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Jun 9, 2021
11:39:11am
BYUMizzou Former User
I've used a bunch of different backup services over the years
I'm currently using Acronis True Image, and it seems to work well other than it seems to use a lot of system resources right after startup. However, it has built-in antivirus/anti-malware/anti-ransomware monitoring & protection built in, so I was able to ditch my other antivirus subscription.

Prior to Acronis I used iDrive. I wasn't a big fan of iDrive. I paid for a one-year subscription, then cancelled it. It didn't work well. Backups regularly failed. I had a hard time finding backed up files. I don't recommend it.

Before I used iDrive, I was a Carbonite user. I had a situation like yours where my hard drive was failing. I had cloud backup of my business files, but I didn't have anything backing up my hard drive software and settings files. Carbonite worked well for what I needed. I was able to clone the hard drive to an external drive and back up my entire hard drive to their cloud. Then I got another internal SSD drive and cloned the hard drive again, and replaced the failing drive with the new internal SSD. I ditched Carbonite because they kept raising their prices significantly every subscription renewal.

Regardless of what service you choose, clone your hard drive to an external SSD, then throw it in a drawer or put it in a safe. Then make sure your data files are being backed up continuously to the cloud somewhere. I take out my cloned drive every 3-6 months and re-clone it. I actually have 2 drives that use and rotate between. I'm paranoid that my internal hard drive will fail while in the process of re-cloning my drive, so I have a second backup.

When my internal drive ever fails, I can connect the external cloned drive and boot from it, then update the data files from the cloud and have my computer back up and running within 10 minutes or so.
BYUMizzou
Previous username
Mark Harlan
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BYUMizzou
Joined
Aug 25, 2010
Last login
May 5, 2024
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