Titan Backup: Special Promotional Offer

Thanks for making us aware of that, I'll keep an eye on the site for further offers. I suppose I won't see any promotional gifts any time soon for me, I don't have many credits.

I am having trouble setting the 'stacking' feature to work correctly when I run a backup to a LAN folder. Although I want to keep only 3 versions, Titan is not removing old versions of the backup, and my LAN folder is getting full.

Has anyone had similar problems? Any solution?

[Running same backup to a local partition gives no problems. Oldest version gets removed when new version is added.]

D Green
Cambridge UK

I am trying to achieve a back-up strategy using Titan that will enable me to recover files that were lost (using back-up copies copies of the current version of these files) as well as files that were corrupted (using a copy of the previous version of the files). To achieve this I think I will need to keep
* one copy on back-up device of the files that have not changed since the first back-up run
* one copy of current version and one copy of the previous version for files that have changed

As far as I can see a stacked backup (with two target files) will give me two copies of every file, whether they have changed or not and any versions previous to the last but one run will be lost.

Incremental or differential will leave me with one version or zero version.

Any ideas of how to achieve this?

If you read the post of 07/08/2008 from "DH" attentively, you see that (1) the writer ran "an actual backup to CD-RW" (not DVD as some posters suppose), and (2) it worked fine. That is, it worked fine as long as a user does not try to: (a) backup plain uncompressed files to multiple disks rather than making a zip file, (b) refer to the backup record that is stored on the backup media with the backup itself, (c) use the Email feature which may be the source of a horrible bug, (d) restore selected files using Titan Backup itself rather than a generic zip program.

Yes, Titan creates its multispan zip file in just the way other programs do, with the index in the main file on the last disk. Using a generic zip program, one inserts the last disk, sees the whole file list immediately, selects the file to restore, and the program tells you which earlier disk to insert; then insert that disk, and the file is restored, all in less than a minute. Adrian Gheara from Titan helpfully explains (as did the original post) that Titan does something quite different and much longer.

I have been running Titan Backup for a while now and my experiences have been quite positive.

As the Anonymous long post of Wed, 07/09/2008 - 11:37 points out, there are some minor aspects of the interface that could have been done differently, and there may also be some (fairly subjective) linguistic issues in the labels and function descriptions. This posters specific test of spanning a backup direct to DVD is but one isolated application of the program and I seem to recall from distant memory that other zip applications like Winzip approach the retrieval of single/multi files from a multispan archive in the same way (write zip index on the last disk, swap back to the first disk, scan forward through the disk set, etc) None of this detracts from the overall functional or performance aspects of the program which, for my needs and the price via Gizmo, makes Titan Backup an excellent backup solution for me at least.

I use Titan Backup for file-based backups with the view that I may need to recover a single file or files at short notice. Titan Backup's inbuilt scheduling and, by design, very simple workflow to setup the source, destination, options, schedule and events is really good especially for a user who may not have a lot of experience configuring backup plans. Those that have set up server backups to tape libraries will immediately recognise the workflow that underpins Titan Backup's philosophy but should also appreciate the simplicity of the interface. This doesn't make Titan Backup "a simple program"; it does makes it "a simple program to use" - there is a subtle but significant difference in those statements.

To illustrate by example, how Titan Backup works for me:

I have setup a range of tasks that backup different files sets (files, email, folders) either daily or weekly or both. I do a daily incremental backup of my critical files and stack these with 7 versions. I stack some weekly backups with 4 versions, so effectively I have a one month backup split over 4 weekly sets. The daily and weekly backups go to separate destinations on a dedicated 160Gb SATA2 HDD in my PC as uncompressed files (fastest option). I then have another task that runs later in the evening and copies and zips all backup sets from my PC to an external 250Gb USB hard drive. I set Titan Backup to shutdown my PC after this last task is complete each night. Very convenient. I set the events options on all tasks to send me an email only if there are failures. I see any emails the next morning and take action as required. The only failure I have had so far was caused by a change in a USB drive letter. One time I had left a USB memory stick plugged in and turned on the external HDD afterwards, bumping the external drive by one letter. This is now fixed by assigning a drive letter (via windows disk management) to a high letter value (R:) and modifying the backup task destination location accordingly. No more problems.

I also have a task that runs on a weekend to create a stack backup of the monthly backup folder on the external drive. This is one of the key strengths of Titan Backup; as it is so simple and flexible to setup backup plans. It allows you in a few mouse clicks to nest your backups as deep as you like and even backup your backups for as much redundancy as you feel that you need (I need lots to feel comfortable). Space is really not an issue as HDD space is so cheap these days... how much is your time and data worth to you?

The net effect of my current strategy is that at any point I can recover any file/s from any day in the last month (or as many months as I want to stack) by accessing either the daily or the weekly backup sets. I can also use Windows Explorer and/or my zip application to recover any file/s quickly and easily if I lose or overwrite a document or setting.

The next task I will setup is to do selective copies of critical folders/files and burn this direct to DVD-DL for storage offsite. No point having a backup strategy if all of the backup copies are in the same physical location as the primary data. All it takes is one fire or flood event and your good work is wasted.

Titan Backup allowed me to setup my whole backup plan in about 10 mins. I now forget about it, knowing that my stuff is getting backed up and I will be told if something stops working. There may be a range of separate freeware options around that will collectively do all that Titan Backup does, but for me $40 is pretty cheap insurance for something that I can achieve inside one small application and set and forget. As it is, I haven't had to pay for it and neither have each of you lucky punters that took advantage of the free offer before the 1 July cutoff.

My thanks go to Neobyte Solutions and Gizmo for the free licence. I have no affiliation with Neobyte or Gizmo. I just feel that Titan backup is a good product and deserves a good hearing. Neobyte have given away about $250K worth of licences (6500 registrations x ~$40/licence) and deserve some acknowledgement for this. Glenn.

Dear Peter,

We cherish all feedback from our users and if you are the same person that wrote the initial long post, we would like to thank you too. I hope Adrian's post clarified the problem, for further details please contact us: http://www.titanbackup.com/support.html

Since now 6500 subscribers at Gizmo's newsletter have happily activated and used the product with a lot of positive feedback. Many thanks to all of them and to Gizmo too.

Best regards

Flavius Saracut
www.titanbackup.com

"We consider that post NOT accurate and based on misunderstandings or improper use of the program."

We however, DO consider the visitor's post to be accurate, we feel that any misunderstandings are due to your company's failure to properly explain, and remain baffled by your reference to "improper use".

"Why write batch files and use 5 different programs to do something that you can accomplish with a couple of clicks with a single program ?"

To save 40 dollars.

This is a response to the previous comment posted Tue, 07/08/2008 - 20:43.

We consider that post NOT accurate and based on misunderstandings or improper use of the program.
We'll try to address most of the concerns raised by that post. For any questions don't hesitate to contact us at http://www.titanbackup.com/support.html

The post contains question as to where? and how? the replace backup, incremental and differential works. The concept is very simple. There is a SOURCE of the backup ( the files you select ) and a DESTINATION ( where you want your files to be saved).
The program always checks both - SOURCE and DESTINATION - and based on your setting it wil take the following action
REPLACE: if the file exists in destination, it will get overwritten - always
There are 2 suboptions for a REPLACE backup:
1) INCREMENTAL: if the file exists in destination, it will get overwritten only if there is a newer file in the source
2) DIFFERENTIAL: if the file exists in destination, it will get overwritten only if there is a newer file in the source, ALSO if the file exists in destination but doesn't exist in the source it will get deleted from destination too
STACK BACKUP: it will not overwrite nor delete files from destination, it will create timestamped versions of all the files from the source.

The program doesn't use the archive bit, but checks the last modified date and the size of the file, and checks both the source and destination.
CRC would be too slow, and archive bit would be too "intrusive". The method we use never failed and it works perfectly, copying only the files that have changed.

Titan Backup is much more than a simple ZIP archiver - as it was described in this post. It has many options and features that helps a user, novice, average or expert. Why write batch files and use 5 different programs to do something that you can accomplish with a couple of clicks with a single program ?
Titan Backup provides backup of open files using VSS, AES encryption, has an advanced built-in scheduler, can burn on CD/DVD without third-party programs, can copy on FTP servers, allows several types of destinations ( network, external devices ), and plugins for backing up specific applications, like email clients, browser settings, etc.
It is much more than a simple zip archiver.

A complaint was that the program's interface is superfluous, too simple. That is exactly what we're trying to accomplish. We try to make the our program as simple as possible for every user. Even so, there is always to possibility to get into more advanced setting in the MyTasks window if expert users want more power.

The .TBT file. There's not thing confusing about it. This file describes the backup job that has been done at a specific time. It is copied to destination every time your make a backup, because if you ever lose the source disk, you need it to import the previous settings, and for a smooth restore process. The writer of the previous post tried to import this descriptor while he already had it on his disk, this operation resulted in a warning, and that is normal. If you already have the task loaded in your computer, then when restoring don't import the descriptor again.

The rest of the post reports issues with a specifc scenatio the user had: to create a zip archive split on several CDs.
Splitting over multiple CDs is more complex and has many implications that clearly the writer of the post doesn't understand. To split backup on several CDs you must use compression. This is not a limitation of functionality, this was imposed for the sake of consistency.
Even without compression there could still be very large files, that cannot fit on one CD, so there would be files that could fit and files the couldn't and get chunked, and that in our opinion would be too confusing. Also there's the matter of optimizing the use of a CD/DVD space. This is why we considered that the best way is to use a zip archive that would fill the entire disk, then split on the next ones.
The restore process of one file from an archive split on multiple CDs might seem a little too time consuming, but it is necessary. Imagine a big backup where you have 10 DVDs, and a file inside it huge enough to span over 3 DVDs. How would the program know on which DVD is it located?
This is how Titan Backup works: it asks for all disks and copy them locally, then will look thorugh all splits for the file and pick it up. The process of copying the files is timeconsuming, but necessary.

Speed. The speed is a very subjective matter and it depends on many factors. Speed of archiving is affected by the number of your files, the size of your files, the CPU and hard-disk speed. We consider this speed to be as good as the industry standard is - which is very fast. The speed of the burning process however is another matter, it depends on your DVD writer device or the DVD itself. And our suggestion here is to aim for lower speeds, as these are more reliable and you can be sure you'll not lose the archive in time because of a poor DVD that was burned too fast.
What is more important to you ? The speed or the security of your documents ? Although we try optimize the application for best performance possible, we consider that reliability and security is are main concern.

If you want speed and instant access to one file, anytime, fast, then our recommandation is to use an external hard-drive or SAN ( instant access ), and don't use compression at all ( speed ).
DVDs are unreliable in time, not very fast, and difficult to handle. They are not the best destination type for these requirements.

Always consider your recovery scenario, create a restore strategy and choose your backup destination and options accordingly.

For any questions, don't hesitate to contact us.
http://www.titanbackup.com/support.html

Adrian Gheara
Titan Backup Support
http://www.TitanBackup.com

Not so good.

Clearly, Neobyte thinks it has a good product, and they came up with the idea of distributing free copies to a mailing list of somewhat knowledgeable users, to help get the word out.  Thank you.  However.

The Good

Many backup programs use a proprietary form of compression, so that to be sure of being able to restore files, you might have to add to each backup set an uncompressed stand-alone copy of the backup program itself.  Titan Backup instead uses the simple intelligent approach of compressing in standard zip format, so that any backup can be restored using any zip program.  Therefore, the Titan Backup program is essentially just doing three things.

(1) Compressing selected files into a *.zip file.
(2) Copying that *.zip file somewhere.
(3) Keeping a record of what it did.

The first two functions could be performed by a good zip program run by a batch file; the third could be performed with a pen and a piece of paper.  Using a backup program is more convenient, but its success will depend on how quickly and flexibly it does the first two things, and on how intelligently it makes use of its record.

The Unexamined

These comments are based on downloading, installing, looking through the interface and help file, registering the program, downloading and installing the update, trying a few backup tasks and deleting them, running an actual backup to CD-RW, retrieving one file, and running one test for comparative speed in zipping.  No doubt, some problems encountered may result from pressing the wrong buttons, but if the interface and help lead one to press wrong buttons that is an important part of the point.

The program offers several backup methods, and the following is everything that the help file says about them.  I spent no more than half an hour trying to guess at what the language means, without success, nor did I test the several methods to figure out what they actually do, and so did not proceed to thinking about whether these are good strategies.

1. Replace Backup - with this option selected, when the application encounters [where?] an existing backup for the same task the new backup will replace [delete?] the old one.
With this selection you have 2 additional options available:
     Version control - with this option only the changed [according to what record?] files will be saved [where? and will the unchanged files be deleted?!]
     Differential backup - with this option you will delete the files from the [old? new?] backup and that don't exist [so cannot be backed up?] anymore in the source of your backup.
2. Stack Backup - with this option selected, the Titan Backup creates [where?] different stacked copies with date tags. With this option you can choose to keep only the latest copies by marking the "keep only the last X versions".

There is no clarity about (a) what is actually on the source hard disk before and after backup, (b) what is on the destination CD before and after backup, (c) what the backup record file, which is kept only on the hard disk, says is on the CD.  The backup record file is a [taskname].tbx file in XML format, and it records for each backed up file the name, path, size, and date; it does not identify file uniqueness by recording a CRC checksum as is done in the zip file itself.  Nothing is said, and from running a test backup apparently nothing is done, about resetting the archive attribute of the file on the source disk.  Perhaps the developers consider the archive bit an old fashioned obsolete way of controlling backups.  But a full featured backup program ought to take some account of the traditional method; and the tactic of assuming a change in file contents from a change in date may be no better.

There is a feature for synchronizing the files in folders, which was not examined.

The Not So Good

Awkward program updating.  After Titan Backup 2.0.3.56  was downloaded and installed, it was "successfully activated" by entering the serial number that was provided to this mailing list and sending a user name over the internet to Neobyte as registration.  Thereupon the program notified that an update, version 2.0.3.58 was available.  But that turned out to be a full 6.4 megabyte download of the complete installation package, just like the original download; then it asked all the same installation questions about folder location and start menu items, overwrote the old files, and reset all the user selected options to the defaults.  It did at least leave the program activated.

Inadequate interface and help.  The initial window, which cannot be eliminated by a user option, forces you to choose between four supposed wizards, which turn out to be superfluous and inconsistent, and a needless additional step in exiting the program.  The actual main window, which is under "My Tasks", has all the program functions.  Indeed, the wizard for "Restore individual files or folders" just gives you a message box that tells you not to use the wizard, and sends you to that main window.

Doing a simple uncompressed backup ought to be a particularly easy programming task -- just get a list of files, and copy them to the backup medium till it is full, then ask for another CD, and keep copying.  But the program will not do it.  Instead, it just tells you that you have selected too many files to fit on a single CD.  The only way to get files onto multiple CDs is to do a compressed zip backup.

The program is confused about .tbt file locations.  Each "backup task" (and everything is called a "backup" task even when you want to restore) is recorded in XML format in a [taskname].tbt (meaning "Titan Backup Task") file.  One copy is kept on the source hard disk, to populate the "[User]'s Tasks" list in the main program window, and another not quite identical copy is kept on the CD backup along with the backup zip file.  Since you are encouraged to run the same "task" repeatedly, and also permitted to edit the task, the [taskname].tbt file on disk may come to describe something significantly different from the backup that was actually put on the CD.  For restoring, it would seem that you ought to refer to the task description as it is on the CD itself.  There is an option to "Select from previous Backup (.TBT file and archive on external media)" along with a check box to "Import the task in the list of current Backup Tasks".  But, and regardless of whether that box is checked or not, the program seems to want to copy the [filename].tbt file from the CD to hard disk, and it produces an error box "You can't have two Tasks with the same name!".  To get around that you must manually delete or rename the [taskname].tbt file on the hard disk.  If on the other hand you try to use the [taskname].tbt record on the hard disk, it will insist that a backup that was made, say, to the D: drive must now be restored from D: and not from a CD that may have been placed in the E: drive.  It does not seem to know how to ask for, or how to identify, a backup set.  Indeed, if no backup CD is provided at all, the program will blithely proceed anyway, and do something like this (while creating in the restore location an empty folder named "Plug" with empty subfolders).

Elapsed Time:  04 second(s).
Files processed: 387
Total Size:  399.55 MB
Transferred Files: 0
Transferred Data: 0 bytes
Transfer Speed:  0 bytes/s
Status: Restore Task Finished Successfully!

Some comments have complained about speed.  Since the program's first task is simply to construct a zip file, comparison on this phase is easy, by just zipping to a file on the same drive.  To zip a documents folder of 703 megabytes, a good zip program IZArc took 15:34 minutes, and Titan Backup took only 11:29 minutes.  So far so good.  On the other hand, though Titan Backup identified a possible 10x speed for writing a CD and was specifically asked to use the maximum speed, it still wrote at 8x speed.  To zip about 1 gigabyte of files into a 744 megabyte zip file and write it across two CDs took 47 minutes for the zipping and 15 minutes for the writing.

There is a bad bug which may be associated with the "Email" feature.  The program is supposed to have the smarts of knowing where certain things are.  For backing up Windows settings, it just makes registry files of some registry keys.  For backing up email, the main thing for the program to know is where the files are.  When the backup task was asked to include Email > Mozilla Thunderbird > Mail, this is what happened.  The status line reported that it was adding the "Local Folders" files to the archive zip file, which should be named [taskname].z01.  The program's CPU usage rose to a constant 97% while all it was accomplishing was creating on the hard drive totally empty files named [taskname].z01, .z02, etc.  After 36 minutes of actual CPU time it had created empty (0 byte) files from .z01 to .z21591.  When all the program's windows were closed, the program did not stop but kept going in the background, still creating empty files.  Eventually the TitanBackup.exe process had to be forcibly killed using Task Manager.  Then it took Windows over ten minutes just to delete those over 21,000 empty files.  When the backup task was changed, this time not using the Email feature but selecting Thunderbird's "Local Folders" directly as one of the folders to add, there was no problem and it was zipped along with the others.

Preposterous single file restore.  Having created a two CD backup, I tried restoring one small text file to a different location on the hard disk.  One point that is not mentioned anywhere in the interface or help, and may not be obvious to everybody, is that the "main" zip file [taskname].zip, which includes the file header, is on the last CD of the set, and previous CDs contain only the partial [taskname].z01 etc files.  To retrieve that text file, which was actually among the last files backed up and so was on the last CD in the [taskname].zip file itself, was the work of a moment using a zip program like IZArc -- insert the last CD, open the zip file with IZArc, select the text file, extract it to the hard disk.  Titan Backup does this.  When you click Restore and select "Restore individual files or folders" it says you have done the wrong thing and you must work from the applicable Backup Task, Advanced View.  (If the applicable backup task is on a CD, you are likely to run into the .tbt naming problem above.)  You must then select the file name, not from what is available on CD, but from what the hard disk's [taskname].tbx file says is available.  Then you are asked "Please insert the CD/DVD containing the file '[taskname].zip'" (with no hint that it will be on the last CD of the backup set, nor any help in sorting out different backup sets with the same name, but requiring that the CD be in the drive where the backup was made).  Then, despite the fact that the wanted file is right there in that [taskname].zip on the second CD the program asks "Please insert the CD/DVD containing the file '[taskname].z01" which is the first CD.  The program takes a long time searching all through the zip file, with a lot of activity on both the CD drive and the hard disk drive, while its own screen window is not updated and is stuck in a messed up state.  Finally, the file is copied to the hard disk.  This selection from what the program reports pretty much says it all.

Elapsed Time:  12:27  minute(s)
Files processed: 1
Total Size:  18.73 KB
Transfer Speed:  26 bytes/s
Status: Restore Task Finished Successfully!

Perhaps the program's slow examination of the complete zip file is meant to confirm that the zip is the actual backup recorded in the .tbx file; but if so, it is a cumbersome way of doing it.  The upshot is that you're as well off zipping the files yourself, and copying them yourself, and you're much better off restoring them yourself.  The online records kept by Titan Backup seem, on first impression, not to inspire confidence and not to add any value that makes the program worth using.

DH

It still works 6 July Thanks

I just activated the program on my desktop and laptop comuters - July 6.

Just registered and the offer is still valid

Have been reading your newsletter for over a year, keep up the great work! Love the new site as well. It's a shame that I am reading this alert in a letter from you on July 5 though, since the offer expired on the 1st. :-(

I just installed it and it works fine so far. Accepted the serial with ease

Please extend the expiration date. I didn't hear about it until July 3.
I love your site, Gizmo.

I have been reading your work for a long time now Gizmo as 'free' is the best word I know.

Getting access to a programme like Titan Backup Full Version for free is such a joy. I have not only downloaded this but I have done my first real backup. It was easy, it was fast but best of all it allowed me to keep track of my important stuff. Not once but twice this year I have had complete computer melt downs. Two different machines.
And no off machine back ups. Never again.

Thank you also to Titan. I have great respect for a company comfortable enough to put their work out for free. I think there is a corollary with music downloads for free - the customer/consumer is far more likely to return to your site and pay for software. Thank you.

Doers the software have to be installed BEFORE July 1? In other words does the installation process contact Neobyte's server to verify the serial #.

What if down the road you system fails and you have to restore the backup. Will you be able to restore your backup using the above serial number WITHOUT having to buy the product?

McAfeeSiteAdviser identifies the Titan site as potential source of malware.

Rriver

What happens if in 3 weeks from now I have a crash and have to reinstall windows, can I reinstall this program at no cost?
Thanks
Jammer
jammer1957@rogers.com

Thank You so much Gizmo and Titan for this gift! It really works as promoted! Live long and prosper to both of you.

Edison

My thanks also to Gizmo & Titan. This is a great freebie. It's fantastic to be given free access to a full function app' such as this. Thanks also to Scotty & the OzBargain regulars for providing the link.

Cheers,
Live Long & Prosper.
[ :- { )

Thanks Gizmo and Titan. Great program for simple,reliable backups.
Wow very glad to get it.

Thanks Gizmo you do good work for us folks.
Jim Atkin

Can anyone assure me that the possible viruses the scanners at Jotti found are nothing to worry about? (See post below for details).

Keith

Thank You so very much Gizmo. You spoil us once again. Thank You Titan for your kindness.

Sandy

Does it do Incremental and or Differential backups?

Steve

It's a great program with all the features I need: split back up files (my NAS uses FAT32!), Zip format, etc etc.
But it's SLOOOOOWWW....
Where Winbackup handled my 2.2 GB Program Files in 12 minutes, Ttitan takes a full HOUR more!
Going back is no option becuase of the fact that the "split" option in Winbackup does not work, and the program has been discontinued and I only get a "have a nice day" reply from their "support", but still...I probably have to live with it.
Eric

Standard backup programs typically fail if you try to use them to restore a system. Simply because they can't back up files "in use" and theres always something key missed, leading to failure. Actually some tests I've seen of expensive commercial backup systems costing thousands of dollars had appalling failure rates when they were actually tested properly.

Another issue is that for many tools, you need the program running to do a restore. So if you system is compromised, it has no use in recovery. Some have the idea that worst case, you do a system restore then recover from the backup. But if you've ever tried to restore your system in bits, you know what a huge headache it is. There is so many pieces in so many places + versions of various files that its just a mess. You have to reinstall everything then try and find all the settings and files for everything.

Imaging programs handle system backup much better but use formats that may not be accessible in the future when the programs change. So a backup of your photos in a special format you can no longer access is useless.

Best case, what you need is something for your OS and programs and something else for your files.

1) Imaging - you want to take a snapshot of your OS and software that is fast and reliable. ie - it will actually let you restore your system as was. This is something you can run weekly or before and after major program changes. A large image should only take 15 to 20 minutes to run. The better ones can be run from boot discs to do a restore. Acronis TrueImage is widely regarded in this arena but as another post mentions DriveImageXML is free.

2) Backup - your files on the other hand should be backed up much more often, and into a format that can be read for the forseeable future. ZIP format is ideal and its a big key that Titan uses that. Indeed, only a few backup programs meet this standard. Genie is another.

Oh - don't make the mistake of using a special medium to back up those files too - who has a Syquest drive now? Or an 8" floppy? Stick with standards.

2a) For the really key files you use all the time, you may want to use a tool that simply copies the files to another location. MS has the free SyncToy but for realtime backup each time you save, I love FileHamster. It has automated file mirroring with version control, is dead easy to use but has some advanced stuff, and best of all, its free.

Be sure you include email, bookmarks, any music or photo or other stashes your programs might make, and the Docs and Settings/ Yourname folders for the programs that cooperate with that idea. If you're really geeky, you set up a separate drive for saving the majority of your files. You can look up how to move your "My Documents" there (Its just an alias).

May seem a lot of work but its really just a couple of hours work to set it all up, then a little checking once in awhile. Last time I did a system migration manually, it took me 4 days to reinstall everything and move all the files. Believe me, this is MUCH simpler.
David

I just downloaded it to my laptop but thought I would run it through Jotti first. Among all the other scans that found nothing, Sophos scanner found this:

Sophos Antivirus
Found Sus/UnkPacker (probable variant).

The conclusion was:

POSSIBLY INFECTED/MALWARE (Note: this file has been scanned before. Therefore, this file's scan results will not be stored in the database) (Note: this file was only flagged as malware by heuristic detection(s). This might be a false positive. Therefore, results of this scan will not be stored in the database)
MD5: 33696cb7bc7dee53abad3b60064a10b0
Packers detected:
WISESFXDROPPER, ARMADILLO, EDIT

This was only the second time that I'd run a Jotti scan so I decided to try Virus Total. Most of the scanners found nothing but one or two found the following:

eSafe 7.0.15.0 2008.06.19 Suspicious Archive Structure

Webwasher-Gateway 6.6.2 2008.06.21 Virus.Win32.FileInfector.gen (suspicious)

packers (Kaspersky): WiseSFXDropper, Armadillo, Edit, Edit, Edit
packers (F-Prot): ZIP, nameless

I'm new to all this so for all I know this could be normal. However, despite really wanting the backup program, I don't think I'll install it until someone can reassure me that it's safe.

Keith

I'm not complaining but one limitation is that it doesn't backup files "in use". It also took nearly 4 hours to backup a quite small XP system.
Disk imaging, in contrast, backsup everything, and took about 15 minutes.