Which option provides the most space to backup the data from your hard drive?

We all know we're supposed to back up our data. It's essential for peace of mind, but one copy of a file on your computer does not a backup make. Redundancy, people, redundancy!

As the organizers of World Backup Day(Opens in a new window) note, people produce quadrillions of files every year but fail to take adequate steps to preserve their data. Why? Computers get infected and accidents happen, but even after losing an important document, irreplaceable photo, or entire sets of financial records, some folks still don't take the time.

The reason is, backing up takes some effort. But it's easier than ever. Here's a quick look at the types of backup available, as well as the tools you'll need to pull it off, with as little work as possible.

Types of PC Backup

Backing up can be as simple as copying a file from one spot to another—from a hard drive to a removable USB flash drive, for example. But what you need for redundancy, security, and access dictates what kind of backup you should use.

Select Files and Folders

If you only need to back up specific data, use software that will let you pick and choose which files you want to save. (Remember, simply moving a file isn't backing it up. You need at least two copies.) To be safe, back up entire folders on a recurring basis to ensure that newly created or updated files get backed up at a later date.

There's plenty of free software to take care of this for you, including Windows's integrated feature. Find it via the Settings > Update & Security > Backup(Opens in a new window). It lets you back up items using the file history, which offers recurring copying of files (from every 10 minutes to every day) to a secondary drive as backup. Then, you can restore only the version of a file you need to recover, when necessary. File History is easy to set up, but it's limited in scope.

Windows 10 and Windows 11 can also back up files to OneDrive, Microsoft's online backup and synchronization offering (more on that below).

Cloud Storage and File-Synchronization Services

I've been writing about computers, the internet, and technology professionally for 30 years, more than half of that time with PCMag. I run several special projects including the Readers' Choice and Business Choice surveys, and yearly coverage of the Fastest ISPs and Best Gaming ISPs. I work from my home, and did it long before pandemics made it cool.

This Article Will Cover:

• Backup Basics
• What a Backup Is
• What a Backup Is Not
• Why Backups Are Essential
• Available Backup Options
• How to Back Up Your Computer Hard Drive
• Restoring Data from a Backup
• Summing Up

Backup hard disk basics

Backups have a reputation for being cumbersome to create, maintain and manage, sometimes resulting in users neglecting to perform them. While backups can be tedious without the right tools, modern hard disk backup software and methods make the process much easier and faster. This article will discuss how to back up a computer and perform a hard disk recovery if your data is ever lost.

What is hard disk backup?

While the definition of a backup is simple enough, this is where the simplicity ends for many consumers. A backup is essentially just a copy of the data stored on your hard drive, and it's relatively easy to create one using various methods. Therefore, it's essential to understand what a backup is, what one does, and – perhaps just as important – what a backup is not. Backup data from a computer hard disk can generally be saved to any one of several mediums, including:

• Other external drives (local drives or ones on a network - external SSD, portable hard drive)
• External storage devices (USB flash drives or USB hard drives)
• Online or cloud storage accounts
• Another hard drive partition (a disk partition is a separate and distinct section on the same hard drive)

Backup data – a repetitive process

As mentioned above, a backup is a copy of data created from a computer or device. Nonetheless, a backup is just a copy of data at a particular point in time. A backup must be repeated or recreated to preserve or record any changes to the data since the last copy was made. While many backups are automated processes that create copies of existing data on your hard disk, even automation requires effective scheduling to keep saved or backed-up data current. If a manual or scheduled backup is not run, new or changed files are not saved or archived to external storage.

What a backup is not?

There are many ways to approach hard disk backup. For instance, you can copy data from one drive to another, which would be considered a backup for all intents and purposes. Likewise, you can store a copy of your data online or in the cloud, which is also a type of backup. Finally, if you save important files to a USB drive or an external hard drive, that would also be a backup, although the backup process for USB drives grants limited results.

About cloud storage

As we see, there are many ways to approach hard disk backup. Still, some methods or processes considered to be backups actually are not. For instance, if you use an application from a cloud storage solution, such as Google Drive or Dropbox, to synchronize files in a specific folder with your cloud account, that would not be considered a true backup. Now, it is easy to think of synchronized files saved in an online storage account as "a cloud backup"– after all, it stores data off-site and on an external server. Nevertheless, there is only one version of the files. As soon as you update a file in the synchronized folder, the file on the cloud storage site changes as well.

Syncing files deletes previous versions

Because synchronization updates files both on your hard disk and on the cloud, you may or may not have access to a previous file version. Some cloud storage solutions do retain a few previous data versions after synchronization, but many do not. This is a significantly different approach from that of a true backup. File versions in true hard disk backup do not change whenever you create a new backup – unless you overwrite and delete the previous backup with the new one. Hence, keeping several data copies simultaneously helps you revert to previous file versions if needed.

Why backups are essential?

It's common knowledge that hard disk backup is important for protecting valuable data and files stored on the machine. Yet, countless people still fail to realize just how important it is to keep good backups and why. Thus, it's important to understand why backups are crucial.

Lost effort, time, and money

If time is money, then all the time spent creating data files on your PC is a tremendous waste of money if you ever lose them – not to mention the wasted effort and lost productivity. When you lose important documents and media, expenditures in terms of time and effort literally double because of the need to create the lost data from scratch. Unless you have a backup disk available for recovery. Here, a simple backup task can save you tremendous time, effort, and, ultimately, money.

Hard drive recovery is expensive

Nothing lasts forever; the same applies to computer hardware, especially hard drives.

In many computers, the hard disk is the only mechanical device in the entire system (traditional hard drives have motors and platters). And just like any other mechanical device, a hard disk will fail eventually. Even if you've never experienced a hard disk crash, chances are you know someone who has.

If your hard drive fails, there is a chance that you can recover your data. Depending on the type of drive problem (such as a drive failure or deleted partitions), you may be able to use hard drive recovery tools and software or enlist a data recovery service. It's important to note that good hard disk recovery software is not cheap, and a recovery service can cost you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. A reliable hard disk backup could save you considerably if your drive does fail.

How to backup hard drive to an external drive? - 3 ways

To avoid a costly hard drive recovery, you can back data to an external hard drive. Even if that sounds like a simple backup task, there are some guidelines to follow and ensure a healthy backup scheme.

Windows users can have two native Windows operating system options to perform a partial or a full backup.

How to partial hard drive backup for Windows?

1. Connect your preferred external drive to the PC. (here, you can use an HDD or rely on solid state drives (SSD); the latter offer fast performance and higher write speeds, but their high capacity comes at a higher price)
2. Open the "Start" menu

For Windows 11 - type "File History" and select the option

For Windows 10 - type "backup" and choose "Backup settings"

1. Select "Add a drive" to select the external disk you wish to use for the backup task
2. In the "Select a drive" pop-up, you'll see all connected external drives to your PC; select the drive you wish to use for the backup
3. You will see the "Automatically back up my files" option enabled

The option will use a default file and folder list most commonly backed-up by users. To add or remove options from it, select "More options".

Review the folders under "Back up these folders". If any are missing, choose "Add a folder" and browse to select them.

Once done with the configuration, Windows File History will create a regular backup as long as the backup disk is connected to the PC.

How to full system backup for Windows?

If you want to create a complete backup rather than a partial disk image, you'd go for a "system image". This backup scheme will comprise your entire Windows system - files, folders, operating system settings, and more.

1. Type "control panel" in the Search bar and select the "Control Panel" app
2. Choose "Backup and Restore (Windows 7)"
3. Select "Create a system image" from the left menu pane
4. You'll see a "Create a system image" pop-up window -> select your preferred external drive from the "On a hard disk" drop-down list
5. In the following window, you'll see a list of system partitions ready for backup as part of the system backup on the external drive; select "Start backup" to start the process
6. Depending on your Windows system size, the entire backup may take a while to complete. Once it's complete, you can safely disconnect the external drive and store it in a secure location

How to back up external hard drive for Mac users?

Mac users can use Time Machine, the native Mac feature, to automatically back up personal data and media.

1. Connect an external backup device to your Mac. (HDD, SSD, USB-C)

If you want to use a USB type A, but your Mac doesn't have such a port, you'd need a USB type C connector.

1. Open "Time Machine" from the "Time Machine" menu
2. In the "Time Machine" settings, select the external storage device and the backup destination

On macOS Ventura (or later): click the (+) button -> follow the onscreen instructions

On earlier macOS versions: click "Select Backup Disk" -> follow the onscreen instructions

1. If the storage media stores previous backup(s) from another Mac, you'd need to either delete them or claim them as part of your current Mac backup; You can also choose to start a new backup
2. To do so manually, select "Back Up Now" from the "Time Machine" menu

You can also wait for the automatic backup to kick in. This will be every hour for the last 24 hours, with daily backups for the past month and weekly copies for previous months. Once the storage space is full, Time Machine will delete the oldest data copies.

Some data is just irreplaceable

Although annoying and time-consuming, recreating many types of data is possible. Still, there are specific files you may never be able to replace if you don't back up the computer. Consider all the photos, videos, important emails, and other personal files you have that would be impossible to replace. With some file types, a lack of a hard disk backup is just an expensive inconvenience. With some files, though, data loss is much more personal and painful – and permanent.

What should you backup?

By now, you should be convinced of how important it is to create a hard disk backup. (at least once in a while)

However, you may wonder what files on your computer hard drive you need to back up. In a perfect world, you would back up everything on your PC whenever you create a new file or change your data. In most cases, though, this is neither practical nor necessary.

Complete system backups

Depending on the size of the hard drive in your computer and the amount of data you have, a complete system backup can take a long time. And if you're backing up to an online backup service, it could take even longer – especially if you don't have a fast internet connection. While complete system backups can be time-consuming, you should still perform them occasionally. Whether you have a Windows PC or laptop, or a Mac computer or MacBook, it's a good idea to create a complete system backup as soon as you buy the machine. Creating a backup on a new computer (or operating system installation) enables you to quickly recover your hard drive to factory default settings by restoring the machine with the backup. Even if you can't back up a new machine, you should create at least one full backup as soon as possible.

Essential files and folders backup

In some cases, creating complete system backups of your computer's hard disk may not be practical or even feasible. If you have limited space for your backups, or need to store data copies online with a slow internet connection, creating complete system backups may not be convenient or possible. When full-system is not an option, regularly creating an incremental backup of important files and folders is wise. If you get in the habit of saving important data files in a few select folders, creating quick backups of your essential data should be relatively quick and painless. When determining which files to back up, select crucial documents, photos, or any other files that would be difficult or impossible to reproduce or replace.

Available backup options

When creating a hard disk backup, a quick Google search will reveal that you have countless options and possibilities for applications, platforms, and storage media. However, not all backups are created equal, and some are definitely easier to work with than others. To help you understand some of the options you have, let's cover a few of the most popular hard drive backup methods.

Local SSD/Hard drive backups

One of the easiest and quickest ways to protect your data is to back it up to another hard disk. If you have multiple drives in or attached to your system, you can back up data to a secondary drive, a USB flash, or external drives or even to a drive in a PC connected to the same network. Depending on the type of local drive you use, the steps used to back up the device may vary. But local hard disk backup usually requires little more than moving files from your primary drive to a backup hard drive or a recovery partition.

Pros and cons of local backups

Creating a local hard disk backup is very convenient because you always have backup data nearby and can restore it anytime, quickly and easily. A problem with local backups is that backup data can be lost if a disaster, theft, or other event renders the local backup drive inaccessible.

Backing up to the cloud

If you have a relatively fast broadband internet connection, hard disk backup to the cloud can be an excellent option – especially if local disk drive space for backups is limited. Better online hard disk backup solutions (like Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office (formerly Acronis True Image) offers everything you need to safeguard your device and backed up data from all of today’s threats — from disk failures to ransomware attacks. Thanks to its unique integration of backup and cybersecurity in one, it saves you time and reduces the cost, complexity, and risk caused by managing multiple solutions.

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