It's gotten slightly more complicated with 10, & I've gotten a NAS box, so I though it would be worthwhile to sort of re-summarize...
There are 2 separate reasons to back up whatever's stored on your drive(s) -- you back up the stuff you create & receive that you want to save, like pictures, emails, documents etc., and you back up the disk partition(s) with Windows, games, software, & media etc. in case you need to easily put things back. You may or may not care about one or both categories, and the amount that you care can vary too, so the idea is to develop the strategy & methods that work as painlessly as possible for you as an individual, &/or for your family, biz, or whatever.
Stuff that you create & receive is probably most easily stored in the cloud, provided it's not sensitive data, & provided you're not talking about large files. Cloud storage nowadays can happen near instantly -- anything that changes in a watched folder is uploaded. You can do the same thing with local storage, or emulate some IT departments and only save that stuff to mirrored drives, where everything is saved to more than one drive in case of a drive failure. One thing to remember is that you are the only one responsibile for your stuff, so you're the one who has to decide how important it is, how many places you store to store it so it will be safe, if it should be encrypted etc.
When it comes to Windows & your installed software you can back up, restoring that backup if/as needed, or just reinstall everything if disaster strikes. If you take the reinstall approach, which is what Microsoft is leaning towards now with 10, make sure you have the critical stuff, like the latest Windows ISO for that version,, any critical drivers not included on the Windows setup disc, and your Windows key if you have one. That ISO also needs to be stored somewhere in a way that you know will boot the system or device -- if you haven't tried it, Do So, since that end of things is iffy.
Backup software...
Backup software needs to do 2 main things -- it needs to backup what's on the hard disk, & provide a way to restore that backup to a newly replaced, blank drive. So far Macrium Reflect is the only backup app I've found that will boot a 32 bit pure UEFI device, & it gets multiple partitions right on a GPT disk, so after restoring a disk backup win10 will boot & run. It's possible that other brands will get the partitions right -- I only know that the version of Paragon 15 that they've been giving away since July 2015 had problems with that when I tried [a restored backup of a 4 partition win10 disk would not boot & run]. I tried Paragon because that's what I've standardized on -- I did not try other brands since they would not boot 32 bit pure UEFI, & I stopped testing at that point. It's possible that EaseUS or AOMEI has improved their latest version, but the last giveaways from either company could still not handle 32 bit UEFI booting.
That said, Paragon software can copy a drive with one or more win10 installs, & the result works. It can also restore a partition image backup fine, including one where win10 is installed. I just had trouble restoring a full disk backup with the multiple partitions common with 10 on a GPT drive. Everytime they have a giveaway I check for a newer version, as in the past [e.g. win8] it's taken till the 2nd updated version before things really worked.
When you use backup software, you need to be able to backup everything on the disk, but it's Very handy to be able to restore one or more partitions individually. Windows 7 through 10 may store boot files on a FAT32 hidden partition, which can become altered [& sometimes broken], & in the case of a new win10 build, have its contents replaced. Depending on what's wrong, i.e. why you're restoring a backup, you might restore either just that hidden partition, or just the Windows partition, or both at once.
Note: If you wipe the entire disk where 10 was installed, & install a newer version of 10, it *may* change the order of partitions as they appear on the disk. Note 2: If you update 10 to a new version or build, it may add another hidden Recovery partition. Note 3: if you move or alter the Recovery partition that win10 currently uses, backup before & test after -- if the ID that Windows stores for that partition changes, anything relying on that Recovery partition may fail.
Storing disk/partition image backups...
For a PC perhaps the ideal is on another internal hard disk -- backup & restore are as fast as possible, with nothing to hook up or configure & no drivers needed. However that drive may fail, the PC may become damaged or stolen, your device might not be able
to handle another drive etc. -- that's when/where external storage comes into play. Single layer DVDs are likely best, providing they're stored somewhere where they won't melt or warp, but they're also the least convenient, taking longer to burn, taking longer to transfer the data to be restored, & only hold short of 4.5GB each. Blu-Ray discs you burn have not been proven reliable over long term. The far more common or usual method is to store backups on an external hard drive, either instead of or complementary to backups stored on a separate internal drive.
The cheapest, most flexible solution is to use a USB 3.0 hard drive dock combined with one or more hard drives [I've seen quite a few docks going for $20-$30]. You can pick up a reman hard drive between 750GB & 1TB for ~$20 on sale, or a new 1TB starting at about $40 -- buy two if you want & you have some redundancy, e.g. store a backup on one drive, next time use the other, & by swapping back & forth if one fails, you're hopefully not hurt too badly. Or you can copy [or rerun] the same backup to both for more redundancy. The downside to using a dock IMHO is that you should add a fan to promote drive longevity & data integrity -- high enough temps can threaten both. I use a 5 or 6 inch desk fan -- they go for around $6 on sale.
External drives pre-packaged in housings usually don't include cooling, & the data on the drive may not be accessible if the electronics fails. You can pick up external housings without a drive for $10-$30 & up, they use regular drives formatted normally [so no problem getting your data if electronics fail], & some have built-in fans for cooling, so that may be the overall better choice. USB 3.0 is probably best, but some have eSATA. eSATA drives are in many ways nicer, & often faster, since they're connected the same as an internal SATA drive -- eSATA is a slightly modified spec that allows SATA to function over greater distances, i.e. with longer cables. The problem is that motherboards with eSATA are now rare. You can use an add-on card, but the card bus limits bandwidth so you won't get full speeds. You can plug a eSATA adapter cable into a regular SATA port on the motherboard, but connections are often iffy, e.g. the PC may not see the drive, or Windows may lose it [because that SATA port does not meet eSATA specs].
The least bother or hassle is using Network Attached Storage, but a NAS is normally more expensive, & data transfer speeds, even with Gigabit Ethernet, can be slower than what you'd like or hope for. With a PC or laptop you share a folder or folders over a network, & your OS [ie. Windows] gives other devices on your network access according to rules you set. A NAS device takes that end of things out of your PC/laptop -- you could use a mini-PC or PC instead -- providing network access to attached storage according to rules you set using the device's OS. You don't have to bother plugging in a drive dock or external drive, or carry it to another desk or table to use with another laptop or PC, because it's always there on the network.
And while I'm talking about backups, you can also use a NAS to do stuff like stream video to your TV, or a box connected to your TV etc. OTOH you've got a device connected to your network that's designed for sharing, with a minimal OS that won't let you add security software, so there are security concerns. You may also have issues connecting to a NAS without special software supplied by the manufacturer, though you can often get away with mapping a network drive -- in Windows a mapped drive shows up in Windows Explorer like any other hard drive.
If you want 2 or more hard drives to operate cooperatively most often you'll use RAID -- Microsoft has come up with alternatives, but I think RAID setups are still most widely used. A PC's bios may let you set drives as a RAID array, or you can use an add-on card in your PC, or you can buy an external housing or a NAS with RAID. Before SSDs were common one type of RAID array was popular to increase drive read/write speeds. Another type just creates one big disk out of the attached drives. And yet another type of RAID lets you do the drive mirroring I mentioned earlier, where everything is written to 2 drives simultaneously, giving you some protection in case one drive fails.
Regarding backup failures...
I read about these, most often in the GOTD comments actually, but not counting Windows10, I've only seen it happen in 2 circumstances -- either the achives weren't transferred properly, or the backup software was incompatible with the hardware. I don't know what has caused or happened with stories I've read. The 1st, archives not being transferred accurately, can Very rarely happen in Windows itself, but can be caused by a [usually external] drive overheating, a drive that's going bad, &/or poor electronics [often USB related]. I think it may be somewhat common for someone to pick up an external USB drive on sale at the local office supply or applience store, without any prior research, run it in a hot room when that drive has no cooling, & then find the backup they put on there doesn't work. If you want to check file transfers to/from an external drive, transfer a backup archive from an external to an internal drive & compare, or check integrity if your backup app allows it.
As far as compatibility goes, backup software usually includes drivers, & while those drivers are normally well tested with Windows, there's no way to test them with every combination of software & drivers that someone could have installed. More compatibility issues I think concern booting as used when a backup's restored.
Windows can keep track of when a file changes, & store that data so that the old version of that file can be put back in place. Backup software uses that tech to backup a copy of files, like those making up the registry, that are in use while Windows is
running, so you can backup a Windows partition while files on that partition are in use. Restoring that backup is a different matter -- it has to be done when that partition is not in use, at all. Assuming you don't have another OS installed that you can use, restoring that backup means booting into a Linux or WinPE environment either stored on the hard drive & copied into memory or stored on a CD/DVD/USB stick. That booting part can be iffy.
You can check that your backup software works correctly in Windows by for example backing up a partition, restoring it to a new partition or VHD, then comparing results. I worked with a copy of a win10 VM to find out that Paragon software might get the multiple partitions wrong, and that's the safest way that I know of to check that sort of thing. When 10 wouldn't fire up I could just use another, fresh copy of the VM -- if that had been a physical device I would have had to either reinstall 10, or rely on a backup I'd performed using another brand of software. And sad but true, until you 100% KNOW a backup app will work for you, backup & restore, start to finish, backing up with more than one brand of software isn't a terrible idea. User reports & reviews can be useful, but I would not advise trusting them 100%, but rather use them as a basis for deciding what software to try & test.
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With MiniTool Power Data Recovery on GOTD today, thought it might be worthwhile to add something about file recovery... I believe in saving these sorts of apps because if there's ever something I have to have back, if the 1st app doesn't do it I'll try a 2nd, & then a 3rd, & if still no luck likely a 4th etc. I have seen different apps recover different files, so figure that even if a recovery app doesn't have a great track record, there's a chance it'll recover all or part of a file that I desperately need when others have failed.
Logically the less you leave to chance, the fewer chance disasters you'll suffer -- or put another way, ask for trouble & sooner or later you might get it. If you back up your stuff, store it in multiple locations etc., chances are you'll rarely if ever need to recover anything. But if you're going to be prepared by backing up, probably won't hurt to be prepared to recover lost files either.
When you recover files what you're doing is finding pieces of those files that are still stored on the hard drive, but not listed as files in the tables at the front of the partition. Because those file fragments may be anywhere, the entire partition has to be scanned -- one reason to keep partitions reasonably sized.
Now this part depends on how badly you want or need to recover missing or lost files -- whether it'd just be more convenient to have them back, or if losing those files will really cost you. If anything is written to the partition where you want to recover files, that writing might overwrite something you're trying to recover. If missing files are on the same partition as Windows, & if they're in the convenient to have category, it might be all right to just run recovery software with Windows running normally -- Windows is constantly reading from & writing to the registry, & it might add to different log files, but when it comes to creating new files, not so much going on at all actually. Run Sysinternals' Process Monitor if you want to see everything happening, bearing in mind that it'll often say create file or folder when that file or folder is already there, & according to its time/date stamp, has not been replaced.
While the odds are that just running Windows will Not overwrite anything you want to recover, it can happen, so if the file(s) you're after is on the Windows partition, and *Really* critical, pull the PC's plug -- seriously.
[Note: some of the following relates to more than just file recovery, basically talking about ways to boot a device or system without using the installed copy of Windows. This sort of thing can make miscellaneous repairs easier, or in some cases possible, while resulting in smaller backup archives, maybe creating them faster, and so on.]
Running file recovery without writing to a drive/partition...
If the partition with lost files doesn't have an OS on it, no worries -- just run recovery software, making sure anything found is Not written to the drive partition with the lost files. If it does have an OS on it, you don't want to run that OS to recover your files. One method is to run an OS installed somewhere else, but if you don't have one of those, perhaps the easiest solution in terms of a learning curve is to run a partition image backup, including all sectors or free space, from bootable media to external or secondary storage. Back in Windows, restore that backup to a partition, wherever it's most convenient to put it [i.e. on a internal or external
hard drive], & run recovery software scanning that partition. Because you backed up everything, any lost files recoverable before should be recoverable now.
From a planning perspective, having more than one OS installed on your device can actually be pretty darned handy. Want most of the advantages but not some of the hassles, consider having that OS installed to a VHD -- you'll have a single large file that can be set to never grow or shrink, & for the most part your device will boot to & run it as if it was on a normal hard drive. You can also have an OS installed to an external eSATA drive -- 10 will work on an external USB drive, but earlier versions of Windows will not unless they're modified.
Next is having a copy of Windows on a USB stick or CD/DVD disc. The site reboot.pro has discussions & several surprisingly easy to use options that will give you a copy of Windows with a desktop that you can boot to & run. To use an app like today's GOTD with it however requires a small bit of extra work -- you can try to make it portable, or you can record what happens during installation & activation, & duplicate that as necessary. Bear in mind here that these copies of Windows, once created, cannot normally be permanently modified -- you'd boot to Windows, add the MiniTool app, & next time you booted to that copy of Windows, you'd have to add the same MiniTool app all over again if you wanted to use it. It also can sound worse than it is -- in this case you just need one folder & 1 registry entry.
WinPE is another option, though one that's often misrepresented &/or misunderstood. You setup WinPE following docs at microsoft.com after downloading all or parts of the automated installation tools for Windows -- it varies with the Windows version. Once you have the WinPE folder you again follow their instructions, using commands to copy WinPE to a USB stick, ISO etc. When you boot to it & run it you get a command prompt -- in a way it's similar to the old win98 DOS floppy. Lots of software will run from that command prompt, including some portable Windows software, or it can be used as the underpinnings for boot discs/USB sticks that open to a program window for something like backup software. There is no desktop, Start Menu etc.
The main theme or idea I'm trying to get across is that forethought, planning, & preparation are good things. It's nothing special or more out of the ordinary than checking to make sure everyone's winter coats still fit & are in decent condition before winter arrives & they're needed.
A quick related bit about booting...
Older devices used a bios chip with firmware code to sort of tie the individual components together, find the boot drive, & run the boot files found there. Newer devices work the same way, but the code they use is different -- UEFI bios have & use a very minimal OS. UEFI bios are also designed to work with new setups, not because that's the only way a UEFI bios will work, but because there's less reason for the engineers to support legacy stuff -- To A Point... This can vary an Awful lot by make & model, but many UEFI bios have legacy modes -- those modes can be triggered different ways, & mean different things.
Long story short, a new Windows install today can have either or both a bootmgr file for old style booting & a Boot or EFI folder for newer UEFI booting. 7 is the same way, though this was not yet as perfected when win7 came out -- 8/8.1 is better about it. It
doesn't matter which option is used. The problem is that 1) some bios will sometimes only boot from one of those two options, yet choose to try to boot from the other & fail, 2) it's possible for a Windows install to only have one of those options, & if it's not the one the bios works with, booting will fail, & 3) which option the bios will work with often depends on the mode it's in.
CD/DVD drives are often [usually?] considered legacy devices by a UEFI bios, triggering a legacy mode, & thus often easier to boot into Windows, so if given the choice between a bootable USB stick & a CD/DVD, you might want to go with the CD/DVD -- this also applies to the portable Windows setups you can create using what you'll find at reboot.pro.
