Backup & Restore on Vista Ultimate to Multiple Drives

[btvarner]

Can someone tell me if you can schedule backups to more then one external
hard drive in Vista Ultimate? I have 2 external hard drives that I would
make file backups to no different nights with XP Pro. With Vista I can only
see the ability to schedule backups to one location. will I have to stope
that scheduled and then manually schedule to the other drive everytime I want
to do this? Thanks!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Can someone tell me if you can schedule backups to more then one external
hard drive in Vista Ultimate? I have 2 external hard drives that I would
make file backups to no different nights with XP Pro. With Vista I can only
see the ability to schedule backups to one location. will I have to stope
that scheduled and then manually schedule to the other drive everytime I want
to do this? Thanks!

Do you keep these drives connected all the time? If not, just plug in
the appropriate drive each night.

If they are connected all the time, I would rethink that practice, if
I were you. That's virtually the same thing as backing up to internal
drives, and runs the same risks--you are susceptible to simultaneous
loss of the original and backup to many of the most common dangers:
severe power glitches, nearby lightning strikes, virus attacks, even
theft of the computer.

 

[btvarner]

I am a photographer and actually have instances of all my images. 1st on the
internal HD. 2nd on an always attached external HD. 3rd on an always
attached external HD to another PC in the house. 4th on a monthly attached
HD that is then removed to different premises.

Hi Ken,

Understood that lightning or other disaster could wipe out the three
instances at once. I would still have the offsite backup + in my experience
the most likely disaster would involve only the loss of one HD at a time so I
am willing to take that chance.

I guess then the answer is that Vista Backup & Restore cannot accommodate a
schedule to backup to more than one locate? Also, I do not understand your
recommendation to just attach the other HD each night. I tried that and it
appears to me that the first drive had the true backup and the other drive
only had the "differential" copy??

Am i Missing something here? Thanks!

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I am a photographer and actually have instances of all my images. 1st on the
internal HD. 2nd on an always attached external HD. 3rd on an always
attached external HD to another PC in the house. 4th on a monthly attached
HD that is then removed to different premises.

Hi Ken,

Understood that lightning or other disaster could wipe out the three
instances at once. I would still have the offsite backup + in my experience
the most likely disaster would involve only the loss of one HD at a time so I
am willing to take that chance.

It's entirely up to you, of course. My view is that the only point of
using an external drive as opposed to an internal one is that the
external doesn't have to always be attached, and that permits you to
reduce your risks. If you don't think the extra risk is significant,
that's your choice, but then why do you bother using external drives
instead of internals?

I guess then the answer is that Vista Backup & Restore cannot accommodate a
schedule to backup to more than one locate? Also, I do not understand your
recommendation to just attach the other HD each night. I tried that and it
appears to me that the first drive had the true backup and the other drive
only had the "differential" copy??

I have always preferred to use better backup software that what comes
with Windows, so I can't really address the details of how Vista's
software works, or how it can be scheduled. I have also always avoided
doing differential backups, and always preferred full, stand-alone
backups. If you are doing differential backups, you may not
realistically have the choice I recommended.

Again, ymmv.