I got the paid version when it was on sale and got a good deal because in the long run, I just don't want the hassle and the free versions might not have all the tools I need. I've used about five brand names over the years, and these companies come and go, and recommend that you have at least two apps if you can afford it because with PCs, there is always "something". The big question is how easy is it to get your stuff back when the company decides to fold its tents and pursue other endeavors.
i buy external drive, immediately reformat it, w/o zip/copy, and then use my own hand-written batch file [which i wrote 10+yrs ago] for the backup. works for me.
Good advice. All of the backup software that have come with my external drives pertained to the backing up of folders and files...not imaging. The benefit of EaseUS and Macrium Reflect is they image one's entire disk, which is a more robust and potentially beneficial solution. Too bad MR no longer provides an updated free version. It has been my go-to for years and never failed me. To your point, I'm considering buying the paid version.
Some years ago, my bought me an external HHD. At the time, he didn't realise it had preloaded backup software. He said he wouldn't have bought it, had he known. I had an old computer & after Windows 7 stopped, he switched me over to Ubuntu, which I happily used. That HHD and the software was not compatible with Linux. My current computer is a 2nd hand Windows 10 machine. The software on the HHD is no longer supported and for reasons I don't understand, we couldn't just run it, as it was. Being a software guy, he did his voodoo and managed to get my photos off the old drive, formatted the drive, reload the pics (We now have other copies) . There was a base unit that he disassembled and rewired, and now all is good. His strong opinion is that an external drive, should be just that; a blank drive. Nothing proprietary on it.
I recently noticed the free software that came with my WD HDD hadn't performed a backup for 6 months. No obvious reason, it had been working for 4 or so years previous to that. Easus ToDo here I come. Thanks Leo
100% agreed, Leo. I use either Macrium or EaseUS. I prefer the latter for its simplicity. Great user interface. I also like its bit by bit comparison check. Thanks for yet another great video!
Years ago I used the free backup software that came on the drive. Big mistake. Eventually my HDD failed so I installed a new drive with a new OS. Turns out the backup software didn't run on the new OS so I couldn't read any files from the backup 😢 In the end the only thing I could do was install a virtual machine that ran the original OS. Then I could use the free backup software to restore my files and copy them onto the host. Now I just copy everything as-is onto the backup drive. No special software and no chance of that problem again. Sure the backup takes a bit longer, but I know I can trust it
Acronis used to be in Herndon Virginia but was sold to a group in Switzerland and Singapore, the company doesn't disclose where is cloud data center is as it can be in a number of international locations, such as Ukraine, Cyprus, Utah or Northern Virginia. The companies don't want to disclose this, because why would I buy this software if I can do it directly to the services myself. Macrium may ibe headquartered in the UK but may have back end data service somewhere else. EASE US doesn't have a discrete cloud service, they use Google drive or Dropbox for the cloud backup. This isn't the old days where the company headquarters is the same as the retail outlet. The key question is not about being headquartered in China, the key question is do you trust Google or Dropbox or Microsoft one drive as your back in cloud backup service.
Unless you use some form of journalling software most home users can DIY their backups IMHO. I do a regular manual backup on a 4-disc rotation: I have a pro-forma type of folder which contains empty folders labelled “Firefox profile”, “ Financial”, “My files” etc: just copy these on to the new disc and populate each folder by dragging the appropriate file/folders. I did use the paid version of Acronis but it did weird things and I found it was impossible to retrieve files I needed when I accidentally deleted them from the main drive - it appeared you could replace a whole drive but not pick individual items, which was useless in this case.
Harddisk started failing 18 months ago, replaced with ssd and restored user folder from easeus full drive backup, came up with 100's of error messages but seems like everything restored. Think it might have been path limit of 256 characters.
Western Digital had backup software on my MyPassport HDD and it was very vague on what it was doing when backing up. It didn't display what files and folders it was backing up. It just gave me a countdown timer (that wasn't reliable) and then it said done! I use Free File Sync now just to mirror my internal drive to my external HDD
Yep, experienced that once with WD's so called software. They weren't the ONLY ones guilty of this and when I bought my previous SFF desktop, it was recommended Macrium Reflect, but that was 2019 and sadly, no longer free. It did what it was supposed to do, and I got a nice image of my drive and had it handy to rebuild the image in my drive after disconnecting and cleaning out the computer of dust, then reinstalled my drives. Sadly, the image on the backup got gorked somehow so was dead in the water. But it did the job otherwise, but in retrospect, may well have had the drives reversed accidentally when that all happened. I am thinking EaseUS is what I will get as it is free.
What's wrong with Windows file backup? That's what I ended up using. I firstly installed the WD Discovery, but it was too annoying, demanding my attention every time I restarted my PC and logged into the user account. Off it went. Windows backs up my PC and I check the size of the backup that it matches what Windows shows me was backed up on its end. Why do I need anything extra and of third party?
Mostly because Microsoft as told us it's going away. Personally I find it doesn't give me nearly enough information about what it's doing, particularly when there's a failure.
@@askleonotenboom after watching this I watched another your video and there you said file backup in Windows was fine, not mentioning it was going away. Are we talking about the same thing?
@@D.von.N since I don't know what other video you're referencing, all I can say is maybe. I did post a video on how to use Windows 7 backup recently, specifically for those who object to 3rd party software, or insist on using it anyway. I never said it was "fine". I consider it "better than nothing", hence that other video. :-)
I got a external drive and it not only came with backup software but you could only use that software. I believe it was a Western Digital bu I am not sure. I wanted to take out the drive and it would not even format because of the Backup Software. I ended up throwing out the HDD, it was a bad experience. "Buyer beware"
@@askleonotenboom You only say that because you don't know me. As I said, I don't have anything to backup. I only have a few programs on my PC that I can download again if I need to, I have no music or videos as those are streamed, I have no family or friend photos because I don't have any family or friends. Like said, nothing to backup.
There are better options. ✅ Watch next ▶ Don't Use Windows Built-in Image Backup ▶ th-cam.com/video/oK8nevrmfhM/w-d-xo.html
I got the paid version when it was on sale and got a good deal because in the long run, I just don't want the hassle and the free versions might not have all the tools I need. I've used about five brand names over the years, and these companies come and go, and recommend that you have at least two apps if you can afford it because with PCs, there is always "something". The big question is how easy is it to get your stuff back when the company decides to fold its tents and pursue other endeavors.
i buy external drive, immediately reformat it, w/o zip/copy, and then use my own hand-written batch file [which i wrote 10+yrs ago] for the backup. works for me.
Good advice. All of the backup software that have come with my external drives pertained to the backing up of folders and files...not imaging. The benefit of EaseUS and Macrium Reflect is they image one's entire disk, which is a more robust and potentially beneficial solution. Too bad MR no longer provides an updated free version. It has been my go-to for years and never failed me. To your point, I'm considering buying the paid version.
Some years ago, my bought me an external HHD. At the time, he didn't realise it had preloaded backup software. He said he wouldn't have bought it, had he known.
I had an old computer & after Windows 7 stopped, he switched me over to Ubuntu, which I happily used. That HHD and the software was not compatible with Linux.
My current computer is a 2nd hand Windows 10 machine. The software on the HHD is no longer supported and for reasons I don't understand, we couldn't just run it, as it was.
Being a software guy, he did his voodoo and managed to get my photos off the old drive, formatted the drive, reload the pics (We now have other copies) . There was a base unit that he disassembled and rewired, and now all is good.
His strong opinion is that an external drive, should be just that; a blank drive. Nothing proprietary on it.
I recently noticed the free software that came with my WD HDD hadn't performed a backup for 6 months. No obvious reason, it had been working for 4 or so years previous to that. Easus ToDo here I come. Thanks Leo
100% agreed, Leo. I use either Macrium or EaseUS. I prefer the latter for its simplicity. Great user interface. I also like its bit by bit comparison check. Thanks for yet another great video!
Years ago I used the free backup software that came on the drive. Big mistake. Eventually my HDD failed so I installed a new drive with a new OS. Turns out the backup software didn't run on the new OS so I couldn't read any files from the backup 😢
In the end the only thing I could do was install a virtual machine that ran the original OS. Then I could use the free backup software to restore my files and copy them onto the host.
Now I just copy everything as-is onto the backup drive. No special software and no chance of that problem again. Sure the backup takes a bit longer, but I know I can trust it
Been using Free File Sync for nearly 20 years, rock solid, hasn't let me down yet !!!
The Win built-in one??🤔
EASEUS HQ is located in Chengdu, Sichuan, China .
Macrium Software, UK
AOMEI is in Hong King, China
Acronis is in Singapore, and Switzerland
Paragon is in Germany
Acronis used to be in Herndon Virginia but was sold to a group in Switzerland and Singapore, the company doesn't disclose where is cloud data center is as it can be in a number of international locations, such as Ukraine, Cyprus, Utah or Northern Virginia. The companies don't want to disclose this, because why would I buy this software if I can do it directly to the services myself. Macrium may ibe headquartered in the UK but may have back end data service somewhere else. EASE US doesn't have a discrete cloud service, they use Google drive or Dropbox for the cloud backup. This isn't the old days where the company headquarters is the same as the retail outlet. The key question is not about being headquartered in China, the key question is do you trust Google or Dropbox or Microsoft one drive as your back in cloud backup service.
@@mqcapps That Acronis rings the bell. It was included in my WD Discovery package. I checked them out and said NAAAH! I don't trust clouds. At all.
@@askleonotenboom used it years ago when it was on CD but since v 16 it gets wonky...as if they've given up on it...had to get refund
@@D.von.N had a tech problem and they asked for a telephone consultation...RED FLAG
Exactly what I have been doing for years - thanks for the confirmation.
Thanks Leo for your suggestions, easy to understand as usual
I recommend Aomei Backupper. Free and reliable. Paid version allows backup to different hardware.
Unless you use some form of journalling software most home users can DIY their backups IMHO.
I do a regular manual backup on a 4-disc rotation: I have a pro-forma type of folder which contains empty folders labelled “Firefox profile”, “ Financial”, “My files” etc: just copy these on to the new disc and populate each folder by dragging the appropriate file/folders.
I did use the paid version of Acronis but it did weird things and I found it was impossible to retrieve files I needed when I accidentally deleted them from the main drive - it appeared you could replace a whole drive but not pick individual items, which was useless in this case.
Harddisk started failing 18 months ago, replaced with ssd and restored user folder from easeus full drive backup, came up with 100's of error messages but seems like everything restored. Think it might have been path limit of 256 characters.
Macrium Reflect worth every penny. More than most will ever need but the parts you'll use work great, quickly and reliably.
Western Digital had backup software on my MyPassport HDD and it was very vague on what it was doing when backing up. It didn't display what files and folders it was backing up. It just gave me a countdown timer (that wasn't reliable) and then it said done! I use Free File Sync now just to mirror my internal drive to my external HDD
Yep, experienced that once with WD's so called software. They weren't the ONLY ones guilty of this and when I bought my previous SFF desktop, it was recommended Macrium Reflect, but that was 2019 and sadly, no longer free. It did what it was supposed to do, and I got a nice image of my drive and had it handy to rebuild the image in my drive after disconnecting and cleaning out the computer of dust, then reinstalled my drives. Sadly, the image on the backup got gorked somehow so was dead in the water. But it did the job otherwise, but in retrospect, may well have had the drives reversed accidentally when that all happened.
I am thinking EaseUS is what I will get as it is free.
i dont use any i just save and put on wd elements external 4tb drive only
works great for me
I use personal back up....
What's wrong with Windows file backup? That's what I ended up using. I firstly installed the WD Discovery, but it was too annoying, demanding my attention every time I restarted my PC and logged into the user account. Off it went. Windows backs up my PC and I check the size of the backup that it matches what Windows shows me was backed up on its end. Why do I need anything extra and of third party?
Mostly because Microsoft as told us it's going away. Personally I find it doesn't give me nearly enough information about what it's doing, particularly when there's a failure.
@@askleonotenboom after watching this I watched another your video and there you said file backup in Windows was fine, not mentioning it was going away. Are we talking about the same thing?
@@D.von.N since I don't know what other video you're referencing, all I can say is maybe. I did post a video on how to use Windows 7 backup recently, specifically for those who object to 3rd party software, or insist on using it anyway. I never said it was "fine". I consider it "better than nothing", hence that other video. :-)
Macrium Reflect also has a free version, but it's ending soon.
It's already ended.
Bundleware usually sucks, and it's rarely maintained if ever.
Good stuff Leo
More good stuff. 👍 JimE
I got a external drive and it not only came with backup software but you could only use that software. I believe it was a Western Digital bu I am not sure. I wanted to take out the drive and it would not even format because of the Backup Software. I ended up throwing out the HDD, it was a bad experience. "Buyer beware"
Wow. That's awful.
Very bad and curious to know exact brand n model to avoid??
Do they have eternal purchase or only subscription purchases?
i use easeus lifetime. one question leo... is this vide endorsed by easeus ?
If you mean sponsored, no. I make all my own choices.
How to fix my laptop after deleting system 32
Reinstall Windows from scratch. (Or restore a complete image backup you created earlier.)
@@askleonotenboomhow to do that from the blue screen with trouble shoot and etc
@@Stretchywetcmu You'll have to get or create installation media -- something you can boot from -- probably using a different working computer.
@@askleonotenboom so download windows on a usb?
I think backing up takes too much time, and I don't have anything on my PC worth backing up. So I don't bother with it.
Someday. Someday you'll wish you had.
@@askleonotenboom You only say that because you don't know me. As I said, I don't have anything to backup. I only have a few programs on my PC that I can download again if I need to, I have no music or videos as those are streamed, I have no family or friend photos because I don't have any family or friends. Like said, nothing to backup.