System backup – USB or DVD

Topic

New Reply

After my daughter’s laptop Win10 system failed to boot, I decided I needed a system backup for my aging PC, homebuilt.  My data files are backed up adequately.  My system files are not.  I found out how to make a recovery disk.  I started making a USB backup but it failed after one hour when my computer went to sleep.  It is a slow USB flash drive.  I have a DVD drive so I thought that would be better, faster, easier to label and store.

Question 1: is DVD faster than USB?

Question 2: how do you use these things if the system fails? Suppose my C: SSD fails.  How do I restore a system?

There must be reliable, clear links that answer these questions.

Thanks.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Hi Bob.

I’m not going to give you reliable links because you can find a multitude of those on the net or here using search. If you are speaking of using Windows 10 image backup to make a image of your operating system, then that is a combination of a rescue boot device which would be a USB flash thumb drive or a single DVD disc, and then a USB external Hard Drive for the actual OS image.  The boot device boots the computer if your OS is corrupted and then allows you reinstall the OS image you saved on the USB external drive.  Why not use DVDs for the actual OS image? Well you could, but they are slower and would take many..if not a dozen. A real pain sice you need 50+GB or more for a OS+programs.

If you want something other than the Windows image creation  program, Macrium free is a nice program.

Reply | Quote

USB hard disk is the best place for your backups because you can hide it away in secure, robust storage when not in use.

You can make the USB disk bootable for your system and at the same time backup to it – ask if you want more details.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote