Backup Software

[Tom J]

A few weeks ago my hard drive on my Dell laptop crashed. The drive was under warranty, but it was a major headache trying to retrieve data. Now that I am back up and operating I have resolved to do a better job of backing up my files. I purchased a an external hard drive (My Book Essential Edition) and would like to dump my backup files into this. I found the windows utility for backing up files less than user friendly. Does anyone have any suggestions for a good backup program. I would like something that would back up my files automatically on a periodic basis. Obviously, I would like to keep costs down.

Thanks.

[LarryG]

Second Copy from Centered Systems is simply wonderful, and wonderfully simple. Been using it for six or eight years now.

http://www.centered.com/

[radhak]

Acronis TrueImage has worked well for me, but after Larry's post, Second Copy seems to be even better (live synchronization? wow!).

Larry, seeing that you need to have it running all the time, how much of a load on resources is it? If you shut it off for a period, does it synch it right when it does come on next?

[Ken Massingale]

Acronis True Image has been great for me. Now I'm waiting for Larry to reply to radhak's questions. That looks even better.

[Tom J]

I am interested in Larry's response also. I probably ought to add a little more detail on my usage. Most of the time my laptop stays in a docking station and acts more or less like a desk top connected to various devices. Occassionally, I take it with me for portable use. When it is in the docking station I keep the battery out and run off the cord with the computer on all the time. Obviously, when I am mobile it is running on a battery and it is turned off when not in use. In these instances it would not be connected to the external hard drive. I would like to be able to backup the files produced during these periods upon returning it to the docking station.

[whitecobra]

We use Karen's Replicator

Excellent product and if costs are an issue this is cant' be beat it is FREE

Dr D

[LarryG]

Gosh, no wonder my ears were burning.

First of all, I use the older Second Copy 2000 version; I have not seen a need to upgrade to Second Copy 7 although I may do so, just to see what new stuff it does.

Second Copy is extremely flexible, with lots of options on which, where, how, and when files are backed up. The desired options are recorded in what is known as a "profile," which is analogous to a backup job or a scheduled task in Windows. The program includes a wizard that steps you through the process of creating a profile; once done, you can go back and edit it as needed/desired.

Profiles can be run when SC starts up, when it shuts down, or at user-specified intervals (every few minutes, every few hours, every day, selected days, once a week ... whatever). Profiles can be copied and altered individually so that the different copies will backup selected files at different times, send them to different targets, etc. Also, any profile can be run manually, at any time. Like I said: lots of flexibility.

I use SC exclusively for scheduled backups, overnight. I don't use it for "live" or "background" backups; I did when I first started using it, but soon realized this was overkill for my needs. I dimly recall that really large CAD files or folders would cause the occasional hiccup, but nothing too intrusive. However, this was in the days of first-gen Pentiums and slow hard disks. I would guess that with current hardware you'd never know it was there unless it was continually copying a huge number of files for some reason.

There are also lots of options on how files are copied. They can simply be copied, obviously, but they can also be moved (deleted from the source), synchronized (latest version on the source and target is kept), compressed to save room, etc.

All operations are logged so you can go back and look at what's been going on, and find out if there were any errors. I've never had it fail to properly back up files as intended unless the file was accidentally left open.

All that is probably more that y'all wanted to know, but this is a great little app, one of my all-time favorites. The thing just flat works, and I consider it a bargain at $29.95. You may have noticed on the publisher's web site that some pretty big outfits use it ... Bristol-Myers Squibb, Intel, more.

I've no experience with Karen Replicator but at a glance it looks similar, although it may not be as flexible as SC. I have used other Karenware apps and found them first rate.

[smc331]

Count me in for kudos to Acronis - I use it for all of the PCs and Servers I support at work - good stuff!

[movnup]

I used Second Copy for my businesses main server, back up server, as well as two external hard drives (one removed offsite daily). We had a server crash, went to restore and found out we lost three months of information (150 gb's worth). I was PO'd to say the least ... so we are utilizing unlimited offsite storage from Carbonite @ $5 / month. It was ranked best from Cnet and are now using Acronis as backup to the backup to the backup (one in cyberspace, one on site, one removed daily).

[Tom J]

Online Backup

I had toyed with the idea of an online backup, but I did have a question that stems from recent experience.

When my hard drive went belly up, Dell sent me a new hard drive and Windows software, plus some other drivers, but Dell did not send some of the drivers essential for a wireless internet hookup. When I contacted Dell, their tech support said no problem and directed me to an online site to download the drivers. I had to find another computer with internet access, then download the drivers and then load them on to the new hard drive. Once all this was done the problem was fixed, but it was a PIA.

Now for my question after that background--if I backup off site over the internet, is it going to be a hassle to get access to what I backed up. It seems to me software on the PC dumping backup files to a hard drive eliminates that problem. Am I missing something?

Also, did Second Chance offer any explanation when you lost the 150 GB's of data? I can certainly understand why that would be a problem.

One other question--I looked in the Chicago Tribune and the guy that writes the tech column mentioned something by Norton called ghost. Has anyone had any experience with it? At $69.99 it is pricey compared to the others, but I would rather spend an extra $20 to $40 to save some trouble down road.

Again thanks for all your suggestions.

[softop41]

Tom J
I used Ghost for several years for precisely the reason Caotes(Tribune guy) recommended it - restoring an image of youi whole HD, OS, Programs installed, etc. I never used it as a data backup though that was one of the options. I have gotten away from it in the last couple of years but a major crash will make me wish I was more diligent about using it. If you don't have a DVD burner, you might not be able to make much of an image unless you span multiple CDs. My last XP image spanned 4 CDs ( I didn't have a DVD burner yet) so I quit using it.
just my 2 cents worth
Jerry

[dlminehart]

I've started using software RAID systems, using RAID 1 (mirroring for data security). The idea here is that whatever you change on the master disk is also, simultaneously, changed on the mirror. If the master dies, the RAID software informs you of the problem and automatically switches to the backup. When you install a replacement, the RAID software automatically brings the new master into synch with the single remaining drive.

This is not the same as archiving, wherein you save copies of files at a particular point in time in a static format, so that you can retrieve them later if needed. For instance, if you have a file called "Xmas letter" and archive the current (2006) version, it'll remain unchanged in your archive even if you edit the "Xmas letter" file on your disk next winter for use in 2007.

So, you have to decide whether you want unchanging archives of files at particular points in time, or a backup of your live system in case the drive fails and you want to get back to work quickly and easily. RAID 1 was designed for the latter.

[cgallery]

I like Fab's AutoBackup:

http://fabs.dyndns.org/index2.php?la...tion=freewares

Nice because it gets the stuff that is typically most important to users: Documents, photos, E-Mail, addresses book, fav's, etc.

And free.