Please recommend Windows 7 backup software

Posted on April 13, 2011 by Oleg Volk

Normally, I do periodic backups to an external RAID, but now Windows Backup no longer runs. Not sure why, it just doesn’t do anything when I click on “Back up now”. Any suggestions as to alternatives?

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29 Responses to Please recommend Windows 7 backup software

  1. Mike B says:
    April 14, 2011 at 12:50 am

    My friend created a batch file that backs up specified directories and such. I’ll nab a copy and send it your way. It’s pretty robust and reliable for not having actual shadow copy functionality. He created it for the company he works for. Pizza delivery style tech support. Like Geek Squad without the suck.

    Alternately if you don’t want to mess with a batch file, you can try manually setting the Archive attribute on all of the files. There’s a way to do it through the GUI but I’m not familiar enough with Windows 7 to tell you exactly where it is.

    If you know enough about the command line to navigate to the base directory that you want to back up, you can run “attrib /s +A” and that will set the archive flag on everything and it’s dog. Then you should be able to pick and choose what you want through Windows backup.

  2. Pyrotek85 says:
    April 14, 2011 at 1:07 am

    I’ve tried many different backup/file synchronizing software, and the best I’ve seen is Super Flexible File Synchronizer http://www.superflexible.com/. I’ve been using it for about a year now and it’s been very reliable, never had any issues at all with it. I use it to back up to external drives, but it can also work with cloud services and whatnot. It’s not free, but it’s very reasonably priced IMHO, and it has a 30 day trial.

  3. Dragon says:
    April 14, 2011 at 5:58 am

    Wish I could offer a solution, but I’m one of those folks who refuses to get off the Win XP platform.

  4. GD says:
    April 14, 2011 at 6:44 am

    I use Norton’s on-line backup solution. Although it is a yearly expense, it is very reasonable. I do periodic dumps of my really important files to a USB and/or a WesternDigital external hard drive using the built in Windows7 backup software. Because I do have “copies” of the data, my biggest concern is catastrophic failure of the environment (e.g.: a house fire, flood, etc.)… where my local media is completely destroyed. Using the Norton solution allows me to avoid the cost and hassle of an off-site safe deposit box.

  5. Jordan says:
    April 14, 2011 at 7:10 am

    I used a product by acronis before. I dont remember the specific product name, just the manufacturer. It is very similar to Symantec Ghost, but it has a much better compression ratio.
    Im pretty sure this is what I used: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

    They have other options as well, but that served the purpose I needed.

    • Rivrdog says:
      April 14, 2011 at 7:21 pm

      I used True Image 8, then 9 & 10, and there were backwards-compatibility issues, then I went to do a major quarterly backup, and the @#$&^%$#(* program said it couldn’t find OR retrieve any of the previous backup images from my aux HD. Needless to say, I don’t use True Image any more.

      I use Nero now, and find it works well with both my Win7X64 mainframe AND my Verizon XP netbook.

  6. Standard Mischief says:
    April 14, 2011 at 7:42 am

    Can you get someone to `dd` the drive to create an image until you can figure out what went wrong? Boot from a “live CD” like Ubuntu.

    Here’s what I used to image my dad’s drive after (hopefully) killing a bad infection of conflicker:

    sudo dd if=/dev/sdb1 conv=sync,noerror bs=2M | gzip -c > ./dad-deloused-image-13apr2011.gz

    (There’s a trick to fill up all the blank space on your drive with a big file of zeros, and then deleting that file so the image compresses efficient, but anyone who knows `dd` can search-fu up the procedure)

  7. drobviousso says:
    April 14, 2011 at 9:06 am

    Crashplan from http://www.crashplan.com/. Works on windows, mac, and linux, has a range of options and price models. It is good stuff.

  8. lairdb says:
    April 14, 2011 at 9:43 am

    Another vote for Crashplan. I used to used to use Mozy, but when they scrapped their unlimited plan I changed to Crashplan. I have been using it for about three months now and it has worked well; it’s got strong versioning support, good recovery, and supports backing up to another drive or another computer for free, or to their repository very inexpensively.

  9. Just Me says:
    April 14, 2011 at 9:50 am

    would maybe checking and fixing errors on your hard drive get windows backup to work again?

  10. STW says:
    April 14, 2011 at 9:54 am

    2nd user of Acronis.

  11. Eagle says:
    April 14, 2011 at 10:34 am

    Syncback works very well. Been using it for years.

  12. AnOnserver says:
    April 14, 2011 at 11:53 am

    CrashPlan for 2 years now. I use the free version of the software and have it backing up all data from every workstation to another workstation on the network in another building. That much is free. Then I pay ONE cheap fee that includes unlimited data and all my workstations at this IP, plus kids away at clooege to back up to their data center. That’s 2 backups from every workstation to separate locations every day. I can recover from my network backup for free at any time but I would have to buy their Pro versuon ($60) software to recover my backups from their data center. Also the Pro verson backups up real-time (plus other nifty features). But I haven’t seen a need for it. If you have a friend that leaves their computer on all the time, you can swap backup space and backup to each other – and that’d be free. Also, once a week an email status report comes in and scanning for any red line items takes 5 seconds. Administering is a breeze. Win/Lin/Mac.

  13. AnOnserver says:
    April 14, 2011 at 11:54 am

    If you have hard drive problems: SpinRite.

  14. Joe Couvillion says:
    April 14, 2011 at 12:17 pm

    if you are interested in getting windows backup running I may be able to help. Running this command from a cmd.exe should provide useful information

    eventvwr /f:” *[System[Provider[@Name=’VSS’ or @Name=’Windows Backup’]]]\

  15. Joe Couvillion says:
    April 14, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    eventvwr /f:” *[System[Provider[@Name=’VSS’ or @Name=’Windows Backup’]]]\

  16. Joe Couvillion says:
    April 14, 2011 at 12:30 pm

    eventvwr /f:"<QueryList> <Query Id=’0′ Path=’Application’><Select Path=’Application’>*[System[Provider[@Name=’VSS’ or @Name=’Windows Backup’]]]</Select></Query></QueryList>\

  17. Joe Allen says:
    April 14, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    I really like Backup4All pro.

  18. Scorry says:
    April 14, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Acronis — doubtless choice for average windows user. But second in your case, IMHO.
    But! — the first should be (IMHO) the search for causes of inoperability of windows backup. Maybe check system or remember last settings you changed?..

  19. al says:
    April 14, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    Are you disk backups for system recovery or just backing up data files? If just data files take a look at the free Microsoft app Synctoy. I use it to backup my data files to an external hard drive.

    The problems that you’re having sound like a underlying problem like a hard drive with some errors on it. SpinRite was mentioned above. GRC offers a money back guarantee. I’ve used it on a couple of systems and it’s cleaned up some issues.

    There should be information in the System or Application log related to the Backup issue. See if you can find those as they will offer a hint as to what the problem is.

  20. Just Me says:
    April 14, 2011 at 9:03 pm

    start>computer>right click C drive>properties>tools>error-checking check now>check mark the box beside “automatically fix file system errors” and click start>click “schedule disc check” and restart your computer

    This may fix your windows back up problem and it’s free and easy

  22. CarlS says:
    April 16, 2011 at 12:38 am

    If you’re not doing image backups of the whole drive, but instead just data, take a look at this:

    Second Copy
    http://www.centered.com/

    Requirements: Works with Windows XP/2003/Vista/7/2008

    Purchase Information: Shareware: Free to try, $29.95 if you decide to keep it.

    Backup software is a wonderful tool, but only if you remember to run it. Second Copy takes the hassle out of backing up. It automatically copies specified files from your hard disk to a USB Flashdrive, floppy disk, network drive, a removable drive, or any folder on your system. Use its clean-looking interface and configuration wizards to create profiles to back up just the files and folders you want. Pick the destination folder, times you want to do the backup, and copying method. For instance, you can copy source files to their destination, delete obsolete files, move files, compress source files into a PKZIP-compatible archive, or synchronize source and target folders to match exactly. Once your profiles are compiled, Second Copy lurks in the system tray, ready to back up your valuable data at predetermined intervals. Not only is this amazing utility a no-brainer to use, it could save your proverbial life in a big way.

  23. Clarke says:
    April 16, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    Blazeback.com – cloud based backup, with encryption, unlimited backup for $50/year. Neen using it for three. Works great!

  24. Ike Israel says:
    April 16, 2011 at 9:45 pm

    start, type backup into the search box on the bottom of the start menu, follow the instructions… It is built into windows 7.

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