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Do you keep a backup of your OS drive ??
If you don't...wow...just wow.

So many bad things can render a PC non-bootable and with no way to restore it the user is left to ATTEMPT recoveries and then re-install all their apps.
Long and Nasty work indeed.

This thread is for windows and Linux users.
Some knowledge of handling storage media will be helpful here.
(Most apple users believe they are invincible, so they need no such help.)

My 1st go-to tool is Macrium Reflect.
I use it to make an EXACT clone of my OS drive, which is WELL under 1TB.

This way, if a bad thing happens, I can just pop out the sick drive - pop in the latest clone - and all is well once again.
This is wonderful for me as a Linux user - but also works perfectly for windows.

The main 'trick' for the very best results is having an OS ONLY drive - and all apps and/or data segregated elsewhere.
This is especially true for folks with terabytes (or more) of 'other stuff' !!

To make such a clone one must be able to connect the needed extra drive for the clone.
(My own PC has spare SATA and power cables sticking out for this purpose.)

Disclaimer:
The Macrium info here is NOT mine - I asked a friend to find me the latest 'fixed' release, and he very kindly did.
I do NOT have this version, but I did check the links to be sure they are good and they were fine when I did that earlier.

Macrium Reflect Server Plus v8.1.7469 REPACK (64-bit) 222.3 MB
Upload date: 18 Apr, 2023

Magic Button :

https://usersdrive.com/h2gumvrwmmhl
https://download.gg/file-15054000_bc79e05f1cd334c5
https://megaup.net/1Tvct
https://bayfiles.com/pa85cdm9z0

Details:
- Pre-Cracked / Pre-Patched.
- ReDeploy works.
- Automatic updates are disabled and can be enabled.
- Reg step gone - so internet staying on is OK.
- You can install even if you have an expired trial.
- You can install on top of an existing installation.

I repeat=>
This is NOT mine, if you find something wrong with it you can gripe at me, but I cannot help with this very new version.

SP info:
https://www.macrium.com/products/busines...one/server
https://www.macrium.com/products/busines...erver-plus

Imaging...
Also, when/if a system has a reasonably sized OS ONLY drive, it is possible to make a full drive image which can be restored if/when needed.

This is a bit less plug'n'play than having a cloned drive, BUT for windows users it has the convenience of being able to make the drive image on a running system without having to shut dow/reboot for a temporary drive connection (like the way that I do it requires).

For imaging I use a wonderful app called 'Drive Snapshot'.
SP: http://www.drivesnapshot.de/en/index.htm

Just get the latest Drive SnapShot 1.50 trialware from its own site directly:
http://www.drivesnapshot.de/download/snapshot.exe

Be SURE to read the info at their site !!

I am sharing ONLY the medicine for it here - which I have used.
Whatever name you put into it, be sure to capitalize IE: 'John Smith'.

Scanned via Jotti:

Code:

https://virusscan.jotti.org/en-US/filescanjob/15r96hmw64

Quote:fix.exe - Size: 13kB
MD5: 9e822322e411491b02f78351a154cb7a
SHA1: 4c725d132e90c8dcc183bfaca46e6d74e7eb798a
Status: Scan finished. 0/14 scanners reported malware.

DL:

Magic Button :

https://seyarabata.com/6449f4b0a0787

If/when a system is non-bootable and needs to have a drive image restored, either a bootable CD or USB will be needed in order to restore via Drive SnapShot.

Here is a great tool set which includes an older version of Drive SnapShot:
https://www.hirensbootcd.org/files/Hiren...D.15.2.zip
The ZIP contains a 625MB ISO which can fit onto CD media or a USB stick.

When doing a restore with Drive SnapShot, I just keep a copy of snapshot.exe and a TXT file with the reg info on my Ventoy USB stick.
Drive SnapShot is only ~1MB and can be run as-is very easily.

Ventoy makes your USB stick able to boot directly into ISO files so that many different bootable tool sets can fit on a single USB stick.

There.
I hope this info is useful and helpful for some folks here.

Enjoy and Prosper !!

Lumos

Fantastic share, thanks a lot for posting this useful tools, appreciate!

Greetings and Thanks Osmanal2 !!

In my POV the subject of backups is very, very important, BUT:
With 60+ views - only 1 reply from Osmanal2 and ZERO answers to the very simple poll, well...

I guess most members think little about this subject matter.

Best Wishes to ALL !!

Lumos

I have not heard about Macrium Reflect. I will check it out. Thanks Lumos.

I used Macrium a few years back to recover a boot drive. It was successful, since then, I have never really thought about it.

As you know, I run linux, and my /home directory is a separate drive. I don't really worry about the boot drive, because it is a simple re-install Kubuntu on a 200 gig drive, unmount the home from the new drive and point it to my large home drive. I am usually up and running in no time.

As for back up, the entire home drive is backed up to a raspberry pi running with a 6 gig back up drive. I back up daily using rsync from my desktop to the pi.
The Pi also has rsnapshot running, and I keep 7 daily, 4 weekly and 1 monthly snaps on it. I can usually recover what I need.
I use the same system at work, but we are now switching to a cloud based system.

I am thinking of doing the same.

I don't really use windows, so I am not actively backing up any windows machines. At work we encourage people to copy their important stuff our QNAP. The QNAP is then rsynced to another back up server and in the last few weeks, I have added cloud back up, which is to replace the back up server we are currently using.

My linux back ups are totally automated, whereas at work, people have to copy their data. Most of the machines I work with, I have an automated back up running. That includes five webservers, one development machine, one linux desktop at work, a QNAP and a couple of other miscellaneous machines.

I am not sure if this answer was in the spirit of the original post, but I threw my two cents in.

When I made this latest thread, the observation was kept in mind that it seems like most BBHF members are also windoze users - and that most folks here are not focused upon any heavy technical stuff...so:

@DacInBC:
Sincerest thanks for your thoughtful and detailed reply here.

Considering your reply as well as other exchanges we've enjoyed in the past - it is quite obvious that your tech level is FAR above the norm.

Speaking as a (mostly retired...) PC Tech, the users I still assist are all Linux users, and are also totally non-technical as well as very satisfied with what they use daily.

But since Linux automation was mentioned in the reply by DacInBC, it is only fair to add that NONE of my clients could handle automating tasks under Linux as it is a real fustercluck for end users.

Main point:
Linux has NO simple and easy to use task scheduler like windoze does - instead it mostly uses either crontab or systemd commands - both of which are headaches to set up.
Thus automating Linux backups is not so simple for such end-user sorts of folks.

As DacInBC mentioned, I too separate my OS from 'home' which DOES simplify matters...

BUT=>
Both myself and my clients use a carefully customized version of Ubuntu Mate such that it most resembles the 'classic style' desktop (think win2kpro) and simply reinstalling the OS over a botched root partition does not bring it back to the preferred norm.

But that is just us folks as Linux users - for windows users there are lots of options aside of what I posted here...I've just found Macrium to be a best-in-class option all around.

Great share thank you, will try it now.

---

links dont work, tyhe one that does has some game on it.. thabks for trying to help

Only just came across this post. And thanks Lumos for the effort you put into writing this post. Thinking of replacing an aging PC, and one of the things I need to put on my list is an effective back up system. While the O/S is still working!

From past experience, with Windows and dabbling in Linux from time to time, it can only take one bad update to the O/S and you can have an unboot-able PC.