Posted: 6/30/2016 3:57:26 PM EDT
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Here is the deal.. I have a 3tb drive (500gb used) for pictures and random files. Currently running Win7 on a 250gb SSD.
I have a 2tb external drive that I would like to use to backup my 3tb drive. I do not want to put my data on the internet / cloud. I want my data backed up externally so I can safely store the drive in order to guard against theft / fire / etc. Ideally, I want to plug in an external drive, run a program, and have it sync all the files--then unplug the drive and stash it in my safe. I could delete the files each time but transferring 500gb each time is a lot of wear and tear on the drive and would take forever. Which program do I need? Is there a better way to accomplish this? |
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great advice. You can schedule with the free version, just do a nightly/weekly backup. I believe it does a time/date stamp compare before copying to avoid needless writes. |
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Quoted: Here is the deal.. I have a 3tb drive (500gb used) for pictures and random files. Currently running Win7 on a 250gb SSD. I have a 2tb external drive that I would like to use to backup my 3tb drive. I do not want to put my data on the internet / cloud. I want my data backed up externally so I can safely store the drive in order to guard against theft / fire / etc. Ideally, I want to plug in an external drive, run a program, and have it sync all the files--then unplug the drive and stash it in my safe. I could delete the files each time but transferring 500gb each time is a lot of wear and tear on the drive and would take forever. Which program do I need? Is there a better way to accomplish this? Do you already have the hardware on the external (i.e. a case, and a USB or eSATA connection?) If not, I suggest one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A5323NO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (representative sample, there are lots of models) At work we use VM ware and VEEAM for virtual machines and backups. There is a free version of Veeam backup that will probably do what you want. https://www.veeam.com/blog/announcing-veeam-endpoint-backup-free.html You could also write a simple batch file or PowerShell script or just drag and drop (which is about as hard as starting some third party program) and use the "skip if present" feature. Generally, simple backup schemes are better. Just copy your data once a month (or whatever) and don't worry about old versions and so on. You could also do "cumulative" that copies new files but doesn't remove purposefully deleted files. Consider taking a copy off site if it's data that is really important. If you do that, encrypt the backup drive. |
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While it takes time, I image (and re-image) my data drive on my loose external drive that can be put in a dock. I always hope to do it every 3-months, but it ends up being once per year. At least then I dont loose a lifetime of family photos and video. Occasionally I will replace the B/U drive. This keeps another (incomplete) copy of the files for redundancy. I have plastic HD archive keepers you can get. Probably 10 HDs in the safe. I also save a current image of my system drive after the data drive to back it up too. Keep the drives in a gun safe. Just do something for a backup. Since there are so few photos printed today, I would say the 2,000s will be known as the photoless years 50 years in the future. All those folks with photos on their phones will have nothing in the future. |