Unlike blackwind I\'m not searching for a backup tool with various functions. I

Question

Unlike blackwind I'm not searching for a backup tool with various functions. I simply want to backup my files to an external hard disk. I'm using Windows 7 64-bit, if that really matters.
My requirements are:

file and folder backup (although it's even better if the same tool supports system backups)
incremental backups
programmable, automatic backups (at a specific time / every night)
supports external hard drives (as target)
preferably free

What I don't need:

cloud backups (I bought this external 4TB HDD for a reason)
extremely good performance (20GB RAM & i7-2600K, even if it's slow I'm okay with a backup over night, no need to work simultaneously)
version control (the latest version is fine)

I don't want opinion-based answers. Only if you really are an expert and tried all different backup software I'd like to hear your opinion on which is "the best" tool that matches my requirements.

I searched and found a lot of software, but they all seem to do the same and much more than I actually need. I have little experience with Acronis but don't really like it (If you still think it's the best, don't hesitate to correct my opinion on it). There came a backup software with my Western Digital hard drive (don't know the name of it) but it's only licensed for a limited period of time.

If this is an exact duplicate, I'm really sorry. I've only found OS-specific questions and such with special requirements.

Explanation / Answer

I have tried many (many, many) over the years and the best choice for you (for almost anyone) is Free File Synch

file and folder backup (although it's even better if the same tool supports system backups)
yup and yup (Copy locked files (Volume Shadow Copy Service) )
incremental backups
not so sure, but I consider them to be A Bad Thing (anything other than a total, unencrypted, uncompressed, normal file system backup introduces possible problems when restoring)
programmable, automatic backups (at a specific time / every night)
yup (Automate sync as a batch job )
supports external hard drives (as target)
yup (that's where I keep mine)
preferably free as in beer & speech (which one must mix with caution ;-)

Key Features

Detect moved and renamed files and folders
Copy locked files (Volume Shadow Copy Service)
Detect conflicts and propagate deletions
Binary file comparison
Configure handling of Symbolic Links
Automate sync as a batch job
Process multiple folder pairs
Comprehensive and detailed error reporting
Copy NTFS extended attributes (compressed, encrypted, sparse)
Copy NTFS security permissions
Support long file paths with more than 260 characters
Fail-safe file copy
Cross-platform: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X
Expand environment variables like %USERPROFILE%
Access variable drive letters by volume name (USB sticks)
Native 64-bit support
Keep versions of deleted/updated files
Prevent disc space bottlenecks via optimal sync sequence
Full Unicode support
Highly optimized runtime performance
Include/exclude files via filter
FreeFileSync portable and local installation available
Handle daylight saving time changes on FAT/FAT32
Use macros %time%, %date%, et al. for recurring backups
Case-sensitive synchronization
Built-in locking: serialize multiple jobs running against the same network share

Supported Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows FreeFileSync runs natively on all 32 and 64-bit Windows versions:

Windows 10
Windows 8.1
Windows 8
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000

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