I've talked about it for years. 
I talked about it in depth when my computer died during the plandemic.
I talked about it when my husband's laptop died this year.

Still haven't actually done much to back up, except maybe every 6 weeks I back up my bookmarks.

Our local computer guy says Cloud backup, like Carbonite is best.   But Carbonite isn't the only game in town.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/407021/b...tware.html

So, I'm putting this out for your thoughts and reviews, if any.
I want something easy.  Something that requires minimal work from me....because I WILL procrastinate.   
Not sure I want to put all my eggs into an external hard drive.....I don't want to have to set that up.  And hard drives fail.

How do you backup your computer data?


I have a desktop running Win11.   Just want to EASILY backup my apps, files, bookmarks and info so I am prepared for the next computer disaster.


############
ETA

Let me add that my old brain isn't up to learning another OS.  
Windoze is what I learned...and it is what I will take to my grave LOL

Thanks to all 

I use Mac at home so the built-in Time Machine works like a charm.  In addition to that I also use Backblaze, which is a cloud based backup utility.  Is it overkill to use two solutions?  Maybe, but in my experience it's best to have both an on-site and offsite solution.

If you want a Time Machine like solution for Windows then I would recommend Genie9 Timeline.  It's super easy:  select you source, point to a backup destination (like a USB hard drive) and go. Just set it and forget it.

Backblaze also works in much the same fashion.  Download the client, pick what you want to back up (or just your whole computer) and let it do it's thing in the background.

Feel free to message me if you want to go into more detail.

Cheers.

@DontTreadOnMe

I have a Mac Laptop and I use Time Machine along with iCloud.

I have a windows PC, I wiped out windows with Linux Mint. Best thing I have ever done in my life. 

Thanks for this thread. I too want to know how to backup windows! 

I forgot to add that Windows does have it's own backup utility but it's very basic.  I prefer some of the 3rd party options as they're much more polished and have an actual user interface.

(07-28-2025, 02:50 PM)Quantum12 Wrote: @DontTreadOnMe

I have a Mac Laptop and I use Time Machine along with iCloud.

I have a windows PC, I wiped out windows with Linux Mint. Best thing I have ever done in my life. 

Thanks for this thread. I too want to know how to backup windows! 

Linux Mint is a good distro.  I actually prefer Elementary OS as it's a more "Mac like" experience with the dock.  Also, everything just seemed to work right out of the box (no searching for drivers).  Granted, it's been a while since I ran a Linux desktop.

I use Macrium  Backup. I've been using it for years. I have it scheduled do do a full system backup once a week, and to keep 5 weeks worth of backups (just in case one creepy thing sneaks in and takes a while to show up.)
  I have it backed up to a NAS, and then my Plex server (linux) runs a script to coply that file to another drive. When I worked, I pushed that backup offsite, but upon retiring, lost that server access.
  I do this with 9 pc's every week, 6 of mine, 2 kids and the wife's laptop. Of  course, the machines must be powered up, but it is only the wife i need to remind. It will start on boot after it is powered up, and she can work while it runs.
  To be honest, I should check Macriums site, but they used to have a free version for residential use, but since it's saved my butt more than once, I purchased 4 licenses for it, to support the company. I dont know if it works the same. 
  I dont do any 'cloud' backups, even though my internet connection is quite capable of handling it.

Oh, I just looked at www.macrium.com and they pretty much changed everything. It doesn't look like there is a free version any longer. Bummer.

  I stand by their software though.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I hate technology!!!!! But I enjoy conversing with you folk. 

(07-28-2025, 02:33 PM)DontTreadOnMe Wrote: I've talked about it for years. 
I talked about it in depth when my computer died during the plandemic.
I talked about it when my husband's laptop died this year.

Still haven't actually done much to back up, except maybe every 6 weeks I back up my bookmarks.

Our local computer guy says Cloud backup, like Carbonite is best.   But Carbonite isn't the only game in town.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/407021/b...tware.html

So, I'm putting this out for your thoughts and reviews, if any.
I want something easy.  Something that requires minimal work from me....because I WILL procrastinate.   
Not sure I want to put all my eggs into an external hard drive.....I don't want to have to set that up.  And hard drives fail.

How do you backup your computer data?


I have a desktop running Win11.   Just want to EASILY backup my apps, files, bookmarks and info so I am prepared for the next computer disaster.


############
ETA

Let me add that my old brain isn't up to learning another OS.  
Windoze is what I learned...and it is what I will take to my grave LOL

Thanks to all 

A cloud service like Backblaze or iDrive, both are reliable and automatic.

Backblaze is especially simple, install it, and it backs up everything continuously without needing to configure much.

It covers files, photos, bookmarks, but not applications. 

I would just use an external hard drive, which is a relatively cheap option, depending on your storage needs, but they can fail.

I feel your pain losing your PC during the pandemic, i lost a LG 32" 4K monitor at the time which was really hard to source another and order a replacement.

(07-28-2025, 03:17 PM)andy06shake Wrote: A cloud service like Backblaze or iDrive, both are reliable and automatic.

Backblaze is especially simple, install it, and it backs up everything continuously without needing to configure much.

It covers files, photos, bookmarks, but not applications. 

I would just use an external hard drive, which is a relatively cheap option, depending on your storage needs, but they can fail.

I feel your pain losing your PC during the pandemic, i lost a LG 32" 4K monitor at the time which was really hard to source another and order a replacement.

Yeah, That is what I was mostly looking for.....Backblaze or iDrive for cloud storage.
I'd either lose the damn external HD.....but then you want to keep it always connected....
But it doesn't mirror the computer, so yo still have to install your browsers, etc.   Sigh.....I was hoping to backup pretty much everything.

When my computer crashed, it was after an update or something IIRC.....whatever happened it was all corrupted.  We tried to fix it.....had some help from some ATSers.
Sucks about your monitor...always at the most inconvenient times.

nerd-time:

everything with volatile (unsaved) data on battery or ups
keep os-installs as bog-standard as possible
document installed software and preserve original installer binaries
local machine home folders rsync to raid5 nas
nas btrfs snapshotting on 4-hour rotation
preserved daily, weekly, monthly, yearly snapshots
immutable replication to on-site secondary nas
yearly archive to off-site (safe deposit box)

trying to preserve and entire os-install is an exercise in frustration, except by imaging the entire drive to a mirror. os manufacturers don't like you doing this, so there's so many things that can break when keyed to hard drive serial number, configs hidden in the registry, etc. so i don't even bother trying with that any more, even though i mostly use linux, which is much friendly to config migration than windows or macos. just make sure the user account doesn't have write access outside the home folder, and rsync anything it does have write access to. then spat it over a fresh os install when restoring.

btrfs snapshoting is quite nifty, it is like time machine on macos, storing all historical versions of documents so you don't accidentally delete or corrupt something. immutable replication protects against ransomware attack. off-site hard-drives in a lockbox in case the building burns down. i do data recovery for people as a hobby, so this is likely far more than most do or need, and requires some expertise.

one recommendation regardless of back-up scheme: test it! actually yank the drive from your machine, get a replacement, and try to restore from backup. you don't want to find out what you forgot or screwed up when you don't have the original drive to pop back in if it goes wrong.