Which backup Software Do you Use? Why? Review?

[iholla]

For three years now, I have been running Acronis True Image to backup my pc. I have not ran into any problems with it so far.

Features:
-choose exactly which partitions, folders, files to backup
-Fresh backup or differential(only changes from previous state added )
-store backup on external media, hidden partition
-boot-up menu on key-press
-high ratio compressions(from 12GB system partition to 5GB backup image)
-password protected backups and restoratons
-great GUI and easy deployment and exploitation

To me, its best feature is the boot-up menu option which can be activated or de-activated at any time you will. This means no matter what happens, you can always restore your system to its previous state by just booting your system, pressing F11 and selecting which step to take. If the backup is on a partition on your system, then you do not even need to carry external media with you.

Which backup software do you use? do write a short review for us please. Until then, I recommend Acronis.

 

[Spartan Erik]

I have never needed backup software, I just have backup hardware. I've got a portable 320 GB external that has a copy of everything (including program installer .exe's); if anything happens I can reformat and have my computer back to where it was in about half an hour.

 

[iholla]

I have never needed backup software, I just have backup hardware. I've got a portable 320 GB external that has a copy of everything (including program installer .exe's); if anything happens I can reformat and have my computer back to where it was in about half an hour.

I also happen to own a 250GB WD external multimedia drive. However, I keep a copy of my backup image created by the backup software on it. Here's a few reasons why you might find back-up software useful

what happens when your External HDD goes bananas?

Plus, restoration/creation of a backup takes about 5-12 minutes if you have back-up software. How long does it take you to copy your system from your E-HDD back to your pc and vice versa?

Plus, how often do you make a fresh copy of your current system state to your E-HDD? I bet that is largely affected by your willingness to spend that much time waiting around for it to be done.

Plus, do you not think that having backup software would better suite you since then, you would be able to have the back-up process automated and you get to back-up only the recent changes?

Plus, your data's integrity would be preserved since keeping files in exe formats open on your 320 means that should you connect it to an infected system, then all your files will be doomed too.

Did I convince you? Check-in later

 

[Smith6612]

I do my backups by hand, no software needed, except Windows/Linux and good old copy and paste.

 

[Livewire]

what happens when your External HDD goes bananas?

Plus, restoration/creation of a backup takes about 5-12 minutes if you have back-up software. How long does it take you to copy your system from your E-HDD back to your pc and vice versa?

Plus, how often do you make a fresh copy of your current system state to your E-HDD? I bet that is largely affected by your willingness to spend that much time waiting around for it to be done.

Plus, do you not think that having backup software would better suite you since then, you would be able to have the back-up process automated and you get to back-up only the recent changes?

Plus, your data's integrity would be preserved since keeping files in exe formats open on your 320 means that should you connect it to an infected system, then all your files will be doomed too.

Did I convince you? Check-in later

I'm in the same boat as spartan erik cept mine's an internal drive rather than external, so I'll attack this as though the same post was directed at me (although I can't speak for him obviously, I've got a very firm stance on the issue and it'll take a LOT of effort to make me even try a "backup" copy of backup software).

1) If the HDD goes bananas, theres not much you can do about it. Hardware failure's a given and affects any hardware - the hope is that the external won't go haywire when the main system does. In this case I'd prefer my secondary backup system - the so called Stoplight system I'm using. Red is the OS disc, Yellow is system critical (firewall, antivirus, Firefox, spybot, adaware, etc.), and Green is optional stuff (windows tweaks, Daemon Tools, Nero, Photoshop, etc.).

2) Depends on whats being restored, obviously if it's installers it won't be as quick, but it WILL be fresh - that alone can solve problems with software not working properly. Backup suites don't necessarily only back up the required stuff for a program, they can also back up the stuff thats causing problems.

3) I NEVER back up the entire system. There's ALWAYS fragments of BS left behind on a system, and the last thing I want to do if I need to restore is start with a system with bits of BS. It's bad enough knowing I've got fragments of files on the hd from crappy uninstallers, coupled with a registry that is bound to have junk in it, but to have to restore to that? *shudder?*

4) Why would I want an automated process that would likely back up stuff I didn't want it to (see #3)? I prefer to have total control over what makes it to the backup drive and what doesn't, and for that I can't have a pc trying to second guess me.

5) I would NEVER plug an external drive of any form onto a system I hadn't personally virus scanned. Even my flash drives never got plugged into a college pc without having the hardware read-only switch enabled until I had ran AVG off of it and personally cleared the system. Plugging something into a strange system is just not a good idea in the first place. Plus if that drive is a backup only drive, why would it get plugged into any other system? Backups don't normally end up on a secondary system from my experience.


Sorry but it didn't convince me a bit to go and do anything automated. For starters the backup drive in this pc is NOT big enough to even do a total backup if I wanted to, but again, I like personal control over what gets backed up and what doesn't.

Can't get that if the pc's making the decisions for me. XP and Nero's all I need (XP to recognize the internal hdd for backups, Nero to remake the Stoplight Trio every 2 weeks).

 

[sunils]

Yes you need have a backup software in case of system crash.

But i dont have one as i did not encounter with a crash.

I heard about a backup software

It can get your files from a crashed harddisk even.
It can get your files even you have formatted three or four time.

But unfortunately i dont know the name of the software.

I will find it and post it here as soon as i find it.

.....................................x10 Rocks................................

 

[Spartan Erik]

Drive failure is a pretty rare occurrence; hard drives are more durable than you think. In addition to what Livewire said, I too hate automated things running. I'm not going to install anything that will increase my startup processes (currently 23; would be 21 without HD audio and DVD auto-play software support).

I'd rather go RAID before using any software backups..

 

[iholla]

I guess I forgot to mention, evrything you(liverwire, spartan) mentioned can also be done with back-up software. A recap;

- You decide exactly what is to be checked for any new changes and when to backup only the changes. I mean, you are in full control of the process...there are alot of settings by the way.

- Everybody cleans their junk before doing a backup. I am talking manual registry cleaning, emptying temp folders(program data too,recyle files), broken links, empty folders or folders from prevous uninstallations ...blah blah...so this is not an advantage for you...its what people normally do even users of backup software, right before we do a backup.

- After downloading tons of system upgrades, av updates, drivers e.t.c, there is no better means of avoiding a re-dowload(if u re-install the OS when it kicks) of the same update(vista already has more than 300MB of those),than to backup what you already have downloaded and installed. How many of you know where your Vista or Xp updates are stored on your system? Where your av updates are stored?

- When your MBR gets corrupted, or your OS totally flips, a simple copy and paste wont do the trick to have your system up and running again. You copy and paste guys will have to re-install the OS, then start the copy n paste. Install process is about 20-30mins + copy n paste process = 30-5hrs(he he). The backup software guy will only press a button on initial boot-up and have his MBR fixed or OS re-installed in 10 mins top!

Programmers say, K.I.S.S ! Keep It Simple Stupid! (no pun intended) It is more secure and faster to use software when backing up and restoring your system.

 

[Livewire]

I guess I forgot to mention, evrything you(liverwire, spartan) mentioned can also be done with back-up software. A recap;

- You decide exactly what is to be checked for any new changes and when to backup only the changes. I mean, you are in full control of the process...there are alot of settings by the way.

- Everybody cleans their junk before doing a backup. I am talking manual registry cleaning, emptying temp folders(program data too,recyle files), broken links, empty folders or folders from prevous uninstallations ...blah blah...so this is not an advantage for you...its what people normally do even users of backup software, right before we do a backup.

- After downloading tons of system upgrades, av updates, drivers e.t.c, there is no better means of avoiding a re-dowload(if u re-install the OS when it kicks) of the same update(vista already has more than 300MB of those),than to backup what you already have downloaded and installed. How many of you know where your Vista or Xp updates are stored on your system? Where your av updates are stored?

- When your MBR gets corrupted, or your OS totally flips, a simple copy and paste wont do the trick to have your system up and running again. You copy and paste guys will have to re-install the OS, then start the copy n paste. Install process is about 20-30mins + copy n paste process = 30-5hrs(he he). The backup software guy will only press a button on initial boot-up and have his MBR fixed or OS re-installed in 10 mins top!

Programmers say, K.I.S.S ! Keep It Simple Stupid! (no pun intended) It is more secure and faster to use software when backing up and restoring your system.

1) Does it do it automatically? Then I no longer have full control, no matter how many tweaks/settings I use. The main problem is theres exactly one folder that needs backing up - E:\Torrentz. The problem actually lies inside that folder - out of 29000 files, I can see about 10 that need to be backed up - they have no commonalities (4 are isos, 3 are bin, 2 are zip, and the other 2 are avi), no usage comonalities (most were used once, the avi's twice, and the zips at least 12 times), and no similar naming schemes (the iso's are either games or photoshop, the bins are movie backups, the zips are mangas, and of the two avi's, ones an instructional video, and the others an anime). Now the real challenge is finding a way to back those files up specifically without backing up any of the other 28900 files. I'll give you a hint: given the nature of the other files, you'll be up a **** creek - I've tried backup software and it never got it right.

2) Point taken, but I'd rather wipe the slate completely clean - I don't trust registry cleaners and BS cleaners ever since I actually started watching what they did - They do clean some BS, but I've had them miss too much to consider the pc "clean."

3) Thats easy - E:\Torrentz, where everything else is stored it seems (no really - I've been downloading the updates via torrent)

4) Time's no issue - if you want it done perfect, you do it yourself.


Also helps if I find out I backed up something I didn't really need, then I just don't install it instead of waiting for backup software to install it for me, then undo it.



As I stated before, it's going to take a hell of a lot to get me to try backup software, and try as you might, you just aren't getting there.

 

[GamingX]

I think I would just clone my harddrive to an external one and if the system goes kaput then just clone the external to a new harddrive. Though in this method, you are bound to lose data since doing daily backups isn't a good idea with the amount of data to be transferred. This is in the case of external harddrives which are usually USB 2.0 and not very fast. Of course if you've got a spare backup internal harddisk, the transfers are much faster and you could do a daily backup. But with an internal harddrive you've got to open the CPU and etc etc. But the end point is I don't do backups. I have got most of the installation files on CD/DVD and some important backups, other than that, I've never felt the need to backup.

 

[iholla]

1)...The main problem is theres exactly one folder that needs backing up - E:\Torrentz. The problem actually lies inside that folder - out of 29000 files, I can see about 10 that need to be backed up - they have no commonalities (4 are isos, 3 are bin, 2 are zip, and the other 2 are avi), no usage comonalities (most were used once, the avi's twice, and the zips at least 12 times), and no similar naming schemes (the iso's are either games or photoshop, the bins are movie backups, the zips are mangas, and of the two avi's, ones an instructional video, and the others an anime). Now the real challenge is finding a way to back those files up specifically without backing up any of the other 28900 files.

He he, this is sooooo simple. I am assuming you have an organised partitioning and filing system on your pc. If you have 29000 files in a folder, you want to backup only 10 new ones, there's a few ways to set up backup criteriae in the software. Point software to folder of interest then set backup criteria by;

1. only new files
2. time of creation
3. recently executed/opened, changed or edited in any way

If however, you do not have any form of functionally logical partitioning or file and folder cataloging according to content or exploitation, then manual work is for you. There's a lot more you need to do before you go playing with back-up software...he he.

My dear friends, the use of backup software is to make the process easier but most of all make sure your back-ups keep your data's integrity.

1. easy backup process
2. easy restoration
3. incorruptible data.

All your methods are the reason we have software developers making us back-up software. Get with the program)))

 

[Livewire]

Who ever said the files I wanted to back up were new?

The bin's have been there since this install of windows, everything else is scattered among the last 2 months.


Oddly enough it is quite well organized - if I downloaded it via torrent, it's in that folder. Easy as that, never had problems finding stuff in it.

 

[warlordste]

i back mine up on me network on 2 comps and a removable drive so for backing up info am pretty sorted

 

[mygorillanet]

Who ever said the files I wanted to back up were new?

If the files are old, does it mean you have backed them up before? Coz if you have then making a differential backup of your folder is all you need. It backs up only changed files.

If you haven't backed them up before, its as easy as ctrl selecting them and from the context menu selecting backup. The software usually recalls your recent actions and if this is supposed to be a recurring thing, then all you have to do the next time is execute the previous action's bookmark to have a backup of the same done.


I haven't tried Acronis but I am impressed with the features. Especially the boot into recovery without external media. That could save me the trouble of keeping tabs on my backup hardware.

I am a raid guy but on my son's desktop I am using NTI BackupNow! He keeps crashing his system and installing/uninstalling whatever kids his age experiment with.

So, about NTI BackupNow

- great numbered easy to exploit interface for backup and restoration
- can create bootable recovery media
- can resume interrupted backup or restoration processes

it however has some disavantages

- pretty slow backup and restoration...its method is more like trying to copy 10000 pictures on the fly to a specific folder. That, compared to first archiving them then copying the archive to the folder, is a lot slower.
- emails, favourites, desktop backups can only b done by specifying the exact file name and location
- no encryption of backup.

Ill be getting a copy of Acronis soon and will run it and post a feedback.