Windows 7 system image recovery

The more you rely on automated and given-to-be functions, the more you depend on them. The more you do-it-yourself, the more independence / control you have.

Must ask, the topic was System recovery? :confused:
 
System image recovery. Fixer's question is still related to the topic as data is integral to image backup. :)

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The more you rely on automated and given-to-be functions, the more you depend on them. The more you do-it-yourself, the more independence / control you have.
Pauli, that's true, but independence and control are not necessarily related in that way. The more you do it yourself, the more work it is. "Not working" is independence. If the automated approach gets you "close enough for government work", less control can be just fine.
 
Like Pauli, I prefer to back up stuff myself.
I know it gets done, it isn't compressed, and it doesn't take any software to recover it.

I feel a lot better knowing that my files are all saved individually on a separate drive and can just be copied back to my computer if I need to restore them.

I've gone through the bit where it says, "This backup is corrupted and can't be opened".
I don't want to do that again.

Now I have everything backed up in at least 2 locations, on external drives as well as in my computer.

I do use software to make my System Image files but I have 2 of those to, and done with different software.

Mike
 
Pauli, that's true, but independence and control are not necessarily related in that way. The more you do it yourself, the more work it is. "Not working" is independence. If the automated approach gets you "close enough for government work", less control can be just fine.

No, I want FULL CONTROL. Like I tell my computer where to save my files (not in the same hard drive the PC is working on). So even if my computer decided to be independent and do crazy things by itself (due to "infection" or system error problems), my files are safe and intact in another hard drive. I also tell my PC not to download updates automatically (disable it) and not to use everything that is by Microsoft. I don't tell my PC to do auto-backup for me. I wanna do it myself manually so I know that my important files are safe.
 
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No, I want FULL CONTROL. Like I tell my computer where to save my files (not in the same hard drive the PC is working on). So even if my computer decided to be independent and do crazy things by itself (due to "infection" or system error problems), my files are safe and intact in another hard drive. I also tell my PC not to download updates automatically (disable it) and not to use everything that is by Microsoft. I don't tell my PC to do auto-backup for me. I wanna do it myself manually so I know that my important files are safe.

Some of the concerns people are expressing are just a matter of settings--storing on another drive, not using compression, storing as individual files, storing to multiple locations, etc. Also, good backup software verifies the backup. If you routinely backup entire directory trees, the process is simple but it eats up huge amounts of disk space, takes forever, and makes it harder to find specific files that you might want to recover. If you selectively backup directories, the list of directories can get extensive and doing it manually becomes a real chore, and introduces its own risks, like missing a directory.

I use Memeo (Backup Premium). You setup exactly what you want backed up and where you want it backed up to. It saves files individually and I've chosen not to use compression. You decide how many generations of backup you want (implemented file by file). You can have it save to more than one location or to backup the backup. It runs in the background during idle time, keeping the backup current. It also verifies everything it backs up.
 
it manually becomes a real chore, and introduces its own risks, like missing a directory.
Not the way I'm doing it. My files are on separate hard drive. That in itself is a way of backing it up as being away from the destructive system errors on PC. Yes, the only manual part is just setting the save location. My NAS is mapped to my PC. So I just manually move/copy my important files (not everything) there and it's backed-up right away to my NAS which is on RAID 1 mode.
 
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Not the way I'm doing it. My files are on separate hard drive. That in itself is a way of backing it up as being away from the destructive system errors on PC. Yes, the only manual part is just setting the save location. My NAS is mapped to my PC. So I just manually move/copy my important files (not everything) there and it's backed-up right away to my NAS which is on RAID 1 mode.

The files you're referring to are the easy part. Like you say, just copy everything; it's 100% your files. I'm referring primarily to the stuff in appdata, which is what creates a challenge. Even after cleanup, on a good day my appdata contains 20,000 files in 6,000 folders, over 3 GB. 99% of that is flotsam that I don't want to back up, update, or wade through later, or tie up the backup program trying to keep up with it. For example, all of the crap in the browser cache is in there, and would be constantly growing in a backup. I created a surgical backup plan for that stuff, but it is still dozens of folders. That is where the chore comes in--doing that part manually.

BTW, badrobot, I just noticed that the image in your signature is animated. That's pretty cool! Hey, is there a way to "Like" a signature?
 
The files you're referring to are the easy part. Like you say, just copy everything; it's 100% your files. I'm referring primarily to the stuff in appdata, which is what creates a challenge. Even after cleanup, on a good day my appdata contains 20,000 files in 6,000 folders, over 3 GB. 99% of that is flotsam that I don't want to back up, update, or wade through later, or tie up the backup program trying to keep up with it. For example, all of the crap in the browser cache is in there, and would be constantly growing in a backup. I created a surgical backup plan for that stuff, but it is still dozens of folders. That is where the chore comes in--doing that part manually.

BTW, badrobot, I just noticed that the image in your signature is animated. That's pretty cool! Hey, is there a way to "Like" a signature?

I don't really bother with appdata. The system image backup takes care of it. I only cleanup when creating an image backup which is not very often.

Thanks for "Liking" my sig. I can make you one if you want. Just send me a short video (30sec) of anything you want your sig to be. Cheers!
 
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