favorite backup software

I just have Windows backup with Win7. I have Acronis, but have not used it that much. Some others have used another program and Acronis did not cut it for them. Perhaps like Fireberd will see the thread and tell you what he is using now I don't remember at the moment. Back threads may hold the answer if looking or searching for what some others use for backup.

I use TrueImage booted from CD to image the system drive, and always run an integrity check from the CD booted program as well. I do not use an image file to back up data, for most I do not even compress it with a "repairable" format like zip. I am not willing to commit data to a proprietary format that I may not be able to unscramble with the original program when I need it. Even the backups created by MS operating systems have not always been recognized by subsequent versions of the OS. I keep data in its native format by copying with Richcopy or Synchtoy or Cobian Backup.
 
 

carbonite is very slow the first time took days to complete but then it seems fast enough..
carbonite backs up your stuff,
Paragon allows  you to reimage your system in case of failure. 

I've used True Image about a billion times.   LOL
Has worked every time for me...
 
Paragon works just fine too
 
IMO, Backup of the OS is something best done completely outside the OS.
 
Also, don't do incremental backups.
Incremental backups mean you have a backup dependent on another backup (increasing the odds of a problem).
 
Carbonite?
Scott, you must be a patient man.  :)
 

Hey Jim,
LOL yeah.. after the initial back up (days) its effective for what I do with it
I will never loose another file
my wife will never lose music/pics and that alone is worth it.. :-)
problem with images is they tend to be old.. my server is the only thing that gets daily then weekly back ups in 3 places.. not about to create dual redundant raid 6 arrays for the wife (thought about it trust me, never see someone woman up a computer like her)
 

Your post mentioned trustworthy and simplest. These are the two most important factors to me. For this reason, I don't use third party software for my backups. I use Windows Robocopy - I'll post the command line options below if anyone is interested. I schedule the backup weekly with Windows Task Scheduler and leave my computer on overnight when this is done. My backup goes to an external drive and it is an exact copy of my content files on my working drive. If there is any problem, I can drag and drop missing files or directories from the backup with Windows Explorer. I can also browse the backup before I restore, verify that it was done, etc. I think this scheme give the most flexibility and is least likely to fail. It also doesn't require any additional software purchase. I've come to this after going through numerous third party packages, which are always more complex than this and often don't allow direct browsing of the backup itself.
 
My actual external drive is a Linux box running Raid 5 with multiple 3TB drives, although the scheme I am suggesting will work nicely with external USB drives. 
 
I use Paragon for an image copy of the C: partition, but I don't run this except when I do fairly major system updates that I wouldn't want to have to recover manually.
 
command line:
robocopy /source-directory /destination-directory /MIR /FFT /Z /XA:SH /R:0 /XJD /NP
 

I've seen lots of interesting backup solutions in my time, whatever you choose, remember that it's when you are restoring the data that it's key to be in control. in the end my experience is that you can check this . You can save up to 100 TB of free data storage. It supports majorly Windows, Mac, Linux ,etc.

Acronis has saved my bacon probably more than a dozen times already.

It's amazing how if you try out a freebie, or even visit a web page, how sometimes something gets added to the system. I'm pretty good at problem solving but there have been a bunch of times where something inexplicable was going on, while just a few days prior everything had been great. When I restore from Acronis, which is just a couple clicks, everything pops back to the previous backup and eliminates the guesswork to remove the issue. It's been a remarkable help for me.

bump

Thanks.
 
I'm thinking I'd like to try Paragon. I'm wondering which version I should try. They have a free version as well as some small business packages.
 

I'm just your average Joe when it comes to PC stuff. But the tech I bought my first machine off of in 2001 told me about backing up. Best advice ever. And she ( that's right) built that computer with 2 x 10 Gig Hard drives. One was for OS and the other one DATA.  So I have always had at least 2 drives. On her advice I also bought one of those first external boxes you added the drive yourself too. I still have those hard drives as they all were taken out of service before they were worn out.
I would purchase a new drive at least once a year a they grew in size and speed. I never delete data. I just add more storage. A simple back up system that has always worked for me. Don't delete, and keep your drives fresh.  I have had only 2 drives die on me due to power issues, but that only resulted in loosing stuff like my bookmarks and Outlook Express e mail. 
Now with Chrome you never loose bookmarks, and nobody uses client based email. 
 
Just a while ago I had a OS drive with a funky SATA port connector. I had no problem cloning it using  http://www.todo-backup.com/products/home/free-backup-software.htm
I did some research about Cloning/ back up software and this one got a lot of good reviews. 
During my research there was a lot of issues reported with Acronis. 
I have used the EaseUS back up a few times as well but don't really need it as all my data is always in 3 or more places. Those backups are done manually and using "save as". 
 
I also now store all my word documents and office files on Dropbox. I have Dropbox on 4 computers so those files are updated and stored locally as well as the cloud. That's 5 copies without my intervention. It rocks. 
 
Photos, Don't ever erase an SD card. Why? they are cheap. I pull the card once a year and store them in a little wallet. 
Our family dumps our pictures to each others laptops etc. All our pictures are shared and stored at least 4 times this way. 
 Some use Dropbox or Google Drive for additional back ups too. 
I even have Sonar backed up on my Mother in laws computer.