KVR Audio

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:36 am

So I have this new monster Dual-Boot system (Win 8.1 64x) and am looking for a more robust backup solution. The problem is I have a lot of SSD/HDDs in my rig:

My full setup:Win 8.1 (64x)/i7-4790K/Asus Z97-PRO/MSI GTX 960 GAMING 2G/Seasonic M12II Evo 620W/Samsung 850 Pro 256GB/Samsung 850 EVO 250GB/Crucial MX100 512GB/Barracuda STBD2000201 2TB(2x)/Barracuda STBD3000200 3TB/Corsair Vengeance LP CML16GX3M2A1600C9/Fractal R5

DAW OS: Samsung 850 Pro 256GB (OS/VST disk), Crucial MX100 512 GB (sample disk), Barracuda STB2000201 2TB (2x): One for projects and the other for extra samplecontent.

Main OS: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB (OS/apps), Barracuda STBD300200 3TB (movies, musiccollection etc.)

I know about Acronis and Paragon. What I dislike about Acronis is it makes non-standard modifications to your OS and it's more expensive than Paragon, so I'm definitely leaning towards Paragon.

Yet, as I am new to Win 8.1 I don't fully grasp it's native backup solutions yet like 'file backup, disk image etc.'.From what I've been reading though one can't rely too much on Windows native solution so... meh!

Also, until now I've always backed up my data manually, created a disk image for the OS and in case of rapture I simply restored the OS and copied the data back from an external HDD.

Now with all those different disks I feel I need a more efficient (and automated) way for backups.

Any thoughts? Btw. I don't like cloud-based solutions so I prefer to have an external disk but am worried I run out of space soon enough.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:47 pm

I use this and I'm happy with it:
http://www.easeus.com/backup-software/

The free version is great and if you subscribe to their newsletter you will receive a good discount offer for the paid versions sooner or later (sooner, most likely).

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:55 pm

I really like this:

http://www.drive-image.com/?GGLAW800_disk_image

You can open an backup without having to restore it. You can create a startup disk. Incremential and differential backups are possible.

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:24 am

Thanks. Will definitely look into both.
How is the compression level when making images with these solutions?

manducator · Post by **manducator** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:02 am

Spiritos wrote:Thanks. Will definitely look into both.
How is the compression level when making images with these solutions?

I don't know to be honest. I Always backup uncompressed because it's quicker.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 10:58 pm

In EaseUS there are three levels of compression. I use the lightest one that saves around 20% of space and doesn't make the process noticeably slower.

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:09 pm

Tnx. One last question though: Given the fact I have a total of 3 SSDs and 3 HDD's between 2 OS installations, is it possible to script a backup for the whole 'system' eg. all disks at once or do I need to backup per/disk?

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 5:20 pm

You can select multiple disks to be backed up at once, but you cannot select more than one location to store the backup file.

I would ask in their forum about the possibility of executing more complex tasks from the command-line:
http://forum.easeus.com/index.php

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 5:29 pm

OK. Thanks! Will look into it some more this weekend.

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 7:13 pm

Firstly, with Acronis, none of the changes made to your system will cause problems. I've been using Acronis on multiple computers since 2004, and I've never had a single issue with the program. On the other hand, I can't tell you how many times it's totally saved my ass. If you want, you can create a USB flash drive to boot from for all operations - then uninstall Acronis. Then you'll have no changes to your OS at all, but you will have the most reliable backup/restore program ever. If you're worried about changes to the OS, you shouldn't have a multi-boot system other than one controlled by selecting the boot drive from the BIOS / UEFI anyway, before Windows launches. People with tons of experience in multi-boot systems don't use Windows boot manager to control a multi-boot system. Better that each disk stand discreetly on its own if its reliability you're after.

Your concern shouldn't be about backup - it should be about which is the best RESTORE program - will it work flawlessly when you go to restore? With Acronis, the answer to this single most important question regarding your computer is "yes, every day of every year, every single time."

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:29 pm

Gonga wrote:Firstly, with Acronis, none of the changes made to your system will cause problems.

I'm referring to Secure Zone and Startup Recovery Manager. These make changes to the most crucial parts of the disc structure. If those parts of the disk ever get corrupted or fail in any other way and Acronis should fail as well, any other recovery apps are completely useless because of these 'non-standard modifications'.

Now chances of this happening are marginal (though not unheard of) but so are the chances of a system failure to begin with. Yet we all still want a back-up/restore plan.

Conga wrote:If you're worried about changes to the OS, you shouldn't have a multi-boot system other than one controlled by selecting the boot drive from the BIOS / UEFI anyway, before Windows launches.

Which is exactly how I have my dual-boot system setup. I'm not a complete PC-virgin

I'm not saying Acronis is bad. I just like to have complete control of my system and am reluctant to use software which has such a deep impact (like Norton for eg.) I didn't know about the flash-drive option though so I will check it out once more.

Gonga · Post by **Gonga** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:22 am

Spiritos wrote:
Gonga wrote:Firstly, with Acronis, none of the changes made to your system will cause problems.
I'm referring to Secure Zone and Startup Recovery Manager. These make changes to the most crucial parts of the disc structure. If those parts of the disk ever get corrupted or fail in any other way and Acronis should fail as well, any other recovery apps are completely useless because of these 'non-standard modifications'.

Now chances of this happening are marginal (though not unheard of) but so are the chances of a system failure to begin with. Yet we all still want a back-up/restore plan.

Conga wrote:If you're worried about changes to the OS, you shouldn't have a multi-boot system other than one controlled by selecting the boot drive from the BIOS / UEFI anyway, before Windows launches.
Which is exactly how I have my dual-boot system setup. I'm not a complete PC-virgin

I'm not saying Acronis is bad. I just like to have complete control of my system and am reluctant to use software which has such a deep impact (like Norton for eg.) I didn't know about the flash-drive option though so I will check it out once more.

Both of those are optional - I've never used either of them and they aren't activated when you install the application. Neither are reasons for Acronis' top-of-the-line rep. The reason for it's rep is it's a rock-solid way to make sure your precious data and system will always be there for you. Kind of important, and more than worth every penny spent. I'm speaking from lots of experience over many years, including being responsible for the data of a large organization. Why am I bothering to tell you all this? Because you cannot overstate the importance of reliability and dependability when it comes to your computer, any more than you can for your vehicle, or a friend for that matter.

I used a lot of different programs over the years. All were disappointing except TrueImage, and it has been the exact opposite of disappointing, for years and years.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:47 pm

My quest to fully uninstall Acronis so that other backup programs could work without issues was a nightmare. I had to study the procedure for days, and also had to take a lot of decisions on my own while editing the registry because my version of Acronis was one provided by Seagate and the name of some drivers and their registry entries were not the same:

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/ ... es.316447/

It's possible that now they follow better practices after all the criticism they had in the past, I don't know.

Spiritos · Post by **Spiritos** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:54 pm

Thanks for sharing!
Like I said I will look into the USB Flash Drive option as I like the idea of not having additional software running on my Os-es.

User experiences however always seem to differ. I've read both horror stories on Acronis and Paragon alike so... All I can do is compare, ask around and do some research.

Have you tried Paragon? And aside from additonal options like partition manager (which I don't need) -in your experience- did Paragon ever fail you or were there other considerations?

standalone wrote:My quest to fully uninstall Acronis so that other backup programs could work without issues was a nightmare. I had to study the procedure for days, and also had to take a lot of decisions on my own while editing the registry because my version of Acronis was one provided by Seagate and the name of some drivers and their registry entries were not the same:

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I know Acronis is a great piece of software for it's purpose -as long as it works- but in case of trouble it seems to be a real pita -although I must admit most issues I read about concerned older vs. new version backward-compatibility in which case it takes quite some technical knowledge to set things straight.

standalone · Post by **standalone** » Sat Mar 28, 2015 1:16 pm

Yes I tried Paragon, and I think it's very good but a bit convoluted. I liked that you can make 'cold' backups outside Windows, directly from the recovery CD, even with the free version.

Looking for a good backup solution