Backups on Windows 10

What do you guys use for backups on Windows 10? Karen's Replicator (which I have used for years successfuly on previous versions of Windows) fails, not copying all the files over to the destination drive and leaving sevaral folders empty having lost the files that were in them. The reported file and folder counts are erroneous compared to the original files and folders. A Google search suggested that a recent Windows 10 update was responsible for Karen's Replicator failing and to use SyncBackFree instead (amongst others). SyncBackFree gives similar errors in reporting. The summaries indicate that a scheduled backup has not run although the detailed report indicates that it has run (click on the backup line in the Summary Report). The next day the Summary may indicate that the failed Backup did in fact run successfuly. There is nothing consistent in the file data reporting. I am not assured that all files are present in the BU destination hard drive. A manual Drag & Drop or Copy & Paste result in indentical counts for original files on PC C drive and files on External BU Drive and all files seem to be intact. I back up to an external 3.5" hard drive in an ICYBOX enclosure via USB3 that I have used successfully for years. An suggestions anbody?

What do you guys use for backups on Windows 10?

Karen's Replicator (which I have used for years successfuly on previous versions of Windows) fails, not copying all the files over to the destination drive and leaving sevaral folders empty having lost the files that were in them. The reported file and folder counts are erroneous compared to the original files and folders.

A Google search suggested that a recent Windows 10 update was responsible for Karen's Replicator failing and to use SyncBackFree instead (amongst others).

SyncBackFree gives similar errors in reporting. The summaries indicate that a scheduled backup has not run although the detailed report indicates that it has run (click on the backup line in the Summary Report). The next day the Summary may indicate that the failed Backup did in fact run successfuly. There is nothing consistent in the file data reporting. I am not assured that all files are present in the BU destination hard drive.

A manual Drag & Drop or Copy & Paste result in indentical counts for original files on PC C drive and files on External BU Drive and all files seem to be intact.

I back up to an external 3.5" hard drive in an ICYBOX enclosure via USB3 that I have used successfully for years.

An suggestions anbody?

I use Acronis and BullGuard. My W10 O/S and programmes are on my C: drive. Acronis makes a back-up image copy and does update from time to time though it is not necessary to do this often as data is stored elsewhere. My data is stored on my D: drive and I have my BullGuard Anti-Virus software back up my Outlook .pst file (emails and contacts) every day. My documents are backed up weekly by BullGuard and image files monthly. All back-up's are written on a NAS. I also keep manual back-ups of these on a USB drive which I normally keep in a fire resistant safe. I could have done all the back-ups with Acronis but I do not have the full version but a free version which came with the NAS. About 12 months ago I had a particularly nasty problem with W10 and some old software. I had to keep going back to an earlier version of W10 and was readily ably to do this from the Acronis back up and probably did this ten times before I realised the cause of the problem and uninstalled the rogue software. I also have confidence in Acronis from using it on an earlier PC. Dave

I use Acronis and BullGuard. My W10 O/S and programmes are on my C: drive. Acronis makes a back-up image copy and does update from time to time though it is not necessary to do this often as data is stored elsewhere. My data is stored on my D: drive and I have my BullGuard Anti-Virus software back up my Outlook .pst file (emails and contacts) every day. My documents are backed up weekly by BullGuard and image files monthly. All back-up's are written on a NAS. I also keep manual back-ups of these on a USB drive which I normally keep in a fire resistant safe. I could have done all the back-ups with Acronis but I do not have the full version but a free version which came with the NAS. About 12 months ago I had a particularly nasty problem with W10 and some old software. I had to keep going back to an earlier version of W10 and was readily ably to do this from the Acronis back up and probably did this ten times before I realised the cause of the problem and uninstalled the rogue software. I also have confidence in Acronis from using it on an earlier PC.

Dave

Thank you, Dave. I have a copy of Acronis True Image Home 2017 which says it can back up my music, video and digital photos. I will have a look at this later. At the moment I am trying Windows History back up procedure. The problem, I understand, is due to a November update to Windows 10 which, it was said, corrupted Karen's replicator causing it to lose files - it could not replicate new folders found on the C drive. Plus wrong the reporting of file sizes. It seems to have affected SyncBateFree given my results in using it. I have tried one or two fixes given in the SBF forum but still have the problems. The thing is what other BU software programs are also affected - it is not immediately apparent that it is happening unless one checks on the results.

Thank you, Dave. I have a copy of Acronis True Image Home 2017 which says it can back up my music, video and digital photos. I will have a look at this later. At the moment I am trying Windows History back up procedure.

The problem, I understand, is due to a November update to Windows 10 which, it was said, corrupted Karen's replicator causing it to lose files - it could not replicate new folders found on the C drive. Plus wrong the reporting of file sizes.

It seems to have affected SyncBateFree given my results in using it. I have tried one or two fixes given in the SBF forum but still have the problems.

The thing is what other BU software programs are also affected - it is not immediately apparent that it is happening unless one checks on the results.

Synctoy or Robocopy

Synctoy or Robocopy

I just reinstall from usb media. Takes 20 minutes to get windows on and another 20 to get office Photoshop etc back on. Not for everyone but nowadays windows profiles are copied from one device to the next

I just reinstall from usb media. Takes 20 minutes to get windows on and another 20 to get office Photoshop etc back on. Not for everyone but nowadays windows profiles are copied from one device to the next

FreeFileSync is open source and very effective. I use it to keep, a running bacground sync with my cloud drive. Never a glitch once you tell it 2hat files to exclude, lock files for example. I set it to version files too, so it keeps each edit for a month.

FreeFileSync is open source and very effective. I use it to keep, a running bacground sync with my cloud drive. Never a glitch once you tell it 2hat files to exclude, lock files for example.
I set it to version files too, so it keeps each edit for a month.

Another vote for Acronis TI. I've used it for many years. It's saved my bacon many times. It will backup everything that is on the selected drive.

Another vote for Acronis TI. I've used it for many years. It's saved my bacon many times. It will backup everything that is on the selected drive.

Currently I use SyncToy to make back up copies of all my important files to external drives. I don't bother backing up my boot drive. There's no point. If something goes wrong or I want to refresh the pc I reinstall using the Reset thing that's built in now - it's actually very quick Doesn't take long to reinstall Creative Cloud stuff, download Chrome, sign in to and all my stuff is there, including Google docs, and Google photos. Takes less than 30 minutes to be up and running again. Never thought things would be like this but now broadband is that fast it's quicker to download a program or printer driver than to hunt for the installer on discs. [epzimg]250184_1546827804.jpg[/epzimg]

Currently I use SyncToy to make back up copies of all my important files to external drives. I don't bother backing up my boot drive. There's no point.

If something goes wrong or I want to refresh the pc I reinstall using the Reset thing that's built in now - it's actually very quick

Doesn't take long to reinstall Creative Cloud stuff, download Chrome, sign in to and all my stuff is there, including Google docs, and Google photos.

Takes less than 30 minutes to be up and running again.

Never thought things would be like this but now broadband is that fast it's quicker to download a program or printer driver than to hunt for the installer on discs.

Chris, your recovery of the system disk may work for you but would not for me. I have a lot of legacy software installed which cannot be installed on W10 but runs fine on my PC because it was already installed when I upgraded from W7 to W10. Of course, my PC will not last for ever, so I may eventually have to resolve this. The key software is Quicken 2002. I have lots of critical accounts in Quicken and cannot afford to lose them. Quicken stopped supporting this software and now only offer a monthly subscription service. This is really aimed at commercial customers and it far too expensive for personal use, Camera Clubs etc. Several companies offer similar stand-alone Accounting and say they can convert your old Quicken files but their customers in their forums say not. I have a spare PC running W8 as a fall back as it is the last O/S on which I can install Quicken 2002. One day I will have to identify an alternative solution but for now I manage by maintain the current system disk.

Chris, your recovery of the system disk may work for you but would not for me. I have a lot of legacy software installed which cannot be installed on W10 but runs fine on my PC because it was already installed when I upgraded from W7 to W10. Of course, my PC will not last for ever, so I may eventually have to resolve this. The key software is Quicken 2002. I have lots of critical accounts in Quicken and cannot afford to lose them. Quicken stopped supporting this software and now only offer a monthly subscription service. This is really aimed at commercial customers and it far too expensive for personal use, Camera Clubs etc. Several companies offer similar stand-alone Accounting and say they can convert your old Quicken files but their customers in their forums say not. I have a spare PC running W8 as a fall back as it is the last O/S on which I can install Quicken 2002. One day I will have to identify an alternative solution but for now I manage by maintain the current system disk.

Thanks for all the BU suggestions, but my question is "Are you sure they are actually working i.e verified that all the 'backed up' data is actually there on the BU media?" Some of mine isn't, using firstly Karen's Replicator and secondly with SyncBackFree.

Thanks for all the BU suggestions, but my question is "Are you sure they are actually working i.e verified that all the 'backed up' data is actually there on the BU media?"

Some of mine isn't, using firstly Karen's Replicator and secondly with SyncBackFree.

Dave you can run Quicken's old 16 bit installer on 32 bit Windows but not 64 bit Windows. Personally I'd run that stuff in a virtual machine, an emulated Win7 or Win XP machine is easy to create. Jas, the trouble with software that attempts to back up more than your data files, i.e, operating systems and program files, is that failure is likely if the operating system is running at the time. Older versions of Windows could run in DOS type mode so that cloning could be done with Windows not running, files not open or in use. Modern 64 bit operating systems, with their ownership permissions and other security features, make it very hard to clone everything.

Dave you can run Quicken's old 16 bit installer on 32 bit Windows but not 64 bit Windows. Personally I'd run that stuff in a virtual machine, an emulated Win7 or Win XP machine is easy to create.

Jas, the trouble with software that attempts to back up more than your data files, i.e, operating systems and program files, is that failure is likely if the operating system is running at the time. Older versions of Windows could run in DOS type mode so that cloning could be done with Windows not running, files not open or in use.

Modern 64 bit operating systems, with their ownership permissions and other security features, make it very hard to clone everything.

Chris, Replcator and SyncBackFree only claim to BU data files and I use as such. Replicator seemed unable to copy new folders over or it would copy the folders but not their contents. SBF seems to be working OK now, copying new data over satisfactorily. For both Replicator and SBF the reported file count (in Properties) is erroneous - the BU copy being much less than the original file count. I have heard that Win 10 is suspect in this respect.

Chris, Replcator and SyncBackFree only claim to BU data files and I use as such.

Replicator seemed unable to copy new folders over or it would copy the folders but not their contents.

SBF seems to be working OK now, copying new data over satisfactorily.

For both Replicator and SBF the reported file count (in Properties) is erroneous - the BU copy being much less than the original file count. I have heard that Win 10 is suspect in this respect.

That's not a Win 10 problem that's a problem with those programs. SyncToy is really good, it's one of the best things Ms came up with [link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhROuKsjebs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhROuKsjebs[/link]

That's not a Win 10 problem that's a problem with those programs.

SyncToy is really good, it's one of the best things Ms came up with

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhROuKsjebs

[quote]That's not a Win 10 problem that's a problem with those programs. [/quote] Nevertheless, the various versions of Replicator had run no problems for the best part of 20 years on my PCs from Win 95, Win Se, Win Millenium to XP until my new PC running Win 10 Home.

Quote:That's not a Win 10 problem that's a problem with those programs.



Nevertheless, the various versions of Replicator had run no problems for the best part of 20 years on my PCs from Win 95, Win Se, Win Millenium to XP until my new PC running Win 10 Home.

Have you opened a ticket to highlight your issues? They can't fix what they don't know about. There's a list of work in progress (bugs to be fixed) on the site as well as bugs squashed. Just it's unfair to blame the road when the car isn't fit to travel along it. [i]Version 3.6.7: Fixed bug I recently introduced, that caused only the first wildcard to be processed, when a filter contains more than one wildcard. Version 3.6.6: Allowed program to browse unlimited number of network providers, domains, servers and shares. Previously this had been limited to approximately 16 of each type of object. Version 3.6.5: Fixed bug (that I introduced in version 3.6.2) that cause log entries describing errors to mysteriously end with the extraneous characters[/i] [epzimg]250184_1546941279.jpg[/epzimg]

Have you opened a ticket to highlight your issues? They can't fix what they don't know about.

There's a list of work in progress (bugs to be fixed) on the site as well as bugs squashed. Just it's unfair to blame the road when the car isn't fit to travel along it.

Version 3.6.7: Fixed bug I recently introduced, that caused only the first wildcard to be processed, when a filter contains more than one wildcard.

Version 3.6.6: Allowed program to browse unlimited number of network providers, domains, servers and shares. Previously this had been limited to approximately 16 of each type of object.

Version 3.6.5: Fixed bug (that I introduced in version 3.6.2) that cause log entries describing errors to mysteriously end with the extraneous characters