Backing Up between 2 external hard drives

I need a couple of suggestions for a replacement to Synctoy.

I use two Western Digital external hard drives. One is my main working hard drive that I only turn on and use when I process images in Photoshop/LR. The other is a backup in case the first one breaks. They are identical drives. I was very happy with Synctoy using its 'Mirror' process backing up hard drive folder pairs from Left to Right. But Synctoy is not working with my new PC so I need an alternative. I do my backups after I have been working on files so I don't need to schedule backups. I just choose a time when i can start the process and go watch some TV. What is a good, simple and reliable alternative that will accomplish this simple task?

 

Thanks

Why isn't SyncToy working with your new computer?

 

If you went to a Windows 10 machine, SyncToy requires .NET Framework 3.5 which does not come activated on Windows 10.

Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features On or Off (left hand column). Select Net Framework 3.5 in the popup to install it. Then install SyncToy.

 

SyncToy runs very nicely on my Windows 10 machine - after I enabled Net Framework 3.5

Yes! I found that out too after I posted the question. I have Synctoy back. I just never had to do that before. So intuitive.

 

Thanks!

Yes! I found that out too after I posted the question. I have Synctoy back. I just never had to do that before. So intuitive.

 

Thanks!

 

You are very welcome. I am glad you are back up.

 

I, too, rely on SyncToy for my off-line backup.

 

BTW, how big are your external drives?

They are 3TB now but I'm processing each image now with all 16bit file versioning so I'm going to replace them with 6TB or 8TB shortly.

I'm also going to use Backblaze for my cloud backup.

SyncToy (and its predecessors RichCopy and RoboCopy) have been my goto backup tools for many years, but there are other tools/strategies out there. I have tried a couple but reverted back to SyncToy ... always looking for a better solution. I sync on a local cloud consisting of several Netgear NAS boxes. I'm tempted to switch to Synoptics NAS for their sync capabilities but that's a bit costly.

SyncToy (and its predecessors RichCopy and RoboCopy) have been my goto backup tools for many years,

 

SyncToy is not a RoboCopy replacement. SyncToy identifies the files that need to be copied and uses RoboCopy to perform the actual copying.

My backup workflow is similar to yours. The program I use is SynchBack Pro SE. I use Mirror or Download. The program comes in free and paid versions and in 32 bit and 64 bit versions too. Check it out. I have never had a problem with it in 8-10 years.

 

More info here:

 

Detailed backup software comparison - SyncBackPro, SyncBackSE and SyncBackFree

I have two friends that lost their lives' work, one in fire and the other in flood. Backup onsite only protects from a drive failing. Consider Backblaze for cloud backup at around $60 per year, unlimited volume. Syncing is automatic. It's cold storage only, but if you need it... I've got 6TB backed via BackBlaze. There are some other options, but I thought that BB was the most efficient.

I agree with dcstep: you're not really backed up unless you have one backup in a different location. I use syncing to an external drive as backup #1 and BackBlaze for backup #2.

For what you want to achieve, I think robocopy is the best tool, and it's built into Windows. "robocopy source destination /mir" in the power shell or command prompt should do the trick. This will make the destination identical to the source (including deletion of files from the destination if necessary). Robocopy is a pretty powerful tool, the "robocopy /?" command will give you a list of all its functions. However, you have to be careful with it, it will execute whatever you tell it to without asking you to confirm. Garbage in, garbage out.

Backup onsite only protects from a drive failing.

 

First, I agree with you; off site backups are essential.

 

On site backups, especially off-line on site backups, protect from much more than a drive failure. They protect from:

 

1) User error - you delete files and then, just after you empty the Recycle Bin, you realize the files are irreplaceable.

2) You modify a file and realize you shouldn't have. Or a program or OS corrupts the file.

3) To an extent, from virus infestations. especially ransomware. It's very difficult for a virus to encrypt files on a disk that is not physically attached to the computer. Just be very sure you have eliminated the ransomware before you connect the backup media to the computer to restore.

 

I have three layers of backups - two on-site and one off-site.

 

The first on-site backup is Windows File History backing up files to an inter HDD on an hourly basis. The backups copies are unique and retained for at least three months giving me an archive of the files. This is an on-line backup and susceptible to virus attack.

 

The second on-site backup is off line and consists of SyncToy backups to a SATA 6 SSD in an external enclosure attached via USB 3.2 Gen 1. I plug it in, run SyncToy, eject, and unplug the enclosure.

 

The third is off-site stored in my safe deposit box and taken monthly and consists of two identical SATA SSD in external enclosures. I have canned WinZip jobs that create several ZIP archives and a script that uses RoboCopy to move the ZIP files and some non-ZIP files to the external disks. I have two sets of the disks - four in total. Monthly, I run the jobs, take the two enclosures to the bank, replace the enclosures in the safe deposit box with the set I created, and bring the old ones home for the next cycle.

 

I also have a system image copy of the boot disk on both the on-site external SSD and the internal HDD. I have a bootable recovery DVD to restore them if necessary.