Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Time Machine: Will it backup my Windows7 Bootcamp partition as well?

M

MacNoobGuy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 18, 2012
497
0
hey guys, i've just setup my mac mini the way i like it -- OS X is installed and using 450GB while the Win7 partition i installed using Bootcamp is using 50GB of the internal 500GB drive. i just bought a new 1TB external drive for the purpose of using Time Machine. now, before i setup Time Machine, i was wondering if it'll backup the Win7 partition as well as the OS X partition. if not, does anyone know what else i can use for Win7?

btw, Time Machine will restore the OS X partition so if the internal HDD dies, i can get a new one and Time Machine will restore everything?

thanks for any help
 
alright thanks. Windows backup works decently as long as i don't change the hardware, right?

oh no i just realised time machine can only recognise the Mac file system which Windows can't write to, so where do i backup the Windows partition?

----------

anyone know what i should do? is it worth me creating a 60gb ExFAT partition and a 900GB Mac File system for OS X? what can i do?

appreciate any help!
 
Treat the windows partition as if it was a separate windows machine that you want to back up. That means select a backup solution that you would use if you only had a machine running windows that you wanted to back up.
 
xlii said:
Treat the windows partition as if it was a separate windows machine that you want to back up. That means select a backup solution that you would use if you only had a machine running windows that you wanted to back up.
Click to expand...

so i'd need to use another external hard drive??? this is getting complicated.
 
MacNoobGuy said:
so i'd need to use another external hard drive??? this is getting complicated.
Click to expand...

I don't know another way to do it. So if the data on the windows partition is important to you, you will need another drive. I have windows 7 on my machine but I don't back it up because all I have on it is games and I hardly use it. Plus, I have the disks for the games so reinstalling is just time to me.
 
The Pro and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 include a built-in backup utility that supports network drives. The other versions have the utility too, but it's locally-connected drives only. It works decently well, and automatically once you set it up. To restore it, you'd let Boot Camp recreate the partition as it did before, then use the Windows disc to restore the network backup.
 
blevins321 said:
The Pro and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 include a built-in backup utility that supports network drives. The other versions have the utility too, but it's locally-connected drives only. It works decently well, and automatically once you set it up. To restore it, you'd let Boot Camp recreate the partition as it did before, then use the Windows disc to restore the network backup.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks.

so the best thing for me to do would be to give Time Machine an entire 1TB external drive of its own rather than of partitioning it, by say, giving Time Machine 800GB and 150GB to Windows7?

ideally, i'd like to create the partitions as i mentioned above. how can i create partitions in OS X?
 
Last edited:
In the past there was a free utility called Winclone 2.3 but a few years ago development stopped and it never worked properly under SL and Lion.

But wait !!!!

There's more: Winclone 3 is now a paid utility and it backs up your Bootcamp partition happily onto the OS X partition (and compresses the backup at the same time). Works like a charm on Lion and highly recommended!

(no affiliation, just a very happy customer) (ps and I mean a VERY happy customer)

http://twocanoes.com/software.php?software=1

----------

PS If you want regular backups like time machine then you will need an exFAT partition and then use FBackup (free) for regular automatic backups. In that way you can access the data from both OS X and Windows.
 
MJL said:
In the past there was a free utility called Winclone 2.3 but a few years ago development stopped and it never worked properly under SL and Lion.

But wait !!!!

There's more: Winclone 3 is now a paid utility and it backs up your Bootcamp partition happily onto the OS X partition (and compresses the backup at the same time). Works like a charm on Lion and highly recommended!

(no affiliation, just a very happy customer) (ps and I mean a VERY happy customer)

http://twocanoes.com/software.php?software=1

----------

PS If you want regular backups like time machine then you will need an exFAT partition and then use FBackup (free) for regular automatic backups. In that way you can access the data from both OS X and Windows.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks.

is there a free app i can use to do the Win7 backups from within Lion or do i need to boot into Win7 every time?

thanks
 
MacNoobGuy said:
ok, thanks.

is there a free app i can use to do the Win7 backups from within Lion or do i need to boot into Win7 every time?

thanks
Click to expand...

Yes! Its Winclone! as MJL posted above.

Runs from the Mac side creates a restorable image of the Bootcamp partition on a Mac volume you specify.

Not so good for routine backing up of data in Bootcamp.

Have lots of successful experience with Winclone 2 pre Lion. Some more recent mixed experience with Winclone 2 with Lion. No experience with Winclone 3. Now use Parallels so can't test Winclone 3.


EDIT....just noticed you specified "free" so ignore the above.

EDIT 2.....very very few backup apps can restore the Bootcamp partition so that it is bootable. I have only succeeded with Winclone and Paragon in the past. Lots of apps will backup your data in Windows, but you might need to reinstall the OS and apps.
 
Last edited:
blevins321 said:
The Pro and Ultimate versions of Windows 7 include a built-in backup utility that supports network drives. The other versions have the utility too, but it's locally-connected drives only. It works decently well, and automatically once you set it up. To restore it, you'd let Boot Camp recreate the partition as it did before, then use the Windows disc to restore the network backup.
Click to expand...

I would be interested to know if you have actually done and tested a bootable restore by this method. I have often seen it said that it works, but in all the forum threads on the subject in which I have participated, (not just here) I have not actually seen anyone say they have done a successful restore, but I have seen it reported that it doesn't work.

As I said in another reply, it depends whether you are trying to back up the whole Bootcamp installation, or just data within the Bootcamp.
 
yes, I've done a restore with the windows backup / restore. However if you have made a mistake, got another disk or resize then your out of luck since the reference to the bootable part of windows is lost. Winclone however is apparently able to have windows restored(and working) on a resized bootcamp partition.
 
MJL said:
yes, I've done a restore with the windows backup / restore. However if you have made a mistake, got another disk or resize then your out of luck since the reference to the bootable part of windows is lost. Winclone however is apparently able to have windows restored(and working) on a resized bootcamp partition.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, Winclone and Paragon can restore to a larger or smaller Bootcamp partition.
 
Hey,
No time machine wont back up your win7 partition data. But you can surely use that 1tb HDD you already have, and partion it like you said: 940gb for mac os x and the remain 50gb for win.
I hav one 2tb external drive and 1tb internal( 750 gb for mac os x and ~250 gb win7 ultimate. I've never tried automaticly back ups with windows, i only have some games and other progs i use, so i partion my external HDD like this:
- ine 1tb for time machine
-one 500gb for backing up my games and some movies from ripped DVDs and blue rays.
- another 500gb for my itunes library, iphoto library and some other things that doesnt fit on my 750 HDD.
Of couser is recommendble for you to get 2 exterbal HDDs for each OS, there fore you could mantain more older versions of files via time machine, if your pocket handles of course. :D
Good luck !
 
viktorlsn said:
Hey,
No time machine wont back up your win7 partition data. But you can surely use that 1tb HDD you already have, and partion it like you said: 940gb for mac os x and the remain 50gb for win.
I hav one 2tb external drive and 1tb internal( 750 gb for mac os x and ~250 gb win7 ultimate. I've never tried automaticly back ups with windows, i only have some games and other progs i use, so i partion my external HDD like this:
- ine 1tb for time machine
-one 500gb for backing up my games and some movies from ripped DVDs and blue rays.
- another 500gb for my itunes library, iphoto library and some other things that doesnt fit on my 750 HDD.
Of couser is recommendble for you to get 2 exterbal HDDs for each OS, there fore you could mantain more older versions of files via time machine, if your pocket handles of course. :D
Good luck !
Click to expand...

It can, depends how you do it. You can backup (from) Windows to an exFAT partition using either Windows build-in 'backup and restore' or using a freebee like FBackup (commercial version is Backup4All - no affiliation, just a happy user of the free one). Then if you set up Time Machine to backup the exFAT partition next time you are in OS X the Time Machine will back up that data too.

Similarly if you use Winclone 3 to make a partition image of your windows partition then that is stored under OS X and can then be backed up with Time Machine as well.

When travelling I only have the Mac mini with the build in HDD and SSD (SSD running Windows and the HDD exFAT and OS X) and no other hardware for backup/restore. I am using windows 99% of the time and only use OS X for backup and some email. Have not had any problems with windows (crash, slowdown etc) since XP SP2. However Apple is a new platform for me so am not taking any chances - had one drive going south while travelling and recovered fully all the data. For theft protection I carry a USB stick with only the essential software and other data required for re-install (encrypted).

I've gone to using the Mac mini because I need a larger screen for my eyes - I normally use a hotel's TV as monitor (DVI or HDMI connection) with wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. No longer do I have to worry about my computer being squashed in the overhead lockers by inconsiderate fellow passengers (had a few laptops going south as a result).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back