Best backup solution on Windows? [2 x 4 TB external drives]

[nle]

Hi all,

I'm not that familiar with Windows any more, so I come here seeking advice.

I'm going to help a non-techy friend to set up a foolproof backup solution for his Windows laptop. He has bought 2 x 4TB drives, and has planned to always store one of them at work and alternate between them (incase of fire, burglary, etc.).

He has some data that are "static" and is going on both external drives, but is not present on the laptop hdd. He also wants to backup his laptop.

What is the best way to accomplish this in the most user friendly way possible?

For instance on OS X you can use software that detects the external drive get connected and automatically start the backup software. Does something simular exist for Windows?
What backup software should he use?

Thanks!

 

[sboesch]

This depends on your budget. There are cloud based backup solutions, they do not back up the OS. I use a combination of Windows Backup and Carbonite for my laptop/desktop machines.

 

[mrkrad]

windows backup will do the job! Comes with server and high end versions of windows 7/8

 

[nle]

Thanks. Will check out the tips!

 

[Chuckleb]

I use Crashplan. Free for personal use. You can set up a computer at the work location and set up Crashplan to back up to that machine for free for offsite. Likewise one at home.

 

[nle]

Yes, I have good experience with CrashPlan (and Backblaze).

In one way I think Backblaze is the better option (because of it userfriendlyness), but since CrashPlan is more tweakable you can get more done (maybe backup to both external and CP-central).

I don't think there will be an option to set up another computer at his work to act as a crashplan host, and I think his bandwith is limited from his house. So he plans to alternate the two drives manually.

I guess I just need to take a look at his computer, internet connection, etc., and go from there.

 

[Chuckleb]

A comment about switching crashplan target drives. They don't recommend since you don't get the full history (it does differentials). You could do the first backup locally and bring the drive to work (they call it seeding)

 

[Stoner382]

I use myself, and find it to be very good backup software . You can backup upto 100 TB of free data storage. It supports majorly Windows, Mac, Linux ,etc. CloudBacko is simpler in the sense you don’t need to install it rather you can only login through your favourite social media account.