Backup is as necessary as it is tedious, so it’s best to choose a set-and-forget type tool. Once everything is set up correctly, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. This is also the motto of MiniTool ShadowMaker: free backups with system and file level restore functions.
MiniTool ShadowMaker is available in both a free and commercial Pro version. You can view the differences at the bottom of the page at https://kwikr.nl/miniback. As a home user, you can probably do without the extras like ssl encryption and WinPE support from the Pro version.
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By default, the app immediately recommends a full system backup, but don’t feel compelled – you may have other partitions and separate folders backed up as well. Unfortunately, you cannot select shared folders on a network drive. Direct backup to the cloud is also not included, but of course you can choose a target location within a cloud storage service’s sync folder.
Also read: These are the 12 best backup programs for Windows
ShadowMaker also has a built-in scheduler that allows you to regularly back up your documents. The free version does not have the option to start a backup based on system events.
In addition to the full backup, you can also choose an incremental backup where only new or changed data is added to the backup (a different backup type is also available in the Pro version).
Options and Recovery
Each backup can be carefully checked. This way, you can decide for yourself whether only used sectors should be backed up, whether you want to split your backup files to a size that you can set, or whether you want to protect the files with a password.
By default, medium compression is applied to the backup, but you can disable it or change it to high compression. It’s also helpful to be able to send an email and shut down your computer when the backup is ready.
It’s a good idea to let ShadowMaker create a ‘Media Creator’ on first use. You can still run the program (for recovery purposes) when Windows gives up. By the way, it is not necessary to restore the entire partition; When you mount this partition as a virtual drive to your PC, selective file recovery is also possible.
Solution
The free version of ShadowMaker has some limitations, but these do not preclude reliable and flexible backup operations. Much more than scheduled and incremental backups with file-level compression, email notification and recovery, you probably don’t need data and peace of mind.
Source: Computer Totaal
