Looking for a free backup software

[Martiin]

I'm going to backup my data on an external hard drive and im looking for one, i already have my important files uploaded in the cloud but im going to backup my music library etc

 

[Rahadian Putra]

Never used any backup software before, but a friend from this forum recommend this one
http://www.backup-utility.com/

 

[Ink]

Same for data, just copy and paste the music folder(s) across.

 

[Exterminator]

All I do is copy & paste to external drive.

 

[Jaspion]

I like Cobian Backup.

 

[Venustus]

Yes, just "drag 'n drop"!!

 

[cruelsister]

If you already have an external drive, my suggestion would be to image the entire drive instead of just backing up selected items. This would also save whatever files you want backed up, and would secure you from catastrophic issues like drive failure or massive malware infections.

That being said, please consider Macrium Reflect. It is excellent and free:

http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

 

[Ink]

@cruelsister What if the user wanted to transfer a few music files from the HDD to another PC, wouldn't imaging the whole drive cause an issue?

IMO, the approach for backing up data files should be kept separate from taking system image backups.

 

[jelson]

Many imaging programs do both (partition / drive) backups as well as file & folder backups. (But still contained in a single imaging file)

However, you might also consider synch programs as well. 3 good ones to consider (last 2 do versioning):

• FreeFileSync (installer has portable option)
  
• SyncFolders (has good scheduling options)
  
• SyncBack Free (there's also SE & Pro versions: comparison here)

 

[cruelsister]

Macrium, aside from full drive images also has options for File and Folder backups. But I just checked and the latter function is not available on the free version (which Martiin wants), so I guess this rules out this program. Sorry.

Huracan- With either TrueImage or Macrium the imaging of either the entire drive or a given folder will result in an image file that can be mounted as a virtual drive and manipulated in any file manager. So the extraction of any individual file is simply done.

 

[Littlebits]

Windows own backup and restore feature works great for backing up personal files.
You can easily restore previous versions of mp3's if the tags get messed up, that is not possible with other backup software.

Thanks.