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im thinking about a backup strategy for the follow scenario:

W11 machine with 2 Disks:

onboard SSD 256 + some cheap HDD

the goal is to create in AUTOMATIC mode, a full booteable disk every sunday from SSD to HDD, that permits:

  • boot from the image (HDD) (in case of SSD fatal damage)
  • recover files and moving manually from HDD to SSD (in case of indesirable file changes)

i also admit more ideas of course.

regards

oso_togari
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    You should seriously consider a) multiple point-in-time backups instead of a single mirror, b) using multiple media (a good backup creates at least two copies on at least two different media) and c) creating off-line (capable) backups. Note that product recommendations are explicitly off-topic here. – Zac67 May 09 '22 at 12:44
  • thanks.....a) ??.................b) i think one backup is enough for my requirements..................c) off line means external repo? – oso_togari May 09 '22 at 13:21
  • Windows natively supports this via WIMs - please see [this](https://superuser.com/a/1581804/529800) answer – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 12:02
  • thanks... i read your answer and i linked it....if i see that macrium gives me any problem i re-think it based on your comment, but i dont see clear if i need to image the other(non C:\) partitions in order to have a booteable disk.....i think i have to create the structure the first time, right? – oso_togari May 24 '22 at 14:47
  • @oso_togari All Windows installs include a WinRE [**Win**dows **Re**covery] partition that can be manually or automatically booted to, so in the context of a bootable image, that applies specifically to WinPE/WinRE only; you'd boot to WinRE to capture or apply the WIM/exported ESD to the OS partition in order to boot it _(regardless of native versus third-party, this doesn't change)_. To back up the OS, you'd only capture the OS partition, with new images appended to it when you want to take another backup _(see appended image example in previous linked to answer)_ – JW0914 May 25 '22 at 13:28
  • @oso_togari _(Cont'd...)_ I'm biased against third party backup solutions simply because the WIM/ESD image format has no third-party equivalency for data integrity due to the parity built-in to the WIM/ESD format _(this is why it's used to install Windows and boot WinRE/WinPE, it's why large businesses/institutions pay thousands of dollars for a System Center license to deploy Windows to tens to thousands of machines from a primary WIM, incl. how OEMs deploy Windows to new PCs/laptops)_, as the data within WIMs/ESDs is impossible to corrupt provided `/CheckIntegrity /Verify` is always used. – JW0914 May 25 '22 at 13:36
  • @oso_togari _(Cont'd...)_ It's always seemed like the biggest hurdle for using Windows' native WIM/ESD imaging is users who are nervous using a terminal due to folks intentionally fear-mongering users who are unfamiliar with a terminal _(this is only seen in Windows, as terminal usage is common place in all BSD/Linux/MacOS distros)_, when the reality is a command line program is always far simpler to use than a GUI program because it's help page is always locally available via `/?` / `-help` / `-?` which shows the required command structure and explains in detail how to use each parameter. – JW0914 May 25 '22 at 13:48

2 Answers2

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ok finally i see that macrium reflect free do the job and have a schedule even in the free version...

no need to restart and no interrupts the operation in the machine....so i managed the 2 objectives.

  • A backup every week
  • A ready to boot clone disk (only thing is change in BIOS the boot order)

i would like to do it without 3rd party tools, but anyway...

regards

oso_togari
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  • Windows natively supports this via WIMs - please see [this](https://superuser.com/a/1581804/529800) answer – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 12:02
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There are two objectives here :

  1. having a bootable clone ready to use at any moment
  2. data backup

These two objectives are usually better addressed separately, as the requirements are different. For instance a one week frequency can be acceptable for a clone, but less acceptable for data backup. You should then state what is your main objective.

PierU
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    thanks....the main must be the booteable clone – oso_togari May 09 '22 at 13:03
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    maybe a scheduled powershell job can do the work: wbadmin start backup-backup target: E:-include: C:-quiet-allCritical – oso_togari May 09 '22 at 13:18
  • @oso_togari `wbadmin` isn't the correct tool for natively backing up/having a bootable clone of the OS partition - a WIM [captured](https://superuser.com/a/1581804/529800)/ESD exported via `Dism` is the only efficient way to natively do so. For a bootable ESD/WIM of the OS partition, `/Bootable` would be appended to the `Dism` `/Capture-Image`||`/Export-Image` command or WinRE would be booted to for applying the image to the OS partition. _(Please don't double post comments unless the maximum characters have been reached; instead, please edit or copy/paste into a new comment & delete the old)_ – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 13:59
  • @PierU This isn't an answer, it's a comment. Both objectives can be accomplished via a single WIM/ESD _(please see prior comment and linked to answer)_ – JW0914 May 24 '22 at 14:01
  • @JW0914 Yes sorry it was more a comment. A clone or an image is indeed also a backup, but assuming the primary objective is the backup (which is finally not the case here) there are IMO better solutions. – PierU May 29 '22 at 20:25
  • @PierU What better solutions do you believe exist? AFAIK, a better, more efficient means of imaging partitions in a format immune to corruption, with parity, and the same or better compression ratios of ESDs/WIMs simply does not exist natively outside of WIMs/ESDs. I've never come across any third-party solutions able to match the WIM/ESD format, as a third-party would need to be on par with the compression rates of `Max` [WIM] and `Recovery` [ESD], have a manner within the image itself for data parity, and only use tools natively contained within WinPE _(a primary Windows boot environment)_ – JW0914 May 29 '22 at 20:54
  • @JW0914 I mean a solution that is dedicated to backups, with file versioning and so on, rather than a solution based on images. – PierU May 30 '22 at 06:35
  • @PierU WIMs/ESDs are [smart compression file formats](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13096) and are differential versioning backups after the base image is captured; newly appended images utilize the same copy of unchanged files contained within the image from the previous image(s) _(hash verified)_, allowing for an image to remain small in relation to the data within _(example in [this](https://superuser.com/a/1581804/529800) answer)_. Windows natively incorporates GUI file versioning via File History and System Restore, accessed in _Properties_ → _Previous Versions_ – JW0914 May 30 '22 at 10:54