Quick and easy backup software

[Chemical]

The situation: A client's home PC needs to be backed up (documents, music, email, etc)

What software do you use for a quick and easy backup?

Some programs recommended to me:

• Mail Store (for email backup, free)
• EaseUS Todo Backup (requires driver install, free)
• Fab's AutoBackup 4 Tech (I've used the beta and yes it's nice but going through college I don't have money for a license.)
• other people recommend simple copy & paste

 

[tf76]

FBACKUP
SYNCTOY2


Theres some free Acronis and paragon products as well



Regards,

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

For freebie quick 'n simple backups of stuff like doc/pics....I like FreeFileSynch
http://freefilesync.sourceforge.net/

 

[ell]

I use cobian, free and has lots of options.

 

[drpcfix]

I second that - cobian backup is awesome for basic stuff.

here is why;

• it will impersonate an admin user
• you can install as system tray or service
• it will backup to FTP
• it will run scripts before or after jobs
• it does incremental pretty intelligently
• it does pretty reliable email alerts for failures
• it does good encryption for those offsite FTP backups

We actually had a branded build done just for us when he open-sourced version 8 - check it out - drpcfix.com/links-and-files/9-databackup.html

PM if you want my list of default settings I use, after installing about 100 of these

 

[Larry Sabo]

I have found most of the mentioned programs too complex for novice home users to use/modify, and prefer GFI Backup. More intuitive.

 

[kevinjhaag]

http://www.bvckup.com/ which I use personally and I'm looking forward to version 2 when it comes out.

http://www.fbackup.com/ I've used for some customers and also a couple servers.

http://backup.comodo.com I've also used in past and used on customers computers too.

 

[bdakter]

It would be quite simple to copy the Users profile onto an external hard drive. No programs necessary. When you're done, you can copy it back.

 

[atlanticjim]

CrashPlan

CrashPlan
I use the free version on all my family's computers.
Good end user interface and a completely quiet operation.
And it emails me a backup report weekly to remind me how well it is doing its job.

 

[drpcfix]

here are my notes from cobian usage;

here are the basic things we change;

• Don't use VSS*
• we do incremental
• don't keep separated folders by timestamp if you are doing incremental, only if just full
• turn on logging in the main config so that you can email logs on failures
• disable daily log emails
• make it only email on failures
• we use our own mail relay, gmail or something probably works

as for scripts - if someone REALLY needs to back up an outlook PST, we'll make a batch file that will kill outlook.exe at midnight, and cobian can fire that right before it starts the backup. although pushing to live365 exchange is a way better solution.

This backup software is kind of hacky compared to other stuff out there, but we have it running on about half of the computers we're managing backups for - it gets the job done if the job is simple enough

 

[altrenda]

I've used Syncback free for a long time.
http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html

 

[Encrypted Existence]

The situation: A client's home PC needs to be backed up (documents, music, email, etc)

What software do you use for a quick and easy backup?

Some programs recommended to me:

• Mail Store (for email backup, free)
• EaseUS Todo Backup (requires driver install, free)
• Fab's AutoBackup 4 Tech (I've used the beta and yes it's nice but going through college I don't have money for a license.)
• other people recommend simple copy & paste

Windows 7's backup and restore. Simple, easy to use, and easy to teach a customer to use.

 

[numnutz]

I have been using / reselling
http://www.altaro.com/
easy interface, set and forget, plug in your external and it backs up automatically.

 

[Simplypoised]

This I would prefer. I keep an external laptop harddrive in a casing. I am a newbe, so could give me instructions on exactly how you transfer the customer profile. I will try it on my computer first to get the procedure downpack. Thanks.

 

['putertutor]

Free backups over 5gb are mostly on your own hardware, so I am assuming you are backing up to an external drive? If so, Crashplan is a great product, particularly for a home user to manage themselves. The interface is easy to navigate, it will do incremental backups, restoration can be on a file by file basis if needed.

I have used cobian and some of the others mentioned, but for my residential home users, Crashplan is about as advanced as they can handle.

 

[JustInspired]

I have been using / reselling
http://www.altaro.com/
easy interface, set and forget, plug in your external and it backs up automatically.

I'm reselling Oops Backup to residential clients. Haven't used the higher end products yet.
Love the ease of use. Customer plugs in their USB drive and that's all they need to do.

 

[jcitron]

Try FastCopy.

A very simple and free file copy/backup utility. (Need to Google/Bing it because I can't post URLs yet). The current version is 2.11 for the 64-bit version.

What's great is there's no Calculating files to copy/delete/move. It just does it and quickly too.

You can increase the buffer size so you can use more RAM to speed up the copy process.

There are options too for Diff copies, file syncing, moving, copying, and deleting.

John

 

[ProfessorCPU]

I have also developed a new program called Gotcha! Data Backup.

You can download it here:
http://integrator.siginetsoftware.com/index.php?addons&id=243

It will backup all of the things you requested. Even gets Windows and Office Product Keys, Drivers and email settings. Let me know if you use it and how your experiance is. It is 100% FREE.

 

[4ycr]

bryce done an article about this lately and he recommended SyncBack Pro. I have used this in the past and it is a good product with a lot of options should you want them.

 

[F15]

hi

I second the the oops backup program. Dead easy to setup and end user just has to make xernal drive is plugged in.

Thansk
F15