Good Backup Software and Policy

I am looking for some advice as to Back up software and policy. Currently I am using Vista and Nortons Ghost and every Saturday night I do a complete disk backup to an external hard drive. That way if my hard drive dies on me I can replace it with a new drive and then use Norton to restore from the backup and at the most I lose a couple of days work. Works fine.

Now I am buying a new computer using Win7 with two 160 GB SSD's in RAID0. I know that Ghost does not work with Win 7 so I need a new Backup Program. I am also a bit concerned about what happens if one of the new SSD's fail and I need to do a restore to a single 500 GB hard drive.

So the questions are;
a) What backup program will work for me; and
b) Can I restore from a Raid0 configuration to a single hard drive and if so what do I need to know?

 

well, the most radical and gamechanging solution would be to get a windows home server. does all the backups, and can host all your data centrally so you can use your laptop and your desktop, both having always access to all data.

but it involves buying hw and such. other solutions exist, but i don't have a need to know about them anymore. others sure will list those options

 

The backup that comes with Windows 7 does everything most users would need.

Restoring from raid to normal and back is not really a problem. It's just data. In some cases windows might not work or do something strange cause the hardware configuration has changed.

 

The backup/system image feature in Win 7 is adequate for most casual users. There is a limitation, though:
Only Win7 Pro and above allow backups to a network location. If you have home premium you'll have to use an external HD.


If the above limitation is something you are concerned about you should look at Acronis True Image. The newest version has some cool features:
1) familiar backup method between computers if you have more than one.
2) backup to network location
3) Secure Zone - create a hidden partition with restore options from the boot menu
4) ability to mount an image and restore a single (or multiple) file(s).
5) Continuous backup - The program will create incremental backups every 5min. Might be a little much for most users.
6) Easy scheduling.
7)Ability to convert an image to a VHD.

If you have more than one computer you should have a look at Windows Home Server, as davepermen suggested. It is a very neat little setup and you can get into one for $200 on Amazon.
The main benefits are:
1)Automated backups of up to 10 computers
2)Redundant storage of files (if you have more than one drive)
3)access to anything stored on the server from the web. This is great if you travel or have friends/relatives you share pics with.
4)Extendability through third party add-ins, and there are quite a few. Everything from home automation to torrent clients.

If your computer uses hardware raid then there should be no problems restoring with any method.

 

This is only partially true. The backup image is a VHD, or virtual harddrive file. it can be mounted and explored, thus allowing you to copy over individual files.

I think the external harddrive solution will continue to serve your needs.

 

I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that, surfasb. I was actually discussing that with a coworker earlier in the week. I must be getting old!

Post corrected. Forehead slapped.

I do stand by the home server though, especially if one have more than one computer. It may cost a little more upfront, but the simplicity of backups and time saved is worth it - not to mention the extra features.

 

take a look at shadow protect and macrium reflect both awesome programs imo. i use and stand by both.

 

I use Windows 7 Backup & Restore Center, Allway Sync freeware and an external 320GB usb harddrive for my backups. The backup procedure is:

1. With W7 B&R i backup user profiles to partition E: (E:\COMPUTERNAME)
2. With W7 B&R i make system images of C: to partition E: (E:\WindowsImageBackup)
3. With Allway Sync i transfer the backups and some other folders to my usb harddrive

Keeping the backups on partition E: and a copy of the backup on the usb harddrive makes everything reasonably safe and restores very fast.