Backup for Windows (or synchronizing)? Which piece of software is best?

[kiddingguy]

What's an easy tool to have Office documents and pictures being backupped/synced on a Windows machine for someone who is not that tech savvy and just want it to work?

There is an M365 subscription with OneDrive storage (I think 1 TB cloud storage; can this be expanded? And what are the costs?). Or are alternatives such BackBlaze or alike better? And which one is afforable and easy to use and to work with?

The notebook in case is constantly connecting with WiFi (and no dial-up) with a broadband cable connection.

The notebook is brand new, so with W11 installed and equiped with (probably) an i7-13700H, RTX 3050, 16 GB RAM & 1 TB SSD.

[JustGeorge]

 

Windows 10/11 have the newly released Windows Backup app installed. It'll go straight to OneDrive as I understand it. That's probably the simplest route. As for expanding beyond the 1TB limit, dunno...

Below is what I use to backup locally. I have the paid version. 

Syncback by 2Brightsparks

https://www.2brightsparks.com/

It's simple enough to configure. It'll backup to network shares but not sure about it backing up to cloud services as I don't use it for that. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by JustGeorge

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 14/11/2023 at 15:50, JustGeorge said:

 

Windows 10/11 have the newly released Windows Backup app installed. It'll go straight to OneDrive as I understand it. That's probably the simplest route. As for expanding beyond the 1TB limit, dunno...

Below is what I use to backup locally. I have the paid version. 

Syncback by 2Brightsparks

https://www.2brightsparks.com/

It's simple enough to configure. It'll backup to network shares but not sure about it backing up to cloud services as I don't use it for that. 

Syncback FTW! I love the pro version.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

Ok, Syncback oftware is pretty cool, the free version is pretty powerful.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Eternal Tempest

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

On 14/11/2023 at 23:29, Warwagon said:

Syncback FTW! I love the pro version.

How does the paid version handle re-installs?

Between SDD upgrades, a cpu failure (grumble), windows upgrades /  reinstalls, I sometimes trip "too many installs" over years.

Example - Can I go to the site to de-authorize, re-authorize a machine easily?

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

2BrightSparks' SyncBackPro works admirably for backups and file synchronizations.  No issues with reinstalling it. 

The program has an annual subscription model for new versions, which they call Upgrade Assurance.  While you do not necessarily need to renew that yearly unless there is a feature in a new version of the software you wish to access, or for a bug fix, the program works well and you may wish to do so in order to support the developer.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[kiddingguy]

Thank you for the comments. I'll look into it!

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 14/11/2023 at 23:10, Eternal Tempest said:

How does the paid version handle re-installs?

Between SDD upgrades, a cpu failure (grumble), windows upgrades /  reinstalls, I sometimes trip "too many installs" over years.

Example - Can I go to the site to de-authorize, re-authorize a machine easily?

That's another great thing. As far as I know they don't do any kind of online activation. Just give it your product key and you are good. At least that is how my version 9 works.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

On 15/11/2023 at 09:20, Warwagon said:

That's another great thing. As far as I know they don't do any kind of online activation. Just give it your product key and you are good. At least that is how my version 9 works.

Payday, they have my money for a pro license. I do pay for good software with reasonable / great license re-activation.

I've re-installed windows plenty of times over the years (same machine).

[Taliseian]

Personally, for general file backup I use Personal Backup.  It can be a bit daunting for a new computer user, but once you get the hang of it I've had little issues and it makes and verifies solid file backups.