Solved Is there a free program to make a complete backup of everything on my computer?

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william gunkel

Preacher Man
Member
Is there a free program that I can ust to make a complete backup of everything on my computer? I have been reading some post where people don't use a anti-virus and make shadow copies and if the system crashes or they get a bad virus they just run their backup. I have Vista Home Premium 32 bit and I just got a LaCie rugged 250GB that I would like to back up to. I have the CD disks to do a factory restore which I have done several times but then all the updates, programs etc. have to be added and it take two days. I do have System Restore which I have used and it works quite well for some things. Thanking you nice folks in advance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
Hello William,

Macrium Reflect (Free edition) is a good all-in-one backup program that will backup your entire computer.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Brink, as usual, has given a good suggestion, but allow me to go one step further.
First, I do suggest that you use an antivirus. I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials in conjunction with Malwarebytes.

With those 2 fine programs, may I suggest that you consider my backup method.
As soon as I activated my OS (in your case ASAP) I made a copy and put it away. It is a year old, now.
Once a month, I make a copy and actually leave it on the same HD as my OS. If I have a problem, I always have a current backup available.
In the event of a virus, HD failure etc. I have the original backup ready to go.

Trust me, and Brink knows what I mean, you never know what is going to happen to your computer, but you must be prepared.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    gateway/m6881
    CPU
    centrino core 2 duo 2.2ghz T7500
    Memory
    3GB
    Hard Drives
    500GB WD
    Mouse
    logitech
    Internet Speed
    fios 35MB not!!!!

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
richc46 said:
Brink, as usual, has given a good suggestion, but allow me to go one step further.
First, I do suggest that you use an antivirus. I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials in conjunction with Malwarebytes.

With those 2 fine programs, may I suggest that you consider my backup method.
As soon as I activated my OS (in your case ASAP) I made a copy and put it away. It is a year old, now.
Once a month, I make a copy and actually leave it on the same HD as my OS. If I have a problem, I always have a current backup available.
In the event of a virus, HD failure etc. I have the original backup ready to go.

Trust me, and Brink knows what I mean, you never know what is going to happen to your computer, but you must be prepared.
Click to expand...



But how would you Restore? Do you Just Copy and Paste and Wouldn't you need the License Key?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 2400 @ 3.10GHz
    Motherboard
    Foxconn H67MP-S/-V/H67MP
    Memory
    8.0GB DDR3 @ 665MHz (2GBx4)
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD HD Radeon 6870
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SMB1930NW (1440x900@60Hz)
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    977GB Seagate ST31000524AS ATA Device (SATA) + 250GB WD iSCSI attached Drive
    Case
    Novatech Night
    Keyboard
    Standard PS/2 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Dell HID-compliant mouse
Download the software, you may be surprised. No copy and paste, just push the button and restore.

I found this from MS, discussing the built in backup software that comes with 7, but with Vista, if you use Macrium, it is essentially the same.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...sked-questions

Trust me on this one, Josh. If you do not know about backup software, download and learn. I promise you will like it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Yes Macrium Reflect is a life savor. No more re-installs. Like Rich after I first installed Windows 7 and activated, I made a backup image of my system and stored it away. It took about 4 minutes to create the image and it was only 4GB in size.

Usually once a month a create new image backups.

If you want a nice tutorial from WHS, follow link below.
Imaging with free Macrium - Windows 7 Forums
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    AMD/GIGABYTE
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+ (2 CPUs), ~3.
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 (rev. 2.0)
    Memory
    2048MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    SyncMaster T220/T220G,SyncMaster Magic T220/T220G(Digital)
    Screen Resolution
    1680 by 1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    Seagate ST310003 40AS SCSI Disk Device
    Western Digital WDC WD50 00AAJS-00YFA SCSI Disk Device
    PSU
    Thermaltake 500W
    Internet Speed
    VERY FAST>>>>!!!!
    Other Info
    Optiarc DVD RW AD-7191S SCSI CdRom Device
eldinv
The beauty of that method is that if you make a copy, and then 2 days later you find that you have a virus, you do not have to worry if the virus is on the last copy made.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I have a used LaCie rugged 232.88GB. What do I need to do with reference to formating and do I need to make a partition. Information from Computer Management shows Layout (Simple) Type (Basic) File System (NTFS) Status (Healthy (Primary Partition). I downloaded the Macrium Reflect and made the complete computer backup but after I ran Tune up Utilities it showed the drive needed to be defraged and somewhere I got the idea that I needed to reformat the drive. I did this twice and after a couple of hours it told me not to interupt. So I waited until the green bar was all the way across and clicked on it and I got some kind of error message. I then clicked on Quick Format and in two seconds it said all was well. Before I do any more I wanted advise from the forum. Yes this is my first time with a external drive and doing a backup like this, just don't tell the other guys. As allways thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
william gunkel said:
I have a used LaCie rugged 232.88GB. What do I need to do with reference to formating and do I need to make a partition. Information from Computer Management shows Layout (Simple) Type (Basic) File System (NTFS) Status (Healthy (Primary Partition). I downloaded the Macrium Reflect and made the complete computer backup but after I ran Tune up Utilities it showed the drive needed to be defraged and somewhere I got the idea that I needed to reformat the drive. I did this twice and after a couple of hours it told me not to interupt. So I waited until the green bar was all the way across and clicked on it and I got some kind of error message. I then clicked on Quick Format and in two seconds it said all was well. Before I do any more I wanted advise from the forum. Yes this is my first time with a external drive and doing a backup like this, just don't tell the other guys. As allways thanks.
Click to expand...
I have spent the day doing research and I believe that I got most of my questions answered. I ran the application "Macrium" and no problem. It took 14 min and used 18GB on my LaCie drive. I am still learning so feel free if you have any input. As I have said before, this is the best forum , with the best people and I thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
You're most welcome William. I'm happy that we were able to help you. Please let us know any other question that you may have. :)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Envy Y0F94AV
    CPU
    i7-7500U @ 2.70 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB DDR4-2133
    Graphics card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 940MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3" UHD IPS touch
    Screen Resolution
    3480 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    512 GB M.2 SSD
Just a quick update on the Macrium Reflect program. I was reading some posts about the Rescue CD so I made one. I used a CD-R disk to create a bootable Rescue CD. I selected the Linux option and and ran it with Compatibility mode OFF and the Debug Mode OFF. I then shut down my Computer which is a HP running Vista Home Premium with the CD in the drive. I powered up and the information started appearing on the screen and then the Wizard appeared. It wanted me to click on next and then select which drives I was going to use etc. I clicked cancel but it went right back to the first screen so I took the CD out of the drive and it went back to Vista. This is just my experence and thought I would share and maybe help someone. I guess I am good to go on this so I will make a full image backup once a month and delete the old one just in case I need it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
Keep the first one. Then make a copy once a month. If you should get a virus the day after you make a copy, the virus may be on the copy too. Keep the first. Then replace the second and so on. Keep the first on an external hard drive.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
richc46 said:
Keep the first one. Then make a copy once a month. If you should get a virus the day after you make a copy, the virus may be on the copy too. Keep the first. Then replace the second and so on. Keep the first on an external hard drive.
Click to expand...
Good advise, however I wasn't sure that I didn't have a problem with the first so I refornatted my external hard drive and made another after I reformatted. I will keep this one and make a another copy monthly. Thanks
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
You are very welcome, William. It was a pleasure working with you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
I'm lost, but a great read:confused:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    gateway/m6881
    CPU
    centrino core 2 duo 2.2ghz T7500
    Memory
    3GB
    Hard Drives
    500GB WD
    Mouse
    logitech
    Internet Speed
    fios 35MB not!!!!
Brink said:
Hello William,

Macrium Reflect (Free edition) is a good all-in-one backup program that will backup your entire computer.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...
Hi, I'm a Newbie and having BIG TIME problems. I had been trying to use Vista Home Premium to back up my files/computer as I am hoping to get a new install of my OS. Having lots of problems with services, so I thought I would just start over. Not looking forward to reinstalling all my programs, etc, but don't know what else to do.

System restore is not working, restore points are not working either. When I came across your suggestion, I downloaded and installed Macrium Reflect and as it was attempting to create a Volume Snapshot, I got this message:

"Backup aborted: Failed to Create Volume Snapshot. Result code: 0x8000ffff".

I have seen this code before when I tried to use Vista to create a backup, only it says its a "catastrophic error". Can you or anyone else help me with what is wrong?

Sincerely
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Entertainment PC dv6500
metaphysical1 said:
Brink said:
Hello William,

Macrium Reflect (Free edition) is a good all-in-one backup program that will backup your entire computer.

Hope this helps,
Shawn
Click to expand...
Hi, I'm a Newbie and having BIG TIME problems. I had been trying to use Vista Home Premium to back up my files/computer as I am hoping to get a new install of my OS. Having lots of problems with services, so I thought I would just start over. Not looking forward to reinstalling all my programs, etc, but don't know what else to do.

System restore is not working, restore points are not working either. When I came across your suggestion, I downloaded and installed Macrium Reflect and as it was attempting to create a Volume Snapshot, I got this message:

"Backup aborted: Failed to Create Volume Snapshot. Result code: 0x8000ffff".

I have seen this code before when I tried to use Vista to create a backup, only it says its a "catastrophic error". Can you or anyone else help me with what is wrong?

Sincerely
Click to expand...

Here is some information:

Windows Update error 8000FFFF


If you receive Windows Update error 8000FFFF, it means that there are Windows*registry values that are blocking the update from being downloaded and installed. Microsoft offers a fix the problem automatically on their web site. You might try this and if it works run Macrium again. If it were me I would run system recovery and reinstall all my programs including Macrium. You will of course have to download all the updates, after which I would get a snapshot of the whole system to a different drive. This way you system should be like new and free of bugs. Please keep us posted as there are real good people on this forum that will help you.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    H P Pavilion s3120n
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+ 2.20GHz
    Motherboard
    M2Nc51-AR
    Memory
    Ram 2.0 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE Graphis
    Sound Card
    Realtex
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2035WM
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050 pixels
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200RPM Serial ATA
    PSU
    AC Bel Model#PC6012
    Cooling
    fan
    Keyboard
    PS2
    Mouse
    PS2
    Internet Speed
    10 down 1 up
    Other Info
    Computer has had the motherboard, power pak and tv tuner replaced. Using HP Deskjet F440 Printer, and IE9.
Thank you, ALL of you for your suggestions. But, and I think this is the REAL issue: whenever I try to start certain services, such as Volume Shadow Copy, Virtual Disk, and the Software Licensing services, I get the same error message:

"Windows could not start the (Name of the Service) service on Local Computer.
Error 3: The system cannot find the path specified."

SOOOOOOO, it seems I need to supply these paths to my registry. Can anyone help with the right way to do this? I have already backed up my registry and have printed methods on how to restore it. So now, I just need to know how to find and supply the missing paths.

And, THANK YOU ALL! I am very grateful for your generosity of your expertise, yout time, and your attention.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Entertainment PC dv6500
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