And, the company seems to have gone belly up. Please suggest a plug in a usb that starts immediately backing up without me having to work out what to do next on win10.
It seems that I have used 830gb of 930gb of my local disc.
Clickfree external backup has carked
anna10 on 02/07/2016 - 15:36
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Maybe needed to mention it is a desktop. Best I get the simplest plug in and off it goes, and put it back in the box variety.
The simplest solution would be to buy one of Seagate small, portable USB drives. There are different models with different capacities, but most (I think all) come with free Seagate Dashboard software (sometimes it is already on the drive, sometimes free download from Seagate Web). Some minimum setup is required, but it is really simple, and you do it only once. Pretty good Seagate support page has excellent materials, including short "how to" videos:
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/software/dashboard/To quote from one review: "There are three main backup functions: PC Backup, Mobile Backup, and Social. The PC Backup part is basically the local backup; here you can either customize real-time local backups or let the software, by default, pick what should be backed up for you. After that, the drive will back up continuously when changes have been made to data. In my trials, this function worked very well"
http://www.cnet.com/products/seagate-backup-plus-fast-4tb/2/Related issue: it is likely that you have a lot of junk on your disk, try to delete what you do not need. There are many disk cleaning programs which can help you to do that, for example Glary Utilities (free version is all you need): http://www.glarysoft.com
Hope it helps a bit :)
Have you considered looking at a cloud backup solution like Backblaze? It is very easy to use and is continuously ensuring your files are up to date, without the need to plug in external drives.
Actually, rereading that I got it wrong, I have 830gb free of 930gb, so pretty cleaned up I'd say. I had a complete crash after win10 upgrade debacle cost me a week and money at the fix it shop.
Thanks for the comments. I can see Seagate on ebay from some company with a pick up from Big W. (How does a private company get a Big W p/u anyway).
If I order it, I may be asking a bit more info if I stuff it up. Cheers
Are you after data (pics and docs) backup or disk image (restore full PC) in case of crash.
Very different.I had always assumed I was backing up in case of a complete crash or something malicious and I would want all my data, pics docs, emails etc back again.
You have a number scenarios when back up is a lifesaver.
Each requires somewhat different backup strategies.Disk crash, hardware fault
You would need a disk image to recover, otherwise you need to re-install
Suggested, monthly diskimage using a free diskimage program to some USB device.
At the end you dont make major changes to you Operating System.
Any changes you make (updates and new programs) you can usually easily do again.Loss of file: you overwrite or delete accidently.
Regular incremental backup, ideally with version.
Most USB backup drives have decent software for that.(And this is the most dangerous) Cryptolocker.
Malware that encrypts all the files it can find, INCLUDING your backup media if it can access those.
How to protect: back up to a destination that keeps a sizeable history, at least 10 I suggest AND which the Crypto malware CAN NOT directly access.
Some recent Crypto malware changes and re-encrypts files a few times to ensure that that also backups it cant access directly are infected.
Suggested strategy:
Alternate FULL backup onto NAS or 2 USB drive you alternate on monthly basis.
Means you have always at least a 1-2 month old version.
As I mentioned also have version history on your target system.
The crypto malware and similar threads are evolving.
What works today may not work tomorrow.In summary: backup is unfortunately not as straight fwd anymore, partly due to the sheer size of file collections, partly due to increased threats from malware.
OP sounds like he or she just wants a 'user friendly' solution, and not neccesarily a 'most comprehensive' solution. For Mac users, they have a warm fuzzy blanket of comfort and peace of mind called "Time Machine", but for Windows there appears to be a large variety of options (some of which are paid services).
Thanks for the info.
I was silly enough to get caught with crypto. I had to reinstall Windows. What annoyed me was it even ran through Dropbox and encrypted the files there. Good thing my desktop was empty as I hadn't been using it for a year and prior to that my hard disk died.
Get a disk image solution with 2-3 rotating USB drives. Do fortnightly back ups.
If you really want something simple be aware you won't get 100% security.You should also be rotating your backup sets using secure transport to off site location, which should be well protected against terrorist attacks and in geologically stable area. Must be in a different country as well. Using NAS which uses silent data corruption (bit rot) aware file system and auto-corrects, and keeping your rotated sets in undisclosed off planet location would be much better.
Alternatively: buy one external Seagate USB disk, set Seagate Dashboard software once (use option: 'PC Backup'), and the drive will back up continuously when changes have been made to data. Simples, but only 99.something%.
Good advice.. means you only have a small chance of losing all your documents and pictures.
Windows 10… file history?
I only too well know my limitations and have no ticket to another planet. ;) So, I'll have to go with the easiest option and look at Seagate I guess. Thanks for the suggestions.
Not sure what type of backup you are after but you maybe able to get by with buying an external usb hdd and moving files over to it to free up your laptop drive.