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Methods of data backup8/7/2023 ![]() However, if both drives are able to fit into the computer, then the faster method would be to use a system imaging program to copy the contents of your drive directly to the new one restoring a complete system image backup would take twice as long as this method. If you are upgrading your hard drive, either to a larger drive or a speedier solid state drive, a system image is an easy way to migrate your entire operating system to the new drive to appear exactly as you had it before.So when would creating a system image be appropriate? Macs include an integrated way to create system images, and Apple advises you only restore system files on the same Mac the backup was created on.” The average home user probably doesn’t need to deal with system images. “ If your entire computer dies, you won’t be able to just restore a system image that was created on another computer - your Windows installation won’t run properly on different hardware. Restoration on a different computer could also prove temperamental. You can’t control what is and isn’t backed up - you end up with an image containing everything on your hard drive.” Because of the generally huge amount of data that needs to be stored, system images will take a long time to both create and restore, much longer than a focused backup of only your important files. “ System image backups will capture files you can easily redownload and reinstall as well as files you don’t care about. It would be quicker and easier to simply reinstall these programs onto your restored computer, instead of using up a good chunk of your backup medium to store them. This also goes for many program files, such as Microsoft Office, QuickBooks, Photoshop, etc. In the event your hard drive crashes you would need to reinstall your operating system anyway which already includes these system files, making your backed up files redundant and a waste of space. Since they contain every file on your computer’s hard drive, included will be multiple gigabytes of Windows system files. System images are not the ideal backup method for the typical home user. Whatever is used in your hard drive will be backed up, so if you’ve used 500 GB on your drive, the system image will be around 500 GB, and your chosen storage medium will need to be able to accommodate this. Obviously, this can take up a lot of space. You then have a complete computer backup that you can copy back to a drive to restore your entire system. System images are complete backups of every file and program on your computer’s hard drive, and contain everything on your PC or a single partition. Skip to the Mac section below to learn more about using Time Machine. Here are instructions for creating a disk image for Macs. Here we explain how to create a system image in Windows, and depending on your Mac operating system you will perform a system image in different ways. The most comprehensive backup method is a system image, and this can be done on all Windows and Mac computers. The path you choose will depend on your chosen medium, your budget, the amount of important data, and how you plan to use your backup should the need ever arise.ĭifferent operating systems use different backup methods, so here we will go over native methods for both Windows and Mac. There are numerous ways and tools to backup data, from storing every single file on your computer to only saving what is really important to you. Now that you have chosen the best storage medium to keep your data, next comes choosing your method and configuring your backups. ![]() This is part two of our Backing Up Your Data series, read part one here – choosing a storage medium.
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