Question

A simple Google search for "Time Machine for Windows" results in a flurry of different little apps. But instead of relying on forum anecdotes and advertisements, I call on the much wiser Super User beta community for some depth on this one.

Having Time Machine running on Leopard is like a warm, fuzzy blanket of comfort that I never got with RAID, rsync, or SyncToy on Windows. I'm not asking the community what the "best" backup software for Windows is, but instead:

Is there any true Time Machine clone for Windows, one that includes as many of the following as possible:

• Completely transparent, "set-it-and-forget-it" backup
• Incremental backups (changes only) for every hour for a day, every day for a month, and every week until the backup disk is full
• Ability to rebuild from this backup disk in case of main drive meltdown (the backup doesn't have to be bootable; neither are Time Machine disks)
• Extremely easy to use UI (target user == wife). Bonus points for a beautiful UI

Answer 1

[Note: both of the following questions should have been asked here on Super User, if that would have existed at that time. So: please post new answers here on Super User, not on Server Fault or Stack Overflow.]

• Server Fault: Windows equivalent to Mac Time Machine?
• Stack Overflow: Time Machine for Windows?

Answer 2

Time Machine is not only about easily creating a backup, but as much about easily restoring the whole system or single items when required.

My main reasons to adore Time Machine:

• Time Machine by default backs up virtually everything, allowing it to be used to restore a full system when needed. Just select the appropriate option when using the Mac OS X install DVD.

• Time Machine not only integrates well with the OS, but also with Time Machine-aware applications like Mail, Address Book and iPhoto. When entering Time Machine while one of these applications is active, you'll see the regular star field with that application (rather than the normal Finder, which is the Windows Explorer on the Mac). This way one can, for example, search and restore single messages from Mail. It even makes it easy to restore messages from email accounts that you've deleted altogether, without the need to know how Mail uses the file system.

• One can easily use multiple Time Machine disks, to get some redundancy, without slowing down the backups.

In my opinion, Genie Timeline as mentioned by Bronze looked promising, but does not offer the above (yet). It might very well be good backup software. Maybe it's even the best one can get for Windows. But it's just no Time Machine (yet).

I read in a review on Suite101.com (which was changed at some later time):

Windows users can now take advantage of Genie Timeline, a recently released clone of the popular Time Machine program. It brings the same feature set to Windows, and even provides additional functionality, a program that was recently released that was inspired by Time Machine. It brings a similar feature set to Windows, and even provides new features.
[..]
Far from being an exact copy of Time Machine, Genie Timeline brings a set of innovative new features. During installation the program can automatically detect the most common user files and configure itself to back them up, requiring no user intervention.

Id'd say the latter is just a workaround for (according to the same review) it only backs up user created files. How to restore the whole system then?

Also, there seems to be no true integration with popular email or photo organising software. Of course, one can surely restore all email, or all photos. But how to restore some message I deleted some time ago? Do I need to know where and how that specific message is stored on the hard drive? In Time Machine, I can search and restore a single message, without having to restore all to some earlier state. Or when restoring an image, does it restore its meta data as well?

Backing up virtually everything, and allowing to easily restore when needed, and easily find and restore only what is needed, still makes Time Machine one of a kind. Bummer.

I'd say: any "Time Machine for Windows" should especially allow for easily restoring the full system, and just as well a single email message or photo.

Note that Time Machine works so well because no (current) Apple software uses large files to store any non-static information (well, except for the sleep image). By using small files, the changes between two backup moments are relatively small, and backups can easily be searched. Like Mail uses a single file for each message, whereas Outlook on Windows uses one large file to hold many messages.

Backing up non-static large files in a Time Machine-manner is difficult (on most file systems). For this reason, on a Mac some things are usually excluded from a Time Machine backup, such as temporary torrent files, images of virtual machines, and large log files.

So, when looking for a Windows equivalent for Time Machine, one may also need to assess the programs one is currently using. Not every system is suitable for such backup mechanism.

Answer 3

See also my reply about using ShadowProtect on another thread.

The UI is not really that user friendly, but you don't have to use it, unless you are trying to recover lost data or restore after a system crash. I'd recommend using Windows' own Previous Versions feature to get back to a previous version of a document, for instance, in a day-to-day job.

Answer 4

You will want to check this out if you’re interested in Apple’s Time Machine and have a Windows platform OS.

http://www.genietimeline.com

You might wanna sign up for it… Can’t wait to get my hands on Genie Timeline…

Apparently, its features include Realtime CDP, endless file versions for files as they existed in the past, automated backup, window’s integration to the core… I’ve been waiting for this kind of software to be released on Windows for ages

Answer 5

@Arjan van Bentem: it sounds like you either don't like Windows or you work for another backup company. read the article you quoted, it doesn't claim that genie is identical, it has some stuff time machine doesn't and time machine has some features it doesn't. and of course time machine works with mail and iphoto, apple makes all 3 programs, when MS actually decides to make a friendly backup app i'm sure it will work great with outlook (please don't talk to me about shadow copy, the windows "backup" service, it backs up to the same drive which is useless if the drive fails).

@Pierre: shadow protect does look good for restoring the whole system.

Answer 6

• ZDNet article: Small business backup for Windows.
• ReBit – Time Machine for Windows

^{moved from backup-software-for-windows-xp.}

Answer 7

I just finished researching this (on SuperUser, among other places). My answer is Rebit. It makes a disk image backup to a USB drive and keeps it updated all the time. Includes tools for recovering old versions of files or a full system bare metal recovery. It's sold pre-installed on USB drives, or you can buy a CD for about $30.

It has a few quirks and the install hasn't been as smooth as promised. But I'm optimistic it will work for me. If you ask me again in a week or two I can tell you how well it works in practice.

Answer 8

Kevin you should check out what Bronze suggested. Genie Timeline is a clone to Apples Time Machine. I did some research on it and even found this interesting article:

http://pc-tutorials.suite101.com/article.cfm/an%5Fautomatic%5Fbackup%5Fsolution#ixzz0Qbd1L2pV

Compares Genie Timeline with Time Machine in many ways.

I just installed it yesterday and forgot it. I honestly just set it and forgotten all about it! And it has a neat and pretty interface :)

Answer 9

Time machine works great for apple programs but there are exceptions, I have to exclude my virtual machines and aperture database because those are big individual files. Personally I never use time machine for system restores, I like CCC better, zero down time.

Answer 10

Windows 7 backup by default keeps a copy of the system image that can be used to restore the system after a hard drive failure. It also backs up user profiles and documents and allows you to restore previous versions of the file with relative ease. I don't know exactly how Time Machine works, but if your curious about backup functionality from a usability and protection stand, you might at least look at it (Windows 7 backup) to see if it meets your needs. :)

Answer 11

The closest Windows equivalent is a utility called Macrium Reflect. My criteria was:

a) Backup the entire disk in one go b) One step restore c) Ability to automatically schedule backups d) Price (read: free)

For details, please read:

http://blog.cyberwatch.in/2008/11/easy-to-use-backup-software.html