Backups vs. Antivirus: Have Both in One Tool

Securing important data is every computer user's wish. This article defines the importance of backups vs antivirus and why both are necessary.

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Updated by Daisy on Feb 22, 2023
Written by Jean

Quick Navigation:

1. What Does Backup Do?

2. What Does Antivirus Do?

3. Why Do You Need Both Backups and Antivirus?

4. Integrate Backups and Antivirus into One: EaseUS Todo Backup

Creating a backup has its benefits, but so does virus protection. Comparing the two is akin to securing your personal belongings. For example, if a burglar takes your prized possession, then a backup will surely come in handy. But, it would have been better if there had been security to stop the burglary.

The same could be said of data backups and antiviruses. If an antivirus can stop viruses from attacking your data, then there’s seldom any need for backup. However, what happens if your data is damaged or lost in case of hardware failure?

That's when antiviruses can do nothing, and a backup made by a third-party tool like EaseUS Todo Backup can come in handy. So, let's dive in and analyze the merits of backups vs. antivirus.

What Does Backup Do?

A backup is copying data in case of hardware or virtual failure. Many people create backups to ensure the swift recovery of important data, including work files, personal photos, documents, etc. The primary causes of data failure can be as such data corruption, accidental deletion, hardware failure, software failure, or accidental rewrite/replacing of the files.

In such cases, data is lost unless you have a backup. That’s why creating backups is imperative, as it can help you recover files easily. The primary job of a backup is to be a secondary element in case primary data is lost. The three main types of backup include full, differential, and incremental:

  • Full: this includes the entire data set within a device, i.e., a computer
  • Differential: This includes additions and changes to the primary, i.e., full backup
  • Incremental: This means backing up only important data, i.e., information, photos, documents, etc.
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Quick Answer: Is Virus Protection Necessary

While the security of websites and other platforms has increased exceedingly over the years, spam, malware, and other stuff of the sort still skip past security sometimes.

virus protection

What Does Antivirus Do?

An antivirus program can help you secure your computer from malicious threats. These threats could be spyware or malware that might leak information or corrupt your data. The most common problems caused by viruses include slowed-down performance, corruption of important data, leak of personal information, etc.

These are there of the primary catastrophes that an antivirus program can protect your computer from. That's why some countries' governments recommend using an antivirus. The types of viruses that an antivirus can protect you from include:

  • Hacking viruses such as browser hijackers, key loggers, Trojan horses, rootkits, spyware, or adware
  • Malicious threats like file infecting viruses that corrupt .exe files
  • Boot sector viruses that corrupt a hard disk drive or USBs. This type puts data at risk the most

The operation system designed security features to protect users' computers from malware. In Windows, you can find that the Windows Defender is a default open function to guard your system, including VBS, Model-based execution control (ensures optimal performance while VBS is running), Trusted platform module (TPM) encryption, Secure boot, Hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI), Windows Sandbox, and Kernel Data Protection (KDP).

There are many other types of viruses, but these are the most common culprits found in computers today. Furthermore, these are the kind that threatens your data the most. Apart from security features that will be on by default, Windows 11 need antivirus software to protect against data loss and other mishaps.

Why Do You Need Both Backups and Antivirus?

The thing to understand about backups vs. antivirus is that you cannot pick one out of them both. You need both, or you still risk your data. It’s imperative to understand the importance of both, so let's talk about backups first:

1. Backups help you keep important files safe

2. Swift recovery in case of a virus attack

3. Even hardware failure won't cost you important data

Now that we know why backups are needed, let's talk about why antivirus is needed:

1. Keep your computer secure from malicious attacks and hacking tools such as key loggers, etc.

2. Avoid spyware or adware from leaking personal information

3. Avoiding malware or viruses that slow down computers & storage

As you can see, there's a pattern to understand here. Without antivirus, a backup is useless. Because until you get rid of the virus, extracting or restoring a backup will only cause your files to be lost again. On the other hand, if you only use antivirus, you risk your data being lost. Because even if antiviruses recover your computer, you don’t have a backup to restore your data.

The bottom line is that the two complements each other, and one without the other is ineffective, and you need both to secure your vital data, your computer, and everything important in it.

Integrate Backups and Antivirus into One: EaseUS Todo Backup

Now that you know the importance of both, let us help you make your life easy by introducing you to one of the unique backup programs available today. It's called EaseUS Todo Backup. The ability of this program is even beyond the reach of viruses.

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The one word you need to remember is Security Zone, a separate partition that keeps your data secured with password encryption. It encrypts backups so that no type of virus or person can access it until they speak the magic word, i.e., your password. Furthermore, you can create backups and clone images of your important partitions. That means you can recover an entire partition without the hassle of individual file recovery.

You can follow the steps below to create a security zone:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, click "Tools" on the top right menu and choose "Security Zone".

Step 2. On the welcome window, click "Create Security Zone".

create security zone step 1

Step 3. Choose a partition and use it as a security zone partition. Click "Continue".

create security zone step 2

Step 4. Adjust the partition size of the security zone and click "Create".

create security zone step 3

Step 5. After creation, you can continue clicking "Set Password" to add one more layer of security over the protected zone, and the password is only required when you need to restore the backup from the security zone.

People Also Ask

1. Can a virus infect a backup?

Viruses can still attack your backup unless the backup has proper encryption like Security Zone in EaseUS Todo Backup. Moreover, using an antivirus with a backup tool can ensure double security.

2. How do I check for viruses on my hard drive?

You can use Windows Defender on a Windows computer or First Aid on a Mac to find viruses on your disk. Furthermore, you can use EaseUS Todo Backup on both Mac and Windows to create a backup.

Conclusion

Hope this explains why you need both antivirus and backups. Not only will it provide double security, but it will also ensure that your encrypted backup is secure as well. Let's download EaseUS Todo Backup to give your data double protection.

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Updated by Daisy

Daisy is the Senior editor of the writing team for EaseUS. She has been working in EaseUS for over ten years, starting from a technical writer to a team leader of the content group. As a professional author for over 10 years, she writes a lot to help people overcome their tech troubles.

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Written by Jean

Since graduating from university, Jean has been writing tech articles and has been a valuable member of the EaseUS team for over 5 years. Her areas of expertise include data recovery, disk partitioning, data backup, and multimedia world.

Read full bio

Product Reviews

TrustScore 4.7 | 47 reviews
  • Taking everything into consideration, we can say that EaseUS Todo Backup Home can offer you a little extra sense of security with a set of advanced tools. The interface provides quick adaptation, every process guiding you all the way through so you don't get stuck or further damage your system rather than keeping it safe.

    Read More
  • EaseUS Todo Backup Free lets you create backups of your important files or your entire computer through its streamlined interface. Just choose the backup type you'd like to get started, and let the program do the reset.

    Read More
  • EaseUS includes all the features I expect from backup software like versioning, incremental backups, and scheduling. For more advanced users, EaseUS allows you to install a pre-boot environment onto your hard drive so you can use it to restore files without burning a CD or putting it on an external USB drive.

    Read More

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