Need better backup software for PC to external hard drive.

[modem]

I'm looking for the best backup software when using external hard drives.  Currently I have a PC that has multiple internal drives and I have two Seagate external drives backing everything up (8TB & 6TB respectively). However I'm using the Seagate Toolkit software included with them and I'm finding that while it does backup data successfully, it's HORRIBLY slow, freezes up, and is limited on options.

 

What are other backup software options I can use to replace this with?  I'd like to have continuous backup options and scheduled backup options for other files.  Something that is reasonably fast and isn't eating up 1+gb of ram just opening and accessing the drives.

 

Thanks!

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

5 minutes ago, modem said:

I'm looking for the best backup software when using external hard drives.  Currently I have a PC that has multiple internal drives and I have two Seagate external drives backing everything up (8TB & 6TB respectively). However I'm using the Seagate Toolkit software included with them and I'm finding that while it does backup data successfully, it's HORRIBLY slow, freezes up, and is limited on options.

 

What are other backup software options I can use to replace this with?  I'd like to have continuous backup options and scheduled backup options for other files.  Something that is reasonably fast and isn't eating up 1+gb of ram just opening and accessing the drives.

 

Thanks!

Drives read and write at the speed that they can. No software can make it faster/slower (that I know of)

 

You using USB2? USB3 has better transfer speeds.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB

 

Both ends have to be USB3 to gain that speed.

[modem]

Thanks for the reply.  I should have clarified better.  It's not the data transfer that is slow, it's the operation of the Seagate Toolkit program that is slow and freezing (without it being in the midst of a data backup).  Sorry for the confusion.  I'm referencing the program itself is the core of the issue.

 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

15 minutes ago, modem said:

Thanks for the reply.  I should have clarified better.  It's not the data transfer that is slow, it's the operation of the Seagate Toolkit program that is slow and freezing (without it being in the midst of a data backup).  Sorry for the confusion.  I'm referencing the program itself is the core of the issue.

 

Oh, OK, that makes sense now

[aphanic]

I find myself using Macrium's solutions lately, you could give Reflect a try:  https://www.macrium.com

 

There's a free version, but something other than that ought to fit better because of what they call rapid delta, plus their CBT could prove useful as well.

 

Seagate Tools were Acronis based right? Like those Western Digital provides?

[Tost]

https://www.cobiansoft.com/

 

Old but gold

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

For a continuous backup, are you talking about the operating system, or just specific data files/directories?

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[Skiver Veteran]

If it's just files, have you considered going very simple and just doing something like a robocopy? Once you have the appropriate script down covering the source and destination directories you could schedule that command with Task Scheduler. You'll remove a lot of inefficiencies by software and can do this regularly without thought or manually kick it off if there is a need. 

[PaulATMOS]

I agree with Macrium Reflect being a good choice. You could always try the Windows built in backup app.

[Fleet Command]

I suggest Macrium Reflect too.

 

I must say that I myself have tested or used many backup apps in the past, including:

• Acronis True Image: Has the largest number of features, but I stopped using it when I discovered that its backup volumes could easily break. Acronis reassures me that they have fixed this issue since 2017, but it was five years too late. I had moved on. Also, this one is the most expensive.
• SuperEasy 1-Click Backup: Pretentious name, but it was the only backup app that supported reverse incremental backup in VMDK format. Plus, its backup operations could survive a power outage or deliberate restart. I loved it but its company went out of business. One day, I lost the recovery disk and could not download it again. I had to say goodbye and move on.
• Veeam Agent for Windows: Solid functionality. Very stable. The free version's feature set is too restrictive. It has a premium version too, but its company's constant incessant talk of "virtual machines" and "business continuity" will drive you away.
• AOMEI Backupper Pro: I just used this one for a while because I won a free license. Otherwise, one must know better than using an app whose name has "backupper" in it. Made in China. I have nothing against China, but the Chinese do not understand our needs. It has a free standard version too.
• Paragon Backup & Recovery: Performed better than most items in this list, but it was a back-stabbing traitor. Every time Windows 10 was upgraded (1607, 1703, 1709) it got silently deactivated. It means it did not create backups on the schedule and failed to generate appropriate notifications. One time I lost a file and ran the app to restore it, but there was no backup to speak of.

Also, stay away from any backup product coming from Microsoft.

[modem]

Thanks for the suggestions!  I just downloaded Macrium Reflect and will give it a good run through for a few weeks and see how it goes and report back.  Thanks!

[LaP]

FreeFileSync to backup files.

 

AOMEI Backupper Free to backup the OS.