Windows BackUp System/Software

Hello everyone,

since backing up windows is a challenge on its own, I figured some of you might already have had the same ideas that I had, mainly doing automatic BackUps to a Server, per Machine - Basically a complete C Drive Copy.

How did you do it?

Windows 10 and by extension Windows 11 has a built in backup solution that can back up entire drives to a selected target, i.e a Drive or a Server Path. Based on my knowledge, this can be used as a Restore point to let windows be restored if it crashes etc. pp.
Is there a way of doing, basically, the same but so that it would be possible to create an ISO / WIM file from it, for example for setting up the same machine as a VM for testing etc.?

I’ve seen clonezilla floating around here and I’ll give a shot but time is not my friend as of now, so I gotta wait.

Also, for those who have played around with Active Directory / Windows Server: Is there a way of doing something like with a Domain based system or Windows Server, so that it’s basically all controlled from the source?

Simply put I’d like to back up the C drive entirely into a folder structure, accessible for searching and / or creating ISO’s from.

Cheers and Thanks in Advance :slight_smile:
Alex’

Clonezilla would be the easiest and most complete way

Hey, thanks for the reply

I’ll have a look into it!

I’ve had good luck with aomei backupper!
There is a free version but it’s all that I needed at the time as this was just for my personal machine!

I’ve heard of it too, so I’ll have a look at it.
Most Free versions to the trick, it is just kind of a shame that nothing is out there that does it the way you want it. :smiley:

Veeam offers free Community editions of
VEEAM BACKUP & REPLICATION

It does not offer a centralized management you asked for, but it it in my opinion one of the best free backup solutions out there.

2 Likes

I second this. To add my 2 cents you can browse Veeam Backups with its own included file browser - the best thing is that it can do a full backup while your OS is running.

1 Like

If I remember right … so does aomei! My memory is a bit fuzzy in the windows department as it’s been over a year since I’ve used windows as a daily driver!

MACRIUM REFLECT

I suggest server edition, and get the permanent version, not the subscription version

1 Like

Synology Active Backup For Business is free.


I close my eyes and my pcs just back up on schedule. It seriously is what makes my synology premium worth it.

1 Like

For all the Windows clients I have in the household, I use File History (Control Panel) to a Windows Server to archive everything. You can also RESTORE from said backup with ease to another computer: Moving your File History to a new computer by Chris Taylor - GlassWire Blog

And within the Windows Server, I use Iperius Backup - it’s super easy to manage, does not require SQL Server or any database of the sort for the scale of your scenario. I backup all my infra (including all the Hyper-V machines every two days, and differential for files and things like that).

Sad that nobody talks about File History, as it is quite decent, allows you to rollback files from Windows, and it’s free! (You already have Windows)

1 Like

I have 4 drives. A 4TB C:/Windows SSD, a 4TB HDD with 2TB SSD hybrid Primo Cache Hybrid drive - D:/Stuff and 8TB E:/internal Backup. Plus an external 12TB WD Elements X:/ternal backup.

Primo Cache works great. I mated a 4GB RAM Disk with a 2 TB SSD cache in front of a HDD. PrimoCache reads the SSD cache at a 90% hit rate, and writes to the HDD later. The PrimoCache drive is faster than my C:/ NVME SSD!

First I use Minitool Shadow Maker Free to backup C:/Windows to E:/ Backup/Windows folder.
I can restore the whole compressed Windows image from that.

Then I use SyncBack Free to copy an uncompressed directory dump of the drives to C:/ and D:/ to E:/ Backup. TO E:/ C and E:/D folders

Finally I use SyncBack to copy the entire E:/Backup to X:/External backup and put that in a safe place.

These tools can be automated on a schedule. It takes a while, but I prefer to do each step by hand to make sure. Because I have backups of backups of backups, sometimes I delete data that I am hording and look for duplicate files (using duplicate file finder). That takes a long time to edit. I do a full backup at least once a month.

1 Like

Which is what we do…

All Windows backup software invokes the built in VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service)
Not a single one is NIST compliant.

So we configure backups to shares on a backup server on the domain.
Script runs moving that backup into an enclave.
If you need to restore: boot to Windows installer and point to image on server. Punch in BitLocker key and let her eat.

Then go deploy new drive to new hardware.

Same with Server backup.

If you want it in a VM:

  1. create and mount VHDX
  2. copy backup to mounted vhdx and dismount virtual disk
  3. boot up new VM from install media with virtual disk attached
  4. restore

poof, you have last night’s image running in a VM

1 Like

Oh boy, you guys gave me a ton to read over the weekend, Thank you so so much for all the input! :smile:

Interesting to see how different the approaches are when it comes to backing up windows on somewhat of routine.

And by the way: @TryTwiceMedia I like your “Every Sonntag at 19:00” German finds its ways into everything :smiley:

1 Like

I hate these things…you turn everything to English language and you get these remnants from time to time because some App thinks because I’m German, I want German translations. Windows/Linux is quite good most of the time, but my Phone and especially app language can be a bitch.
And once you select English, you get feet, miles and other ancient units.
It’s a mess, but it works. And running everything in English (incl. my keyboards) keeps people away from my stuff :slight_smile:

1 Like

File History is the worst piece of crap software I ever had the displeasure to work with!
I do IT support for a living. You would not believe how many files my clients lost because File History wasn’t working.
I mean, it is a backup software. What is the two most important features of a backup history? In my opinion that it works and that it informs the user if the backup did not work.
Does it have mail? No.
Does it inform the user over Windows popups? Sometimes.
Does it change its task symbol to something like a warning sign if the backup fails? Nope.

I have see so many File History configs that said, “yep, everything good” but the software hasn’t made a backup for over a year.
Or that it just completely ignores the none default folder a user added manually to backup, like an external photo disk.
Windows be like: You have run out of storage but did not notice it because there is no task bar warning and Windows changed the default explorer view from “This PC” to OneDrive or QuickAccess so you never see your harddrives? Haha looser!

1 Like

Yeah fair, I do have the benefit of being in IT for long and knowing how to monitor it. Plus, I also run it against a network drive (with RAID and plenty of space), in comparison to a local drive , or the same computer. On top of that I removed OneDrive from orbit…

Edit: I also test it to a completely separate VM every now and again. I guess it may need some guard rails if you’re just a regular user.

I mean, I can’t complain from a business standpoint.
Does not matter if SMB or consumers, nobody touches or invests in their IT until they either loose data or get hacked. Until that happens, they are happy with their IT. Stuff like “File History” is what generates new users for me :grin:

Big truths right there - even testing takes time, which equals money. I think people only test backups when they’re required by regulations for the most part.

2 Likes

It’s both an economically sound as well as a careless strategy. An unsolvable dilemma really.
I was mediating between IT guys and management half of my career (I consider me being part of both camps) and both sides have good arguments for their approach. The best solution is a compromise and steady awareness and attention.

Yeah, snapshots are the admins dream. You get the money for your stuff because the benefits are not some abstract nerdy things that cost money :slight_smile:

I’m not that into Windows anymore, but I’d probably just use Veeam and send everything to the cloud. Or run Windows disks on block storage all together. Centralization is a blessing when it comes to backup. Can’t shake off my VDI roots even today :wink:

Which is stupid. If you don’t know how to run the recovery or know that it works as it was designed, you basically have no reliable disaster recovery strategy. Just treat backup like a fire drill. Do this from time to time to make sure everything is fine once something happens.
If you’re doing backup for compliance, then you’re doing compliance and not DR while you could do both at the same time.

2 Likes