Path: ...!news-out.netnews.com!postmaster.netnews.com!us4.netnews.com!not-for-mail X-Trace: DXC=0RfnM_fUCLM65ogAh`DK>LHWonT5<]0TMQ;nb^V>PUfF5[gZBW6J?LLZHjmnLVPdBMSlS@GLifiKJ[>@DCD?fZ:JMba][>SC2CGf;]EoU=id5F=R Subject: Re: (OT) Windows 10 won't back up to an internal HD? Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy References: Content-Language: en-US In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Lines: 67 Message-ID: <66645419$0$1412889$882e4bbb@reader.netnews.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 127.0.0.1 X-Trace: 1717851161 reader.netnews.com 1412889 127.0.0.1:45361 Bytes: 3881 On 6/8/2024 5:06 AM, RonB wrote: > My wife's Windows 10 computer (Inspiron, not my choice) came with a 256GB > SSD and a 1TB hard drive. Stupid me, I assumed that Dell would set up it up > so the program data would save on the TB hard drive and the applications > would run from the SSD. Nope. Everything ran on the SSD and all data was > saved there. The hard drive is just a drone, sitting there and doing > nothing. (I just discovered this.) > > So after about three years, her computer slowed way down. I assumed she > needed more memory and bought a 32GB SIM (so she now has 40GBs of RAM). > Still slow. Then I realized that she had filled up her SSD. It actually had > only 25MBs free tonight. It's a wonder it ran at all. > > So I ordered a 1TB SSD, and tonight cloned it in an external enclosure and > installed it. Worked well (the SSD came with Acronis True Disk). I saw that > Acronis had a backup utility as well, so figured I would back up the new SSD > to the practically unused hard drive... and I found out Microsoft doesn't > like backing up to an internal hard drive. Why does it have this limitation? > > For those of you who use Windows, is there any way to make Windows 10 back > up to an internal hard drive? I've seen something about making the internal > drive a "network drive," which seems kind of convoluted. Is there any > application that overrides this (to me) senseless limitation? And why does > Windows 10 have this limitation — is there a logical reason for it? > (Apparently Windows 7 didn't have this limitation.) > > Kind of ranting. Sorry. But I would like to see my wife's internal hard > drive set up for backups — if possible. FWIW I use 3 drives: C internal NVMe OS, boot and installed apps D internal SSD personal files, downloads, binaries E external HDD copy of D Every evening or more often I copy new/changed files from D to E. I recommend getting her used to doing manual backups - every day - of new files and changes she made that day. Losing even 1 day of work is a lot. How well does she understand and maintain a separation between program code and personal data? If she stores personal files in the same folders as the executables (usually C:\Program Files or C:\Program Files (x86)), you'll have to separate them. If all her personal data - all the info you want to backup - is already in C:\Users\\, then just drag and drop that entire folder to the backup drive. 2nd easiest is copy one folder at a time to the backup drive: C:\Users\\Contacts C:\Users\\Desktop C:\Users\\Documents C:\Users\\Downloads C:\Users\\Music C:\Users\\Pictures C:\Users\\Videos This assumes she used those folders as intended. Also, from time to time take a screenshot of Control Panel | Programs and Features, to see what apps she has installed, that she might want to reinstall in the future.