Back Up question

[Steve Ricoh]

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I’m using a Dell Inspiron 15R SE for all of my digital post processing, and as it’s at least 5 years old so I’m getting concerned about a major component failure, notably the hard drive. I back up photos when I can remember, but there’s more agro if the hard drive packs in and I then have to install the adobe software (LR 6.14 and PS CS6) if I can remember how, plus Silver Effex Pro etc, plus more stuff I’m sure.

I run windows back-up periodically (when I remember) but it won’t help if a hard drive failure occurs, will it?

Is there a straight forward way of cloning the hard drive to another external hard drive (is anything in software straight forward?). If so, a drive failure could soon be rectified with a set of jewellers’ screwdrivers.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Steve Ricoh

[LocalHero1953]

I use the free Microsoft Synctoy for backing up one drive to another. I run it manually (i.e. when I choose); I haven't checked to see if it can work automatically.

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[Steve Ricoh]

22 minutes ago, LocalHero1953 said:

I use the free Microsoft Synctoy for backing up one drive to another. I run it manually (i.e. when I choose); I haven't checked to see if it can work automatically.

It’s a misfortune name, “Synctoy”, don’t you think. I see the word toy and my mind goes off to the days I’m playing with the grandkids. 😊
 

Name to one side, ‘major geeks’ says the following:

“Typical uses include sharing files, such as photos, with other computers and creating backup copies of files and folders.“

I’ll follow up with this further as it may suit the purpose.
 

I’m looking to connect a compatible SATA (I think it is, but whatever) hard drive to a USB port on the laptop (using a suitable caddy) and making a direct clone of everything on my existing hard drive, operating system, applications, everything in fact. Thus in the event of the internal hard drive giving up, it’s a case of swopping over, one out, one in.

 

[LocalHero1953]

I use it for backing up my LR catalogue and images to an external drive, which in turn is backed up automatically to the cloud by Backblaze.
You can exclude types of files and specific folders, so I exclude all the previews and LR's own catalogue backup files.

[Anbaric]

The package I use for whole drive backups is the free version of Macrium Reflect:

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

If I just want to back up some files I use:

https://freefilesync.org/

Make sure you also have licence keys and installers somewhere to hand in case you ever need to restore the backup to a new disk. Some software might detect that a hard disk has been swapped out and refuse to run from the new one. It may also be worth associating your copy of Windows with an online MS account.

[wda]

2 hours ago, Steve Ricoh said:

I’m using a Dell Inspiron 15R SE for all of my digital post processing, and as it’s at least 5 years old so I’m getting concerned about a major component failure, notably the hard drive. I back up photos when I can remember, but there’s more agro if the hard drive packs in and I then have to install the adobe software (LR 6.14 and PS CS6) if I can remember how, plus Silver Effex Pro etc, plus more stuff I’m sure.

I run windows back-up periodically (when I remember) but it won’t help if a hard drive failure occurs, will it?

Is there a straight forward way of cloning the hard drive to another external hard drive (is anything in software straight forward?). If so, a drive failure could soon be rectified with a set of jewellers’ screwdrivers.

Steve, picking up your concern about aging drives, during the pandemic, my local independent IT supplier upgraded my very old hard drives, and in the process transferred the contents of three drives to three new replacements, one a solid-state for my main drive. All at a very fair price. He built my computer for my needs, and I have remained loyal to him, over ten years or more. That is not easy, or even possible, when buying online, or from bigger vendors. My legacy software continued to work perfectly. While I was in lockdown, he collected my machine and returned it to me. He truly deserves top marks for service and support.

Edited September 26, 2021 by wda

[zeitz]

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Steve, you can replace a hard drive before it fails.  You will see a speed improvement and greater reliability with a solid state drive.  But you will still need to perform regular backups.  

In the Mac world I use Time Machine and an AirPort Time Capsule, which is also my router.  For some reason that I don't understand, Apple discontinued the AirPort Time Capsule a while back.  Refurbished units may still be available.

 

[Steve Ricoh]

3 hours ago, Anbaric said:

The package I use for whole drive backups is the free version of Macrium Reflect:

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

If I just want to back up some files I use:

https://freefilesync.org/

Make sure you also have licence keys and installers somewhere to hand in case you ever need to restore the backup to a new disk. Some software might detect that a hard disk has been swapped out and refuse to run from the new one. It may also be worth associating your copy of Windows with an online MS account.

Anbaric,

Thank you for the info and links provided.

When performing a whole drive back up, do you make the image to a proprietary external USB hard drive, thus allowing a restore should you need to replace the existing internal hard drive?

I’m thinking of making a clone to a solid state drive compatible with my laptop, thus doing a speed upgrade at the same time. However, irrespective of whether it’s magnetic or solid state drive I believe I will need to purchase a ‘caddy’ for power and data from the USB interface, but some of these can be a bit ‘iffy’ I believe.. 
 

One further question if I may. I’m not familiar with the MS account and associating the copy of Windows (that came with the laptop), can you expand on this please.

Thank you.

[Anbaric]

6 minutes ago, Steve Ricoh said:

Anbaric,

Thank you for the info and links provided.

When performing a whole drive back up, do you make the image to a proprietary external USB hard drive, thus allowing a restore should you need to replace the existing internal hard drive?

I’m thinking of making a clone to a solid state drive compatible with my laptop, thus doing a speed upgrade at the same time. However, irrespective of whether it’s magnetic or solid state drive I believe I will need to purchase a ‘caddy’ for power and data from the USB interface, but some of these can be a bit ‘iffy’ I believe.. 
 

One further question if I may. I’m not familiar with the MS account and associating the copy of Windows (that came with the laptop), can you expand on this please.

Thank you.

Macrium has a couple of different modes:

'Imaging': Saves the contents of a disk to a single (typically very large!) image file on a specified destination drive. I normally save this to an external USB drive. The USB drive can have other files on it, which won't be overwritten. You can restore from the image file later, or mount it and browse the contents as if it were a drive.

'Cloning': Instead of saving the contents of the disk to a single image file, you instead write to a blank drive (e.g., a new SSD, typically using a caddy as you suggest, or a USB to SATA cable, or a SATA to SATA cable) which will be overwritten by the contents of the old disk as many individual files and folders exactly as they were on the original. In this case, be careful not to select the wrong destination drive, as anything on it will be erased!

https://blog.macrium.com/how-to-migrate-your-old-pc-to-a-new-one-67af145e5a23

Linking to an MS account can help you reactivate Windows after a hardware change:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-link-your-windows-10-product-key-microsoft-account