I was thinking that we could start an thread to discuss what Backup software you use, if it's any good and if you would recommend it! Please list somewhat informative responses that contains stuff like: - Name - Freeware / cost? - Newbie friendly or high-tech stuff? And whatnot that you can think of
I'm not sure I would consider it back up but I use Sync Toy from Microsoft to keep several folders synchronized between a few computers and my server, it works well for me and you can set it up to run on a schedule via task scheduler. I also use Microsoft sky drive 25GB of free space.
Ok, my personal experience with SyncToy is quite brief but I would say that it is good for folders that is not too great in size but perhaps an document/picture folder. And yeah I would say that configure it right and it serves as an backup software
I tend to just use imaging software (true image or ghost depending on the machine), it is not quite as convenient for just restoring a single file as more traditional backup, but a lot more useful in event of a drive failure or any serious issue.
Mac: DropBox to sync working files to cloud Mac: SugarSync to sync working files to cloud Mac: Mozy to backup working files to cloud Mac: TimeMachine PC: DropBox to grab working files from cloud PC: Acronis to create drive image of SSD to NAS PC: VisaVersa to copy media drive to NAS So for the important stuff, I've got 2 cloud copies that are "live" IE, never more than a few minutes out of date. Another, which is about an hour up to date. For the PC, I've got a ready to run restore drive image on the NAS and a perfect file copy of my music + photography archives (About 900gb in total) Always backup your backups!
i use easus todo backup. it does both incremental folder / file and imaging types of backups so it does pretty much anything i could need. its freeware. some of the options aren't really clear or intuitive so you do need to pay attention, but its not overly complex.
Indeed I might just as well let you know how my current backup solution is: Manual! It is because I feel that I do not have a lot of important files and those I do have, is private pictures and songs - and this is pretty much two folders with an total size of 76GB, so I have them being uploaded to an off-site FTP as well as transferring to an external hard drive used exclusively for these files, got another one for storage of less important files.
I backup my OS drive with acronis, it's quick any simple I backup my media manually, so if I ever go anywhere I have those files on hand and ready to use
I used to use Acronis True Image Home, but I've since switched to CrashPlan. It's a free program that runs in the background to backup checked folders to a Crashplan archive, which can be on a local drive, external HDD or network location. An added bonus is automatic versioning. They also offer the option of adding backup 'to the cloud' for $1.50 per month for one PC with a 10GB cap, $3 per month for one PC with unlimited GB, or the full monty - $6 per month for unlimited PC's and unlimited storage (link). It's a set-and-forget jobbie, really easy to use. Runs in the background and sends me email and Twitter updates about backup progress for all machines I've got it installed on. Got it on home pc, two home laptops, and even a couple of the file servers at work! If you've got the bandwidth, you could also designate a PC in a remote destination as the backup location. Plus, if you're feeling generous, you can provide a code to a friend/colleague to authorise your PC as a backup destination for their Crashplan jobs. So, for straightforward file backup, I'd definitely recommend Crashplan. However, if you need a system image backup you'll need to look elsewhere. Clonezilla is a free linux based application that you can pop on a CD, boot from disc, then save a system image to a local or USB drive. I tend to use this on the PC's and laptops I maintain at work - just after I have installed Windows, added drivers, printers, network mappings, basic applications, etc. This way, I can maintain a library of system images that can be restored quickly (for free). The other option, more suitable if you want to take regular, scheduled system image backups, would be Acronis True Image. This isn't free, about £40, but you can sometimes find deals that bring it down to about £20-25. I think it does pretty much the same job as the Windows Image Backup tool included with Windows 7, although I've not had any experience with restoring using the latter so I can't really comment on it's reliability.
Still using v10 with the last Vista PC, can't remember if that works with 7 or not. If DVD Shrink doesn't work with 7, anyone know of a good ISO ripper for DVD? I changed recorders, so any TV I might want to keep, better to have it backed up.
You might want to try Areca Backup. It's open source and works on Windows and Linux. It's designed to be easy to use. It's not an imaging application though.
I have written a small app that does a sync of all my files do either another computer on the network or to an external drive that does it fine for me Im not interested in keeping windows backups as they can be restored in 2 hrs noramlly
