If you missed Backupper on GOTD, you have a 2nd chance at SOS.
When it comes to security, cybercriminals pushing ransomware tend to focus on big companies with big bank accounts:
bleepingcomputer[.]com/news/security/dark-angels-ransomware-receives-record-breaking-75-million-ransom/
That said, you don't get a free pass either, as plenty of cybercriminals would like nothing better than to compromise your devices, stealing what they can, taking over your accounts to hide their identity as they do their evil deeds, &/or selling access for things like botnets and crypto mining. If your device does get compromised, software like antivirus apps *may* be able to clean it for you, but the surest, often quickest way to put things back is to restore partition image backups to all connected drives -- any drive that's been attached, including things like USB sticks, can be used as a repository for malware code. And to be safest, copies of those image backup archives should be stored on removable drives, because if they're not attached, malware can't find them. The same strategy goes for data too -- you can have copies automatically uploaded to the cloud, but to be safest, store a copy on a local removable drive. If you can find it from inside Windows, so can malware or anyone with remote access.
Otherwise, image backups come in handy when a bad update breaks things -- you can either restore the entire backup, or copy any needed files from a mounted backup archive. They're also handy for replacing drives, cloning you copy of Windows with all your software to another device [you'll have to re-register some software] [Win10&11 should adapt to new hardware on their own], or just moving partitions around if/when you decide to rethink how your stuff is stored.
Backup speed, the time it takes to perform a partition image backup, largely depends on how fast the source drive can be read, and how fast the target drive can be written to. That said, Macrium Reflect uses a technology that can speed things up noticeably. It doesn't take much CPU horsepower, but if it's working correctly, it will use all or almost all of your device's data transfer capability. You can do other stuff while a backup's running, but if what you're doing requires reading/writing to disk, something will suffer.
I think most image backup software nowadays allows some form of incremental backups, the idea being to just backup the stuff that's changed since last time. That can save space because of smaller backup archives, but you lose flexibility and there's more to go wrong. I prefer to save at least two full backups, so if one is bad or broken, I can go to the earlier backup. The same applies if Windows has been breached at the time of backup, but whatever malware hasn't started doing its thing yet. I only save the latest backup on this PC. If I used incremental backups I'd have to save more archives on this PC, if one of the archives was bad, everything's bad, and if I backed up files that had been compromised by malware, that malware would be there if I restored that backup.
It's also common for image backup software to offer scheduled backups. The data I download or create changes daily, but with the exception of a few apps and maybe the graphics driver, Windows itself changes once a month, on Update Tuesday, the 2nd Tuesday of the month. That's when I backup, after the updates have been installed. Because that Tuesday's date changes, and because it can take me 1 to 4 days to install the update, I don't use scheduling. And since updating a few apps and maybe a graphics driver takes less time than creating a new backup and copying it to external storage, I only back up once a month. I handle copying data separately.
And, Hopefully VERY Rarely, sometimes disaster strikes. Sometimes Windows simply won't start or work. It could be something like the recent CrowdStrike fiasco, or a broken drive, or an update from Microsoft etc. When that happens it can be incredibly useful to start the device running off a secondary OS, like WinPE or another copy of Windows. Windows adds a Recovery partition when it's installed, and in theory, as long as the drive itself isn't the problem, you can run a minimal copy of Windows stored on that partition to fix stuff. In practice, what's stored on that Recovery partition may or may not work, and if it does work, it may not let you do what's needed. *To me*, the ultimate solution is to have a working Windows To Go drive, a full copy of Windows that includes a copy of my backup software. I can use it to diagnose & fix a problem or restore a backup. Oddly, AOMEI Partition Assistant can create a Windows To Go drive, but not Backupper. Both apps do let you create a bootable USB stick with a special copy of the AOMEI software that runs on the USB stick's modified copy of WinPE, so you can restore an image backup for example. Most image backup apps let you do the same thing, and sometimes the version of the software on that USB stick also has special functions. Unfortunately it's also common for those USB sticks to just not work -- the device just won't start or boot to the software they contain.
So, before you perform your first image backup using any brand of software, create that USB stick and make sure it works -- if it doesn't, try creating the bootable USB stick using another USB stick, plug the USB stick directly into the device if you used a hub, if the software gives you the option of using the Recovery partition or a downloaded copy of WinPE, try the option you didn't use, or try a different brand of backup software.. Read the documentation for your device &/or Google for instructions on booting to a USB drive. If you're lucky there's a hot key you can press when the device is just starting from a power off status that will give you a menu to select the boot device, in this case the USB stick. If you get to Windows troubleshooting boot menu [often by repeatedly trying to start the device], you *may* see an option to boot from another drive. And lastly, you can use the hot key to enter the BIOS setup menus, often the Del key or F2. Caution, there are many settings here that can break things, so it definitely does not hurt to jot down notes of the existing settings or maybe take pictures with your phone. There will be a menu setting that lists the drive where the BIOS will look first for the boot loader. You want to select the plugged in USB drive -- if the list does not include the USB stick [Windows can alter the list of drives] you can try to reset the BIOS to its default settings, which is where and why knowing what those settings should be comes in handy. Saving those settings with the USB stick selected and rebooting should start WinPE on the USB stick. Afterward you'll need to go back into the BIOS and change the setting so the BIOS looks for the Windows Boot Loader, then save the settings and reboot.
