Now that we’ve installed the software using the procedure at “EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation Installation”, it’s time to put it to work.
As outlined in our “Home Computer Backup Strategies” guide, we’re going to use this backup software simply for recurring backups of our system disk. The EaseUS Backup Workstation software has a lot more features you can use including incremental and differential backups. It also includes folder/file backups, but we’re using The GoodSync Pro synchronization software to accomplish for these.
If you’re comfortable using backup software, then you may have no need to use synchronization software as well. Incremental backups get a little more complex as you end up with a chain of backups which all need to work together for a restore to work correctly. If any one of them is deleted or corrupted then your backup is corrupted.
First Steps
Pre-Backup Tasks
Launching the software brings up the initial screen below. A few things here are worth doing:
- Top right portion of the screen has a little help icon. I have a screen image further down, but EaseUS’s help is quite good. It is definitely worth the time to browse through and get a good overview of the software functions.
- Under the “Backup” options is a link for “System backup”. This will let you do a complete backup your system disk with only a few clicks. This is also an option available in their free version of the software, so if you recently purchased a new external hard disk this would be the quickest way to get a system backup.
- Under the Tools options is a link to enable the PreOS. I enabled this so that when the computer reboots you get a special boot menu allowing you to restore a backup. This would be helpful if your computer has a virus or malware that takes control once you’re booted into Windows.
- Also under the Tools options is the “Create Bootable Disk”. For both this option and the PreOS option the licensed version allows you to create an EaseUS Todo Backup WinPE bootable disk. The WinPE allows you more options when recovering a backup. The free version comes only with the option to create a Linux bootable disk, which allows you basic recovery options only.
Todo Backup Help
Create a Bootable Recovery Disk
One of the first things you should do is create a bootable disk which allows you to recover a backup in the event your system no longer works. Without a bootable disk, you have no way to recover your backup. The option for this is under the main Tools menu.
The first screen gives you a few options on where to create the bootable disk. Since I have plenty of blank CD’s and will keep it in an office drawer after creating it I chose this option.
Create Bootable Disk Status
After clicking the Proceed button, you’ll get another screen with a progress bar indicating the status of the emergency disk creation.
Create Emergency Disk Finished
Once the bootable disk is created, click the Finish button. You’re all set. Store the CD in a safe place (that you’ll remember).
Configure the Recurring System Backup
Back to the Main Screen
If not already there, return to the main screen. In order to schedule an automatic backup of our system on a regular schedule we need to select the “Data Backup” option.
Backup Disk/Partition
The first screen will show you options for backing up specific folders and data files. However, we want to back up the entire disk so click on the “Disk/Partition” option.
Select Your System Disk
The next screen will show the disks currently connected to your computer. Usually the system disk is the first one. Select this. The next step is a little option right above this to “Turn On” scheduling. Click this option.
Configure Backup Scheduling
A few options need to be set on this screen. For my needs I want it to repeat weekly, on Monday mornings at 1:00 am. I also want the Backup scheme to be a Full Backup each time. There are options here for Incremental and Differential. At the bottom you’ll need to enter your Administrator username and password. The user will default to the one you’re currently logged in with. Click the Ok button when finished.
Modify Backup Destination Options
You should be back at the Disk/Partition options screen. The next thing we need to change is a couple of the backup destination options. There is a link for this at the lower right side of the screen.
Preserve Image Files
The first setting to enable is the “I will preserve image files” option. What this option does is allow backups older than this number to be automatically purged. In my case I have a 3 terabyte external hard drive. My estimated backup size is about 456 GB. So I figure I should have room for the last 4 weekly backups. Starting with the fifth backup, the oldest one will be purge, keeping you from filling up the disk.
Preserve the First Image
Along with preserving the last 4 backup images is another option “I will preserve the first image”. Usually when you first start backing up your system, you have a “known system condition”. In other words everything is working with no viruses or malware. Keeping this first backup can be helpful if later on you subtly do something to your system which corrupts part of Windows. Or worse yet, you get a virus. If you don’t take care of it right away, like within 4 weeks, you’ll soon have 4 weekly backups of the same corrupted system disk. Unless you have a known working backup, your backups are not going to be as useful for recovery from.
I’m going to enable this option. There should be enough external hard drive space for a fifth backup image.
Initial Backup Configuration Completed
That’s it! You can see the new backup job under the “Management” table, where you can also edit later if needed. There is a “Logs” tab right next to this which keeps a history of your backup jobs. Check this periodically to make sure there are no problems.
