[Elecraft] OT - backup software

[Dick Green WC1M]

I use EaseUS. It's a complete package with options for scheduled full backup, incremental backups, continuous backup, disk image, etc. Also can be used to clone disks. 

Acronis is a very popular backup package for Windows. I used to use it but had several mishaps, including not being able to read old backups. Haven't tried it in a long time.

I have EaseUS setup to do a full backup on each disk in my system on the first day of the month, and incremental backups on each disk once a day. The backups are written to a hard drive in a USB dock. I have a set of five of these disks and rotate to the next drive after the last incremental backup of the month. Whenever I visit my safe deposit box, I put one of the disks in the box and retrieve the one that I put in the box last time. That way, I have an offsite backup in case of disaster. It might be a little old, but better than nothing.

Further, I have Windows 10 on and SSD and all of my critical data on a separate SSD, including work files, spreadsheets, Quicken data, all my ham radio data (e.g., contest logs), and so forth. This data is continuously copied to the cloud and synced with all my devices so that I have multiple copies of it, including the versions in the hard drive backup rotation. There are many cloud services that can be used for this, but I use Microsoft OneDrive because I get 1 TB of storage free with my subscription to Office 365. It helps to have very high speed internet with fast upload speed (75/15 here, but usually it's more like 90/20.)

When apps allow it, I configure them to keep user-specific data on my user data drive. I also try to get them to save their configuration data to my data drive. Unfortunately, some apps don't let you change their data and/or configuration locations. These days it's often in C:\Users\<your user ID>\AppData. I have to be content with that data being backed up to local hard drives only.

I've also configured Windows to do a scheduled System Restore Point each day, but it doesn't always work. Typically it's done when updates are applied and sometimes when apps are installed. When I remember, I do one manually. These restore points can be crucial if your system gets messed up by a hardware failure or problem with a Windows update.

As you can tell, I'm a proponent of belt-and-suspenders backups. I've been burned many times, going back as far as 1972. First casualty was a term paper, back when most college students used typewriters and virtually no one would have tried to type a paper into a computer. The professor didn't believe me when I told him that a poor design in the syntax of the user interface caused me to accidentally erase the paper. He looked at me like I'd told him my dog ate my homework.

73, Dick WC1M

-----Original Message-----
From: John Saxon <johnbsaxon at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2018 9:05 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Elecraft] OT - backup software

I am not happy with my current backup software package.  Any recommendations on backup software?  Like it to be free, but not necessary.
73,JohnK5ENQ