What's the best way to backup Windows?

C

Chris230291

Member
Hello. I'm looking for a time machine equivalent for windows after I accidental formatted the drive and lost all my games saves :( Everything was completed apart from Far Cry 3, but I don't want to loose my saves again.

Can anyone suggest a solution?

Ideally it will backup to my server AUTOMATICALLY and be saved in such a way i can browse it like my C drive.

Hopefully this can be done?

Cheers,
Chris.
 
WOW that's very generous and I'm grateful for the offer! However I use FreeNas as my server OS, so essentially it just appears as a disk(s) in "Computer". Basically I'm looking for a client side (is that right? the actual PC I wanna back up) solution that will backup to what appears to Windows as a NAS drive.

I hope that makes sense? I know what I want but I'm unsure on the terminology.

Cheers,
Chris.
 
Yea that makes sense. I understand your setup a bit better now.

Do you have your NAS drives mapped as a network drive on your Computer? If so then you can do it straight from your OS. Its a new feature in Windows 8 that is called file history.

You can set what folders you would like to back up and at what time periods you would like to have them update. File history copies all of the files that you have selected you your NAS drive. It then looks for changes with in those files you selected. If one of your files has been updated to a newer version for example your Far cry 3 save. Then it will update only the new file rather than running the backup every time. This saves a lot of space and i recently hellped a friend do it at his house.

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Windows8Step0TurnOnContinuousBackupsViaFileHistory.aspx

I just did a quick google and found that guide. It might be easier than me trying to explain it.

Hope that helps.
 
Hello. It looks simple enough but for some reason I cant see my share in the File History utility/page?

I have been having problems with Windows 8 seeing my CIFS shares and I have to type the IP address and folder name in "run" to load them up. Could this be related to my problem?

I have "mapped" the network location to a drive letter but I am unable to see it in "file History" when I click "Use Network Location".

I only use Windows for games and as such, i don't really know what I'm doing inside it.

Any help is appreciated,
Chris.
 
Hi Chris,

Sorry I have only just checked back on this thread and figured out how to get the forums to email me when someone replies :P

When you get to this screen:
30bCNZm.png

Click the "select drive" Option in the navigation panel.

You then get this screen:
8vXhGvv.png

You click on "add network location", then you will see and explorer window appears. If you move your mouse to the top left in the address bar of the explorer window there is a arrow that appears. Click the dropdown and select "Computer". Here you should see your mapped network drive. Click on it and make the selection.

Hope that helps. If not i have another way to try and get around it if I understood your post properly.
 
Cheers for the reply fella. Pretty sure that's what I tried. I'll film it on my phone when I get home later lol

Thanks again,
Chris
 
Okay then.

Does the mapped network drive in your NAS show up under my computer and network locations?

Thanks,
Brad
 
Yes it does fella, that's why I'm scratching my head. Perhaps it's some kind of permissions issue, although it doesn't mention anything like that.

I'll video it later, but I copied all dialog boxes to the letter. I could just be doing something stupid though.
 
Oh okay. Yea sorry I forgot to mention you need to give the Mapped network dive full permissions for all users. Thats my fault entirely.

All you have to do is click on the mapped network drive under network locations and then click on properties. If you look at the top on the tabs, you need the security one. Then half way down there is a edit button. Click that and you will get a window pop up. All you have to do is click the Box that says "Full control" under the "Allow" Category. Then click on Apply.

It should then show up within the File history settings. Sorry about the confusion. Its a few months since i set mine up :P

Hope that helps. No rush just try it when you get home and let me know. I'm here all day today so i can help you get it running.
 
Arh ok cool.

I'm starting to think it's a server side issue as that's where i have to edit the permissions. I'm fairly sure i have it set up correctly, but then again I'm new to CIFS and Windows shares etc.

In OS X if i try to write to a protected directory, a box pops up and asks for a username and password. I enter the credentials and i have write access. Is there anywhere in Windows where i need to add the login details... other than in the security tab or when i map a share to a driver letter?
 
Right. I looked up the permissions on the NAS. http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/Volumes#Setting_Permissions
Apparently all you need to do is get to this screen. Somehow (sorry again for my lack of knowledge with this OS) And just tick all the boxes to allow all acces to the drive. This should then show up in the File history as you will be able to write to the drive.

I think this should also fix your issue with OSX as you wont need to login to have elevated permissions to the drive. I believe (not a mac guy either) :(

Hope that helps. I removed that post from before. I didn't make much sense in it.
 
O right? Well i already have all that so i guess the permissions on the server are fine?

When i try to add it in "File History" i get this message...

Untitled.png


So it sounds like the login credentials are wrong on the windows side to me? Please note that the username and password set on the server are completely different to my Windows login details. could this be th problem?

I'm not having any issues with OS X. I was just wondering why i don't get the same pop up when i try to write to a share in windows? The popup would allow me to enter the CORRECT credentials instead of whatever windows is using?
 
I think they will have to be the same for it to work. But it definitely is a credentials error. Try setting them to the same thing and see if that works. If not there will be something else we will have to figure out. :P
 
Dude.... I DONE IT! lol *Hyped*

Not really sure what fixed the problem if I'm honest!
I'm running Windows 8 which has known issues with sharing and FreeNas. For example, shares will not appear in network even if they are discoverable (or whatever the correct terminology is), you have to manually locate them by typing in the server address in "Run".

Anyways.... I disconnected all of the shares in explorer (removed mapping to drive letter), then rebooted. When i got back into Windows i noticed that the shares were detected natively, without me having to point the PC at it. So i tried again and BOOM! Worked first time.

I wish i understood exactly what was going on. I guess you only have write access when windows see's it properly? (ie, i don't have to type the IP in "Run")? I'm just happy it's finally working to be honest.

Cheers for all of your help! (Need a thanks button!)
Chris!


EDIT: This File History utility thing... does it backup EVERYTHING on my C drive or just like the user data? If i were to do a fresh install, could i point my PC at this backup and have it identical to what it was before?
 
Last edited:
You can select it to back up what you want. And I believe you you can just point your PC there. However I would recommend creating a ISO of your system and just your System and then leave the file history to do its thing with all of your data. Then you only need 1 main back up. I do think that you can select your whole system I.E C drive D drive and any other drives you have.

Glad you got it working.
Brad :P
 
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