Automatic backup - free?

mushtafa · 22 Aug 2018 at 19:46

Looking for an automatic backup solution. Free or cheap. Windows 10.

I want to select a group of folders on HDD 1, to be backed up to HDD 2.

I also want it to monitor the folders so it'll backup any changes I make to the source folders.

Any suggestions please?

hyperseven · 22 Aug 2018 at 20:09

freefilesync

mushtafa · 22 Aug 2018 at 20:32

Looks good, I'll give it a go.

bledd · 23 Aug 2018 at 10:24

robocopy /mir "C:\source folder\path" "D:\Destination folder\backup"
pause

Copy paste that into notepad, save it as 'mybackup.bat' (not mybackup.bat.txt !) on your Desktop or wherever , Double click the file.

First run will copy all files/folders from the source, each run after that will only run changes (new/updated/deleted files)

I prefer not to automate these and just manually run them from time to time. Otherwise, if you make a mistake at your source, it would be instantly replicated to your backup, rendering it useless.

Alongside this, I'd also use Veeam Endpoint Backup, free and very easy to use! Just need to register a free account to access the download.

Lmg80 · 26 Aug 2018 at 19:04

mushtafa said:
Looks good, I'll give it a go.

I use this for photo backup - it also creates notepad .txt log files too itemising each file.

It's a fantastic piece of software considering it's free.

WantoN · 29 Aug 2018 at 21:13

Get EaseUS ToDo.

It won’t detect changes, but you can set daily differential or incremental backups that’ll keep everything up to date, and if there’s no changes it won’t back it up. You can set passwords, backup to ftp, nas and cloud storage.

Their free version is excellent and their customer service is awesome. I gave them some detailed feedback on how to improve the product and as a thank you the upgraded me to the more powerful workstation version. I’d already paid for the Home version just to support their awesome software.

The free version is absolutely fine for your use, Home adds the ability to use On Event backup, higher compression and performance. It’s simple to use, intuitive and powerful.

I’ve tried Macrium and Veeam Endpoint, I thought ToDo was easier to use with a simple interface and powerful options.

mushtafa · 29 Aug 2018 at 21:48

Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried FreeFileSync and it worked, so left it as that for the time being.

WantoN · 29 Aug 2018 at 22:01

mushtafa said:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried FreeFileSync and it worked, so left it as that for the time being.

Glad to hear it. If you do require a more robust backup solution (which imo everyone does) try EaseUS. The free version is excellent.

I have an over the top backup solution, but restoration is so easy. System, Users/Documents, Games and Media are all on separate drives, backed up to desperate drives, with an external drive storing copies of all backups.

I’m adding a NAS next with write access exclusive to the software to protect against ransomware.