EdgeWord: A Review of Windows Data Backup Tools
“Choose the approach that will work best for your situation.”
by Jack Dunning

In Windows, there are a number of ways to back up your data. The simplest method is to select the files and folders in Windows Explorer with your mouse and drag them over to the new external drive, optical disc, or flash drive. However, if you need to do this regularly, or with numerous files, it can become tedious.

What follows is a summary of different backup methods and links to more detailed explanations. Many of the explanations used Windows Vista in the example, but they also apply to Windows 7—although some of the features may look a little different in Win 7. These techniques apply to Windows XP as noted.

Windows Backup and Restore

The best Windows backup tool, which works in all versions of Windows (XP, Vista, Win 7), is Backup and Restore. This program can be scheduled to do regular incremental (only new and changed files are copied) backup to an external hard drive. In the Business or Professional and above versions of Windows, it will also back up to a network drive. With the Backup and Restore program, you can designate a particular type of file to be copied or have all files on the drive copied. For more details, see Windows Tips and Tricks dated November 11, 2008.

Windows Easy Transfer

Though not a preferred backup method, Windows Easy Transfer is another feature of Windows that may be used to help keep your data safe. (In Windows XP, it's called Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.) The purpose of Windows Easy Transfer is to move all of your data and settings from an old computer to a new one. However, since you can make a complete copy of everything, you can use it to make a backup copy. For more information, see Windows Tips and Tricks dated December 12, 2008.

For many of the Windows backup features to work properly, the hard drive will need to be in the NTFS format. Most new external drives and flash drives come in the FAT32 format. You can reformat the drive, but to convert rather than format a FAT32 file-system drive to the NTFS format without losing programs and files, see Windows Tips and Tricks dated December 5, 2008.

Windows Sync Center

If you have a Windows Vista Business (or above) computer or a Windows 7 Professional (or above) system, then you can use that computer to back up other machines on the network (or over the Internet) with Windows Sync Center. The Sync Center will make real-time backups of synced files and folders while the computers are connected. Sync Center allows you work on either computer. Plus, it lets you schedule automatic backups. When offline, the copies are available on the Sync Center computer—later re-syncing when the connection is reestablished. For more details on how to set up the Sync Center, see Windows Tips and Tricks dated June 20, 2008.

Windows Briefcase

While Windows Sync Center will do remote backup only in certain versions of Windows, Briefcase is a sync program found in all versions of Windows since Win 95. Designed for using the same files on two different computers (maybe via a flash drive), Briefcase can be synced with the original files upon command. It could be a convenient method of backup, especially if you need to carry the files with you to another computer. For more on Briefcase, see Windows Tips and Tricks dated April 17, 2009.

Brute-Force Scheduled Backup

For an approach to backup that is a little more flexible (on any Windows computer), you can write your own scripts and use Windows Task Scheduler for automatic function. The Edgeword dated September 19, 2008 explores creating simple backups using scripts and the Windows Scheduler utility.

In my daily work on my primary computer, a laptop, I use Windows Backup and Restore to make incremental backups of all my more important work, photos and files to an external USB hard drive. A Windows Vista Professional desktop computer uses Sync Center to continuously back up all ComputorEdge work on the laptop. This syncing system did save me when I had a hard drive fail on an older XP laptop in 2008. (For more on the experience, see Edgeword dated September 5, 2008.) My preference is definitely for multiple backup systems, with the primary being an external USB drive using Windows Backup and Restore.

Each Windows tool mentioned here has a specific purpose. However, individually they can be used for backup in different circumstances. Some are for automatic regular backup, while others are on-command features that may copy a few or all of your files for archiving. Choose the approach that will work best for your situation.

Comments and Letters about EdgeWord: A Review of Windows Data Backup Tools
“Choose the approach that will work best for your situation.”
by Jack Dunning

SyncToy

I'm surprised you did not mention Microsoft's free SyncToy. It's not really about syncing and it certainly is no toy. It allows you to set up a backup file-and-folder tree structure with a few useful options. I set it up to mirror selected folders and files on my computer to an external drive. In subsequent runs it only copies changes since the last backup. You can view the backup at any time since they are not hidden in a blob. You can even move files out of the backup for better organization while deleting them from your computer, without modifying your backup arrangement.

—Ron Cerrato, San Diego