The best Windows backup software is Easeus Todo Backup 2025. It has everything PCWorld expects to see in a top product: A polished interface, intuitive functionality, a comprehensive approach to backing up data including imaging, file backup, sync, and disaster recovery. And most important, it's reliable! Todo Backup also offers the option of a perpetual license or a subscription model, the latter of which can be augmented with affordable cloud storage.
It turns out that PCWorld's favorite for-pay backup software, Easeus Todo Backup 2025, also offers a surprisingly robust free version. It matches its paid counterpart in basics such as imaging, file backup, sync, and, most especially -- disaster recovery. It also features the same eminently user-friendly interface. As with most backup freeware, you will be nagged to upgrade, and Easeus's optional cloud storage, which is surprisingly affordable, is only available at the subscription tier.
Backup software typically runs in the background or during dead time, so given even moderately modern hardware, you shouldn’t notice any decrease in performance. Most programs let you throttle the backup process if you do notice a slowdown.
Does Windows Backup and Restore (Windows 7) save everything?
Yes, by default, Backup and Restore (Windows 7) saves everything on your system disk (all the partitions, including hidden ones) in what's known as an image file that would be suitable for disaster recovery if Windows Recovery Drive and Rescue disk were reliable. News bulletin -- they aren't.Hence, we only recommend this program for creating highly compatible VHD/VHDX images of your data drives and partitions which can be mounted as virtual drives and browsed using nothing but Windows Explorer.