Backing up my laptop, options?

[Mark300zx]

My crappy Lenovo laptop is failing again, so before it gets chucked what are the options for backing it up, last time I did it it was to a separate HD, are there better options now?

[eeLee]

what do you want to back up?
I would recommend just data. Cloud storage is your friend.

If you need serial numbers from installed software and don't have them, Magic Jelly Bean keyfinder can help (plus other tools).

If you move to a new computer then install programs fresh.

Your primary and likely failing item is the drive.

[Mark300zx]

eeLee said:

what do you want to back up?
I would recommend just data. Cloud storage is your friend.

If you need serial numbers from installed software and don't have them, Magic Jelly Bean keyfinder can help (plus other tools).

If you move to a new computer then install programs fresh.

Your primary and likely failing item is the drive.

I bought an extended warranty and the motherboard has been replaced twice!!!!

What are the cloud options, costs etc.?

[S6PNJ]

Mark300zx said:

What are the cloud options, costs etc.?

Do you have a gmail or Hotmail / outlook account? If so, you'll have some cloud storage with them already. Dropbox is another potential service. If you need lots of space, consider using multiple sites for different folders (ie back up one bit to one service and another bit to another service) or pay for more storage with the provider you favour.

[Road2Ruin]

S6PNJ said:

Mark300zx said:

What are the cloud options, costs etc.?

Do you have a gmail or Hotmail / outlook account? If so, you'll have some cloud storage with them already. Dropbox is another potential service. If you need lots of space, consider using multiple sites for different folders (ie back up one bit to one service and another bit to another service) or pay for more storage with the provider you favour.

You are likely to already have microsoft's onedrive, you just don't know it. Easy to get a free Google account, that gives you another 15GB I believe, then there is Dropbox free, which is another 2GB.

[Mark300zx]

Thanks, I am a simple guy with Luddite tendencies, so would prefer a one-hit solution?

[David_M]

Depends a bit on what you have on your laptop, and then what you want to do with it.

Lots of data:
You can buy a 1Tb external usb-C SSD for £60.
In terms of £-value and speed of backup this must be the best way.

Little bit of data:
Could use one of the various cloud suggestions for day-to-day backup, possibly for core files only in conjunction with the above for less frequent backups (eg ssd for music, cloud for office docs)

[Condi]

How much do you need to backup? If you already have an external HD then easiest to just copy to that. There are "better ways" if you want to use cloud services to automatically back up documents as you save them on the laptop, but that feels like a more long term goal rather than what you want now.

[nuyorican]

I wish there was a solution to back up a windows machine like Apple Timemachine. Ie: everything, not just your documents etc.

I have a windows laptop setup for music production, which require sometimes hundreds of mini apps installed (VST Plugins). Reinstalling all these when i upgrade my machine is a colossal ballache. And the main reason i'm slowly moving over to Apple.

[Baldchap]

nuyorican said:

I wish there was a solution to back up a windows machine like Apple Timemachine. Ie: everything, not just your documents etc.

I have a windows laptop setup for music production, which require sometimes hundreds of mini apps installed (VST Plugins). Reinstalling all these when i upgrade my machine is a colossal ballache. And the main reason i'm slowly moving over to Apple.

This has been built into Windows for decades.

[nuyorican]

Baldchap said:

This has been built into Windows for decades.

Really?

Well I feel stupid now...

I thought it was just 'File History' that backs up your documents folder.

[eeLee]

nuyorican said:

Really?

Well I feel stupid now...

I thought it was just 'File History' that backs up your documents folder.

Winget is your friend. Chocolatey too.

[Mark300zx]

Condi said:

How much do you need to backup? If you already have an external HD then easiest to just copy to that. There are "better ways" if you want to use cloud services to automatically back up documents as you save them on the laptop, but that feels like a more long term goal rather than what you want now.

120gb is what my laptop is saying I've used!

[Mr Pointy]

What do you mean by backup? Do you want to copy your files - documents, photos etc - or do you want to image the whole installation, OS & all?

[Mark300zx]

Mr Pointy said:

What do you mean by backup? Do you want to copy your files - documents, photos etc - or do you want to image the whole installation, OS & all?

Files, documents etc.

[snuffy]

Mark300zx said:

120gb is what my laptop is saying I've used!

10 quid for a 128GB stick.

Copy your files to it. copy them back to your new laptop. Chuck the old laptop in the bin. Job's a fish.

[Mr Pointy]

Mark300zx said:

Mr Pointy said:

What do you mean by backup? Do you want to copy your files - documents, photos etc - or do you want to image the whole installation, OS & all?

Files, documents etc.

In which case sign up for OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive & get used to storing all these files in the associated directory. Then you won't have to worry about losing them if your laptop dies (to a high degree of confidence, but not quite 100%). You can re-direct the My Documents etc so it's seamless.

[droopsnoot]

What's the view on security for stuff like Dropbox and similar? One of the things I like to backup regularly is financial records, MS Money files, Excel spreadsheets. Nothing incredibly interesting, and I don't imagine anyone would target me specifically, but are these cloud storage options, especially the free ones, secure?

I uploaded a PDF manual to my Google drive and months later received a request from a complete stranger for access to it, which suggests that they were able to find the file somehow but not access it. I'd prefer it if the files couldn't be "found" in the first place. I guess in that case I might have sent someone else a link which they had forwarded or posted on a forum.

[Mr Pointy]

droopsnoot said:

What's the view on security for stuff like Dropbox and similar? One of the things I like to backup regularly is financial records, MS Money files, Excel spreadsheets. Nothing incredibly interesting, and I don't imagine anyone would target me specifically, but are these cloud storage options, especially the free ones, secure?

I uploaded a PDF manual to my Google drive and months later received a request from a complete stranger for access to it, which suggests that they were able to find the file somehow but not access it. I'd prefer it if the files couldn't be "found" in the first place. I guess in that case I might have sent someone else a link which they had forwarded or posted on a forum.

Well I'm sure that Dropbox, MS, Google & the NSA can read you files even though they are encrypted but if they want to know what this month's Visa bill is they are welcome to it, although I wouldn't store passwords on there. There are several programmes that will encrypt your data before transmission if you really want but they do interfere somewhat with the ease or speed of use.

I haven't seen any reports of the services being hacked.

[droopsnoot]

Mr Pointy said:

Well I'm sure that Dropbox, MS, Google & the NSA can read you files even though they are encrypted but if they want to know what this month's Visa bill is they are welcome to it, although I wouldn't store passwords on there. There are several programmes that will encrypt your data before transmission if you really want but they do interfere somewhat with the ease or speed of use.

I haven't seen any reports of the services being hacked.

I expect I'm just being paranoid.