 | Home > Off Topic > computer files - recommended backup software |
 
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1841  
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Hi guys,
I'm sure we all work in a myriad of jobs on here, but I have an idea there are a few IT-types. That said, I don't think my question is especially techy. I have a Windows desktop PC, where all the important files live - mostly domestic stuff, and particularly photos. Losing these would be a disaster, so I've always been aware of the need to backup files. However I'm well out of date with this. I have two new external USB drives I want to use in rotation. One, a Western Digital came with software but once I'd ticked the boxes for the files I wanted to backup nothing happened..... nothing to tell me why (my favourite bugbear about computers!) so scratch that. So I want to go for a third-party software to do this job, which will just transfer files (to two separate devices) without adding any proprietary file suffixes or the like. (My drives are by two manufacturers - seagate and western digital, so I want software that won't be manufacturer specific. I've looked at some online reviews, there seems to be decent free stuff available, or others to be paid for. I'm not really bothered either way - with the main things I want being reliability, ease of use, and transferability - in the sense that files will be unchanged. The forum's always been a source of good advice, so I thought I'd ask this on here and see what comes up. Many thanks. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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21st Mar 2021 6:06pm |
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| gilarion Member Since: 05 Dec 2013 Location: Wales Posts: 5110  
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If you have USB portable drives then these should show up in My Computer you should be able to drag and drop or copy and paste any type of file to these drives. For those who like Welsh Mountains and narrow boats have a look at my videos and photos at..
http://www.youtube.com/user/conwy1 |
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22nd Mar 2021 1:49pm |
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| Lodelaner Member Since: 04 Feb 2010 Location: Lambourn Posts: 631  
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Microsoft OneDrive seems to work well for my partner, all files sync in the background. She's self employed and can't afford to lose anything should the computer crash or get nicked etc. JB
@Lodelaner Instagram Youtube greenlaning and other LR related content |
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22nd Mar 2021 2:17pm |
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| AMBxx Member Since: 24 Jul 2016 Location: York Posts: 1031 
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OneDrive is great, especially if you have multiple computers as the files stayed synchronised across all the PCs
(and your phone). There's also the option of rolling back everything to a certain date - great if you get a virus. I've also had success with Allway sync https://allwaysync.com/. It's an easier way to keep folders in synch between PC to PC or PC to USB drive as it only copies the changed files. I was so impressed that I even bought a copy to benefit from the paid extras. |
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22nd Mar 2021 2:43pm |
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| SN Member Since: 29 Jun 2007 Location: SK6 Posts: 729 |
^^^^ no you're not paranoid.
I work in the Enterprise IT game - public sector. Whilst you're not ever going to need the BC/DR solutions that Government run with, your approach is right because at least you've thought about all the possible ways you could lose your stuff and thought of a way around each of them. Which ever way you do it, make sure you have AT LEAST two copies of whatever is important to you. And have those copies across a minimum of two different locations (plane-crash / fire / idiot-suppler scenarios...) Steve N | 21MY Defender  | 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history) |
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22nd Mar 2021 3:13pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17369 
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I back up my personal stuff to (at least) two external USB drives, bought at different times from different batches, and keep them in different physical locations (e.g., one at work, one at home) so that it would take either a very significant disaster indeed or some implausibly unlikely coincidences to wipe them all out.
If you are happy putting all your personal data onto someone else's servers then the cloud is a good option. I, however, am not, and therefore do not. I will use the cloud, but do not consider it a reliable backup. |
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22nd Mar 2021 3:46pm |
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| wynn153 Member Since: 30 Nov 2020 Location: Cheshire Posts: 31
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Exactly what the others say...
OneDrive is brilliant |
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22nd Mar 2021 6:24pm |
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1841
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Thanks very much guys.
A couple of recommendations there to look at. The 'allwaysync' one seems more attractive to me at first reading as it would backup files rather than create a 'mirror image' - my concern with that would be that I don't have the IT confidence to know what to do with it in the event of having a failure. At least if I have the files backed up, in their normal formats, I could buy a new PC and just transfer them. In my googlings yesterday I started looking into NAS RAID devices, but a) it might stretch my skills and b) at the likely cost it's probably a sledge hammer to crack a nut - and you'd still want some sort of 'offsite' backup. We use Onedrive at work too, so I'm pretty familiar with it, but I don't have a personal account. I'm also with Blackwolf here in that I would psychologically prefer to have something 'physical' to put to one side. I think it's an age thing (sorry BW!). E.G. My kids don't buy their own music - they're happy to stream stuff and keep a local playlist or the like. As they've grown up with the web and reliable streaming they don't see the need to do any different. Me, as someone who started their working life with a typewriter and carbon paper, can remember a time when the internet wasn't ubiquitous and "you never know" ... so a set of separate drives is attractive. It's just a case of finding a user-friendly program to keep the contents easily up to date. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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22nd Mar 2021 6:27pm |
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| Eduardo Member Since: 28 Aug 2008 Location: Región Metropolitana Posts: 2110  
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One vote for Onedrive.
I use to be several external hard disk for backup, but if you have a good Internet, Onedrive is better. Most IT gurus said that if you like to be 100% data protected, your backup should be located in a different location than your computer hard disk to avoid lost both (fire, burglars, etc). So, Onedrive are a good solution. Also you can share a large amount of info with other persons (i.e. I have a common shared file with my family members to put all the pictures and videos) The only drawback is if you dont have a good internet conecction the system are quite slow to retrieve/upload files (happens to me in the farm) Cheers Eduardo MY 2007 110 SW PUMA 2.4: Big Fog of 64' MY 1994 Jayco 1207 Folding camper: "El Tremendo" Click image to enlarge |
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22nd Mar 2021 6:38pm |
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| RoadForce Member Since: 17 Jul 2014 Location: Holland Posts: 334  
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Does OneDrive support versioning of files? Because if files get infected on the local drive, then I suppose those changes will sync to OneDrive too, rendering your backup useless. Not sure to what extent this actually is a problem in reality (randsomware?), but something to consider I guess... Defender 130 HCPU Td5 MY2000
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23rd Mar 2021 9:42am |
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| SN Member Since: 29 Jun 2007 Location: SK6 Posts: 729 |
^^^ Thats a different thing - you're into a daily backups, grandfathering, fathering etc - if you want restore points (other than the last saved copy) that needs some thinking about Steve N | 21MY Defender
| 08MY Discovery 3 (history) | 06MY Discovery 3 (ancient history) |
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23rd Mar 2021 10:02am |
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| Lodelaner Member Since: 04 Feb 2010 Location: Lambourn Posts: 631
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Yes you can roll back on OneDrive. At work we create proposals with multiple users so I roll back when the idiots have been making changes! JB
@Lodelaner Instagram Youtube greenlaning and other LR related content |
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23rd Mar 2021 10:05am |
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| AMBxx Member Since: 24 Jul 2016 Location: York Posts: 1031
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Versioning is at the file level. There are limits - I think it's about 200 versions. You can also roll back all your files to a certain date - that's the bit that's good if you get a virus infection. Deleted files are kept for (I think) 60 days. If you're using Windows 10, the integration is seamless. The really poor bit is search, but that's been a problem in Windows since day 1. |
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23rd Mar 2021 10:38am |
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1841
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Ooooooh.... Definitely all a bit beyond me, and my fairly simple requirements.
If I have a reasonably up to date external backup, kept out of the house, and a reasonably easy software solution to keep these backups fresh then I'll be happy. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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23rd Mar 2021 6:31pm |
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