Is Cloning a Disk a Viable Backup Strategy?

[@askleonotenboom]

✅ Watch next ▶ What’s the Difference Between a Clone and an Image? ▶ kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGrZkmmVnNNgbtU

[@BlackxLight]

Thanks Leo. I was asking that to myself while watching.🙂

[@simonfrederiksen104]

Solid video - You can't tell people too often to backup their data

[@D.von.N]

Having a clone of my 1TB nvme with LMDE installed next to Ubuntu and another partition for music next to them, with configured and set up systems, saved me a lot of hassle and frustration when I messed it up and it didn't boot. Since it is a 2021 laptop and has a thunderbolt connection, also the backup was on an external SSD (might even be of the Gen2 category), the recovery via Rescuezilla was done in exactly 7.1 minutes. Priceless! I made that clone for exactly cases like this. Now the LMDE has a virtual machine with configured Win11 installed, which is another reason for updated clone in place. I always boot from the fresh clone to make sure it works as expected. For incremental backup there are better options.

[@barbaradawes3136]

Aside from iDrive doing a daily backup, PC Matic does a weekly scan. My late husband set things up to use SyncToy to copy my files to a USB that I can then transfer to my laptop, and he also took it twice a month and backed it up to, I think, an external drive of his and who knows where else. Apparently, I need to learn about these other 'master' system type backups, too! Thank you, Leo, for your help educating so many of us.

[@vince8436]

I run a second external hard drive on USB. I have a sync app on the computer. Every single day I use the machine I run the sync to back up new files. I also copy new files to a USB flash every time one is modified. That stays in my car. Every so often I do a full data disk backup. Take it to the bank. Clear flash drive and start over. I will never miss any times. As I have 2 internal drives. One with operating system and applications. If something causes a reinstall, I am set there as well as I have a full cheat sheet of every setting I ever changed on my machine. Just follow install and done. I have gotten so good at it as it's also my job, I can literally completely fresh I stall and revert all my old settings manually I 90 minutes total. That's not sitting there 90 minutes because some of it just happens while I do other stuff. Works well for me and I have a fresh install. Technically it's rare that I even need to do that more than once at most in 5 years.

[@ericbarker6730]

I only connect my external drive to the computer when I’m doing a back up. I learned somewhere that the external could be compromised when connected to a compromised computer. Yes - no. 5:58

[@glasslinger]

Leaving the clone in the machine is of course more risky. One advantage of the clone disk is it takes almost no time to get going when there is a fail. (you don't have to restore anything. Just boot and go.)

[@andymann6061]

Computer theft or fire! I have an offsite backup at my son's house - I can ssh in and send my updated files. (I'm on Linux.)

[@iceManSwag]

Backup is actually a third copy of your data. Preferably keeping third copy somewhere else. You never know flood, fire, theft. Also you could keep a cloud backup on more then one cloud. Well thats about it.

[@terryshipe609]

This is the procedure I follow. I clone my hard drive every two months to a drive that is kept in a fireproof safe. After cloning, I do a full image backup and then weekly do a differential backup on an external drive. Since I usually don't add a lot of items on a regular basis, weekly backups suffice. After cloning, I erase everything on the external and start over. Since I had the drives, this three drive works great for me. And yes, the weekly backups are automatically done.

[@kurtcpi5670]

This is a very viable strategy. A better one would be an external HD and some backup software like Acronis or Macrium. Even better would be an internal drive for scheduled incrementals, and an external for manual incrementals that stays offline except when backups are running. That gives you a path back to multiple points in the past, and an offline that can even be restored if your whole system including the internal backup gets hosed by ransomware. Incrementals just take a few minutes and will run while you're using the computer. And both apps manage the rotations and versions for you.

[@miked8121]

Ask Leo! ..... I use a Win 7 desktop with a lot of older software and Photoshop Plugins that cannot be re-registered because the original author is no longer supporting their software. I do keep my programs (C drive with 1 tb ssd) and image files on different drives. My issue is the best clone method for the C drive so that if my computer dies, I can pop the ssd into another computer and go on my way.

[@henkvandenbergh1301]

This week I messed up my Windows 11 system. No problem, I had created a windows image backup just a week before. Yeah, right. When I told Windows to restore from my 'Z' drive it kept telling me there were no image backups on it. Had to re-install the OS and all the software that was lost because of it, but, having all my data on a separate, backed-up drive I really only lost time, no data. Before my retirement I successfully used a product called XXCLONE, but sadly, that product disappeared, I understand the creator passed away and did not leave any instructions for possible succession. I'll be looking for something better than windows image backup.

[@simonfrederiksen104]

"I'll be looking for something better than windows image backup." I dare say half the planet is - the other half doesn't own a device

[@johnhpalmer6098]

As Leo mentioned, EaseToDo US (free) and Macreum Reflect (paid but used to offer a free version) are for backups, and there are others out there too.

[@AndyM...]

Yeah, Windows Image Backup is flakey at the best of times, for partition/disk imaging I use Acronis and or Macrium and for data backups Free File Sync !

[@D.von.N]

Rescuezilla is my tested method that always worked for me. Create a Ventoy usb. Put a rescuezilla iso file on it, boot from that iso file by pushing Ventoy up in BIOS and follow the prompts. Easy. Even easier than older Clonezilla. But Clonezilla still has a 32bit version for old systems. Once I managed to clone my Linux ystem by a command, but I prefer the GUI system, naturally.

[@henkvandenbergh1301]

@@AndyM... Free File Sync all the way for all my data files. I'll look into the others. Thank you!

[@josephvida1439]

One more gotcha, cloning a disk with multiple partitions is better than using a product that only copies each partition separately...I'm talking about that 'code purple' on HP computers that can happen if you copy the recovery partition...You have to format and create a partition because some programs need a partition to restore to, vs a clone that can copy all partitions on a disk at once...The header info on the mbr gets corrupted if not placed correctly on the hard drive...If I'm wrong, please feel free to correct me Leo...

[@DyseRLJ]

I am super thankful for this video i really needed it

[@barryf5479]

Something not mentioned, yet a very possible problem is what happens if the motherboard fails? You can't move the HDD to another motherboard without loading a new operating system and at that time, it'll try to overwrite the HDD with the new OS, possibly deleting all of the user files. You could take the HDD out and move the user files over to another new PC or replacement motherboard but you'll use the executable files and you can't migrate the OS to new hardware without a new OS license. I use an incremental backup of user files running SyncToy or whatever. If the hardware fails, at least I have my user files backed up. All executables would have to be reloaded and reinstalled though. The "elephant in the room" was not mentioned.

[@paulwarner5395]

I do an image backup every week. Saved me a few times when Windows went silly especially when I upgraded to Win 11 24h2 and I had to go back to 23h2.

[@lockdot2]

I need to do more backups. I back up around once a YEAR! The worst part, I do tech work daily, testing out computers. But even then, I don't remember to back up. I was thinking Google Drive for my videos, to then realize, my almost 2 TB of edited and finished videos doesn't come close to fitting on my Google Drive. So I guess I need to remember to back it up more. Maybe I should get some old server HDD's that are still good and use those to back it up.

[@tzm1843]

Full drive image. I use URbackup. Cloning is a bad idea because Windows Update may make the clone unbootable too if you swap the drives!

[@0x8badbeef]

Since Windows 10 I don't back it up. When things start to feel weird I do a complete reset. I have a step-by-step procedure to restore the rest. Anything I do that is significant I keep redundant copies. For a lot of little things I use the licensed Outlook. Organizing, labeling, and finding data with Outlook is a lot more robust than with File Explorer. To back that up all I have to do is backup the pst file.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

I have been using this method for years now but, knock on wood (My head) I haven't needed to use them as of yet.😜

[@MonteVanNortwick]

Good advice

[@TarrenceLaurel]

Thanks for the breakdown! Just a quick off-topic question: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). What's the best way to send them to Binance?

[@pepeshopping]

Matters NOT if the backup goes to an internal or external hard drive! If you do have a virus in the computer, it can delete or corrupt the backup on ANY drive connected, correct!? To truly do it right, you boot from a different OS/drive or WinPE with the backup software included and backup that way WITHOUT booting from the original OS. But then again, if you have any malware, it gets backed up, right? But at least you can have your data and files.

[@D.von.N]

Correct. Always create a copy of a healhy configured system and cherish it like a treasure, away from the main system. Then you can create another, newer and updated one on another hard drive. Make sure it is clean, too, and you can replace the older one, freeing the drive for another clone if you change the system. Always prepare for the worst scenario.

[@barryf5479]

Not if the drive is external and it's not connected. Only connect it when backing up.

[@D.von.N]

@@barryf5479 If you clone a system with a virus, you'll have an infected clone. What you are saying is a ransomware encryption. And yes, that's correct. Any connected device with data on will be encrypted. So I keep swapping my drives for incremental back up, if one got encrypted with the pc I have an extra copy minus the most recent changes.

[@looneyburgmusic]

#1 is false on its face. Not everyone "will forget". Some might, sure, but some, (many), won't, making that statement false. As for "what to copy", that's simple, copy EVERYTHING. #2 Possible, though it's highly unlikely that a power spike would destroy every drive in a computer simultaneously. In 40+ years of dealing with who knows how many systems, I've never once heard of that occurring #3 Personal preference and opinion. Depending on the amount of usage a system gets, and what the system is used for, a multi-month backup schedule might be totally appropriate. For example, with one of my Microsoft Surface Pro's, which sees only light use, I back up every 2-3 months, while my primary desktop is on a nightly backup schedule. There isn't a "one-size fits all" answer for that one.

[@kersi-sandiego6036]

DiskGenius or Rescuezilla.

[@MonteVanNortwick]

Images get everything so you don't have to worry about missing something

[@TOSStarTrek]

I use ISO backup.

[@Sidicas]

It's not a backup if it stays in the same physical location. There is a difference between having device failure protection and a real disaster recoverable backup.

[@ricsip]

Is anybody using the old rusty (but completely free and by-default-included) Robocopy under windows? Anyone?

[@pichoimran]

Wen I create new Microsoft account its locked after few minutes. So I created so many accounts all locked. I also submit recovery form many times. Please tell me what i can do. Thank you

[@pichoimran]

All my account was locked its Microsoft accounts

[@userjames2009]

You probably have a virus on your computer that starts sending spam from any new Microsoft account you create. Accounts that send spam get locked. You need to scan for viruses.