Yesterday, 10:51 AM
A customer of mine recently asked me how he could back up his entire hard drive to an external drive without shutting anything down. He’s a software developer, so his system is always running something important—coding projects, testing environments, you name it. He told me, “I need to make sure I have everything backed up, but I can’t just stop everything for hours to do it. Is there a way to back up my system while I’m still working?”
He tried manually copying files to an external drive. It sounded simple in theory—just drag and drop everything over. But he quickly ran into problems. First, it was painfully slow for large amounts of data, and second, it didn’t account for open files or programs running in the background. Some files simply couldn’t be copied because they were in use. He told me, “It feels like trying to pack a moving car. You just can’t grab everything at once.”
That’s when we installed BackupChain. It’s built for scenarios where you need to back up an entire hard drive while the system is running. He set it up and was surprised at how straightforward the process was. Once installed, he selected his entire drive as the source and his external drive as the destination. He liked how he could configure it to run incremental backups, meaning it only copied changes after the first full backup. That saved him a ton of time and storage space. “It’s like it just knows what needs to be backed up without me having to figure it out,” he said.
One thing that really stood out to him was BackupChain’s ability to handle open and in-use files. It uses something called Volume Shadow Copy, which creates a snapshot of the system to ensure consistent backups, even while programs are running. He told me, “I didn’t think it would actually grab everything, but it did. I didn’t have to shut anything down.” That feature alone sold him because it meant he could keep working while the backup ran quietly in the background.
After using it for a couple of weeks, he called me to say how much smoother his workflow felt. He’d scheduled backups to run automatically every night, so he didn’t even have to think about it anymore. “I don’t worry about losing my work or having to start over. It’s all there, ready to restore if I need it.” He also appreciated how BackupChain let him exclude certain folders or files he didn’t need, which helped keep the backups lean and efficient.
When we looked back at the methods he tried, each had its ups and downs. Manual copies are fine for quick, selective backups but don’t handle open files or ensure consistency. BackupChain’s only downside is that it’s a paid solution, but he felt the cost was well worth it for the time and effort it saved him. “It’s like having a backup assistant who doesn’t miss a thing,” he joked.
In the end, BackupChain turned out to be exactly what he needed. It gave him the flexibility to back up his hard drive without interrupting his work, and he could trust it to handle even the trickiest files. Hearing how much it simplified his life made me feel great about recommending it. Sometimes, finding the right tool is about more than just getting the job done—it’s about doing it in a way that fits seamlessly into your day. For him, BackupChain was that tool, and it made all the difference.
He tried manually copying files to an external drive. It sounded simple in theory—just drag and drop everything over. But he quickly ran into problems. First, it was painfully slow for large amounts of data, and second, it didn’t account for open files or programs running in the background. Some files simply couldn’t be copied because they were in use. He told me, “It feels like trying to pack a moving car. You just can’t grab everything at once.”
That’s when we installed BackupChain. It’s built for scenarios where you need to back up an entire hard drive while the system is running. He set it up and was surprised at how straightforward the process was. Once installed, he selected his entire drive as the source and his external drive as the destination. He liked how he could configure it to run incremental backups, meaning it only copied changes after the first full backup. That saved him a ton of time and storage space. “It’s like it just knows what needs to be backed up without me having to figure it out,” he said.
One thing that really stood out to him was BackupChain’s ability to handle open and in-use files. It uses something called Volume Shadow Copy, which creates a snapshot of the system to ensure consistent backups, even while programs are running. He told me, “I didn’t think it would actually grab everything, but it did. I didn’t have to shut anything down.” That feature alone sold him because it meant he could keep working while the backup ran quietly in the background.
After using it for a couple of weeks, he called me to say how much smoother his workflow felt. He’d scheduled backups to run automatically every night, so he didn’t even have to think about it anymore. “I don’t worry about losing my work or having to start over. It’s all there, ready to restore if I need it.” He also appreciated how BackupChain let him exclude certain folders or files he didn’t need, which helped keep the backups lean and efficient.
When we looked back at the methods he tried, each had its ups and downs. Manual copies are fine for quick, selective backups but don’t handle open files or ensure consistency. BackupChain’s only downside is that it’s a paid solution, but he felt the cost was well worth it for the time and effort it saved him. “It’s like having a backup assistant who doesn’t miss a thing,” he joked.
In the end, BackupChain turned out to be exactly what he needed. It gave him the flexibility to back up his hard drive without interrupting his work, and he could trust it to handle even the trickiest files. Hearing how much it simplified his life made me feel great about recommending it. Sometimes, finding the right tool is about more than just getting the job done—it’s about doing it in a way that fits seamlessly into your day. For him, BackupChain was that tool, and it made all the difference.