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Introduction
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Most people know they should backup their important files, and most plan to, but it seems that it is one of those things that often gets put off, until sometimes it's too late. One reason it gets put off is because of the time and difficulty involved in backup procedure. A good backup program should make this task as simple and painless as possible. If you are reading this article it is likely you already know the importance of backing up your files and have come looking for some software that will help you do just that without having to spend a lot of time learning how to use it. To appeal to the average user, a backup program should have a wizard or step by step guide that takes them through the process of backing up their files. Then they should be able to set it and forget it, and have confidence that it will continue to work behind the scenes to protect their data. As I reviewed more than a dozen backup solutions I looked for ease of use, a scheduler, support for backing up to local and online storage, verification of backup archives, and an easy to use restore function. |
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| You should also check out the categories Best Free Folder Synchronization Program, and Best Free Drive Imaging Program which are simular are other types of backup programs. |
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2009 
Win XP - Vista 
Commercial Giveaway 
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I've tried many different backup solutions/software. But I always find my self going back to a simple "scheduled task" & DriveImageXML.
It's simple, free, uses decent (not great) compression, and is portable. It's slower then ghost, but allot more flexible. So it requires you to create your own "recovery boot disk/cd/dvd/usb/etc" device to do a FULL bare metal restore. But this is a achieved very easily with UBCD4Win :)
DriveImageXML is a drive imaging program not a backup program. It is already reviewed in a different category.
I have been using GFIBackup for many months now - found it excellent. But yesterday, on recommendation of WindowsSecrets, I downloaded & ran DrWeb Cureit.
It reported GFIAgent as probably Dloader.Trojan!
Any advice? Thank you.
I believe it is a false positive. I will look into more, but in the mean time you can take the file it reports as being the actual downloader and test it at virustotal.com
Thank you for that link. The result is that only Dr Web indicates any problem, all other are "found nothing", so I will re-activate it.
Again, many thanks.
Is there a way to put a program on your external harddrive and do the back up from there.
I am not sure exactly what you are asking, but if you just want to backup files to the external drive your program can be installed anywhere on the computer. If you absolutely want the backup program itself on the external drive so that you can use the drive to backup any computer without installing software first, your best bet is using a portable backup tool. Toucan backup mentioned above will work that way. If for some reason Toucan won't do what you want, or you have more questions, please feel free to post your question in our "Freeware Forum" under "General Computer Support." You will find all of our forum users to be very helpful.
Ritho
Editor
Macrium is the the one I'd go with. Have been using it for a while love it.
Macrium is a drive imaging program, which is entirely different than the programs above. It has already been reviewed here
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm
I recently tried out 5 free file-based backup programs. My favorite easily was Areca Backup http://www.areca-backup.org, and I highly recommend it.
My requirements of a file-based backup program:
-Uses non-proprietary storage format
-Can restore exact contents as of any backup date, including non-restoration of deleted files
-Can do archive integrity check
-Can do incremental backups to save space
-Ability to list, view, and recover any backed up version of a given file
I tried the latest versions of Cobian Backup, Comodo Backup, GFI Backup Home Edition, Toucan, and Areca Backup. Areca Backup was the only program that met all of my aforementioned requirements.
Cons of Areca Backup:
-Can't backup locked files (they can be skipped though)
-Can't backup to CD or DVD within the program
-Information presented to user upon detection of archive corruption could be improved
-Backup scheduling can be done only with operating system scheduler
Areca Backup has many other features. I recommend that new users view the tutorial at http://www.areca-backup.org/tutorial.php. This is a gem of a program :).
This works very well indeed, especially after the latest update;
http://evacopy.sourceforge.net/
It keeps copies of everything!
I use Solway's Plain Backup. It's very simple and small, 190KB.
What is wrong with Karens Replicator
Woodshed
Who said anything was wrong with it? There is a proliferation of free backup programs out there. Just because they are not mentioned with those above is in no way a slight against them.
Karen's Replicator is a very good program. It does what it is designed to do, and does it very well.
Ritho
Yes, I have found the Replicator to be very nice. I particularly like the global exclusions feature.
May be of interest; Comodo Time Machine.
Edit: This product is not a backup product in the same sense as the ones above. It works along the sames lines as Windows System Restore.
I have to make a quick suggestion, as many of these backup solutions just don't perform like *proper* backup solutions. E.G A minimum requirement for any user (even home users), would be to be able to backup home networked computers, centrally. Otherwise, you will have to install and configure the backup solution on every machine.(Home networks are now very popular...)
Does GFI allow you to backup another machine on the network? I could not find an option to do this with GFI & other recommednations also appear similar.
Areca on the other hand can backup any item on any machine on your network & store the configurations locally.
I would also humbly suggest that a very clear distiction be made between CDP (continous data protection) and backup - these are two very different things - Filehampster is a CDP product not a backup product and as such functions very diffferently to dedicated backup solutions.
Sorry for the long comment, but working in data protection I meet many folk who fall foul of the technologies, due to general missunderstanding of the concepts. (E.g. CDPs often install to the same machine and even the same disk it's 'backing up')
Just a few thoughts - really like this site and allways recommed people use it!
Thank you for the heads up on Areca. I gave it a quick look, and will have to try it out. It looks excellent. It is the first free product I have seen that supports a delta backup function. I can't believe I had not run across it before.
Most backup programs can be used to backup other machines on the network as long as the files you want to backup are shared. If you set up a drive as a network share you could backup the whole drive. Areca is still going to need the same permissions but probably makes the process easier.
As far as I am aware the term CDP is synonymous with the term Real-time Backup. Sometimes it is also referred to as Continuous Backup. I referred to Filehampster as a real-time backup, and explained its use. As long as a CDP is set to move its data copies to another drive, it works as a very effective backup solution.
By the way I am looking for a free product to replace Filehampster, because the new way they have hidden the free version in the trial version is a little irritating.
Ritho
Areca does have it's uses, but it too has failings - it does not backup to DVD for instance. Which is important for some folk.
CDP (or real time backup) is a process of taking snapshots of your source files at various points in time - usually, everytime a file changes. This has benefits but also potentially massive downsides for the unaware: e.g CDP software often has to be set to overwrite after a certain number of versions of the same file have been created. At the end of a year, you could easily have overwritten your most used files and not be able to recover to the *original* version. CDP is also very a invasive installation process, as it requires that the software 'hook' into the read and write interupts on your PC and is constantly running - which can cause system instability, FYI.
'Proper' backup software makes it easy to create fully hierarchical backups - automatically. i.e. backups that are never overwritten and include multiple versions of the same file.
Unfortunatly, a lot of so called 'backup' software companies, advertise how easy their backup solution is, without fully explaining the backup process: Filehamster for example defaults to the C:\ drive as the backup location, I believe, which can hardly be described as best practice.
I could find no way to enter a network share as a source on GFI, FYI.
Comodo have a free CDP offering, but unfortunatly I have no experience of it as I work mainly with corporate offerings.
Hope this helps.
do you know of one that will back up to iso '650 MB".
the last backup I had that I relly liked was Storagequest reflector. It did a really good job but what I liked was I could do the backup as an Iso with disk spanning and then burn it to disk. the install cd was suposed to restore it but I allways wrote my own script so I never used that but I need something like it now. right now I am mirroring the os on a second drive and if something goes wrong I just change drives and but recently I lost a drive so now I am looking to put it back on cds. Not DVDs
Just wondered what people thought of the backup function in XP. I know it will not do an image of your system, but for simple backup of files etc, is it as good as some of the software mentioned? No point having more software than is necessary!!
This is properly called NTbackup. Yes you can use it for simple backup, but "is it as good as programs reviewed above?" No. If you find it meets your needs, then go ahead and use it, but beware of some of the problems other users have experienced, such as unreliable scheduling, difficulty restoring files, and worst of all corruption.
NTbackup uses a proprietary format with the .BKF file extension. This file format has been notorious for file corruption. There is a proliferation of tools that have been written just for the purpose of repairing or extracting files from corrupt .BKF files.
Just wondering if you know of any *freeware* tools for extracting corrupt BKF files.
Question moved to our freeware help forum, for more exposure, and quicker responses.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/i-want-freeware-program-t...
You can view it as a guest, but you will have to create a user account if you want to respond.
All the Best!
Ritho
Editor
Anyone know what the situation is with these tools re. not deleting files that no longer exist in the backed-up source directory? I need a backup tool that absolutely will never delete any files ever.
chris.p
A con for GFI Backup (Home Edition) is that it doesn't support unicode files, yet.
Downloaded GFI, and it stops working at 3% completed.
Does any of the reviewed softwares do System State backup? If not, does anyone knows of some software that would do the job? Thank you.
Do you mean System State Backup like an alternative for Windows built in System Restore? You can easily back up your registry, but a full system backup is better handled with a drive imaging program. http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-drive-imaging-program.htm
Ritho
Editor
Personal-Backup: http://personal-backup.rathlev-home.de/index-e.html.
Nice find! I will definitely consider this one in my next review. Anyone who tests this please come back and tell us about your experiences.
Comodo BackUp Version 2.0 is now out - I would very much like to see your comments as it seems pretty thorough to me.
IG
I like a program called LazyMirror.
It uses extra space on the backup drive to store old versions of files. Stores a copy of deleted files.
The GFI-link points on neobytesolutions.com/
Erik
Thanks for pointing this out - I've repaired the link now
I'm very partial to Karen's Replicator. http://www.karenware.com/
While Karens Replicator is a great copy tool, it really doesnt do a "backup" just a simple copy. It doesnt offer incremental or differential backups, but does a great job of copying data from one drive to another on a scheduled basis.
Personally, I think it does a great job but I wish that it had intelligence for syncing files from one location to another. It would then be my perfect copy/sync solution and along with a good disk imaging tool, would be all I need for my systems. I still use Karens tool, but do a total copy of my data partition every night to an external drive.
+1 vote for Karen's replicator. :thumbs up smiley here:
I've always liked it too. Best part is the program assumes you know what you want to do and doesn't ask you a lot of silly questions. Karen Kenworthy is a very talented lady
Is Filehamster still freeware? On their site is only 30 days free trial ver.
I find it pretty confusing, but according to this forum post, dated 8/26/2009, by a developer there is still a freeware version. The trial gives plus functionality for 30 days then reverts to the freeware version.
http://support.mogware.net/index.php?PHPSESSID=29d055c66992377e9e50af6cc...
But I see nothing on their site about a freeware version or what limitations it would have.
I loved File Hamster - thus if nothing changes on their website, I would vote for removal from Gizmo's freeware website.
What about Windows Backup (Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup)? It is free, as long as you have purchased your Windows XP - don't know if it is present in Vista -, it is installed with the system, so you don't need additional space for a new backup solution and it does the job. Anyone else would like to see a review of Windows Backup added?
Cheers,
Arnaldo
What about Seagate Replica hard drive which constantly backs up your complete PC or multiple PCs as mentioned in Popular Science June 2009. It seems to be the ultimately simplified backup solution. It is not exactly on the topic under discussion, namely free software but the prospect of ease of use is enticing.
Paragon System backup 2010 rc.
I use Fabs AutoBackup. Small, free, easy to use, and portable. Also runs in a PE environment.
http://www.fpnet.fr/index2.php?lang=en§ion=software
Titan 1.5 suits my needs perfectly. Mind you, I don't need more than basic features. But I really like the fact that when you select the folders you want to back up, it starts calculating the space needed for the entire backup. This helps in one major way for me: since the space needed for my backup is much more than half of my external backup drive (more around 3/4), I cannot do more than one version of the backup - meaning I use the option to add the new files to the backup, AND delete the files that aren't there anymore. So before executing the backup task, which I do manually, I verify the needed space. If the size would be much different in comparison (because of a virus for example), it would mean there is a problem and I would not execute the backup.
I'm using Titan under Windows 7 64bit without any problems.
I used Titan Backup 1.5 not too long ago and unfortunately it fell short for me! It backed up my Mozilla directory (C:\Users\default user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla) to a memory stick so that all of my plugins, addons and bookmarks would be backed up in the event of a reinstallation or similar. I used Titans restore feature after a fresh vista installation and the restore function failed, not only did it not restore the mozilla directory that was backed up, it also deletd the backup after failing!
Luckily I had an image of the drive backed up via macrium reflect with which I was able to mount as a virtual drive in windows explorer and then copy the folder over to my c partition where everything went as smooth as I expected the titan restore to be.
I think I will stick to manually going to tht directory and backing up and restoring manually from now on!
The new version of Titan has a slightly worrying clause in its EULA relating to allowing it to phone home for unspecified reasons at various times. I'm less than convinced that I want to let this happen and therefore -- regretfully -- suggest either sticking with the last version of Titan or switching to one of the alternatives.
Fbackup isn't quite as feature rich as Titan/GFI but has a capable scheduler (which was my main reason for using Titan originally) and I've switched to it -- I'll come back and tell you if it lets me down!
If you don't care about schedulers or are happier rolling your own, Toucan's under pretty much constant development and, although it's not quite as intuitive as the others, can be run from the commandline and therefore the Windows Scheduler can be used to push it around while you're in bed. (It can also handle file and folder synchronisation, which is my main use for it.)
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR TITAN BACKUP USERS:
According to an email received earlier today from GFI Software, Titan Backup will no longer be developed, and will be replaced by GFI Backup.
Here is the complete contents of that message.
-------------------------------------------
Dear Titan Backup user,
We would like to inform you of some important changes to Titan Backup.
GFI Software has been working with Titan for some time and has made significant investments in the technology, which it has now re-launched under GFI. GFI will continue making major investments in this technology.
We would like to inform you that GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition has now been launched. This version is being offered as full-featured FREEWARE for PC home users.
GFI Backup has retained all the functionality you are accustomed to in Titan Backup and also includes additional feature and improvements*. We invite you to try out GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition, which you can download from: http://www.gfi.com/backup-hm.
Please note that you cannot back up with the Titan Backup version and restore with the GFI version. Also, you cannot import your settings from Titan Backup to GFI Backup, as there have been major changes to the configuration file formats.
You therefore need to install GFI Backup and reconfigure, as follows: Download and use GFI Backup 2009 – Home Edition, and run a new back up of your existing files, re-creating your backup and synchronization tasks as needed. We highly recommend this option.
Alternatively, if you choose to back up with your Titan Backup product or you need to restore your files so they can then be backed up with GFI Backup you can:
manually restore files backed up with the Titan Backup product; or
use the latest build of the Titan Backup product (v2.5.0.117); to get this version, please email eblaga@gfi.com – it is not available on the GFI website.
Both Titan Backup and GFI Backup can be installed on the same machine.
There will be no further development of the Titan Backup product. GFI Backup replaces this product and we will only enhance and maintain the GFI Backup product.
For support issues related to GFI Backup – Home Edition, please visit our support forums.
You can find more information about GFI Backup 2009 and other GFI products on our website: http://www.gfi.com/.
Thank you,
The GFI Software team
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