Switched to Win7 (64bit) -- what backup software to use?

[rlcarr]

A few days ago I switched my T500 over to Win7 (64 bit) via clean install (installed new hard drive and installed Win7 on that.)

I now have things re-installed/migrated from the old system and it's time to do a backup (and begin regular backups).

My question is what backup/restore software should I use and what the pros/cons are of each.

I already have the Windows 7 backup software that came with the OS. I can download Lenovo's Rescue and Recovery software whenever I want to. So those are already at hand. Or I could use a 3rd-party utility such as Acronis's True Image 2010.

I've already discovered that Win7 Backup won't make a system image on a network backup location if that network share isn't underlyingly NTFS, so that's a strike against Win7 Backup.

So, what do you all use and what are the good and bad points of it?

[K0LO]

rlcarr:

I've been a fan of Acronis True Image for quite a while now and use TI version 10 for backing up my ThinkPad monthly to an external USB disk. Backups and restores are done from a VistaPE build that incorporates ATI 10 and DD 10, and a copy of the build is installed on the Windows 7 boot partition for easy access while traveling. This method is my secondary (long-term) backup mechanism.

The primary backup mechanism is a nightly backup to a Windows Home Server box on the home network. This is by far the best backup method that I've used since it's completely automated and very efficient in terms of disk storage requirements. The backup method uses a de-duplication technique that only saves unique clusters in the backup database and can handle up to 10 PCs. It's pretty slick technology and highly recommended if you have an old PC (hardware requirements are quite modest) that can be put into service as the server.

An advantage of the Windows 7 backup method is that the backup is saved in virtual hard disk format, and the resulting .vhd files can be mounted with Windows Disk Management console or Virtual PC, and can be explored with Windows Explorer and files can be extracted easily. However, the whole backup method lacks flexibility and uses storage space quite inefficiently. But it is included with the OS...

[ashleys]

I'm now running Windows 7 Professional (32-bit) on my T30 and using Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition. The Free Edition supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7.

I've used Paragon Hard Disk Manager on my desktop for years and the free edition has all the basics I need for the T30.

[archer6]

Another vote for Acronis True Image 10.

[pdth]

I use Second Copy to synchronize two computers on my local area network, which gives me the ability to use them interchangeably as well as providing a backup. I use iDrive to back up 150GB of my files to the vendor's off-site servers. Both are very simple and robust.

[woodpusherghd]

I've been using Acronis True Image to back up a disk image to a drive in the ultrabay. Works well. You can also create compressed partition image files which can be mounted later as a drive.

[AMATX]

Thanks for the tips on Acronis, guys. Just purchased it and the Plus Pack and have run a couple backups in recent days. When using the standard compression, it's really fast working on the SSD drive I just got in a W700. Nice, easy interface, plenty of options on what to do, etc.

I'm only interested in full partition backups, so don't need lots of bells and whistles. However, I've been using an old copy of PQDI(Drive Image, from the old days), and wanted to get current as I'm doing a hardware refresh.