One of the worst lessons in the world of computing is that hard drives are not eternal. Even though they carry some capacity to communicate different alerts about their state, the truth is that many times we never know precisely the reason behind the failure. Losing information is a very hard blow, but with the free edition of EaseUS Todo Backup, creating backups is reduced to a couple of clicks.
Are you up to date with your backups? Don't worry, I know well that the answer is no. The amount of data a user can generate per day is very significant, and copying that content each time becomes tedious. There are many tools on the market that promote automatic backups, and we have also seen notable progress in cloud storage, but in general the user does not go beyond an external hard drive and a couple of files copied by hand. Another problem associated with the lack of backups and hard drive failures is deploying an operating system from scratch. The latest versions of Windows are not so traumatic; however, Windows 7 carries hundreds of hotfixes on its shoulders, and Microsoft's position of not developing a Service Pack 2 eats us alive. Reinstalling Windows 7 demands entire hours, but a proper backup could eliminate that frustration.
Now, how can we create that backup? Let's make some room for EaseUS Todo Backup. The last time we talked about it, we focused on its basic operation for backing up under Windows, but today we have the opportunity to explore it more deeply. After downloading its installer (approximately 114 megabytes in the latest version), the interface will present four main functions.
Full Disk and Partition Backups
The first one allows us to carry out a complete backup of an entire disk, or its partitions. Among the advanced parameters, we discover the possibility of encrypting the image (for greater security), increasing its compression (this will slow down the process), and limiting system resources, in case it is essential to keep working while EaseUS Todo Backup does its thing in the background.
File and Folder Backups
The second function focuses on backing up specific files and/or folders, and it was the basis of our previous article. Basically, what the user must do here is select all the files and folders they want to see in the backup, and indicate a location to save the result. Compression and encryption parameters are also available under this mode, but it is necessary to mention two additional elements: backup scheduling (just like Windows Task Scheduler), and the so-called "backup strategy", which limits both the number of backups and their duration, something very useful if we don't want our destination drive to be filled with old backups.
Operating System Backups
The third mode of EaseUS Todo Backup talks about a backup for the operating system. Instead of selecting disks or partitions, the program shows us the detected operating systems. If something very bad happened to our current Windows installation and not even System Restore manages to bring it back from the dark side, a backup made through this mechanism can save the situation. A fact to keep in mind is that restoring operating systems requires an emergency disk, which must be created beforehand. EaseUS Todo Backup offers two types of disks: one based on Linux, and the other on WinPE. For compatibility reasons and a greater number of integrated tools, the WinPE version is recommended. This mode probably requires the most prior work from the user, but it's good to know it's there.
Intelligent Backup
Finally, we reach the intelligent backup function. What does the program mean by 'intelligent'? In essence, what it offers here is the creation of continuous and regenerative backups of folders and files. If during your daily sessions you must edit the same files multiple times and cannot risk a loss, EaseUS Todo Backup will make a copy of the new versions every time you modify the files. All the program asks for is a destination folder, logically on a different hard drive than the one containing the original data. The idea here is to "decentralize" and avoid a single point of failure ruining our lives.
Additional Features and Editions
Other elements to consider in EaseUS Todo Backup are the cloning module (to install new hard drives and transfer content), and secure data deletion with the option to configure multiple sweeps. EaseUS Todo Backup has been with us for just over six years, and the company that develops it accumulates eleven years of experience with products focused on data recovery, restoration, and duplication. EaseUS Todo Backup has a free version, where we can find all the essential support we need. The Home edition (29 dollars, with various discount options) includes backups for email clients, scheduled notifications, and additional technical support, and in the higher versions aspects such as network backup, tape backup, and centralized administration appear. The latest build 8.8 is compatible with Windows 10, so you should not hesitate to try it. Good luck!
