To me Ocster apps like today's GOTD, 1-Click Backup, seem really pretty decent. They don't suit the way I work or manage systems, so it wouldn't make much sense for me to switch from my long-term backup strategies using Paragon apps, but that's me -- likewise someone that's been using Ocster apps for a long time would probably not have any reason to switch to Paragon or Acronis or anything else. Since I don't have day-to-day in depth experience with Ocster's stuff I can't in good conscience say a lot about it, but I did feel that maybe going over some backup basics was in order judging by the comments posted on the GOTD download page. This is a duplicate of what I posted there, though I've no idea if it was too late to make it through moderation, if it'll be of use or flamed.
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There are 2 ways to back up your files -- as files or as raw data, meaning an image containing the 1s & 0s on your hard drive or storage device. A full image backup takes less time to create & restore, but it doesn't handle individual files well -- it takes much longer to create an image if you exclude files/folders, & it takes both special procedures & more time restoring anything less than the full image. Creating a backup that stores your files as files takes longer, but accessing/restoring some of those files [rather than the full backup] is easier. A drive/partition image is good when you want to copy or restore the partition exactly, say if you replace the drive, after you wipe the complete disk because of malware infection, as a precaution before updating something like graphics drivers & so on.
OTOH data files, documents, images, all the stuff you work on or with, the reason you may use your PC/laptop in the 1st place, are better suited to file backups -- you need to protect those files because of the time, money, work etc. invested in them, but you aren't interested in making another copy of all the Windows & program files that rarely change [if ever]. File based backups of this important stuff are also what you'd most likely store on-line, at least in the US, where upload speeds tend to be severely limited -- if it seems to take a long time to send an email with an attachment that's a few MB, imagine sending 50 GB or so representing a full drive/partition image.
That's not to say on-line storage [what many folks nowadays like to call "the cloud"] isn't workable if you've got the connection speed you need to make you happy. DO remember though that even the biggest names in on-line data storage have had occasional if rare problems where clients have lost data, and remember that your on-line connection can go down -- if backups of your stuff, &/or 24/7 access to those backups matter, redundancy is very cool.
An effective backup strategy might use both types of backups, perhaps with a disk/partition image after the Windows Patch Tuesday updates, & then file backups of your work, emails & such as often as needed. You can back up everything more often of course, & it's really up to you, but if you get infected by malware for example you might want or need to restore a backup from 2 or 3 months ago, or however long it's been since you got infected, and you have to decide just how many backups you want to store. If a full image backup takes up 2 Blu-Ray discs, & you do that full image backup once a day, that's 730 discs to store likely costing ~$1 each. Or if you put just 1 backup a month on a couple of Blu-Ray discs, then store however many on an internal or external hard drive, deleting old backups as needed to make room, you're looking at 24 discs, which isn't so bad. Now I talk about using Blu-Ray discs because they're the highest capacity [25 GB], but you can apply the same logic using DVDs or just one external drive -- it all boils down to deciding how much of your time and money you want to invest before it becomes just as easy to reinstall Windows & everything else, & for that there's no single answer that works for everyone.
Personally I don't like to (re)install Windows. Some PC/laptop manufacturers, some IT dept.s, & some individuals create backups of a known good Windows install as a baseline copy -- it's only as up to date as the date it was created, but it does save considerable work vs. starting from scratch. For installing win7 I've got a backup of a fresh win7 install made at the point where the install routine re-boots, before it detects hardware & starts adding drivers -- restoring that backup can save a little time compared to a normal install.
DO bear in mind though that the reason you have a PC/laptop is not so that you can back up its hard drive(s)... the image that comes to mind is a mother so bundling up her kids that they can't enjoy playing in the snow. Whatever backup strategy you use it shouldn't intrude too much on what you normally do with your PC or laptop. That's one of Ocster's selling points.
One of the things some people worry about is if their backup is stored in some proprietary format, but I've never been able to share their concerns... If Windows is intact you can run the backup app you installed. If Windows is not intact you can restore it from backup, & that restoration would presumably include your backup software. If you're restoring a system partition [i.e. with Windows on it] you'd use a boot disc or USB stick [unless you have more than 1 Windows installed] that you create as soon as you use that backup app -- create both, create 1/2 dozen, what ever makes you feel secure. The whole purpose of backups to begin with is so you don't have to worry about losing your stuff, & that would include your backup app(s). That said, no one is more responsible for your stuff than you are, so if your backups have something you can't afford to lose, store copies elsewhere in case of things like fire, flood, tornadoes etc..
DO test your backup solutions... You Don't want to find out you don't understand how to restore a backup, &/or You Don't want to find out something doesn't work when disaster strikes. You may not think you need to worry, that you don't need any practice, & you may be right -- or not. Ask yourself what would happen if your system(s) were down & you couldn't restore your backup(s) -- the answer will tell you how motivated you need to be when it comes to testing the process & having some redundancy. One example that was pretty much unpredictable, I had an external drive that appeared to work fine, but after booting to a USB stick the restore data transfer would stop roughly 1/2 way through restoring the backup. Having redundant copies of the backup, more than one PC, & more than one external drive I got the backup restored [it took just a little longer], but it would have turned into quite a project if I didn't have those extras.