System backup for Windows 10

[olkipukki]

Not sure whether your test included making an image file, which isn't bootable, but contains all the used sectors of the original partition except for the paging file and hibernation file, and is further compressed.  Then of course you would need to test restoring from that image file back to the original partition.  It would be great if that process works on Windows 10, preferably using the Image for Linux boot CD or thumb drive.

Exactly, except Image for UEFI vs Linux booted from 1GB USB drive.
This is 2.b mentioned above, a compressed image size approx 90GB copied to external Samsung T5 1TB SSD.

I managed to test the restore a whole internal drive, all works fine 

Also, I did a few backups again and these completed for less than a hour now.


Updated: my source system is Windows 10

[westfw]

I have started to use Terabyte software and tried the following:
1) created Image for UEFI bootdisk on an external USB drive - works fine 
    :
I didn't install Terabyte software on Windows and not planning to do so.

Wait...  How did you create the Terabyte boot disk without installing their SW on windows?  On a separate non-windows system?

[Peabody]

So the image file was 90GB?  How many GB are shown as "used" in the partition's properties?  On my Windows 7 computer, the C partition is 95GB, of which about 42GB are used.  But that includes the paging file, which is 8GB, so the net used is 34GB.  The image file for that is about 19GB after compression, and the image creation process to a Western Digital Passport USB3 drive takes about 25 minutes.  I was hoping Windows 10 would be similar, but it appears to be far larger than 7.

[amspire]

Wait...  How did you create the Terabyte boot disk without installing their SW on windows?  On a separate non-windows system?

You can download the ISO's for all the different bootable versions. Terabyte Unlimited is pretty good at giving a lot of options.

[Jeroen3]

Doesn't look like terrabyte does incrementals and differentials.

Macrium does, I've configured it to do one monthy full image with weekly differentials and daily incrementals.
This is very fast and it uses shadow copy, so works online and no bitlocker problems.
Recovery is possible via the bootable environment on a usb stick.

Images are protected from altering by their image guardian as response to cryptolockers.

Overall works nice as background backup solution, but also has basic imaging/cloning capabilities like Terrabyte.
It cannot image defective drives.

Don't get Acronis, they fail simple tasks and ask you more money every year.

[amspire]

Doesn't look like terrabyte does incrementals and differentials.

Terabyte's software does differentials and incrementals and can re-consolidate them into a single backup file if you want.

I do not know how you can make an "image guardian" that is immune to viruses, but for me, I just do not need it. If I want to set up a regular backup, I do it to an external NAS that has no shares exposed, and that uses a BTRFS file system that saves the files in a read only form. I will regularly synch that NAS and all its snapshots to a second NAS. I also find a way to get copies off site. I just feel this is a much safer solution.

Macrium could be a nice package - never tried it. I saw they make you pay extra for a server version - hate that. A server is just another PC. The only way they can make a PC version not work with a server is if they deliberately cripple their software and Terabytes has never done that.

[olkipukki]

Wait...  How did you create the Terabyte boot disk without installing their SW on windows?  On a separate non-windows system?

No, I didn't and that's correct way to manage off-line backups imho.

Terabyte provides MAKEDISK tool (Windows GUI app in my example) to build a bootable disk as part of BootIt Collection.
If you have TeraByte Unlimited license, you can make a boot disk with Image for UEFI/BIOS-DOS/etc at the same time.
 
Basically, this is a standalone wizard with a few clicks (or around 10 in advance mode) and an external drive - job done 
 

[olkipukki]

So the image file was 90GB?  How many GB are shown as "used" in the partition's properties?  On my Windows 7 computer, the C partition is 95GB, of which about 42GB are used.  But that includes the paging file, which is 8GB, so the net used is 34GB.  The image file for that is about 19GB after compression, and the image creation process to a Western Digital Passport USB3 drive takes about 25 minutes.  I was hoping Windows 10 would be similar, but it appears to be far larger than 7.

Yes, that's right, 90GB whole drive (include Windows partitions) from ~200GB used. Not too bad, isn't?

The paging file (~10GB) was omitted during the backup.

[LeonR]

Windows backup? afaik its a toy that doesnt do full backup, no such thing as fresh install. running startup CD and try to recover backup files will spit error messages to you. a waste of time and real frustration in the time when we really need our system back and up again in quick time. i will never trust Windows backup ever not to mention it will degrade performance and HDD space unecesarily if you enable auto backup/restore point creation.

The version included on Windows Server 2008 R2 is pretty nice, actually. It uses VSS (pretty handy technology unbeknownst or ignored by many sysadmins) for very fine incremental copy granularity and allow for a full system restore in case the OS becomes corrupt or a disk failure. I've used this before to recover a system where the two disks from a RAID-1 died in less than a day apart from each other. Haven't used the desktop versions, though.

I have ruled out "workarounds" such as RAIDs and build-in Windows backup "solution".

RAID isn't a workaround for proper backups. If the data is important, just remember the 321 rule: 3 copies, using 2 different media types and 1 of them is offsite.

All I want a backup program to do is:

• Create a full disk image that can be used to re-create a bootable drive.  Preferably, it should simultaneously create a bootable USB or CD that can restore that image onto a blank drive.
  (Currently using Clonezilla for this.)
• Bypass the normal permissions issues and back up all the User's "user data" to a browseable filesystem.  (Currently using Windows Explorer for this.  Painfully.)
• Share the same backup storage device for multiple systems.

The procedures I'm using are relatively painful - I wouldn't suggest them to my less-technical family members.  The "pro" backup utilities (including ones I've paid for) all seem to implement complex scheduling schemes that include (sometimes multiple) background windows processes that do ... something.

Is there something like what I'm looking for?)

(Hmm.  Ideally, I'd also like to back up important Applications (but not ALL applications) so that they can be restored onto a fresh disk without hunting down installation media and license keys...)

I've tried backup/imaging/partition managing solutions from some vendors and stuck with Paragon's Hard Disk Manager for some time now. I think there's a trial for it when you install and don't use a serial. Aside from the application backup you mentioned, it covers the others bases.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/hdm-windows/

They are also offering a free version of Backup and Restore. It offers less features but I think you can use it to see if the backup module suit your needs.

https://www.paragon-software.com/free/br-free/