I hope I picked the right category; I really wasn't sure which one was best for this.
I'm on an Asus laptop that's dual-booted with Windows 11 and Zorin OS 17. Up until now I've avoided doing anything important on my Zorin partition, because I've been using Backblaze to back up my laptop, and it only backs up the Windows partition. (It doesn't seem to be able to see the Zorin partition, and it looks like Backblaze only supports Windows and MacOS.)
My Backblaze subscription is going to renew soon, so it's time to figure out how to back up both partitions. I was looking into a WD external hard drive because they're recommended by most of the sources I usually look at for tech recommendations, but it looks like some people are saying they aren't compatible with Linux. When I try to search for information on backing up a dual-booted computer, I mostly find information about cloning a drive, which is apparently different, and booting from an external drive.
Is there a best practice for backing up a dual-booted computer? I'm open to either cloud storage services or external hard drives, as long as I can schedule automatic backups (I stand no chance of remembering to do them manually).
Just about any BackUp software operates on the FileSystem that they are installed to. If installed to NTFS, it will only see NTFS.
Your only real option is to individually backup on the OS you are using.
Backblaze on Windows OS and something else like TimeShift on Zorin OS.
No, you can use one drive, formatted to either NTFS or EXFAT
Windows OS cannot read / write to ext4, so the External Drive needs to be a format both can read and write to: ZorinOS can read / write to NTFS, but the BackUp software cannot access Windows OS in order to create a backup of that content.
Oh, so I can back up both partitions to the same drive, but I have to have a different backup program for each partition? Yeah, that's fine. I had assumed I would need to set up the backups separately. My concern was more that when I looked into the external hard drive that seemed to be the most highly recommended, I was seeing some people saying that it would never work with Linux because it's configured for the wrong file type. (It's entirely possible for strangers on the internet to be wrong, of course, but I don't know how to test the claim without buying the hard drive.) So I'm trying to figure out what device or service can work for both Windows and Linux. Backblaze is a cloud storage service that doesn't support Linux as far as I can tell, and I'd rather not keep paying a subscription fee for a service that only backs up half my computer if there's a way to back up both halves of my computer on one hard drive or using one cloud storage service.
Zorin OS includes the ntfs-3g package which enables Zorin OS to read and write to NTFS formatted drives.
Some GNuLinux distros don't - So, I can see why people may think (or assume) that Linux won't work.
Without that package, a GnuLinux Distro would be unable to work with NTFS much the same way Windows OS cannot work with ext4.
Both can work with EXFAT, however. So anyone saying "It can't work on that formatted filesystem" should include the comment, "But both can work with EXFAT."
This makes sense - as does asking around and searching for information. I do not use any software to backup - since Software can make mistakes or break. In addition, this software is usually scheduled - allowing gaps. I prefer to backup in real time.
So I am no expert in the variety of BackUp Software - being only familiar with the ones commonly discussed. Searching for a while and getting more answers is the Best Course.
Not a recommendation but I use SpiderOak for cloud backups. I have used it ever since Ed Snowden recommended it back when he was "on the run" and never had a good reason to change. I would think there are other fully encrypted cloud back up products available. It thinks my Zorin computer is a different computer to my Windows computer (actually they are dual booted on the same machine) (which I'm about to do away with as I never use it) but backs up my zorin files and my windows files and even allows me to mirror/synch them so anything I change in my Zorin data SSD always matches the equivalent file or folder on my Windows SSD, (and vice versa) or at least will do the next time I log in to Windows.
Yes. But if it is NTFS, since Zorin OS includes ntfs-3g, that is fine, too. And... You can reformat a drive to any filesystem you want, as well.
This is not a limitation. You can worry less.
I do, yes. Since you can drag and drop files directly into a compressed directory, I set up my external drive with the directories of the back ups - Then when I make changes to anything, the last act is to drag and drop a copy into the compressed directory saved on the hard drive.
This way, I know all backups are current at all times, it is more reliable - for me than hoping that any software will do it. It prevents bloat.
Sorry. I guess the anxiety disorder is getting the better of me again.
That makes sense. I guess if you get used to updating the backup after making changes, it probably becomes an automatic habit at some point. Although as someone who doesn't always remember to save files periodically while working with them, I require a safety net of scheduled backups.
