I plan to delete my Windows 7 dual boot but wanted to back up to an external drive. I currently have Timeshift snapshots on the internal disk.
After searching around, I’m a little confused as to what type of file system is best for snapshots. The BTRFS is stated to be for snapshots per the Disks dialog. Other info I have read is that BTRFS isn’t necessary.
Any concrete clarification?
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And this is the 20th post the forum app forgot to notify me of. 
I’m actually glad I started scrolling around 30+ screens down. Perhaps the updates reset the notifications.
Timeshift is a great tool to build your snapshots. And yes, it works nicely with any drive, internal or external. BTRFS, when it’s configured (you will see it after every update), will hold the system snapshots under the Grub menu. However, I have not personally utilized it as I’ve only done one rollback (via Timeshift) in all my day on Linux.
The downside of the Rsync is that it takes a lot of space, but it’s very reliable. What I would recommend is to have your snapshots on an external drive via Timeshift/Rsync. That way you will be secure even if you suffer an irreparable error in your internal drive (like a power failure).
Thanks vasileios. In a similar vein, what app would you recommend to image my Linux machine? Advantages/disadvantages versus Timeshift or am I comparing apples to oranges?
You’re welcome, @zpepelepu!
Per the imaging part, I believe you are referring to “drive ghosting.” That’s what basically copies your drive sector-by-sector. I’ve tried several apps that only copy the used sectors of the drive, but the results were not up to par as I would want. For example, I did that with my initial Arch installation to move it to a bigger drive, but it ended up not booting. The most reliable option would be to use Gnome Disks (or just Disks) to create an image of the entire drive, which includes its boot partition. That one worked for me like a charm. The downside to this approach is that the image size will be the size of your entire drive. Plus, it also needs to be done from a different OS, not from the one you are backing up from (that’s a general rule). Therefore, using a live USB will work just as well.
On the other hand, TimeShift only copies the files that already exist in your OS (system with or without your personal folder, depending on what you choose). In terms of speed and convenience, it’s much better to use TimeShift as opposed to creating a full image of the drive. However, if you “rip the distro to pieces” or you want to move it to another system, then a drive image will do the trick.