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Which backup methods do I need?

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I want to backup my work laptop to keep data safe. I'm getting dumb to understand which one is the right step to take.

The disk is a 320gb disk divided into 3 partitions. - 1 400 gb recovery partition which was preinstalled - 1 116 gb system partition - 1 116 gb data only partition

The system and data partitions are encrypted with Truecrypt, as if I lose this laptop I don't want anyone to be able to access data

  1. I want to be able to fully reinstall the system with all the data in case of a crash or whatever.

    1. I want to be able to recover the data at a previous state

i.e.

  • a virus deletes 500 random files
  • 2500 random files gets corrupted
  • windows refuses to start for some missing files

and I want to bring all back to previous state

  1. I want to be able to pick up single files from the backup in case I want to revert accidental or unwanted modifications. (I can do that with Windows Backup which keeps versioning folders and files, but whatever).

So I grabbed AOMEI Backupper and installed it.

As we know the backups are:

  • System backup: System backup refers to back up all the system files, boot files, and program files. Only if backing up both the system and boot files can ensure operating system works normally when restoring the OS next time.

  • Disk backup: When carrying out the operations of disk backup, all the data, the operating system and programs will be backed up to an image file, which can be used for disk restoration when it is necessary.

  • Partition backup: During the process of data backup, we can back up a particular partition or volume based on our need, instead of all the partitions. During partition backup, all the data on this partition will be packaged into an image file.

  • Files backup: File Backup refers to backup a specified file or folder to prevent data loss.

Now what is the method to get a full disk backup with all the partitions included (maybe not with recovery one, of which I don't even know what to do) so that I can restore the system if it doesn't starts, a partition if it has problems, or some files if I need to, without doing 3 kinds of backups?

Space and time aren't a problem but I wanted to do the right thing. I don't know what are the differences between doing a system image or the other solutions available.

Do I need more than one type of backup? Which one is the more complete and allows me to recover/reinstall windows on a formatted computer, recover all the data (files, drivers, software) and eventually pick files from that backup?

Thanks for the help



Comments

  • Sam, the recovery partition of 400GB does not make sense, please clarify. The addition of 116 + 116 also does not make sense to get 320GB.

    And please clarify OS version. Because 320GB sounds like an older system, probably Windows 7. This info is required to determine if it is MBR or GPT. Do you know it? or do you know if your computer has BIOS firmware, or already UEFI firmware?

    How did you make the partitions visible that you described, and what are the real names including capitalization and drive letters of them?

    This information is needed.

  • Sam,

    1,"The disk is a 320gb disk divided into 3 partitions. - 1 400 gb recovery partition which was preinstalled - 1 116 gb system partition - 1 116 gb data only partition" --------------Maybe there is something wrong with the 400 gb recovery partition.

    2,"The system and data partitions are encrypted with Truecrypt, as if I lose this laptop I don't want anyone to be able to access data"-------------Sorry for that,our Aomei Backupper cannot backup the encrypted partition,so you need to decrypt it.

    3,"I can restore the system if it doesn't starts, a partition if it has problems, or some files if I need to, without doing 3 kinds of backups?"--------You need to do at least system backup and disk backup.When you need the one single file,you need to explore the disk backup image,and copy it out.

    4," Which one is the more complete and allows me to recover/reinstall windows on a formatted computer, recover all the data (files, drivers, software) and eventually pick files from that backup?"------Is that you want to backup to the external disk and use it to restore to the formatted disk and boot the computer?In order to do this,you also need to do the system backup and the disk backup.Please notice,when you restore it to the formatted drive,you need to create a WINPE bootable media firstly.

  • edited December 2015

    admin, there is a side question to you: why whould System backup be needed, in addition to Disk backup?

  • System is just the double gurantee.Actually,just do the disk backup is ok.

  • edited December 2015

    Extra question yet: Does restore of disk backup handle the UEFI firmware requirements, maybe it is only done with restore of system backup? i.e. the Windows boot loader must be known to firmware, and after restore the partition guid of the ESP is different. From my experiments, either it was self-healing, or bcdboot was to be done manually.

  • Dear Peter,

    Sorry for that our product just do the restore process.

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