Trying to backup Probook with Windows 10 to external drive - doesn't seem to work

[GezJames]

Im' trying to run a backup to an external hard drive using the setting / Backup Options / Backup using File History / More options / Back up now - but it won't work.

It seems to start (you see the little dots start to run in a circle) and a message that says "Your data is backing up", then all of a sudden it just stops and a message comes up "Your data is not yet backed up" - nothing seems to change this.

I have the correct external drive loaded.

Any suggestions?

[WAWood]

@GezJames 

Don't do that -- it is unreliable and even if it does eventually work, you won't be able to trust it.

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I personally prefer to use third-party Backup solutions as they tend to be both more flexible and more reliable than any built-in solutions.

Macrium Reflect (MR) provides a FREE version that can be used to image and restore partitions or entire drives.

What I recommend is the following:
1) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR) from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
2) Run MR and choose the option: "Create an image of the partition(s) required to backup and restore Windows" to write a full backup to an external drive or USB stick
3) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD

My experience is that MR, when using the High Compression option, typically can compress the saved image file to about 60% of the USED space in the OS partition. This means if you have an 80GB OS partition, and 40GB is used, MR only needs about 24GB to store the image file.

I use this all the time and it typically takes less than 15 minutes to do the image backup and about the same time or less to do a restore.

Plus, MR has the option to Add a Recovery Boot Menu entry. This allows you then to boot into WinRE, and you can then use that to do a restore -- when you can't boot into Windows!

NOW, you have the means to restore a full working system from the external drive or USB stick in only a few minutes.