yes I realize this topic is never ending but now that it's 2014 I'm wondering what everyone thinks is the most trustworthy and more important simpleest way to backup a computer. I have two 1 terabyte internal drives a few 1 - 2 external drives for sounds video and stuff and a 3 terabyte drive USB 3 external for backup. I'd like to be able to simply clone the drive and back them up incrementally.
Acronis still the best and easiest? I would be happy enough to pay for a Cloud Drive but I've heard they are slow and limited in the amount of data.

is anyone using and loving the windows backup? I'm using 8.1.

thanks for your input

WSS

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.

paragon over acronis all day long..
 
PLUS I use carbonite.. it has saved my butt 2 times.

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 doesn't take up a lot of resources? And it's quick enough? I just looked at their website it seems like plus would work for my recording system and various external drives.



WSS

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'm using Macrium Reflect (paid version).  I used to use Acronis True Image but ran into problems with Acronis failing to restore (two times - didn't get a third) so I dumped it.  I tried the free version of Macrium and liked it so bought a license for all my PC's.  The majority of the techies that I deal with on other computer forums are using Macrium.
 
Macrium and Acronis (and probably others) have two options for creating a bootable "rescue" disc or bootable USB flash drive.  The Linux based version or the WinPE version.  I've had problems with the Linux based versions not recognizing all the hard drives and thus only recommend creating the WinPE version.

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.  :)
 

Jim, I never had a problem with Acronis when I had Vista and then Win 7 with an Intel motherboard system.  However, after building a new system with a Gigabyte Z77 motherboard (and a second system with an ASUS Z77 motherboard) I started having problems.  I tried Acronis 2011, 2012 and 2013 (I had the Plus version) both a standard Acronis Linux bootable rescue disk and a WinPE version and neither would rebuild the hard drive from a backup on the ASUS motherboard system.  The original motherboard was an ASRock but it failed and when it failed it corrupted the hard drive. The ASRock was replaced with an ASUS P8Z77-LE Plus motherboard (using an i5 3550 CPU).

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)