External hard drive (Help)

Marck -- Which OS are you using -- Windows 7? Which backup software are you using? If you are using the backup software which came with Windows 7, there is a write-up here by Fred Langa which gives a step by step procedure to follow.

windowssecrets.com/newsletter/build-a-complete-windows-7-safety-net/

Marck -- You might find these two sites of interest. Perhaps using a 3rd party app to do the backup instead of the Windows 7 backup would help.


Win 7 backup failed to iomega drive
answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/windows-7-backup-failure-to-iomega-drive/ad082eac-6aea-495d-9788-ae6d8b9121bf
Thanks for the suggestion...I have indeed just followed your suggested approach and given up trying to get Windows 7 backup to work with the drive....Iomega ended up providing software that seems to have worked OK, but I do find it slightly baffling that two such major companies as Iomega and Microsoft don't seem to be able to get something as fundamental as backups working in a way that doesn't mean you have to install extra software. Anyway, got there in the end, so thanks once again to all who gave me much appreciated pointers.
All the best,
Richard.

windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/138168-Windows-7-backup-and-restore-failure

For the benefit of readers, I have learned that Window 7 backup and restore program will fail if you are trying to do an image backup to a driver that uses a 4K sector size (most new large external drive use this type of drive to accommodate the large capacity) when the C drive of the computer (PC) uses a 512 sector drive. I understand that Microsoft has updated their OSes to support larger disks but the Backup and Restore program still does not! I bought a new 1tb Iomega drive and was unable to use the windows 7 backup and restore program, but had no problem with my older Maxtor 200 GB unit. I am now back to using Macrium Reflect which works fine. Note that the Windows 7 backup and restore data backup function works OK, the problem is with the image backup function. Iomega representative were vague about the problem, but did suggest that this was an issue which has been around for over a year.

Marck,
I am not familiar with backupper. I use Acronis True Image which I purchased in 2008.

I have read good reports about Macrium Reflect and I would probably choose this backup software, for two reasons:
1. There is a free version.
2. There is a write-up by AskLeo that describes the entire process for downloading, installing and running -- at this site:
ask-leo.com/backup_and_restore_with_macrium_reflect_50.html

Perhaps other forum members have suggestions?

Marck, I just took a look at the Macrium site's comparison of its different versions, and, alas, differential and incremental backups are not included in the Free version. The Standard version (not free) does include them.