, the backup drive will function perfectly. However, it is worth striking a balance between ease of access and security. A hard drive next to a computer greatly increases the motivation to use it for its intended purpose. And at the same time, this is not the safest option for very important data that should not be lost in any case. That is why there is a distinction between backup and data archiving.

Rechecking

As soon as the first data backup is made, you must immediately check that this data can be restored from it! This means not only that the files become visible. You need to open several files to choose from and check that they are not corrupted. It is advisable to repeat this check once in some period (say, once a year).

Discernment

Best practice is to categorize data. The category could be their importance to you, the frequency of the update, or just the topic.

Often, backup programs make so-called “images”. They look like one single file. So, in each such image, it is better to save various data.

What is it for. Data of different importance requires different handling, this is obvious. You will probably want to keep your important documents more carefully than, say, a collection of films. By dividing the data by frequency of updates, you can, for example, save time taken for backups. Topic - what data is it desirable to restore together in one step? A striking example of two types of backup, which should be done separately:

Data backup

These are Word documents, photos, movies, etc. The same applies to this, but is often forgotten - bookmarks in the browser, letters in the mailbox, address book, calendar with appointments, configuration file of the banking application, etc.

System backup

We are talking about the operating system with all its settings. Such a backup eliminates the need to reinstall the operating system, make all settings, and install programs. However, this is not the most essential type of backup.

Where to backup

1. External hard drive. Can often be bought right in the box. There are laptop drives - such drives are small in size, but more expensive. Ordinary hard drives can be purchased relatively cheap with a volume of 2 TB - then you won't have to worry about disk space for a long time.

Reliable enough (unless dropped or shaken excessively)
+ Relatively inexpensive

You must not forget to connect the backup disk yourself
-Not very convenient to carry (does not apply to laptop drives)

2. USB-stick - suitable as an additional tool when you would like to transfer data from one computer to another and / or have it at hand. Also, if the data itself does not want to be stored on a computer.
There is one big but - a flash drive has a limited number of records, so if you store application data on it, which will write intensively, then the USB stick will quickly order to live a long time. In addition, in my personal impression, they break down quite often. My friend, buying the most expensive flash drives, which were positioned as "not killed", received a broken flash drive in a month or two. In fairness, I must say that I still have not a single flash drive broken, some have been working for 5 years already. Nevertheless, I would not store data on only one usb-stick.

Mobile storage
+ Takes up little space
+ Very cheap

Unpredictable reliability

3. Data storage on a remote server (or in the cloud).

There are pros and cons:

The data will be available not only at home, but also at work, while traveling.
+ Locational separation of main data and backups (for example, if it happens, God forbid, the fire data survives)
+ There is no need to connect a hard drive for backup, as a rule, everything is done completely automatically.

It is advisable to encrypt the data, since it is not known who can access it
-A large amount of traffic is spent (if it is limited, then problems arise)
-Often only data up to 2 GB can be stored for free. So, such a backup is an additional cost item.

A list with a good description of the services can be found

How to backup

Here is a list of applications that are worth paying attention to (in my opinion) when backing up to a hard drive.

Of the free are popular

1. Genie Backup Manager is a very handy program, but it slows down a little when working
2. Handy Backup - simple interface, works fast.

Additionally

Often in the settings of backup programs there is an option - to make an incremental or differential backup. The practical difference is pretty straightforward. With a differential backup, you can save on the space it takes up. But there are only two recovery options: data in the state when the full backup was made + data at the time when the differential was made.

Incremental backup, on the other hand, allows you to rollback to any of the moments in the past when the backup was made. However, especially if changes in data occurred frequently, space will be eaten up quickly.

In this article I will tell you how to back up data: working files, multimedia and the operating system (make an image of it). Backing up (data archiving) is extremely necessary, since as a result of a hard disk breakdown, or a virus, you can lose important documents, photo archives, works created in various programs. Maybe you just want to reinstall a clean copy of the OS with all the programs. When this happens, it will be easy to fix the situation.

The most common case for users is the failure of the operating system. In order to restore the previous state of the computer (programs, settings, etc.), it is necessary to spend from several hours to several days to install and configure the Windows OS, but the most time consuming installation of additional software. Often, inexperienced users store their data on the system disk, without hesitation to transfer information to other partitions of the hard disk, not to mention external HDDs.

Backup (archiving) and recovery methods

Windows 7: Built-in Backup and Restore Tool

It is quite easy to use and even allows you to perform this procedure automatically on a schedule. System location of the backup tool: «Start | All programs | Service | Archiving and restoring "... The menu in the column to the left is "Create a system repair disc" and "Create a system image".

System image creation. It is necessary to indicate the location of the future archive: select another disk partition, external HDD or optical disk (DVD, Blue Ray). It is also possible to save a backup to a network drive. Using optical media is impractical, so use a logical drive with sufficient storage space or an external HDD to store the backup. We have chosen a place, we press the button "Archive". The entire system partition will be archived. This procedure can be carried out on a schedule, while Windows updates the previously recorded system image without creating it again, which significantly saves time.

If you select the Backup tool, you can set up regular backups of important user data. To do this, select "Configure backup", specify which disk will be saved to, click "Next", in the next window select "Give me a choice" and then mark the objects for archiving. To restore the contents of the backup, choose one of the three suggested actions: Restore my files from this backup, Restore files for all users on this computer, or Manage disk space used by this backup.

To restore your system, if it does not boot or gives an error that you are unable to fix, you may need a rescue disk. To create it, select "Create a system recovery disc" from the menu on the left and indicate on which media to organize it. Unfortunately, only laser discs are supported, which is not suitable for laptop owners without an optical drive.

This built-in Windows tool is not without its drawbacks, such as a long archive creation time and the lack of a compression function. However, there are other, more functional products.

Backing up and recovering with Acronis True Image Home 2013

For Windows XP users, where there is no built-in backup tool, as well as for users with higher requirements for the functionality of the backup program, I recommend using Acronis True Image Home 2013.

Acronis True Image Home uses 3 backup methods.

Full image - archiving absolutely all data, including MBR (if the partition is bootable).

Differential - the backup includes only the data that has changed since the archive was created using the first (full) method.

Incremental method - allows you to supplement the backup with files changed since the last backup procedure.

It is easy to make a backup copy of the system partition: in the main window of the program, select the first option - "Backing up disks and partitions", then specify the partition or disk, set the location for saving the archive and, if necessary, change the archiving parameters (for example, set the compression level of the archive on the tab "Performance" or protect the archive with a password). At the end of the process, a file with the extension * .tib... Acronis True Image Home 2013 allows you to mount a backup as a logical drive and work with the necessary data. Thus, you can extract the desired file from the previously created archive, which you accidentally completely deleted from the hard disk.

In addition to backing up partitions and disks, you can back up (including on a schedule) individual directories and files, as well as the Windows address book, contact list and Microsoft Outlook correspondence. To recover in the most severe cases, you can use the bootable version of the program (boot disk or boot disk), and it is possible to create such a solution both on optical and USB media.

It happens that when experimenting with installing several operating systems, the Master Boot Record turned out to be corrupted, you can try to "revive" it by ticking the "MBR" checkbox when restoring from an image. Also, Acronis True Image Home 2011 can convert backups from its "native" format to VHD format (these are backups created by Windows 7 system tools, and at the same time virtual disk images, that is, they can be connected to almost any virtual machine) and vice versa ...

In most cases, recovery boils down to choosing the desired archive and the partition in which the contents of the backup will be deployed. It is worth noting the extremely long installation time and slow performance of Acronis True Image Home in Windows XP.

Paragon Backup & Recovery Professional: Advanced Backup

About Paragon Backup & Recovery Professional, which provides backup and restore files I told in, however, for the purpose of transferring Windows to another PC. Unlike the Acronis product, in addition to archiving operations, it also allows you to perform some actions with partitions - for example, changing the label, formatting, hiding and deleting. However, you will need to switch to Advanced Mode to do this.

Before backing up, it is recommended to create a rescue disk to restore data from an image. To do this, go to the "Utilities" section and select "Create Rescue Disk". Here you can also choose either an optical or an external hard drive, or a USB stick as a carrier.

To create a backup copy of your data, go to the section "Data protection and recovery | Intelligent archiving ”, not forgetting to prepare a reliable storage beforehand. You can choose what to back up: "Disks or Partitions", e-mail (emails, accounts and address books in Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail), "Media Files" and "Documents" (texts, photos, videos and music stored in the My Documents folder) or Other Files or Folders.

Then you can make additional copying parameters - choosing the degree of image compression, password protection and sector-by-sector copying mode (all disk sectors are processed "as is", including unused ones). You can also designate an FTP server as the archive storage, if you have one. If you choose optical media, the program will warn you that it will be impossible to save the master boot record of the disk.

For advanced users, Backup & Recovery provides a professional imaging tool for Virtual PC, VMware Workstation, and VMware Fusion. Thanks to it, you can convert an image of a real hard disk, for example, a system partition, and then open it along with all data and programs in a virtual machine, even on another computer.