Since the OP (three levels of "" in this post) talks of a friend who
"wants to get herself a laptop", and says the OP is "not so familiar
with range of options for Windows", it sounds like a new Windows laptop
- and thus Windows 10 - is being considered.

Given that this was posted in the XP 'group only, I strongly suspect
it's a troll; however, since I'd written my answers before I spotted
that, rather than waste it _if_ it isn't a troll, I've broadened the
target 'groups. Use your discretion to decide whether to skip it.

Right ...

On Sat, 2 May 2020 at 10:13:04, "
wrote:
I use 'freefile synch'
you select the folders (rather put in exceptions'
you can have mulilple paths eg email to one location/dir and work doc in anothr
you can set differnt targets eg differnt drives
it remembers the filtes so you don't have to enter them again
you can set up to have one directional where its' truly a backup or a
mirror , that means however if you delete on pc/laptop then file is
delted on harddrive backup (i prefer to do backup of new files)

(I don't understand the above paragraph; I can't parse the "English".)

On Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 2:12:57 PM UTC-4, Arlen Holder wrote:
In response to what Chris wrote :
A family friend wants to get herself a laptop to help get through
isolation. I can help with the choice of laptop, but what is a good,
effective and preferably cheap option for backups? She doesn't have
broadband (and is unlikely to get it anytime soon) so cloud options are
a non-starter. She will be using mobile data for her limited internet
needs (e.g. news and food shopping).

What will actually need backing up? Without broadband, she's not going
to get a lot of either software or files; news and shopping won't
generate much she'll actually want to _keep_.

There's the usual question: do you (for her) want to be able to restore
her system to as-when-backed-up in the event of disaster (HD failure or
really bad malware such as ransomware), or would she (you) be willing to
rebuild from scratch if that happens, and she just wants to keep - I'm
not sure what, mostly emails is all I can think of.

To be able to restore a working system, you'd need some sort of imaging
- Macrium and Acronis are the best-known; you'd also need an external
drive to do the imaging to. (And to make the boot CD [or USB stick; I
feel happier with a CD] sooner rather than later.) If just data, then
any backup mechanism, even just Explorer; I use SyncToy. And you'd still
need the external storage, though a USB stick might suffice.

This person has never owned a computer before, is retired and used to
get her internet needs fulfilled by the local library. So it needs to be
as fire-and-forget as possible. I want her to get into good habits from
the start, but I'm not so familiar with range of options for Windows.

IMO, Macrium - booted from the CD, not run from inside Windows (you have
to do that when restoring after disaster, so IMO it's good practice to
always do it [it also checks the CD hasn't gone bad]) - is pretty
simple. (Note that for recent Windows 10, you need a recent Macrium;
Macrium 5 works fine for 7 and early 10, but not current 10.) For just
data, SyncToy isn't hard either, especially after the first time (i. e.
once you've set up one of its "pairs").

The "good habits" have to include actually doing the backup regularly,
_whatever_ you use.
[]
As noted by many, there are plenty of freeware solutions.
Yet... most non-technical people, essentially, want a HDD "dd" of sorts.

For me... on a single-user system...
a. I plan my backups a decade or more prior to the backup
b. Which means I break the backup into two components
1. Data I care about
2. Programs I care about
Nothing else matters.

For me, I include under 2.
the-OS-plus-all-software-I've-spent-time-configuring; in other words, I
want to put in the new hard drive, do the restore, and have everything
working how I had it. Many others seem willing to, if disaster strikes:
(re)install the OS; reinstall all software; and configure both how they
had them, including updates, passwords, usernames, and so on. Each to
his/her own; I don't see any _advantage_ of the longer-winded process.
Some people see a disaster as an opportunity to do a spring-clean; fair
enough.

From day one, I put all data I care about where it belongs.

Me too: a D: partition if a one-disc-only laptop. (I'd probably have
separate drives for a desktop, but haven't run one for years.)

From day one, I put all program installers where they belong.

_Installers_, I just consider to be data. The software once _installed_,
I consider to be part of the OS; modern software places so much in lots
of places, that trying to keep track of it (or to only use software that
"behaves") is something I have better things to do than. YMMV.

When it comes time to back up, all I back up are two directories:
C:\data\{my hierarchy of data I care about}
C:\software\{my hierarchy of installers I care about}

Nothing else matters.
o Everything else can easily be replaced by a technical user.

Ah, so you're one of those "I'll reinstall everything, redo all
configurations, and get all updates" people. Fair enough.
[]
That's why, for example, I never use any pre-defined folder in Windows,
and, the ones that you can't avoid, I simply right click on them to move
them to where they belong if they will contain, usually momentarily,
something I care about.

Yes, I move them to D:; I'm amazed MS haven't switched to that
(including partitioning if necessary) by default yet. Well, I would be
amazed, but from a company that still defaults to hiding known
extensions ...
[]
When it comes time to re-install the operating system, as I did recently, I
simply re-install the software hierarchy, one by one.

Perhaps if you don't have much, that doesn't take long - and either you
are very disciplined, or so untidy (which, given what you've said above,
seems unlikely) that the opportunity to spring-clean is welcome.

How long does re-installing the operating system, then "the software
hierarchy, one by one" take you? I just boot the restore CD, then set
the restore going - I think it'd take well under 2 hours, even over
USB2, but even if it was an overnight job, I could leave it to it,
rather than having to sit there posting CDs (or running installer
files).
[]
I admit there are a few hundred tweaks, e.g., adding right-click context
menus to "open cmd window here" or setting the default for extensionless
files to open in vim, or disabling the window resizing upon hitting the
edges of the screen, or editing more than 15 files at once, etc..

Maybe a "system restore" might solve that but I have never really found
system restores to be of much value, where, lately, I don't even use an
add-on AV program - I don't know why I don't get viruses - maybe I do and I
don't know it - but I just don't. (famous last words, perhaps)

The "system restore" process doesn't seem to ever have been as good as
it ought. It's mainly for when you (or something else) screw up, though:
it saves on the local HD (at least by default, I'm not sure if that can
be changed), so no good if the HD dies.

In short, only "some" of what I suggest can the lady use.

Yes, depends how much the OP is willing to do him/herself to help, when
disaster strikes. Did say he wants to teach good habits from the start.

Probably the most prescient advice I can give her, and everyone, is to plan
your backup a decade before you buy the computer by having a plan to store
at least your data, if not your installers, in a place _outside_ the
(unfortunately polluted) Windows hierarch.

There's _more_ to my plan, but that's the summary.
a. Put data you care about where it belongs
b. Save all your program installers in a safe place
--
Together we have great solutions to offer for Usenet's public potluck.

Aargh.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

"To YOU I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition." - Woody Allen