I must say I am geting a bit frustrated with the whole idea of backing up my computer. It seems no single approach/package is a comprehensive solution.
The online backup services like Norton Online Backup, Mosy and Carbonite are only partital solutions. And File History in Windows 8 is very limited.
Since in modern times computer manufacturers no longer supply the media for the installed OS one has to at the least do two separate things to fully backup the computer. A full disk image needs to be created periodically in order to restore the OS in the event of total disk failure/replacement. Then in addition you have to run regular backups to get all of the other files.
Norton online backup has been a weeklong nightmare and I have yet to get a successful initial backup. Carbonite worked the first time without error, but in order to also get the disk image I have to buy the upgrade. Mosy appears to backup only selected user data files and does not have a disk imaging option.
Now WD Smartware. It appears to allow for a full backup even though it does not have a disk image feature, but I am not certain it is actually backing up everything I selected for backup. Perhaps I am too ignorant of Windows 8 internals, but when I selected the entire C drive for backup all folders showed a checkmark so I thought it would back everything up. However, Windows shows I am using about 70 GB on drive C, while WD Smartware only backed up about half that at 29 GB. Can anyone tell me why this is? Is there something built in to Smartware that ignores certain file types or locations even if they are selcted for backup?
I want to have the piece of mind that I can fully and quickly restore the entire dirve in the event replacement is necessary. Even with the disk image I must have regular backups in between creating a periodic disk image on DVD. The time to find out whether all files are backed up is not after a disk failure. I am finding this very frustrating.
Can anyone help me better understand what Smartware is backing up and why it is less than all I have selected?
