John P
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| posted on 3/3/18 at 10:33 AM |
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Simple Way to Back up PC - Advice Please
Hi,
I have a fairly old PC running Windows 10 which this morning refused to power up at all. After checking the monitor cable and moving the Logitech
USB receiver for the wireless keyboard and mouse to a different port it did eventually boot up but obviously all is not well.
There's not much stored on the PC which is that important and I have copied what would be a real problem onto a memory stick but is there a
simple and inexpensive way to back up the rest. I don't have any installation media for Windows 10 as I updated from an earlier operating
system when it was a free upgrade but I guess if the computer does finally die a replacement would already have Windows 10 loaded.
All the software I use is probably downloadable (LibraOffice, EmClient and Autocad 360) but obviously this would be a hassle.
Any suggestions advice? I'm fairly confident with computers but haven't done much systems type work since I changed jobs almost 10 years
ago so have no experience of on-line back ups etc.
John.
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 3/3/18 at 11:20 AM |
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macrium reflect is good
can clone entire disks, or work partition by partition, and free
but if you do get a new computer you would be best to install those programs anew.
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tims31
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| posted on 3/3/18 at 01:17 PM |
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I use 'Freefilesync' to backup and syncronise files from my desktop to my laptop when the laptop is started and a 15min delay using task
scheduler but can be used just to copy files from one PC to another...and free, just remember to untick the optional free software it will install.
Freefilesync
Build: http://www.martinsfurybuild.co.uk/
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 12:06 AM |
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If something fails on that computer and is replaced, say the hard-disk, you can use another pc to download Windows 10 installation media from
Microsoft. When you reinstall, it will automatically recognise the machine and re-activate the licence.
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John P
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 08:52 AM |
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Thanks for the suggestions.
It's interesting to know that Windows 10 can be re-installed on the same PC if I need to replace the hard drive as this was one of my main
concerns.
At the moment the PC seems to be working OK but I have now backed up all my documents to Google Drive which I hadn't even realized I had but
someone told me if you have a Gmail account (which I do) then you automatically have a Google Drive account.
This had enough capacity for free to back up all my documents but not photos so I'm going to rationalize these first and probably copy them
either to Google or possibly a memory stick or DVD.
If anyone has any reasons why any of this isn't a good idea please let me know.
John.
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 09:22 AM |
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This may be useful:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-10
A USB external hard drive is really the best option for a system backup.
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40inches
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 10:19 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
This may be useful:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-10
That's how I do it. Using W10 built in back up system to make an image on a drive separate to the system drive .
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 11:13 AM |
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quote:
This had enough capacity for free to back up all my documents but not photos so I'm going to rationalize these first and probably copy
them either to Google or possibly a memory stick or DVD.
If anyone has any reasons why any of this isn't a good idea please let me know.
you are better backing them up to something before rationalising them, since that way you wont loose any
what I would do, (though not the cheapest option)
get an ssd (solid state drive) about the same size as your current drive,
image the current system to that
swap old and new drives in system
keep the old drive as a backup as at now.
and continue using cloud (ie google drive etc) for copies
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tims31
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| posted on 4/3/18 at 12:08 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by John P
Thanks for the suggestions.
It's interesting to know that Windows 10 can be re-installed on the same PC if I need to replace the hard drive as this was one of my main
concerns.
At the moment the PC seems to be working OK but I have now backed up all my documents to Google Drive which I hadn't even realized I had but
someone told me if you have a Gmail account (which I do) then you automatically have a Google Drive account.
This had enough capacity for free to back up all my documents but not photos so I'm going to rationalize these first and probably copy them
either to Google or possibly a memory stick or DVD.
If anyone has any reasons why any of this isn't a good idea please let me know.
John.
If you're using Google drive then why not also use Google Photos to backup your photos, 15GB for original or unlimited for high quality
Build: http://www.martinsfurybuild.co.uk/
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