Veeam Agent for Windows Backup

 I trying the "Gold Standard" of Windows backup. Or so the AIs say.

First, I double-dog dare you to find the free download on the Veeam site.

You can use Winget but it will be an older version which updates itself right away.

PatchMyPC has the current version install.

Second double-dog dare is make a recovery ISO Windows PE.

I couldn't get Veeam to complete the build.

Brave browser Ask of all people gave me the solution

Open CLI (command line interface, aka command prompt) as admin: C:\Users\George\Desktop>"C:\Program Files\Veeam\Endpoint Backup\Veeam.EndPoint.Manager.exe" /createrecoverymediaiso /f:C:\Users\George\Desktop\Generic.iso

*HaHa, if your name isn't George you might want to change that.

AOMEI OneKey Recovery Partition

I don't think I would bother with this on my personal systems. I would stick with standard imaging and boot to USB stick to recover using AOMEI Backupper. Both programs create the same image.

Generally this sets up a dual boot option and installs a WinPE partition on your boot drive. The AOMEI program on the WinPE partition has two options: 1. Create a system backup image somewhere. 2. Restore from an existing system backup image.

So why use it? On PC's being operated by individuals unfamiliar with these types of backup and recovery. No need to create boot media and/or fool around with how to boot from that media.

The free version does not allow the second option.
I'm new to using this but this is what I see happening.

Either choice you make creates an AOMEI boot partition on your main boot drive.

If you choose the second option the system image will be stored on another drive location of your choosing. I have not tried the first option yet but who would want the image stored on the boot drive unless it is the initial smaller original install of Windows. Or maybe you have a monster boot drive?

After the image is made and stored you will be given an option of enabling an F11 option upon boot up to access the AOMEI PE environment. The default message duration is 3 seconds. This is not enough but maybe 5 seconds will work. Also be aware that your PC may already have an F11 hot key to access the BIOS boot menu and you would need to wait to get past that. It can be confusing.

If you need to correct the duration.
The amount of time the F11 option shows can not be changed after initial setup (I don't think).
But the Windows dual boot selector is standard BCD stuff.

Really, the F11 setup is a non event. If this is set up for novice protection, the F11 will just complicate his life. You will have a dual boot setup and the option will present itself.
1. Boot into Windows
2. Boot into AOMEI
Just make sure the option is presented long enough to allow a normal human to make a selection.

Second Win7 PC would not install. I started the process and then would reboot into Windows repair.

AOEMI Backupper

AOMEI Backupper is my current favorite for making a a restore image of my system drive.
http://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html

I keep the images on the second hard drive in the same machine if available.

Hirens, for example, has Backupper. I only use Backupper to save a system backup so I don't normally need to access inside for individual files. The free version no longer allows this. You can search for the "technician" version PE ISO and find it if needed.

Info below feels outdated.
AOMEI allows you to make a boot rescue ISO. I keep that on the same folder as the backups. When the PE environment is made from the same machine you are going to boot to, it might make a difference. For instance you can choose from legacy or UEFI boot. I had it offer to install specific drivers on certain machines.

If I try keeping the ISO somewhere else I will never be able to keep track of it. In the worst case I can always build another boot disk on another machine and probably get it to work.

A couple reminders:
1. AOMEI must be started as admin to attach the image if you wish to view or manipulate the image.
2. System backup only creates an image of the OS partitions. If you have moved your user files, you will need to back them up separately.

SyncBackFree is the best backup program I have ever tried.

I use SyncBack every day. It just plain works. I back up accounting's files onto my computer daily and automatically. That way I am not working with their files in case I change something.

My home network drops to it's knees when I copy files through wifi from my laptop to the big desktop drives. I was dreading copying my picture files over and wondering how I would sync them because some of the files had already been copied over. I installed SyncBack and let it work. It took 54 minutes but I could not even tell it was using bandwidth. Super program.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html

Mozy Is Great and Cheap

My new Mozy post ...

Online backup pricing can be confusing, especially for multiple computers. I needed to call Mozy to get a real price. In the real world I am backing up 4 office computers with Mozy using a 10 GB limit (which for some reason is 11.6 GB) for $109 per year. I am consuming 3.4 GB currently. I am selective as to what backs up, documents, spreads and QuickBooks files. Picture folders are huge so I use local backup for them.

For my laptop I use Mozy free with 2 GB limit.

Mozy can be slightly irritating with initially selecting the files to back up. As with any new setup a little learning is required if you wish to customize things. Mozy defaults to backing up all the user files which would include the photo files. Customizing takes longer to explain than doing it.

Accessing all the backed up files from each PC and downloading them is simple, much easier than when I used Carbonite.

BitTorrent Sync

2019-01-21 I don't like any of these . . .

2017-06-22 Now Called Resilio (BTsync) seems easier to use this time I tried it but I think Syncthing is better for me.
(I have found this a pain in the butt to use)
Linking your personal computers and their selected folders is easy with Dropbox. Sometimes it is uncomfortable leaving your files accessible to a third party like Dropbox or those who hack Dropbox. BitTorrent Sync may be a viable solution. This will set up private BitTorrent between computers. I think this is outstanding and much faster than other methods.

It would even be great for sharing large files with others. They will need to be able and willing to use BTSync. If they are not then maybe they don't need the file :)

I installed it on two computers. Let the program install a default folder in the user account and dropped a test file into one folder. I copied the "secret" code into the second install.The file magically appeared in the second computer's default folder. New sync folders can easily be added or deleted.

Under "show folder preferences" a one time code can be created with a 24 hour time limit with full or read only access. This could work for large file transfer to people. It would be easy to drop a new folder containing the file into your Bittorrent Sync and send the code to someone.

No third party server is involved and transfers are stated as being secure. Steve Gibson says it is secure. (go in to about 1 hr 7 min)

Setup is mindlessly easy but I have only done this on a local network as yet and not off site.

Here is a good little YouTube explanation.

Setting up mobile is completely crazy. Install BTSync on the mobile and create a folder. Then create a folder on a PC that is only for things you want synchronized to the phone. When you go to preferences on the PC and select "connect to mobile device" a QR code will pop up. Scan it with the mobile BTSync and the "secret" will be read into the mobile app. I believe you would want a special limited folder for mobile because of the mobile's limited storage.

It would take some planning to handle the storage with BTSync. Unlike Dropbox there is no cloud storage to hold the data and folders can not exist inside of folders. This is a completely cool and effective method of syncing and sharing data.

But honestly, the cloud is very handy and day to day I will still use Dropbox on a regular basis. And BTS for more specialty transfers.

Carbonite to Mozy With No Regrets (yet)

Edit: I installed Mozy Home by mistake and it would not uninstall. Here is a 64 bit Mozy uninstall program link.

Carbonite Pro was a great solution for me. They had the only plan I found to backup multiple computers for one flat fee under a data limit. It started out at $120 per year for a 20GB limit. Then they changed plans and raised price but I was grandfathered in for one more year at $120. This year's renewal was confusing. One rep. said I could have another year for $120 but another said I would pay $180 or I could pay $500+ for three years because the price will be $500 per year (yikes). My search showed $229 for 250GB so would the real price please stand up? That is a lot of space, I will give them that.

As a backup side note, I always install a separate hard disk on each machine for backup. Cloud is a redundant, off site backup. But I also use the cloud backup to access large files from a distance. It is easy to grab a large current accounting file from the cloud backup. Grabbing that file in other free ways is painful.

Instead of trying to sort the price out, I checked Mozy again. They now have a multiple machine, single price data cap plan and it is cheap compared to Carbonite if their price will truly be $500 per year, which really seems impossibly high. So I chose the 10GB cap for $90 with coupon. Increasing the cap is easy and flexible. I will just use free 2 GB accounts to back up laptops and miscellaneous machines. I limit backups to docs, spread sheets, pdf, etc. and not pics or videos so 2GB is enough for those machines. Carbonite would win the GB per dollar argument but if you don't need the space, why pay for it?

Insufficient time has passed to know all the warts but I like Mozy Pro's control panel much better than Carbonite's. I can access each machine existing on the Pro account under the control panel and download that machine's backup onto another machine. With Carbonite I had to log into carbonite separately with each specific machine's user name and password. The last time I used Carbonite to download files from a backup, it would not accept a multiple file selection and I had to download each file individually. Then of course Carbonite engaged in the pathetic anti Rush Limbaugh add cancel, pandering to the lunatic left. They deserve retribution for simply not having a sense of humor. All things considered, I am happy to throw Carbonite out into the street.

I appreciate Mozy's Live Chat support.

Backup Without Windows

Bare Metal Restore Solution GUI Backup Open Source GPL Recovery

Redo Backup and Recovery is so simple that anyone can use it. It is the easiest, most complete disaster recovery solution available. It allows bare-metal restore. Bare metal restore means that even if your hard drive melts or gets completely erased by a virus, you can have a completely-functional system back up and running in as little as 10 minutes.

Other options exist but this is free and has many features. Use Unetbootin to install on USB.

I don't use this and can't remember even trying it. I'm using Macrium Reflect currently.

Acronis Hard Drive Cloning and Backup

2019-01-21 Just use AOMEI and forget it.

Edit: I currently use Macrium but as yet can not get the recovery working on YUMI.
Edit: I use Easeus To Do Backup for imaging the systems now. Add the boot ISO to YUMI usb for recovery or cloning systems.

Acronis is free if you have one Seagate or WD drive in your system. Win7 makes a workable image of your system but if you don't have a bootable Win7 disk or running XP, Acronis can come in handy. Here are the links to get the free versions. I don't know if the bootable disk you make checks for disk brand to work. I'm guessing only the original install check for the disks.

Downloads

Download For Seagate & Maxtor

Download For Western Digital

Backing Up The Operating System

2019-01-21 AOMEI Backupper is the ticket

Oh let me count the ways. Vista/Win7 has easy backup for some versions. I like Drive Snapshot. I have not had to restore a Vista/Win7 install with Drive Snapshot but I hear it works, knock on wood. Vista/Win7 did something odd with the boot sector but I think Drive Snapshot worked that out with recent versions. I like how fast DS runs and how it runs from a little portable posture without having to leave Windows. Drive Snapshot is not free.

Restoring the OS needs to be done from DOS with full access to the NTFS partition. I have an NTFS boot CD with DS on it for just such a reason. This is somewhat trickier than using Acronis, etc. but I've had Acronis do some crazy errors in the past and don't really trust it. Drive Snapshot just works.

I like Second Copy. I've tried SyncToy and other sync. programs and don't like the setups and scheduling. Cobian created a deep file structure that took me forever to delete. You do not want to go through this.