http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html
I've experienced a data loss just a couple weeks back. My 200GB Western Digital external drive bit the dust and I lost a good portion of my music, games, and some other 'not so critical' files...mostly downloads and temp files that I had, but nevertheless, it makes me consider how bad off I would be if my primary hard drive failed.
This isn't the first WD drive that I have had fail on me - I don't think I will ever buy another one to say the least! Alright, gripe aside, let us continue!
What, me worry?
Backing up your system is one of those esoteric things that everyone talks about, but not that many people do. Most folks just wait and hope that nothing 'bad' happens to their data - - A small stretch of the imagination can give you an idea of what is 'bad'!
In any case, Windows has always (or at least the NT-flavor) provided 'NT Backup' which is a pretty decent utility in that the backups are stored in a compression format that is compatible with a large number of mainstream (and not-so-mainstream) backup utilities. For this reason, NT Backup has had a spot in my heart for a long time.
However, with that being said, NT Backup is somewhat limited with its interface, and does not support .zip compression, FTP, alternate credentials on source and destination volumes, etc. Not that NT Backup is bad, per se, but it isn't the most friendly solution out there.
Syncback is a great freeware utility which gives you a plethora of configurable options to backup, synchronize or copy your data from one location to the next.
"Opening the box"
When you first open Syncback Freeware, you will be prompted to create a new profile. After which, you will be asked if you want to create a profile for backup or synchronization.
Backup
Backup is just what you'd expect. A job that will backup a set of files...simple, right? Yes, and maybe. :) Syncback has an 'expert' mode which allows you to really delve deep into the very nature of what it is to be the regular Joe's backup software.
Let me tell you right now, if you are savvy enough to get yourself set up with a backup (and have plenty of room on your destination location), then I would suggest you at first don't worry yourself with the various -and I do mean various, like *11 additional tabs of settings!*- configurable options found in the advanced mode.
If you are a casual user, the basic backup process should work out just fine for you.
Synchronization
Synchronization is a pretty cool feature. Just think of it as a poor-man's "mirror", or a concept similar to Windows 'Offline Folders'.
Zip!
Although it is not the highest compression algorithm around, Zip is certainly the most prevalent and familiar. Syncback has the ability to compress each individual file or the entire grouping of files within a backup job using Zip compression, saving considerable drive space in your destination location.
*Be aware that there is a 4Gb total size and 65,535 filename limitation within the final zip file cabinet.
Helpful tip: Zip compression really won't help you with compressed file formats, such as MP3, WMV, Ogg/Vorbis, JPG, GIF, etc. - so you may just want to perform a one-off backup of those particular file types.
However, with that being said, documents, spreadsheets, text files and the like compress VERY well.
It's time to backup
Finally, Syncback offers an front-end to the Windows Task Scheduler API to schedule a backup or synchronization job with ease.
Some other features:
- Email a notice via a SMTP server to alert you when the job finished, and if it was successful with details of the job
- Set backup priority while it is running in the background
- Auto-close windows with specified titles prior to running a job
- Run a program before or after the job starts/finishes
- Watch various attributes (NTFS/System)
- Specify alternate credentials for source & destination locations
- Include/Exclude certain files or folders based upon filter criteria
- Export/Import profiles to/from other systems (great for moms, trust me!)
- Backup to UDF formatted re-writable media
Restore
Backup software is pretty much useless unless you can actually restore the data that you backed up. Believe it or not, many system administrators run into this problem come disaster recovery time! Don't let this happen to you - it is always good to perform a test restore...and with that, restore couldn't be easier with SyncBack.
Say you deleted a file that has been backed up in last week's job. Open Syncback, right-click the appropriate backup job, and select 'Restore' - Syncback is smart enough to know which files are missing from your source location and restore them appropriately! Nice.
If you are gun shy about performing backups/synchronizations or restores, there is a 'simulated run/restore' option on the right-click context menu (right-click the job in question) - this will give you an indication of what actions your backups or restores will take when executed.
All in all, great software for the price(!), and you would think that Syncback couldn't get any better - they have a couple pay versions that sport even more advanced/enhanced features!
Forums are very active, 2Brightsparks is very receptive to program enhancements, and they include their user community in their product development.
Alternates
- Cobian Backup
- NT Backup
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