What is the best way to back up your hard drive?

Question

I have two identical 500 GB SATA drives, one is new with nothing on it. Ideally I'd like a mirrored RAID configuration, but I don't want to erase my older hard drive. Or is there a better option for backing up. I like the idea of having a second bootable drive.

Answer 1

I like to create a complete, exact copy of my hard drive. This is different than the usual backups that people talk about. Backing up your important files is a great idea, and you should do that too, but if you use Acronis True Image ($49.99) you not only can backup files, but you can also create exact copies of your disk, including the OS! Then if (when) your PC goes crazy, and you can not fix it, you can restore (a real restore) your PC back exactly as it was at the time of your latest complete backup. Also, if you own or buy a Maxtor or Seagate hard drive, you can download and use their backup software for free (it is called MaxBlast or DiscWizard, but it is actually Acronis True Image). Check it out:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/pro...

also google "MaxBlast" and also "DiscWizard"

Answer 2

I recommend Cobian Backup 9, it's a free and easy to use program to automate the back up process.

Cobian Backup 9 is a free, open-source software which I use to automate the process of backing up. It can be used to schedule and backup your files and directories from their original location to other directories/drives in the same computer, external hard drive or other computer in your network.