I'm look to up my game on backups, data security, speed up an reinstallation processes, and so on. One of the things I've never really grasped is the proper (or best) way to back up a Windows computer.

I've seen some tools like Acronis talking about creating a disk image, but I've no idea how that then gets restored or if it has any limitations?!

I've used basic level stuff in the past like doing a System Restore, but have had experienced where it hasn't always worked, or at least fully worked where it's restored everything perfectly to as it was.

Just wondering if there is a proper, recommended, or best practice way to back up Windows computers at all so that you can reinstall if need be?

 

it's surprisingly simple,
backup OS separately, and backup data separately,
OS backups are best done on bit level, having exact clone of full partition map of disk, sector by sector, which by nature needs to be done without OS running,
restore is then done as exact 1:1 copy, in case of bigger disk, by default leftover empty space is left unused, but many backup tools can proportionally scale or resize smaller paritition maps to bigger drive targets,
data backups on the other hand are most effectively done incrementally on file delta level, having files (and folders) with changes to them continuously (at some schedule) backed up, usually called snapshots,
restore is then done on "calendar" level style of individual files,
you can guess it's also way more effective to physically separate OS storage and data storage (which btw is how literally all enterprise server stuff works),

for the question I assume you ask, I'd suggest having a "multiboot" Ventoy USB stick, throw Hiren onto it (aside from some legit Windows ISOs) and you can experiment with various backup-restore tools,

...oh and if you really wanna go into more tinkering, you'll end up with Proxmox server where you can test run all kinds of stuff in "safe" virtual environment, maybe even run Windows Server with domain controller, active directory, windows deployment tools, update servicing tools and such... but that's way beyond scope of this audio forum I'm afraid, and I'm not that of expert in that regard either

 

Whatever software you end up using, the proper way to back up your C drive is an image file. Also all softies to my knowledge use a boot image file to start your comp when you want to restore a backup. You make a boot usb thumbdrive with it and you 're done.
As i 'm in the comp building biz many years now, you can imagine i have tried almost all existing software for backups since the days of Norton Ghost in the 90s haha. So,
For clients with many pcs i use Acronis as after the first full backup they need what is called incremental backups. As the name suggests this backs up only data that has changed after the last full backup, so it can save time when you have to back up many comps. In general i don't prefer Acronis as you will find it is too much for personal usage and does have a very intrusive behavior i'd say. Still, it's a beast probably the most feature rich backup soft.
For single clients and myself i use R-Tools R-Drive Image. I find it the fastest for system drive images, the most reliable and the most easy to use but it's still powerful enough for most needs. And it's only about 45 dlrs - 36 now with discount. For the skeptical ones try before buy version is also available in all the known places.
In a nutshell it can do: system drive image (or any other drive as well), clone drives (very handy when upgrading older drives to bigger ones), can copy many different partitions to a single drive, includes a partition manager that can create,delete and resize partitions retaining existing data at will. Also secure wipe entire drives. With R-Drive you can mount your backup image and browse it in Windows like a regular iso. It can sort of do incremental backups as it can append data to an existing image but i never use this feature. It can also save multiple copies of your image to different drives,media etc. in a single imaging process, if you are the really cautious one. You can even save system images in the cloud, google drive, ms one drive and dropbox are supported. It also supports simple scripts to automate tasks etc. , and all main functions are done via the simplest wizard menus.
https://www.drive-image.com/
Cheers

 

Last edited: Jul 2, 2024

Stay away from windows system restore or windows backup. They are backward and flawed technology. And yes, there is a proper way to backup just about any machine regardless of platform type.

You're on the correct track with using DISK IMAGING. Acronis or Easeus are decent tools. Acronis is my goto. For older server os's with exchange and iis etc I use acronis backup server v10/11. It's good for older workstation OS's as well (xp, vista, 7, 8). For newer workstations (win 10+) it's acronis truimage, latest versions.

The most important thing to keep in mind for windows backup disc imaging is making certain the tool you're using is WinPE based. This is the only way you're going to get back exactly what you backed up right down to the symlinks, and permissions on folders and files. It's a completely perfect restore with WinPE based tools. I can completely wipe a production media box and have it back up and running within 45 mins just as pristine as the day I backed it up. It's really the only way to fly.

Avoid using *NIX based disc imagers on windows systems like the plague. They may be able to back up the system, but they will not restore things properly like installed apps and registry settings, security on files/folders, symlinks, etc...

To do an acronis truimage backup simply transfer the bootable truimage WINPE backup tool to your favorite usb stick (using Rufus) or a rewrite-able cdrom, and boot your target machine with it. You'll need a external mass storage device to store the disk image(s) - I use usb SSD/hard drives for storing the raw backup images but I suppose one could use a NAS or some other related type device. You can backup each system volume one by one to its own separate image, or back up the entire system (all volumes) to a single image - it's your choice.

TO restore your system it's the same scenario as the backup only in reverse. Boot up the target system with the bootable imaging tool and connect your external mass storage device that holds your backup image(s). Point truimage at your backup(s) and restore them to the proper volumes on your target system. Simple.

I store all my backups on large offline hard drives kept in a magnetically secure safe.

 

Last edited: Jul 2, 2024

windows?

plug and pray

 

Other than mission critical project files in whatever discipline a person uses, the only other important part is the system for backup. Always has been and always will be because applications can be reinstalled easily enough. The only pain is the time it takes.

 

I used to use CloneZilla, after some time tried using free Aomei Backupper 8.6(not sure about the latest ones tho) and it served me well. Used it for months basically daily obsessing over to many disks and too many different os-es to test crap and never had a situation where it did not made a backup. Restoring the system os is a bit problematic and, learning the hard way i think using os disk separate of everything else is a way to go which in that case is pretty easy to backup and restore.

 

I mostly use paragons partition manager for backing up my system drive.
Found that its better to do it from the bootstick that can be created.
But it does work from running system as well.