# Backing up an an entire computer to an external drive. What is the easiest way to do this? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481 "2019-03-03T14:21:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481/21 "2019-03-04T17:59:49Z")
I’d also remind everyone to keep at least one backup of your files off-site in case your computer equipment is destroyed in a fire or flooding. Keep them in a realtive’s house or safety deposit box or somewhere other than your home. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481/22 "2019-03-04T20:13:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I use Acronis True Image, backing up to multiple external drives (one of which I keep away from home) and I also use BackBlaze to back up to the cloud. That’s what I do too, although I mostly just back my boot drive up to one of my relatively unused hard disks, and my family photos are on a RAID 1 (mirroring) two-disk array. Everything’s backed up via Backblaze remotely as well. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481/23 "2019-03-05T17:09:22Z")
**The Librarian** : “Just use the windows backup tool. You really don’t need any 3rd party stuff.” **lingyi** : “+1 to Windows backup for ease of use. It will prompt you to create a bootable disc or flash drive. I’ve used other backup programs including Reflect and ToDo, but find Windows backup the easiest to setup and use.” As a test, I just used Windows backup on an older Windows 7 Dell laptop. I accepted the Windows default backup settings. This was to a USB drive. When I view the backup on the USB drive, there’s a long list of “Backup files X”. Each “Backup files X” opens a long tree…but I haven’t been able to find any .doc, .txt, .PDF, etc, user-created files. When I right-click the USB drive, I don’t see any search function. So how do I find/view specific files on this backup? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481/24 "2019-03-09T20:58:18Z")
> [@LynnM](#): > > **The Librarian** : > “Just use the windows backup tool. You really don’t need any 3rd party stuff.” > > **lingyi** : > “+1 to Windows backup for ease of use. It will prompt you to create a bootable disc or flash drive. I’ve used other backup programs including Reflect and ToDo, but find Windows backup the easiest to setup and use.” > > As a test, I just used Windows backup on an older Windows 7 Dell laptop. I accepted the Windows default backup settings. This was to a USB drive. > > When I view the backup on the USB drive, there’s a long list of “Backup files X”. Each “Backup files X” opens a long tree…but I haven’t been able to find any .doc, .txt, .PDF, etc, user-created files. > > When I right-click the USB drive, I don’t see any search function. > > So how do I find/view specific files on this backup? Use the same program that makes the file to open it. The “restore files” option. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/backing-up-an-an-entire-computer-to-an-external-drive-what-is-the-easiest-way-to-do-this/830481.md?page=1)