I seldom use Windows, but I need to backup Mom's Win7 HD. What's the best (free) way ?

[eppur_se_muova]

I know there's a backup utility accessible under the 'properties' menu, but it's been a long time since I used it. I need a way to BU to DVD-R. Can I do that *without* creating an archive first ? There's not much free space available on the HD, so I need a way to backup directly to media. Is there a reasonable cheap/free utility that does that ?

(Yeah, I know, Win7 is outdated, but Mom's in her eighties and doesn't adjust well to new software.)

I have an external USB drive that burns DVD+/-R, DVD+/-RW, and +/-R DL. I'll probably need to back up less than 25GB.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[getagrip_already]

1. carbonite...

It's the easiest way to do it. Yeah, it's a few bucks a month, but once set up you don't have to redo it every time she changes something.

[Six117]

2. Try Macruim Reflect Free for home use

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

Works great!

[randr]

3. Install a separate hard drive

and a program to run it 24/7

[SarasotaDem]

4. Casper Free Backup

I use Casper 10 for Win 7

[dawg day]

5. Does Mom have a gmail account?

if not, you can get her one (or two). Each comes with 15 gig of storage up in the cloud. It's free. I have about 5 gmail accounts just so I can get the storage from each's Google drive.

Also, if she has Amazon Prime, that comes with free storage.

They're both easy to use-- just go to the "drive" in the cloud, browse to select the files from the hard drive, and upload.

You can even email files as attachments from the gmail account right to the same gmail account, though that might take longer. The attachments will then all be on the cloud.

But the Google Drive option means you can keep the folder structure by uploading entire folders.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Hey, sure Windows 7 xxx is old, but it works. That's my version that I have, and I'm not going to..

change it either, not yet, until I need a new PC or the like. And before someone goes and knocks me, blah blah blah on needing to update to latest version of Windows etc., don't. I'm an old IT guy from 1975 on. And nothing I hate more than the constantly applying of updates to my Windows 7 from MS. Ridiculous. I did apply updates all the time and then got simply tired of it. Absolutely sick and tired of getting updates literally everyday to my Windows system. No more and I even told MS that (of course they didn't listen to a peon like me), I never got a response to my email to MS complaining about the constant stream of updates.

Under the Control Panel, under System and Security, the backup criteria are there, and you can point to where you want your backup to go, your external USB drive. I don't think you can get away without the archive first, since Windows 7 needs a way to find the backup later if need be. And it's been a while since I've run a back up on my system, it does remember where I was and will return me to a particular task if something knocks me off, etc. The system will even prompt you if you want to resume a task you were doing, should you get knocked off.

Also, under system tools, you can defragment your Mom's drive/cpu, it will help free up space on her hard drive (basically, it squeezes all of the free space in between tracks etc., freeing up space), you may gain space by doing this too. I do this occasionally.

Good luck.

[canetoad]

7. If there is less than 25gb

I'd probably just buy a 32gb usb stick and copy it directly. No hassles.

[BootinUp]

8. Macrium reflect . Server quality. Nt

[ManiacJoe]

9. Without knowing the purpose of the backups, the easiest way to go

would be to buy a multi-terabyte USB hard drive for less than $100, connect it to the computer, copy what you need backed up.

Repeat the backups as often as needed given the drive space.

[LeftInTX]

10. I've always back up my stuff to an external hard drive

I copy and paste and do not use no back up software. I don't use any archive or compression or anything. (Ran into problems years ago with that, so I just copy and paste)

I back up documents, pictures and music. This makes it easier for your mom if she wants to retrieve a file.

When getting a new pc or if you are reinstalling windows, I back up settings. (I should do this more often....) There are instructions on how to do this.

Using an external hard drive is the easiest. No compression. Files are browseable just like on her PC.

It might be worth the small investment to have one connected to her PC.