Russ Harvey Consulting - Computer and Internet Services

Backup & Recovery

Keeping your data safe from disaster

What to Back Up | How to Back Up | Backup Devices
Windows Included Apps | Commercial Software
Dealing with a Disaster | Backup Before Service Calls

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A portable USB hard drive is connected to a laptop for backing up important data.
A backup is a copy of all your important files — for example, your family photos, home videos, documents and emails. Instead of storing it all in one place (like your computer or smartphone), you keep a copy of everything somewhere safe.

 

Losing your files is way more common than you'd think.

 

One small accident or failure could destroy all the important stuff you care about.
— World Backup Day

Preparing for Recovery

Backup and recovery are an important part of any strategy for recovering your computer in the case of computer failure or the loss of data.

In today's digital world, you can lose data in any number of ways. You can accidentally delete an important file. Your hard drive can fail, losing all of your business and personal information. Your laptop can get stolen together with your photos, videos, and contacts.
— Acronis

According to a 2022 survey by Backblaze, losing data is more common than you think:

  • 67% report accidentally deleting something
  • 54% report having lost data
  • 53% were affected by a security incident
  • 48% had an external hard drive crash
    • 21% of those crashes have happened in the last year
  • 44% lost access to their data when a shared drive or synced drive was deleted

Data Irreplaceable

If you don't care about any of the personal information or data on your computer then backups may not be important to you.

However, most of us have irreplaceable data like photos, emails, correspondence, account statements and other documents.

Without a strategy to recover these in the case of a computer meltdown can mean the total loss of your important files.

Plan for Recovery Now

Backups are like insurance. The time and expense seems excessive until something bad happens.

If you aren't prepared before the disaster, it is too late.

You'll want to consider

You need protection against equipment and operator failure as well as viruses for fire, theft and other disasters.

Ransomware Recovery

A reliable backup is the only recovery you can count on if you are infected with ransomware. Paying off the crooks only encourages future attacks.

While a backup in the cloud can help with a physical disaster, it is vulnerable to being hacked or compromised.

Create Recovery Media

Computers no longer come with a set of installation media (CDs or DVDs).

It is critical that you create recovery media as soon as possible, because you can't create them after a crash.

Be sure to label them clearly, then save them in a safe place.

The 3-2-1 Rule

To ensure the reliability of backups, follow the Acronis 3-2-1 rule:

  • Create 3 copies of your data (1 primary copy and 2 backups)
  • Store your copies in at least 2 types of storage media (local drive, network share/NAS, tape drive, etc.)
  • Store one of these copies offsite (in the Cloud)
  • — Acronis

Anything not backed up could be unrecoverable. Schedule backups accordingly.

Quick Recovery

Some users, particularly businesses, can neither afford to be down for long nor to lose any data.

Such critical systems usually have information that is constantly changing and requires a solution that provides timely, ongoing and reliable backups as well as quick recovery.

Creating Images of Your Drive

Any user that requires a quick recovery should purchase software to create routine drive images.

Drive images allow you to recreate a working copy of an operating system including all the programs and data. This is important if you require a quick recovery such as in a business environment, but requires frequent updates to ensure that the data and programs are current.

Routine Recovery

Many home users have less pressure to get up and running and the sorts of data that are important to them may be different. Backups need to be less frequent (although outdated backups place you at risk of losing important photos and other data).

One interim solution is to use a thumb drive to backup files on the go, then running your backup software at the end of the day.

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What to Back Up

Your computer installation includes four main categories that you need to consider when planning for recovery:

Each requires a different strategy for backup and recovery.

Recovering the Operating System

You will need the operating system installation media to reinstall your operating system as well as the necessary drivers and the ability to activate your installation.

Activation of Your Operating System

Activation depends upon your operating system:

The process for obtaining and installing your operating system (or upgrades) will depend upon the operating system and version you currently have installed and what your hardware will support.

There are other elements like the desktop wallpaper, special fonts and other settings that you wish to save even though registered Windows users may be able to recover much of this by logging into their Microsoft account.

Drivers

Drivers are software that enables a hardware device to work with a specific operating system.

Most hardware is now recognized natively by modern operating systems, but you may need to download specific drivers for

Most drivers are downloaded from the Web, but if your computer came with drivers on a DVD or if you created a set of recovery disks, keep those in case you cannot identify your hardware.

Recovering Programs

Recovering your programs may involve more than just reinstalling programs that your operating system doesn't include by default.

Windows Registry Complicates Reinstallation of Programs

If Windows fails, you'll need to reinstall any programs not included with your Windows installation then restore your personal data and settings.

You will need both the installation media and the registration key for each program.

If you can't find your original software installation files (and the licence key) or if is outdated you may have to re-purchase the software. You may be entitled to a reduced upgrade price but will need to have proof of ownership for your earlier version (usually the licence key).

Software Activation Adds a Wrinkle

Some programs, like standard Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop and TurboTax, require activation after installation.

There is often limits to the number of activations available (usually one or two) so you'll need to ensure you de-activate the software before uninstalling or removing the software.

If your computer crashes, you may be able to get the company to extend the activation for reinstallation and sometimes the software recognizes that it is being reinstalled on the same hardware so it doesn't require reactivation.

Keep an external record of your registration numbers to enable you to reinstall and register shareware if necessary. This is true for software that is configured remotely after installation.

Most software that allows you to install copies on both your PC and your laptop won't allow both to be in active use at the same time (it is licensed for a single user).

Recovering Data

Data files are irreplaceable and constantly change.

If you delete files by accident or lose them with a computer crash they are permanently lost unless you have backups.

Paper copies may be sufficient backup for some things, but retyping all those documents, or scanning them with OCR software, could take forever (and a disaster would likely destroy those documents as well).

Backups Required for Recovery

Your irreplaceable data can include the information in your Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures and Videos folders and elsewhere including:

These are just some of the items that you might wish to consider adding to your backups. Not all these items will apply to everyone, nor does it include all the possibilities.

If it is important to you, back it up.

Backup Software

The easiest method of backup is to use either the backup capability built into your operating system (e.g., Windows Backup) or a suitable third-party commercial program.

You should be able to recover quickly in cases of data loss or disaster provided you maintain a regular schedule sufficient to capture all your changing data.

While a drive image can recover everything quite quickly, it reflects the state of your computer when the drive image was created. Any new or changed documents need to be restored after the drive image is restored.

If an drive image fails to restore a working computer, you'll need that data to recover.

Keep a Separate Backup of Files

I strongly recommend directly copying all your data directly onto a removable drive so that you can recover it later, even if you use additional backups like disk images and regular backup programs.

Redundancy may save your bacon if your primary backup media fails (I've had it happen).

Keep any critical changing documents on USB thumb drive specifically designated for that purpose so that you have access to your most critical files regardless of how old your other backups are.

These two copies of your files provides quick access to all your data without having to first reinstall the operating system then the backup software (see the installation process).

Saving the Program Settings

Backing up the application data — located in a hidden set of AppData folders — may help to ensure you have everything. Your settings are stored there as well as the data for your email program.

You can't always recover everything from the AppData folders and overwriting the AppData in a newly restored installation can corrupt a program's AppData. Copying and saving a backup of the existing AppData information prior to overwriting should allow you to recover (unless the computer cannot start).

Record the settings for each programs that wasn't installed with the default settings. Recording the current settings can help restore your “user experience” in a newly restored installation.

Complex Settings

Settings that are more complex to document (such as email server and FTP settings) can be recorded using screen captures of the various screens:

A screen capture of mail settings.
Email server settings captured.

Be sure to capture the hidden settings like those that appear when clicking the Advanced button.

These screen captures can be a lifesaver when it comes to reconstructing program settings.

Proprietary Email Data

Email data is difficult to work with and often is not easily transferred between programs except by using special utilities.

I recommend backing up your email using the facilities built into your email program then including that backup file in your main backup as well as separately.

Keep a Separate Copy of Important Emails

Most programs will export a single email into a stand-alone file (with the .eml extension in Windows). These files can be opened by any email program.

Save important emails like program registrations and other critical information in this manner so that you have access even if your email program isn't working. You can copy the file to another computer and use whatever email program is installed there to open it.

Microsoft 365

Traditionally, email was stored on the user's computer (or on a server run by the company you work for).

However, the move to Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) and Windows 10/11 has changed that. Microsoft OneDrive is the default save location mirrored in the local OneDrive folder.

Microsoft retention policies may be insufficient if critical emails or other data is accidentally (or maliciously) deleted, especially if those emails or files are required for legal or auditing compliance.

Only your own backups can ensure retention.

In Office 365, an active license is required to access data. Which sounds like a great benefit because when employees are terminated, you can simply deactivate their O365 account and limit any access they have to company data.

 

The problem in this scenario is that you will also lose access to any files created by those employees.
— Backupify

Several companies specialize in backing up Microsoft 365 for businesses but personal users want to be sure that they have copies of their archived emails in a safe location.

Several companies specialize in backing up Microsoft 365 for businesses but personal users want to be sure that they have copies of their archived emails in a safe location.

Aid4Mail has software that can “reliably recover, collect, search, and convert email data.”

Locating Data Files

Modern Windows installations store settings and data in multiple locations.

These settings may not be easy to backup or transfer except when using a drive image to recover the complete Windows installation.

You'll want to check for information in other locations than those mentioned below. Create a “Backups” folder in Documents to store important recovery information so it is easily located when needed.

Windows

On a Windows computer most data is stored within the Contacts, Favorites, Documents, Music, Pictures and Video folders located with a folder named after your user account name: C:\Users

Mac

The Time Machine does a good job of backing up critical Mac user files but you can look under Finder's “Go” menu for Documents, Pictures or All My Files to locate files to be stored on a thumb drive or other removable media for sharing or alternative backup strategy.

Linux

Linux provides a link to your documents on the desktop in many cases. Copies of these files will ensure you don't lose them in a crash.

Other Critical Windows Information

Windows users might want to consider these items:

Most browsers and other software use either a horizontal ellipsis (…) or its vertical equivalent for their settings menus.

Windows Hidden Application Data

Email and other programs save settings and other critical information in folders hidden by default in Windows. You'll need to unhide files and folders to be able to back them up.

You'll want to back up all the user files. In most cases the [User] folder is named “Owner” or your name or some variation depending upon the settings chosen when Windows was installed.

When backing up the AppData folder you'll need to be aware that some of these files are currently in use and the copying process may fail. Generally these files aren't useful to you anyhow and can be ignored, but you'll need to resume the backup with the folder from where it stopped.

When restoring information, you want to exercise care when copying information from the previous installation's AppData folder. In most cases you're better importing it via the program that uses it rather than directly.

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How to Back Up

How you backup your computer will depend upon what operating system you have, how much data you have and what backup devices and backup software are available to you.

Schedule Regular Backups

Make a habit of regularly backing up the critical files on your system. The greatest danger is procrastination — something that only a regularly scheduled backup routine can avoid.

A good rule of thumb: backup when the pain of recreating something is greater than the pain of backing it up.

Not everything can be recreated — easily or otherwise.

For very critical files in constant use, backing them up separately onto a USB thumb drive after every change could be critical in the case of an unexpected crash.

Traditional Method

The traditional method is to do a regular weekly full backup, then to copy the changed files at the end of each day (an incremental backup), keeping three generations of backups.

If you don't work daily on your computer a monthly routine with weekly interim backups may suffice.

Keep Multiple Backups

Multiple generations of backups will greatly enhance your ability to recover.

If your backup is corrupt or if there is corrupt data, the more generations of backups you retain the more likely you will have an uncorrupted copy.

Even if a recovered file is missing data, that is better than no data at all.

Critical Systems Need More Attention

The more critical your data, the more frequent and complete your backup routine needs to be to ensure complete recovery.

Off-site Backups for Disasters

Keep backups off-site in case of theft, fire or similar disaster.

A Cloud-based backup provides this protection, but have a hard copy somewhere off-site just in case that fails.

Keeping personal backups at the office and office backups at home works for many small business owners.

Local Backups for Computer Failures

Keep a separate set of backups of current files onsite in case of an immediate problem with your computer, such as a file that is accidentally deleted or corrupted.

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Backup Devices

You'll need to choose a hardware device that will store the amount of information you have on your computer's hard drives as well as the backup software included with your operating system or third-party commercial programs needed to perform the backup/restore.

Beware of Fake USB Drives

Warning: fraudulent drives are flooding the market. Drives sold as two terabytes (2TB) actually only contains 62 gigabytes (62GB) of flash storage.

You need to be able to depend upon any storage device, but even more so with backups because there is no option to copy missing information if your drive has failed or has been formatted and you are depending upon your backups for recovery.

Don't opt to purchase cheap drives for backup purposes, especially from online stores like Amazon which allow third-party vendors to sell products.

There is an increasingly common problem of fraudulent drives that are deliberately missing storage — drives that report more storage than actually exists.

The drive appears to be the 1 or 2 terabyte drive you purchased. You plug it into your computer and everything looks fine. You can even copy files to the drive; as many as you want. And when you look at the drive's contents the files are there. But what's insidious is that the files' contents may have never been stored.

 

These fraudulent drives contain just enough storage — typically 64GB — to convincingly hold the file system's directory listing. But once its first 64GB of storage space has been filled, the contents of any additional files will not actually be stored. Their names, dates and sizes will be stored in the directory at the front of the drive. Everything will appear to be fine. But the files' contents will be blank because they were “stored” where no storage exists.

 

Operating systems do not verify that the data they write was actually written. They rely upon the honesty of storage devices to report errors. If a write error occurs, then the operating system will rewrite the data elsewhere. But these deliberately fraudulent drives never report any problems — they just silently discard any data written where there's no storage.
— Steve Gibson

ValiDrive Verifies Storage

ValiDrive v1.0 is a free utility that performs a quick, random-sequence spot-check across the drive's entire declared storage space. At every location it verifies the successful storage and retrieval of random (unspoofable) test data.

The underlying purpose of ValiDrive v1.0 is to "spot-check any USB mass storage drive for fraudulently missing storage," which has become ever more important given the influx of fake drives flooding online retailers.

 

This freeware tool also checks any USB-connected drive for read / write errors.
— Tom's Hardware

USB External Hard Drives & Devices

The price and capacity of USB external hard drives and thumb drives provide the best and most workable solution for most people.

Hard Drives

You'll need to choose a USB hard drive that is suitable for your requirements.

With the larger devices, it is easy to copy whole drives or simply the files you need. It is best to stick to copying data unless you're familiar with how your computer stores information and are comfortable using the command line.

Power-off or Remove USB Backup Drives

An always-connected device is bound to be compromised with any infection of the host computer, rendering it useless for recovery.

Depending upon your computer and office situation, you can either remove the USB cable from the computer when not is use or, if the backup drive has an external power supply, turn off the power switch.

New USB drives lack a built-in power switch. If there is no power switch, consider adding a small power bar to cut the power without affecting the computer or other devices.

Thumb (Flash) Drives

USB thumb drives provide an excellent option for keeping changed files between backups because they are small and portable.

Larger 64GB, 128GB and 256GB thumb drives may be sufficient for a full backup for some home users such as those without large libraries of music, videos, photos, etc.

Be aware of how easy these drives are to lose. Don't forget that they may contain personal and sensitive information. Attaching a lanyard helps to make them easier to manage.

On-line Backups

On-line backups (backing up into the “Cloud”) provides true off-site storage. High speed Internet and cheap storage has lowered costs and this can be an attractive option.

Many recent computers have moved to smaller solid-state drives. While these drives are much faster, they may not contain sufficient storage. You'll need to either use cloud storage (the assumed solution) or carry a portable USB drive with your laptop.

However, consider these factors:

Many of these services don't keep archived copies (they simply overwrite the older data each time). If corruption goes unnoticed for more than one cycle, you may not be able to recover your data.

Be sure to keep a record of the necessary passwords in a secure off-site location to ensure you can access the data in case of a disaster that destroys your computer.

A password manager is recommended. One that can be accessed online (most can) allows you to recover these after a disaster, but unless you are using a very strong master password your passwords could be compromised.

Online Backup Services

Not every service is suitable for everyone. These vary by price, reliability, security and capacity, so check the reviews to see what matches best to your requirements.

Network Backups

Many people have more than one computer in their home or office. You can backup over the network to a central location. The necessary equipment is relatively inexpensive and easy to set up.

Keep in mind that local network backups offer no protection against fire, flood or theft.

A server running RAID is more practical than a single drive hosted somewhere on the network because that provides some redundancy in case of hard drive failure. However, RAID is not in itself a backup system.

Legacy Backup Media

CDs & DVDs

CDs and DVDs provided adequate storage when drives were smaller and the amount of data was more suitable.

They may work for legacy systems with little storage capacity (or data to back up).

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Apps Included with Windows

Windows Backup is a built-in backup utility. Other operating systems have varying backup capabilities.

Windows 10 & 11 File History

Windows 10 and 11 were designed to use File History to keep older versions of files but can read and restore Windows 7 backup files.

Windows backup is in the Settings. Click on Start ⇒ Settings ⇒ Updates & Security ⇒ Backup and choose your options.

File History certainly isn't for everyone — some users will want third-party backup applications that can take full system backups and back up every file on their hard drives.
— HowToGeek

New Windows 10 & 11 Backup

The September 2023 update provided a new solution for both Windows 10 and 11 called Windows Backup.

Windows 10/11 Backup

However, the product will only let you backup to OneDrive and appears to be designed more for the transfer of files during an upgrade from Windows 10 to 11. It is NOT suitable for a reliable backup of your applications and settings:

I applaud Microsoft for admitting that we all need to back up our computers and workstations, or at least have a recovery plan of some sort.

 

But Microsoft's recent backup implementation, its suddenly appearing Microsoft Backup app, is not well thought out and is a one-size-fits-all solution — that doesn't fit well at all.

 

In other words, this really is a migration application, not a Windows backup application. It will back up only store-installed applications.

 

Bottom line: This is not a Windows backup. You still must rely on a third-party solution to do a full backup to an external hard drive. For me, that's a Macrium Reflect backup that runs at least nightly (depending on the computer) to an external USB hard drive — one that is several times larger than the drive I'm backing up.
— Susan Bradley

Legacy Windows Backup

Windows 10 and 11 include the Windows 7 Backup and Restore as a legacy solution that is much better suited to doing a full backup (including a system image) that would enable full recovery of your computer and applications:

Windows 7 Backup in Windows 10

Control Panel ⇒ All Control Panel Items ⇒ Backup and Restore (Windows 7)

This program still works with Windows 10, but you need to enable it in Windows 10 (I recommend enabling System Restore as well).

Fixing Backup Issues

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Commercial Backup Programs

Macrium Reflect Recommended

Macrium Reflect Home offers both an annual (recurring) or perpetual license for a single computer:

The Annual Plan is a 1 year subscription to our Home Reflect product, providing you with ongoing access to premium grade support and future upgrades including new features and product enhancements, as well as ongoing fixes. In addition, we are also offering one free setup call to get you started ensuring you have a secure and reliable backup plan in place.

 

The One-Time Purchase is a perpetual product that you buy once and own it forever, however we only provide support for the first year.

Acronis True Image

Acronis provides excellent backup software.

Acronis True Image (from USD$49.99/ year for 1 computer) provides backup, disk cloning, cyber protection and privacy tools for home users.

The Legacy True Image Product

I've used Acronis True Image since 2016. It allowed me many options for backup that worked for my varied requirements.

Acronis True Image was a perpetual license until 2021. You only had to upgrade when wanting new features or moving to a new version of Windows unsupported by the old version which I did regularly from 2016–2020.

However, when Acronis True Image added anti-ransomware and antimalware in 2021 I reverted to my previous 2020 version since it didn't contain security software and still worked fine on my Windows 10 computers.

True Image's security software would conflict with my chosen security software which I had trusted for years and was familiar with. Because the security components could not be disabled, I ceased to recommend it even though it was still an excellent backup program with the kind of options I valued.

Acronis then renamed their software Cyber Protect Home Office but later reverted to the True Image name.

Security Components Can Be Disabled

Acronis True Image will allow you to avoid installing potentially conflicting options during a custom installation.

Deselect the anti ransomware and real-time protection boxes in the custom installation.

If you currently don't have an active subscription to a security product you know and trust, leave those options checked. Acronis True Image then combines security protection with an excellent backup solution.

Other Windows Backup Software

Many companies produce backup software:

Backup Software for Macs

If the software included with macOS doesn't meet your needs, check out these commercial options:

Software Included with Devices

Free backup software included with your hardware may meet your requirements.

USB Drives & Thumb Drives

USB drives are much better at handling the large amounts of data stored on today's computers.

USB drives often include backup software that will automatically create backups when plugged into your computer.

Be sure to read the license agreement to see if you're paying for the software with your privacy.

CD & DVD Software

Most CD/DVD vendors included software that can backup your data to a CD/DVD or other media but are rarely in use these days.

Newer software is available and has adapted to the change in devices we back up to:

Learning More

See these sites for additional assessments:

While many reviews have a date indicated, they tend to be updated from time-to-time (usually annually).

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Dealing with a Disaster

You need to be prepared for both a computer failure (such as a corrupt file or broken program) and a disaster (such as theft or fire or earthquake where everything is lost or destroyed).

Are Your Backups Vulnerable?

Accidental file deletions, hard drive failure or infected files can be resolved with the backups sitting beside your computer.

However, in a disaster the backups themselves are vulnerable unless located somewhere safe.

A backup drive continually plugged into the computer could allow a virus to infect your backups. This would remove the ability to recover, especially from a ransomware attack.

Most current “viruses” are worms, designed to spread themselves anywhere they have access to.

Hardware Failures

All hard drives (and other storage media) are subject to both mechanical and human failure. Keep a current backup of anything you cannot easily replace.

SSD Drives More Vulnerable

Traditional magnetic drives simply overwrite data (or change a setting that indicates that the sector is “unreadable”).

Newer solid state drives (SSDs) are much faster and lighter but they have a significant drawback: although their lifespan is improving they can completely fail without warning.

SSDs need to erase data blocks before they can write new information in that block and SSDs have a limited number of write cycles (exasperated by TRIM, a process of background garbage collection to consolidate free space for new writes).

[I]f we're looking at SSD reliability vs HDD reliability, solid state drive failure rates -- while not apples to apples -- are not incredibly different from those of HDDs.
— WePC

There are advantages to both SSD and regular hard drive (HDD) technologies.

About RAID

RAID is a data-storage system that offers protection against the failure of a single hard drive by simultaneously writing data to at least two hard drives on a RAID-equipped system.

Ransomware

A complete backup is your ONLY defense against ransomware where malicious software encrypts your data and holds it for ransom. The fee demanded is significant and untraceable.

Failure to pay or any attempt to recovery your data results in the data being destroyed permanently.

As long as people pay these criminals, ransomware will continue to be profitable.

Healthcare companies have made themselves a target because they are unprepared and their data is both critical and very sensitive so they have tended to pay to retrieve the locked data.

There is evidence that more recent versions of ransomware simply destroy your data. Whether this is simply malicious actions by state-sponsored hackers or simply ignorance by script-kiddies, the result is the same — your data is gone forever unless you have recent reliable backups that are secured away from online access.

Disasters

If you suffer a catastrophic disaster that involves more than simply losing files, such as a fire or a flood, the backups themselves could be destroyed unless they are stored off-site.

Alternatively, a thief might take your backups along with any media that is nearby (or destroy them while searching for items of value).

Insurance can replace your computer and software, but your data as well as programs and downloaded content would be gone. You should store important recovery data off-site in a safe location.

Expert File Recovery Expensive

There are companies that specialize in post-failure data recovery but you may find they are either unable to recover your data or that it is too costly.

Clean Install

Sometimes there is no way to avoid deleting all the files on a drive and reinstalling a “clean” operating system (a clean install) to get your computer up and running again.

The more complete your backups are at this point the more likely you will recover all necessary files and programs.

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Before the Service Call

If you're taking your computer into a repair shop or other service centre, you need to protect your data.

It is recommended you do a complete backup of your system (but especially your data files) prior to servicing of your computer.

Ensure Backups are Current

Since you cannot predict failure, you are advised to keep your backups current at all times.

Backup your data regularly and store the backup media in a safe location.

Anything not backed up could be lost.

“Fresh Install” Common

Many repair shops wipe the drive and do a fresh install of Windows (a clean install) to verify that a problem is not simply a poor Windows installation — even for hardware issues.

Few shops bother to backup your data first. Others charge extra.

No Guarantees of File Recovery

Don't wait until after a crash to realize the importance of data backups.

Any technical support you hire cannot guarantee that files are recoverable.

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Updated: August 16, 2024

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