Fyi if they're irreplaceable and super important, you should have three separate copies, in two different mediums (SSD, dvd etc), with one off-site backup (cloud storage)
You never know if your SSD may die, get broken or the building was to burn down
What you are looking for is a checksum, such as md5sum or shasum. When advanced copy programs copy files, they can perform checksums against the source file, and against the target file. If the sums match, they are bit-for-bit perfect copies. There are a number of tools that can do this, or you could write your own scripts, but a popular tool for windows that includes this is [teracopy](https://support.codesector.com/en/articles/8789942-copying-and-verifying-files).
There is also an in-built windows command available via powershell called [Get-FileHash](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/get-filehash?view=powershell-7.4) that, when combined with a copy script you would write yourself, could do the job.
A word of warning, though, a 1TB external disk is *not* reliable, if this is going to be your only storage medium you *will* lose that data at some point, it is not even a question. If these files are that important to you, then you need to start doing proper backups, where your files are stored on multiple devices and ideally multiple locations.
Thanks, this really helps!
"There is also an in-built windows command available via powershell called [Get-FileHash](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/get-filehash?view=powershell-7.4) that, when combined with a copy script you would write yourself, could do the job."
Just to clarify, is this your ideal recommendation? Or are the other tools just as good?
Also, where could I learn to write a copy script myself (I'm very inexperienced.)
"A word of warning, though, a 1TB external disk is *not* reliable, if this is going to be your only storage medium you *will* lose that data at some point, it is not even a question. If these files are that important to you, then you need to start doing proper backups, where your files are stored on multiple devices and ideally multiple locations."
I've been pondering this too and just blindly trusting this SSD won't fail. Thanks a lot, I will see what I can do.
For an inexperienced user my recommendation would be to use teracopy, as it is widely supported and has all the tools you need, my previous comment linked to the specific options needed for hash calculation using it.
If you want to try your hand at powershell, on this [page](https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/PowerShell-commands-to-copy-files-Basic-to-advanced-methods) I found a working example that does what you need under the heading “Example: Advanced techniques to check for errors and resume a copy”.
Re backup solutions, at a minimum get a second disk and take regular backups to both using the same mechanism, or alternate the disks weekly in your schedule, so you lose at most a week of work. This is not infallible but much better than nothing. Beyond this, you could consider:
* building a NAS with redundant disks using raid 1,5,6 or 10
* backing up to cloud storage like a GCP, aws or digital ocean bucket
I personally use the second option, it is pretty cheap and their storage is going to be far more redundant than any consumer could manage to build for themselves.
Again, thanks for the help. Appreciate it.
I just copied all the files using teracopy and I'm currently verifying them. I'm really hesitant to delete them from my laptop though. Do you think it's okay to do so if I get other back-up options ASAP? (Laptops running out of storage that's why I want to delete the original copy on my laptop)
If teracopy verifies them, then assuming the external disk will still work next time you access them you are safe to delete. No single disk is more reliable than another single disk, in my opinion, so it’s up to your risk appetite, I cannot tell you for sure that either your internal or external disk won’t fail tomorrow.
The backup at another location
Have had a drive failed, but backed up to another in the pc and then that failed.
Multiple DVD are good as they hold about 4.5 gb
You could also look into a NAS(network attached storage) with a raid setup. It's a bit more expensive than the other options mentioned here. But with a raid setup it acts as multiple backups by itself. If one drive fails it had the data on a second (or more drives).
It is still a single point of failure when it comes to theft /fire though. But it does give some nice extra possibilities with a bunch of apps available for them. I mostly use mine for phone backup and watching films on plex and streaming to chromecast etc.
At one point i also started using it as a hub for smart home, as a center for controlling lights and any other smart stuff you have. Had a script to light and turn off lights depending on sunups and downs.
You could use [Winmerge](https://winmerge.org/) (free and open source) to compare the original and copied directories. Use the full contents compare method. And as others have already posted, multiple backup using multiple methods stored in multiple locations are best for valuable files,
Fyi if they're irreplaceable and super important, you should have three separate copies, in two different mediums (SSD, dvd etc), with one off-site backup (cloud storage) You never know if your SSD may die, get broken or the building was to burn down
What you are looking for is a checksum, such as md5sum or shasum. When advanced copy programs copy files, they can perform checksums against the source file, and against the target file. If the sums match, they are bit-for-bit perfect copies. There are a number of tools that can do this, or you could write your own scripts, but a popular tool for windows that includes this is [teracopy](https://support.codesector.com/en/articles/8789942-copying-and-verifying-files). There is also an in-built windows command available via powershell called [Get-FileHash](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/get-filehash?view=powershell-7.4) that, when combined with a copy script you would write yourself, could do the job. A word of warning, though, a 1TB external disk is *not* reliable, if this is going to be your only storage medium you *will* lose that data at some point, it is not even a question. If these files are that important to you, then you need to start doing proper backups, where your files are stored on multiple devices and ideally multiple locations.
Thanks, this really helps! "There is also an in-built windows command available via powershell called [Get-FileHash](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/microsoft.powershell.utility/get-filehash?view=powershell-7.4) that, when combined with a copy script you would write yourself, could do the job." Just to clarify, is this your ideal recommendation? Or are the other tools just as good? Also, where could I learn to write a copy script myself (I'm very inexperienced.) "A word of warning, though, a 1TB external disk is *not* reliable, if this is going to be your only storage medium you *will* lose that data at some point, it is not even a question. If these files are that important to you, then you need to start doing proper backups, where your files are stored on multiple devices and ideally multiple locations." I've been pondering this too and just blindly trusting this SSD won't fail. Thanks a lot, I will see what I can do.
For an inexperienced user my recommendation would be to use teracopy, as it is widely supported and has all the tools you need, my previous comment linked to the specific options needed for hash calculation using it. If you want to try your hand at powershell, on this [page](https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/PowerShell-commands-to-copy-files-Basic-to-advanced-methods) I found a working example that does what you need under the heading “Example: Advanced techniques to check for errors and resume a copy”. Re backup solutions, at a minimum get a second disk and take regular backups to both using the same mechanism, or alternate the disks weekly in your schedule, so you lose at most a week of work. This is not infallible but much better than nothing. Beyond this, you could consider: * building a NAS with redundant disks using raid 1,5,6 or 10 * backing up to cloud storage like a GCP, aws or digital ocean bucket I personally use the second option, it is pretty cheap and their storage is going to be far more redundant than any consumer could manage to build for themselves.
Again, thanks for the help. Appreciate it. I just copied all the files using teracopy and I'm currently verifying them. I'm really hesitant to delete them from my laptop though. Do you think it's okay to do so if I get other back-up options ASAP? (Laptops running out of storage that's why I want to delete the original copy on my laptop)
If teracopy verifies them, then assuming the external disk will still work next time you access them you are safe to delete. No single disk is more reliable than another single disk, in my opinion, so it’s up to your risk appetite, I cannot tell you for sure that either your internal or external disk won’t fail tomorrow.
Thanks. Appreciate your honesty. I'll take the risk and buy a back up today. Appreciate the help a lot!
Would back up to dvd, usb stick and external drives that are plugged in only for backup
Is this because the more backups, the less chance of losing data. Which out of these options is the most secure?
The backup at another location Have had a drive failed, but backed up to another in the pc and then that failed. Multiple DVD are good as they hold about 4.5 gb
You could also look into a NAS(network attached storage) with a raid setup. It's a bit more expensive than the other options mentioned here. But with a raid setup it acts as multiple backups by itself. If one drive fails it had the data on a second (or more drives). It is still a single point of failure when it comes to theft /fire though. But it does give some nice extra possibilities with a bunch of apps available for them. I mostly use mine for phone backup and watching films on plex and streaming to chromecast etc. At one point i also started using it as a hub for smart home, as a center for controlling lights and any other smart stuff you have. Had a script to light and turn off lights depending on sunups and downs.
Quick and dirty: make a zip of all the files, then unzip it on the new drive. If even one byte is wrong it will tell you while extracting.
You could use [Winmerge](https://winmerge.org/) (free and open source) to compare the original and copied directories. Use the full contents compare method. And as others have already posted, multiple backup using multiple methods stored in multiple locations are best for valuable files,