It seems that the Backup and Restore feature in Windows 7 may do everything I need. I tried a number of free backup products, and one that I paid for, and none were really what I was looking for.
Researching the built-in product further, it looks like it automatically implements a combined full and differential strategy, at least for the file backup part. I decided to add all the folders I wanted to backup into a library and then select the "Let Windows Choose" option of the file backup (as it backs up all libraries and also automatically selects the "System Image" option). I turned on the Schedule and selected a frequency of Daily. As the USB Hard Drive I purchased is always on (there's no on/off switch), it really is set and forget.
The utility manages the space it uses for the System Image, storing old ones until the space used reaches 30% of the backup media and then deleting the oldest each time a new one is created. There's a useful description here Windows 7 Backup - Space Management.
No comments:
Post a Comment