0

at first i thought that this is a simple question.. but it's really not! i actually already purchased some apps and tried some free apps and nothing really makes me feel safe enough.

I have some really expensive paid apps on my windows that i need for my work and i don't have any more support for them so I can't purchase newer versions and I really can't reinstall them on a new windows.

I have a laptop with windows 10 that fell and the screen is cracking, still working.. still using it.. but i'm afraid that i'm on borrowed time.

this is an application for my office handling all the clients so it changes a lot, i don't mind doing a full new backup each time.. but the windows 10 native backup thingy and the apps that I use just store the files and I can't really trust it to restore properly on the same machine if i replace the hard drive.

I'm really not looking for a free app here, i'm just looking for the best trustable backup that can copy all my partitions as an image and to be able to restore them on a new drive, not just copy the files, copy the partition table and everything.

really all the apps that I tried just copy files while the windows is still running so i don't really trust it to copy locked files and files that are modified while the backup is running, looking for something that boots on usb stick or something and that can backup everything while windows in not running!

seems like there are lots of options out there and nothing suites my needs, can anyone help me out please?

Improve this question
2
  • What software did you try? Please write a list and gives drawbacks for each, thanks! :-)
    – Nicolas Raoul ♦
    Sep 17, 2021 at 6:52
  • @NicolasRaoul - hi :) of course I will, there are some holidays here in Israel so didn't have much time to go over things. once i'll be done i'll provide my results.
    – ufk
    Sep 18, 2021 at 7:03

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
1

You failed to state which of the "lots of options" you tried that don't suite your needs, but based on your objectives, a paid one that accomplishes your goal is the old Acronis Workstation + Universal Restore now called Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office. It has worked flawlessly for this purpose in my use since 2005 (with updates).

If you do want a free solution, one that I recently used in trying to do the same for a friend (backup Dell OEM laptop bootable drive which included the custom Dell restore partition + others for purpose of replacing with a larger drive on same machine), was "Macrium Reflect FREE Edition".

If after reviewing and you find neither of these "suite your needs" please update your criteria above. Good luck !

Improve this answer
1
  • thank you for your answer. actually the paid version of the Macrium reflect looks more of what i needed. gonna try that on my next work day and let ya know. thanks for these options. the first option stores on their cloud and can start a vm from it but looks a bit over complicated to my needs. i'll investigate both and let ya know.
    – ufk
    Sep 10, 2021 at 17:31
1

My recommendation is Macrium Reflect (Free or commercial).

After installing reflect it allows you to create a bootable Windows-PE based CD/USB-stick. Special drivers installed on your system (like RAID drivers) are as far as I remember included into the bootable system.

Once you have booted using the created boot media you can create, restore or clone partitions or full drives.

The program works as intended and to my experience more reliable on a long term than other programs I have tested (e.g. Acronis TrueImage).

Improve this answer
1
  • Thank you I will check this as well
    – ufk
    Sep 13, 2021 at 6:04
1

As far as I know AOMEI Tech are the ones everyone recommends right now for what you are describing with their AOMEI Backupper

I'm not sure if needed, but I think Buckupper can be complemented with Partition Assistant for complete disk management solution in Windows, including a bootable offline-environment if needed.

You still need a windows machine to create the bootable USB drive, but I assume that's true for most bootable solutions out there.

Improve this answer
0
1

Clonezilla and make it into a boot USB stick.

Then you will have to attach storage like an external hdd/sdd to store the image. Now this is dependent on the size of your image. Clonezilla actually compresses the image to save space.

So it might be possible to save the entire drive to a 64GB usb drive.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.