Laptop backup

[prugone]

Can anyone help with some advice re backing up my laptop. I have an ancient Sony VGN-NW11Z laptop running Windows 10 and I'm looking to buy a Seagate 1TB external hard drive to keep my 'bits and pieces' safe. Up until a year ago the computer was running on Vista but my computer hard drive suddenly went kaput. Fortunately I had invested in a Sony external hard drive which ran automatically so the computer hard drive was replaced and at the same time switched to Windows 10 which is not compatible with the Sony external hard drive. Now the rub... when I got the computer back I found all my documents etc replicated dozens of times also photos were duplicated. It took me weeks and weeks to try and determine the up to date copies and then delete them one by one. I'm not computer literate so there may have been a quicker way to do it. I was under the impression that when the external hard drive kicked in on a regular back up it only selected any new files. I want the security of a back up system in case the worst happens again but am I likely to find the same situation/ Also can the old Sony unit be 'cleaned' and passed on?

[Tsoski]

It would depend on the backup software, it sounds like it took regular copies of the files rather than backups per say.

Windows 10 has built in functionality to take regular backups of files which would work to recover them in the event of a main hard drive failure, you just need to configure it and pick the folders you want to copy.

I would use a tool like DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) which performs a much more intensive format of the drive, making it impossible to recover files from it, before selling your old HDD

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by Tsoski

It would depend on the backup software, it sounds like it took regular copies of the files rather than backups per say.

Windows 10 has built in functionality to take regular backups of files which would work to recover them in the event of a main hard drive failure, you just need to configure it and pick the folders you want to copy.

I would use a tool like DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) which performs a much more intensive format of the drive, making it impossible to recover files from it, before selling your old HDD

See more...

thats not strictly true you will notice DBAN do not guarantee this ?

OP if i was you and you dont want your data compromised i would just smash it up a new 1TB drive is about 30-40 quid so 2nd hand not worth the hassle imo of course

as for your backup seems you are doing a full copy each time rather than incremental? as above backup software can be configured to do 'add' only the 'new/changed files

[tspill]

Home backups are OK, but off site is much better. Both is better still.
I have a mac and use time machine onto a NAS (resilient disks); and iDrive for a secure cloud backup.
When I have lost files, I always go to iDrive first rather than my local home backup. Not sure why - it has just worked this way.

[prugone]

Originally Posted by tspill

Home backups are OK, but off site is much better. Both is better still.
I have a mac and use time machine onto a NAS (resilient disks); and iDrive for a secure cloud backup.
When I have lost files, I always go to iDrive first rather than my local home backup. Not sure why - it has just worked this way.

See more...

Thanks tspill, is there an equivalent Windows cloud set up? Apologies, I'm a mental pygmy as far as tech goes!

[prugone]

Originally Posted by Tsoski

It would depend on the backup software, it sounds like it took regular copies of the files rather than backups per say.

Windows 10 has built in functionality to take regular backups of files which would work to recover them in the event of a main hard drive failure, you just need to configure it and pick the folders you want to copy.

I would use a tool like DBAN (Darik's Boot and Nuke) which performs a much more intensive format of the drive, making it impossible to recover files from it, before selling your old HDD

See more...

Tsoski, thanks for your advice, I guess I need to do a bit of 'googling' on Windows back up.

[prugone]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

thats not strictly true you will notice DBAN do not guarantee this ?

OP if i was you and you dont want your data compromised i would just smash it up a new 1TB drive is about 30-40 quid so 2nd hand not worth the hassle imo of course

as for your backup seems you are doing a full copy each time rather than incremental? as above backup software can be configured to do 'add' only the 'new/changed files

See more...

Thanks novocastrian, you're right about the old hard drive, I was going to offer it on something like Freecycle to save waste but your advice seems sensible.

[RickT]

Incremental backups with a cloud storage like OneDrive or Google Drive as an example.

Use a file duplicator finder to swiftly remove any duplicate files. (takes 10 mins and easy to use.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by prugone

Thanks tspill, is there an equivalent Windows cloud set up? Apologies, I'm a mental pygmy as far as tech goes!

See more...

iDrive will work for any laptop - windows or mac.

I think Windows 10 has its own back programs I believe for local backups - Maybe "File History"?

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by tspill

Home backups are OK, but off site is much better. Both is better still.
I have a mac and use time machine onto a NAS (resilient disks); and iDrive for a secure cloud backup.
When I have lost files, I always go to iDrive first rather than my local home backup. Not sure why - it has just worked this way.

See more...

This^^...Rule of 3 = one on your laptop, one on usb drive both 'onsite' & one offsite or 'cloud'