Software recommendation for soon to be new owner.

[maflynn]

Being a mac person at home, I'm very familiar with apps that I can download and use to fill a need. As I move to order/buy a SP3 tomorrow, I'm at a loss of what I need, specifically backup software.

On my Mac I use a product called Carbon Copy Cloner that clones my drive to an external drive. It produces a bootable clone. I'm sure there's something like that for Windows. I also use winclone, a OS X app that copies my bootcamp (windows partition) and creates an image file that I can restore if need be.

I use Windows at work, and boot my MBP into windows quite often so I have some familiarity to various apps/utilities, for instance I use start8 to give back the start menu and hide the metro UI. I'm not sure if that's something that will work well for the SP3, since it a tablet.

 

[InfiniteRefrain]

I tried using Start8 on the SP3, but ended up ditching it. While useful on the laptop/desktop, its more of a burden on the Pro. I have a lot pinned due to my work and play tiles, so navigating can take some time.

With OneDrive you don't really need a back up per se: I have all of my files saved to OneDrive, and all of your base settings can be backed up automatically and shared between all Win8 devices. This makes a hard reset easy as it will re-import everything else.

Personally, I recommend not sharing the PC & Pro settings as you may tend to pin and install more games/apps than you would on the PC. Its a moot point though, if you do not mind wasting the HDD space, and you do not get OCD about having a clean system and remove apps you do not use.

 

[xandros9]

I personally use Macrium Reflect for my image/backup needs.

I wouldn't bother with Start8 unless you're hellbent on erasing Modern which I don't recommend. It works fine with a mouse and keyboard, etc etc.

 

[dpaynewp]

Hi There - I don't own an sp3, however do have a number of windows 8.1 laptops and desktops.

I would recommend checking out the winsupersite - he always has some great walkthroughs - here is a link to creating a system image

http://m.winsupersite.com/windows-8/windows-81-tip-use-system-image-backup

 

[CliveSinclair]

Don't bother with backup software - a waste of space and resources. Use OneDrive. I bought my SP3 about 4 weeks ago and simply logged in using my Microsoft Account details. All my software was downloaded and installed on it's own. Same with my Adobe CC (Lightroom and Photoshop). Once you setup your OneDrive folder(s) all you files will be synced to all your registered devices (including Macs, if you still have/use one).

Haven't used, or needed backup software since using OneDrive. And it's cross platform, should you ever go back to OSX.

 

[maflynn]

Don't bother with backup software - a waste of space and resources. Use OneDrive. I

I have several hundred gigabytes worth of images. I do not want to deal with uploading my images up to OneDrive. I'd rather use backup software that will allow me to reset my computer back to a given time and save my data. While I use OneDrive now, some of my data is so large I don't want to deal with long wait times to upload/download it. Plus I have files that are sensitive and I choose not to have them up on the cloud due to security concerns, i.e., my tax, financial data.

 

[xandros9]

Haven't used, or needed backup software since using OneDrive. And it's cross platform, should you ever go back to OSX.

Sure it keeps my files safe, but what about applications? On my laptop, I want a good image so if something goes south, I can restore to that image and not have to spend time reinstalling all the fancy things from Office to Inventor to the zillion updates.

 

[CliveSinclair]

Agreed about sensitive data and large files. I encrypt any sensitive data and put up with the initial large upload (when I started using OneDrive). For me the benefits (as a photographer) outweigh the negatives. It also adds one extra offsite storage to my backup workflow.

 

[harihar akhil]

Try easeus backup software a free software which also supports device cloning.

 

[maflynn]

Agreed about sensitive data and large files. I encrypt any sensitive data and put up with the initial large upload (when I started using OneDrive). For me the benefits (as a photographer) outweigh the negatives. It also adds one extra offsite storage to my backup workflow.

Do you use Lightroom? I'm wondering how that will behave with OneDrive

 

[CliveSinclair]

Yes, I use Lightroom/Photoshop (CC versions). No Problem, I use the local catalogue on my SSD. Lightroom does not yet support network/cloud drives for editing. As soon as I've finished editing, I backup the catalogue (auto set), OneDrive then copies to cloud, my Macbook Pro and Windows PC within seconds.

Doing it like this allows for editing from any machine - if needed. But I generally now use my SP3 on clients sights. Using OneDrive also allows me to have a public folder for clients to view files remotely (especially useful for weddings/receptions). A couple of local hotels also allow me to feed pictures of the wedding they have just attended direct to the TV's in their rooms.

 

[InfiniteRefrain]

Do you use Lightroom? I'm wondering how that will behave with OneDrive

I had some issues with InDesign and OneDrive - for some reason if ALL the files for the project were not all 'Available Offline' ID was not able to 'see' the files for a bunch of tasks [i.e.: saving to PDF, etc.]. Once I made the entire project folder Available Offline everything worked perfect.

 

[stephen_az]

Don't bother with backup software - a waste of space and resources. Use OneDrive. I bought my SP3 about 4 weeks ago and simply logged in using my Microsoft Account details. All my software was downloaded and installed on it's own. Same with my Adobe CC (Lightroom and Photoshop). Once you setup your OneDrive folder(s) all you files will be synced to all your registered devices (including Macs, if you still have/use one).

Haven't used, or needed backup software since using OneDrive. And it's cross platform, should you ever go back to OSX.

Don't bother with backup software - a waste of space and resources. Use OneDrive. I bought my SP3 about 4 weeks ago and simply logged in using my Microsoft Account details. All my software was downloaded and installed on it's own. Same with my Adobe CC (Lightroom and Photoshop). Once you setup your OneDrive folder(s) all you files will be synced to all your registered devices (including Macs, if you still have/use one).

Haven't used, or needed backup software since using OneDrive. And it's cross platform, should you ever go back to OSX.

Having Adobe CC install on its own is a neat trick since it is absolutely not possible. Files will restore via OneDrive and both settings and Modern apps will reinstall by syncing your Microsoft Account. Conventional x86 based programs will not (and cannot) install automatically. Microsoft is very clear on that subject - conventional programs must be reinstalled after a refresh, reset, or wipe. OneDrive is absolutely not a replacement for a system image and never will be. It is cloud storage and nothing more. While a great service it is not a replacement for a system image....

 

[stephen_az]

Do you use Lightroom? I'm wondering how that will behave with OneDrive

Syncing a large Lightroom catalog to OneDrive is extremely inefficient if you have a large catalog and include the previews folders. That can amount to tens of thousands of tiny files in an insanely complicated circa 1995 folder hierarchy. It grinds OneDrive to a halt at times and I have never seen it even complete with 100% fidelity. Yes, I have tried with each of the previous couple versions of Lightroom. If you want to impact OneDrive performance and SP3 temperature, include a large Lightroom database and preview collection in OneDrive.

As a matter of standard practice, I always include Lightroom folders in a non-OneDrive Pictures folder and backup separately. Actually, I also go in to Search Indexing Options and remove Lightroom previews folders from indexing since that also creates an excessive burden on the CPU at times, all to index files that have unrecognizable names (with little ability to open). For reference, my catalogs range in size from a few thousand images to more than 50,000.

BTW, unless you have unlimited local storage (not the case with any SP3) and want to use Lightroom to import a large collection of online only raw files from OneDrive into a database, when it imports the files the defaults download all of the raw files to the local machine. My raw files are stored in four locations. There is a 100% collection on OneDrive as an online backup (somewhere in excess of 3/4 of a terabyte); a second copy is on my server which can be read by Lightroom, a monthly backup is made to a 2 TB external drive; and then the subset of working files is kept on a MicroSDXC card in the SP3.