robblok Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Hi, I have been working with elephant drive, its an online backup program. I will keep it but it isnt always fast enough because you have to upload files. It does have one real nice feature that i am looking for in an normal backup program and so far haven't found. I want to be able to set a directory on a hard-drive as a folder that has to be backup-ed all the time. The moment something changes there it backs it up to a folder on an usb hard disk. Does anyone have any idea what program would be able to do that, preferable free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimite Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Look at this link. Backing up on every change may not be the best idea, but this software can check for changes and back up on a daily or other scheduled period Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I don't. It will be interesting to see if someone does. This may sound crazy, but the only way I know to do that and it's standard procedure in enterprise situations, is to use server software, have two servers, and set one to be the replicating backup. The backup is always ready to go online and become the primary server if the primary fails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Look at this link. Backing up on every change may not be the best idea, but this software can check for changes and back up on a daily or other scheduled period I haven't tried that. At home I use the free program Cobian Backup. It's highly configurable and one thing I like best about it is that it doesn't compress files as Windows backup does. You can explore your backup folder and read, or drag and drop any file or folder you want. It will backup to a network share, or to a local drive including an expernal USB. You can choose what to back up, where to back up to, schedule it, and choose how many backups to keep. It will then delete a backup after each backup. Again, I don't know of a replicating real time backup other than Server. Off topic, I don't know which versions of Vista and 7 have this but at least the enterprise editions do such as Ultimate. Control Panel>System and Security> Back up my computer will make an image of the whole drive by schedule. I keep an older one, then do one every night. Don't forget to make the recovery boot disk which it will prompt you to do the first time. In the unfortunate event that it did an image of a corrupt drive, I would use the older image and follow that with Cobian Backup files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 I now found live Backup now, it will cost me some money but it does exactly what i want. It is just one of many backups that i make. I got multiple safety precautions. Files get stored on a NAS drive with raid, every night the Q-Nap nas drive makes a copy to an usb. It als updates all files to the online storage vault at Elephant-drive. This is just an extra backup for something that i did not store on the NAS device, it is however stored on Elephant-drive online. I am just real careful with my business data and after working with Elephant-drive i liked that feature and saw possibilities to get stuff even safer. Scheduled backups are nice, but the can interfere with stuff and you have to wait for them to finish. Anyway will report more if this program really works good. So far im just testing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 (edited) Sounds like a good plan. Just one thing. With the backup proggys I use, I don't have to wait for them to backup. I can still work. They both (Windows backup and Cobian Backup) use the Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) feature and take a snapshot before writing. All you need to never notice the difference is enough CPU and enough RAM. Creating a restore point and even printing uses this snapshot. VSS Edited October 31, 2012 by NeverSure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamNotaNumber Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I use the free program Cobian Backup. Me2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Morozov Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Acronis True image Home, feature is called "continuous backup". Not free but worth the price in my opinion. Sent from my Desire HD using Thaivisa Connect App Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Acronis True image Home, feature is called "continuous backup". Not free but worth the price in my opinion. Sent from my Desire HD using Thaivisa Connect App I am going to give that a try too.. its a more respected name as what i am now trial using. I will buy the best one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Good stuff, guys. I didn't know Acronis could do more than image a drive. Time flies. I have an older version I haven't used for a while because Windows will now create an image on a schedule. I don't recall that True Image was expensive. I'll try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 @ Gregory Morozov The trial version seems a bit limit are you able with a continious backup to restore the files to an other place as the original ? This is important for me. I also only seem to be able to store the backup in the root of a drive.. maybe an other trial version limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I can't tell from their site. They are talking a lot about cloud backups. Link I do like cloud storage when it uses 256 encryption as it leaves my computer. Then I can access files from any computer anywhere. Off topic, but check out LastPass which is cloud storage of passwords and usernames. That ties into access from any computer. Just log into LastPass with a master user/pass, and everything is there. I have it set to automatically log into this site because I don't need the security here. On the other hand, I set it to never store, never remember, and never help log in to PayPal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSixpack Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 FreeFileSync has a RealTimeSync component that can do exactly what you're asking. Autover (http://beanland.net.au/AutoVer/) can backup in realtime and maintain versions as can File Hamster (http://www.filehamster.com/index.php?page=products) and Yadis (http://www.codessentials.com/products/yadisbackup.html). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 FreeFileSync has a RealTimeSync component that can do exactly what you're asking. Autover (http://beanland.net.au/AutoVer/) can backup in realtime and maintain versions as can File Hamster (http://www.filehamst...p?page=products) and Yadis (http://www.codessent...adisbackup.html). Thank you!! This is a great thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I use the free program Cobian Backup. Me2. Me3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TS79 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Not free but GoodSync is a pretty nice program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Before I choose any backup software, they must tell me that it uses the Windows Shadow Copy Service. So far I know only for sure that Windows Backup from Vista on, and Cobian backup do. If anyone knows of a real time backup which does, please post. Again, Windows Backup compresses the backups and they cannot be simply browsed. That is for Cobian. That's why I use both. Windows makes an image of my whole drive every night, and also backs up important files. DON'T forget to make the bootable restore disk, as you will be prompted to do, and walked through. Easy. My biggest mistake right now is that I back up to a separate local hard disk in my tower. My laptop backs up to a USB drive which is sitting on the desk. If someone breaks in and steals (never had it happen in our neighborhood in the country,) I lose everything. I must buy wireless NAS storage and hide it. I'll order that right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory Morozov Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Acronis feature is actually named "nonstop backup". Acronis can use shadow copy for normal backups (you can specify it as an option), but I don't see this option on "nonstop backup". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Shadow copy is a service. It must run as such. It must be allowed by an administrator. By default it is allowed for printing because only an administrator can install (printing) software. A lot of backup programs don't use it, and they often stumble on files which are locked by "cannot copy/move/delete etc. because this file is in use by another program." I tried one proggy - don't remember which - and it couldn't copy (backup) any of my pictures because they were all in use! Turned out that the problem was that I had explorer set to show them as thumbnail pictures, which feature I like. Thus they were "open" being shown as small pictures. I don't even want to think about how much time I spent figuring that out. Shadow Copy defeats all of those issues, including changes made to files during backup (it shadows the original) and it never stumbles. $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolbreez Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 There is enough here without getting into Norton Ghost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendejo Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Seagate and Western Digital offer free backup software that is actually an OEM version of Acronis TI, but will only work if one of their drives is on the computer. You can dowload from their sites. Could be possible other manufacturers off it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSixpack Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Few if any of the replies here (except mine) address the OP's problem of realtime backup as opposed to scheduled backups. I suspect most haven't used it or felt the need for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Few if any of the replies here (except mine) address the OP's problem of realtime backup as opposed to scheduled backups. I suspect most haven't used it or felt the need for it. After posts 7 - 10, I found the problem solved and drifted on. Your post was also helpful. Windows 7 saves old file versions natively, but they are on the %system% drive so won't help in a HDD crash, just if you err or accidentally delete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 I have tested a few applications now, and they all have their good and bad points. I am still struggeling a bit to decide what is right for me. I could just set a daily backup somewhere. It would be enough too. I just liked the idea of real time backups. I like Acronis because its a bit more famous name.. maybe im bias but i like the bigger names because of support and such. I am just a bit more concerned about upgrading my backup and security strategy because ill be on a holiday for a while. Besides if a backup is an easy thing why not run it to add security. Now my QNAP - 459 pro II Nas device is already connected to the cloud and has of course raid and backups to a usb drive. I just wanted one more security feature. In the past years ago i lost data as i use it for business it cost me a lot of time. I never want that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Good thoughts but I'm not that worried. All that's worrying now is that my backups are on a separate physical hard disks in my computer and it could all get stolen I guess. I do need to hide a wireless NAS device or use the cloud. Here's how I see it. Every night Windows backup runs and makes an image of my %system% drive plus it backs up chosen files separately. About an hour before that, Cobian backup runs and backs up to yet another physical HDD. I have also saved an older but good image to another partition on the same disk as Cobian. If my primary disk + my nightly image disk both failed due to say lightening or power surge, then maybe my older image + my Cobian backups would still be there. If they were I could quickly recover. I'm going to see about Acronis, and try to back up to the cloud I think. I also sync my desktops and my laptop using Windows Sync via Windows Live. This is another discussion because I do it manually. Nonetheless, it's handy. I always have all of the files that are on my desktops on my laptop when I leave the house, and I also sync to another desktop. This gives me another backup if lightning or a power surge took out my desktops. The only WARNING is that this isn't a real backup because if you delete a file on one box, all will delete because it's syncing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 The idea of a wifi harddisk or NAS station away from the computer in case of theft has sparked my interest. I do have cloud storage but its a pain to get it back from there. It will take quite long, so i think i will get a western digital wireless disk. Also nice for other stuff. I will store it somewhere in the house separate and hopefully overlooked if there is theft. Could storage still good in case of fire and other major problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverSure Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 The idea of a wifi harddisk or NAS station away from the computer in case of theft has sparked my interest. I do have cloud storage but its a pain to get it back from there. It will take quite long, so i think i will get a western digital wireless disk. Also nice for other stuff. I will store it somewhere in the house separate and hopefully overlooked if there is theft. Could storage still good in case of fire and other major problems. Fire is always a worry. When I was still working, someone took the backup tapes home every night. They were compressed and encrypted. Someone else had the key. I don't know how far I want to take this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 The idea of a wifi harddisk or NAS station away from the computer in case of theft has sparked my interest. I do have cloud storage but its a pain to get it back from there. It will take quite long, so i think i will get a western digital wireless disk. Also nice for other stuff. I will store it somewhere in the house separate and hopefully overlooked if there is theft. Could storage still good in case of fire and other major problems. Fire is always a worry. When I was still working, someone took the backup tapes home every night. They were compressed and encrypted. Someone else had the key. I don't know how far I want to take this. I think that is far enough, the cloud is for fire. If it burns down other problems will arise anyway. Could is nice but not for getting something back fast. I take this quite far because i make money with my computer, otherwise i would not bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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