Local file backup software solution for Windows 11 PC?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

While I have cloud backup solutions, for many years, I've also kept local file backups of my Windows PC documents/data using the free MS SyncToy software and large volume external USB hard drives.

 

But now with the update to Windows 11, MS SyncToy no longer seems to work, or at least is very difficult to get working on a Windows 11 machine, so I've been looking for ideally a free software solution like MS SyncToy that can work on Windows 11 machines?  The ability to set and schedule automated backups like SyncToy could would be another plus. Any suggestions?

 

One of the thing I liked about SyncToy was that its backups were in normal, easy to see and access files and folders format, not like some of the Windows and other backup packages that do their backups by amalgamating everything into single mass backup files that have to be unpacked and restored in order to actually see what's there. That's NOT what I want.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions to use on a Windows 11 platform!  🙂

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Another thing  I should mention is, it's important to me to be able to manually select what drives/folders I want backed up, and where the backed up data is stored.

 

That's because, I keep on my personal files on my D drive instead of the standard C drive, which is reserved just for my MS Windows OS.

 

Also, I don't like and don't want to use MS One Drive, which seems to be the standard default destination for backups with MS's latest built-in Windows Backup software, since it is not very customizable.

 

And for this question, I'm not looking to create a full system image of my entire Windows PC.  I just want an easily, automatically kept up-to-date local version of my local files kept in a standard folders and files format.

 

 

 

Edited March 7 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[HappyExpat57]

I've been using Beyond Compare (latest version 4) for years. VERY simple, you can select individual folders and can do complete or incremental backups. Updated files are highlighted. $35 US for standard edition.

 

https://www.scootersoftware.com/shop#:~:text=Beyond Compare may be evaluated,is a one time purchase.

[ukrules]

Have you tried 'GoodSync' - it syncs files one or two ways to a local destination, keeps directory structure and leaves the files intact and usable directly on the destination with no 'container' creation - that's one of its selling points :

 

"Access: Unlike traditional file backup services, GoodSync directly backs up and updates the actual data files themselves in their native formats rather than images of the source data. In the event of data loss in the source folder, files in the destination folder can be launched immediately, thereby reducing any unnecessary downtime."

 

https://www.goodsync.com

 

Not sure how it handles cloud drives though.

 

It's not free but does have a free 'tier' that is no doubt limited in some way, but you get what you pay for which is why you're having problems. It's $21 for the paid personal version - this is your solution.

 

It works very well and I've been using it for many years to sync to USB / thunderbolt external drives.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 minutes ago, ukrules said:

Have you tried 'GoodSync' - it syncs files one or two ways to a local destination, keeps directory structure and leaves the files intact and usable directly on the destination with no 'container' creation - that's one of its selling points :

 

Thanks!  Haven't tried it. But that's exactly the type of backup solution I'm looking for -- one that keeps the directory structure and file structure intact and directly usable in the backup destination, just as if those were the original files. And $21 is a reasonable, albeit not free, price.

 

Does it have a scheduling feature that allows you to set it to automatically do the backups every day or week or whatever?

 

[ukrules]

7 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Does it have a scheduling feature that allows you to set it to automatically do the backups every day or week or whatever?

 

I believe it does as it specifies 'scheduled backups' in the features, but I shut down my system every night and don't leave the backup destination drives lying around and definitely not connected to the computer unless they are bign used to create a backup so I don't use the schedule.

 

When I do a backup I need to unmount my encrypted filesystem and I back it up as a single large file and then backup 'the rest' of whatever I backup as separate tasks.

 

You can specify many tasks and configure them separately.

 

[Photoguy21]

Here is a list of such software:

 

https://www.lifewire.com/free-backup-software-tools-2617964

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I just tried this (EaseUS Todo Backup), and it appears to offer most or all of the criteria I outlined above:

 

https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/tb-free.html

 

I just ran a quick trial backup with some sample files and folders, and it worked just as expected and promised. And it has a files and folders option for backup that keeps the file/folders structure intact. Also has a basic scheduling component available, and the ability to manually select the specific files or folders you want and where exactly you want them backed up.

 

The one immediate downside I noticed about this free software (which also has paid upgrade options) is that EaseUS when using the free program pretty much bombards you with what I presume will be recurring upgrade offer screens and promotions aimed at getting you to send them some of your money.

 

[dingdongrb]

I've been using SyncBack for years and currently using it with Win11 and no issues.

 

https://www.2brightsparks.com/download-syncbackfree.html

[BigStar]

1 minute ago, dingdongrb said:

I've been using SyncBack for years and currently using it with Win11 and no issues.

 

https://www.2brightsparks.com/download-syncbackfree.html

 

Same here. SyncBack's been around forever and is still very much supported and updated. Has a lot of features.

 

Goodsync mentioned earlier is also good.

 

For quick & dirty, I use FreeFileSync.

 

Free versions of good backup programs don't come with schedulers. The paid versions do. You can use Windows scheduler to open the program but then you'll have to run the backup task manually.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So far, I've installed and tried the free versions of both EaseUS and GoodSync, and they both appear to meet my various needs, including both having automated scheduling functions.

 

The Goodsync website has a chart that appears to say the free version only will allow "Number of files 100". But when I set up and ran my trial backup, it had more than 100 files, and the free version handled that fine... So I'm not sure what to make of their supposed limitation, at least, haven't run into it yet.

 

 

https://www.goodsync.com/personal

 

Thus far, the EaseUS version seems a bit more simple and uncomplicated in its interface, whereas the GoodSync UI seems more complicated but also more powerful. But they both appear to accomplish the basic needs of a single PC files and folders backup to an external or separate drive keeping intact the basic files and folders structure.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I've been using Beyond Compare (latest version 4) for years. VERY simple, you can select individual folders and can do complete or incremental backups. Updated files are highlighted. $35 US for standard edition.

 

https://www.scootersoftware.com/shop#:~:text=Beyond Compare may be evaluated,is a one time purchase.

 

Whoa!!  This one looks a whole lot more sophisticated and complicated than for the basic needs I outlined above. Seems like more of a developer and system administrator's solution, as opposed to a basic consumer software solution.

 

"Beyond Compare is a software application used by developers, system administrators and others to compare, merge, and synchronize data.  It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux."

 

 

https://www.scootersoftware.com/home

 

Edited March 7 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[HappyExpat57]

6 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Whoa!!  This one looks a whole lot more sophisticated and complicated than for the basic needs I outlined above. Seems like more of a developer and system administrator's solution, as opposed to a basic consumer software solution.

 

"Beyond Compare is a software application used by developers, system administrators and others to compare, merge, and synchronize data.  It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux."

 

 

https://www.scootersoftware.com/home

 

It looks daunting, but all it does is display a side-by-side comparison of the source and destination folders. The colors show which files are edited or just plain missing. Once you get the hang of it, it's a breeze.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Gave SyncBack Free a try as well... Worked well, not too complicated, maintained the native files and folders structure, included a day and time scheduling component, and also several optional backup modes, including one called "mirroring" that says it maintains an exact version of the content on the destination location by deleting any files there not any longer found on the source location.

 

MS SyncToy also used to have an optional mirroring mode, which is what I wanted, but notwithstanding, it never seemed to delete files on the destination drive that had been deleted or renamed on the source drive, meaning the destination drive over time ended up getting cluttered up with deleted files and folders from the source.

 

 

https://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/compare-simple.html

 

PS - I just tested the mirroring function on SyncBack, and quite happily for me, it worked exactly as promised. I deleted some of the folders on my Source location, and then re-ran the backup profile, and sure enough, the deleted Source folders/files were likewise removed from the Destination folder. Good deal!

 

 

Edited March 7 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[dingdongrb]

2 hours ago, BigStar said:

Free versions of good backup programs don't come with schedulers. The paid versions do. You can use Windows scheduler to open the program but then you'll have to run the backup task manually.

SyncBack has as scheduler. I have it set to do a back up every day at 3am.

[BigStar]

35 minutes ago, dingdongrb said:

SyncBack has as scheduler. I have it set to do a back up every day at 3am.

 

Perhaps I'm thinking of scheduling particular backup jobs by name. SyncBack allows you to name and configure jobs and also group them into different groups. I make extensive use that feature w/ nightly, weekly, and monthly backups of different folders--and schedule them per job.

 

But, truth to tell, I've only used the Pro version for years. Maybe Free is better than it used to be. 🙂 One thing I really wanted in Pro was the ability to back up locked files.

 

I'm assuming your scheduling isn't just part of the free trial of Pro (or Home). Common practice. MalwareBytes is always doing that to me; every time they upgrade, it gives me all the paid features for a limited time. If you refuse, it continues to nag from the system tray. Exit, and the nag soon comes back. Now I have a kill MalwareBytes task that runs daily. 

Edited March 7 by BigStar

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I just tried this (EaseUS Todo Backup), and it appears to offer most or all of the criteria I outlined above:

 

https://www.easeus.com/backup-software/tb-free.html

 

 

After my initial run with EaseUS, I went back and started playing around with subsequent updates to original full backups, and found the program seems to have an odd versioning system. And at least in the free version, I can't find anyway to make a default setting for what kind of backup I want... It seems like I have to manually select it each time.

 

"Full Backup" is always available. But then the program also offers "Differential Backup" which handles all changes from the last full backup, or "Incremental Backup," which handles all changes from whatever the immediately prior backup was.

 

The end result, after the initial backup run for any profile, is the program ends up creating separate and different file folders with separate dates and file sets for each subsequent backup -- which is going to get pretty complicated and unwieldy if someone is re-running a differential or incremental backup every day or every week even.

 

I think that's an implementation of what's called "versioning." But in my case, I just want one set of files and folders that exactly match those on my source drive, not dozens of partial file change folders organized by date.

 

Choosing the "full backup" each time would avoid all that, I think.... But as I mentioned above, at least in the free version, I can't find any way to set a default for what mode of backup I want the program to run for any given profile. It seems to be a manual setting that has to be chosen via a right-click on the Backup Profile entry.

 

 

 

Edited March 7 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Masterton]

FWIW, I was looking for a synching solution to maintain backup copies of my drives and I "auditioned" a few of the programs that were highly ranked in the best of lists. I ended up choosing to use one called Synchredible made by a German software company called Ascomp. 

 

So I recommend you try that one and see if it suits your needs. It is also totally free for personal use.

[khagai1]

17 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

While I have cloud backup solutions, for many years, I've also kept local file backups of my Windows PC documents/data using the free MS SyncToy software and large volume external USB hard drives.

 

But now with the update to Windows 11, MS SyncToy no longer seems to work, or at least is very difficult to get working on a Windows 11 machine, so I've been looking for ideally a free software solution like MS SyncToy that can work on Windows 11 machines?  The ability to set and schedule automated backups like SyncToy could would be another plus. Any suggestions?

 

One of the thing I liked about SyncToy was that its backups were in normal, easy to see and access files and folders format, not like some of the Windows and other backup packages that do their backups by amalgamating everything into single mass backup files that have to be unpacked and restored in order to actually see what's there. That's NOT what I want.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions to use on a Windows 11 platform!  🙂

 

S**t.  Now Synctoy doesn't work in Windows 11!  Another good functional product sunsetted, forcing you to the cloud (don't trust security or robustness of backup) or a potentially inferior chargeable SW offering.  Too many good things are disappearing.

[Bangkok Barry]

I use FreeFileSynch to copy to a 250GB usb, but of course you can synch to any 'secondary' drive. Very easy to use and very reliable. You might need to pay a small fee for automatic backup, I'm not sure, but I just use it around weekly or so.

[BigStar]

6 hours ago, khagai1 said:

S**t.  Now Synctoy doesn't work in Windows 11!  Another good functional product sunsetted, forcing you to the cloud (don't trust security or robustness of backup) or a potentially inferior chargeable SW offering.  Too many good things are disappearing.

 

Pretty basic. FreeFileSync free or SyncBack Free, among others, are much better.

 

Besides, there's still robocopy:

 

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

 

Very powerful. I still use it for some things, like removing empty directories.

[BigStar]

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

The end result, after the initial backup run for any profile, is the program ends up creating separate and different file folders with separate dates and file sets for each subsequent backup -- which is going to get pretty complicated and unwieldy if someone is re-running a differential or incremental backup every day or every week even.

 

Typically, you limit the number to say, 5, before doing another full backup, after which you may erase the previous backups.

 

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I think that's an implementation of what's called "versioning."

 

Not exactly. The incrementals etc aren't versions but changes. When you restore a backup, the incremental etc. changes will be integrated into the restore.

 

18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Choosing the "full backup" each time would avoid all that, I think.... But as I mentioned above, at least in the free version, I can't find any way to set a default for what mode of backup I want the program to run for any given profile. It seems to be a manual setting that has to be chosen via a right-click on the Backup Profile entry.

 

I dunno, since I don't have Easus, but that sounds about right. Macrium Reflect Free does the same.