I have been running Windows 10 under Bootcamp, so I have been using the built in File History and System Image Backups. Now I decided to give Parallels a try again - currently trying the trial of Parallels 12 because my purchased Parallels 11 was not running smoothly under Sierra and P12 seems a bit better - and the question of backup comes up. I keep all my personal files in One Drive (Word, Excel, Approach, Quicken, etc.) and I see that Windows 10 (at least the new "Anniversary Edition") has a backup function - probably the same File History - shown in Update and Security. Additionally they say you can still make use of the older System Image also. Am I better off with those two in case of a Windows 10 system problem (as I said my documents are on One Drive, and my Pictures and Photos are on an external drive that is backed up separately) or just use a program like Carbon Copy Cloner to backup the actual VM file? Thanks, Steve
Hi SWANDY, We would like to know how you are going to use Windows in Parallels Desktop. Are you planning to use a stand alone VM or a Bootcamp based VM or imported Bootcamp VM?
I had a VM from Parallels 11 BEFORE I started playing with Bootcamp. The question about backups is for that VM (from Parallels 11) that I am now running using Parallels 12 (trial version) as a stand alone VM. It was not either imported from Bootcamp or the Bootcamp based VM.
Yes, it is good that you have backed up your (Word, Excel, Approach, Quicken, etc.) on Onedrive and images (Pictures and Photos are on an external drive that is backed up) separately. Parallels Desktop for Mac includes improved integration with Time Machine. When your virtual machine is backed up, only the most recent changes are saved (the latest snapshot), so the backup process takes less time and uses less space on your Time Machine storage device. So, you don't need to back up photos manually to the external hard disk.
The photos and music files are always stored on an external hard drive. But it is good to know that if I forget to do a manual backup of the VM that now Time Machine works better with Parallels. But you mention "the latest snapshot" - is that something that is created automatically or is it something I either have to do or set up within Parallels?
Only problem I was running Parallels 11 and now testing Parallels 12 and that article refers to PARALLELS 10. The settings are completely different from what I am seeing.
The article which was shared earlier is also for latest Parallels Desktop versions but you cannot see the advanced settings if you don't have a Pro subscription.
