Backup Software

I sometimes wonder as to what will happen if the hard drive of my laptop crashes. I have no official data on it. I only use it for my personal work. Even then, it will impact my day-to-day activities in a major way. Backing up my data is a task that I have been avoiding for a long time and it is about time that I take up this task seriously and thought that I would look up the Internet for some tools to back day to dayup the data. I was surprised to see hundreds of free backup tools. Technology sure has come a long way.

Free Backup Software

As large storage devices are easily available these days, free backup software have become very common. Below are reviews of some of the best backup tools that you can use as per your requirement:

• Autobackup: is considered to be one of the best no-frills freeware tool for backup. You need a create a list of paths that have to be checked and a backup mirrored copy is created of all the files that are found in those files and have been modified since the last backup.
• Lou Backup: is a very easy to use backup tool that is meant to back up Visual C source code files but can also be used to back up folder structures. It also supports the backup of multiple projects, directories and provides features of folder exclusion and backup of only modified files.
• TaskZip: is a small little tool that runs as a system agent. It automatically archives all specified files and folders into a single zip file. You can also specify a password for the zip file. Unfortunately, this tool does not provide the feature of restoration.
• Comparator: is optimized for use on a single computer and provides the feature of folder monitoring and data synchronization. Although the data backup and data restore features are excellent, the amount of input it requires is a little more than desirable.
• Genie Backup Manager: is a very fast tool that is capable of backing up the Windows registry, favorites, Outlook data and other system files along with all regular data. The latest version of the tool has a disaster recovery option that allows the user to back up and restore the Windows Operating System along with all the data. As per a review that I was reading, there as are so many flexible options available, it ends up confusing the users!
• NTI BackupNow: has an excellent user interface when compared to most of the freeware tools. The only drawback of this tool is that you will have to specify the exact location of the files that you need to copy. For example, there is no option of selecting that you need a backup of your emails. You will have to provide the path of your PST or any equivalent file. Further, no encryption is present; hence it may not be suitable for some users.
• SyncBack: is the freeware version of the commercial backup software 'SyncBackSE' and does not require installation. This tool can take all kinds of backups and also features a built in FTP engine which can store the backed up data on an FTP site. However, there are few features like network optimization which are disabled due to the fact that this is a freeware.

Remote Data Backup Software

Remote backup software tools work like any regular backup tool. The important difference is that instead of storing the backup on a tape drive or a separate location, these tools send the backup over the Internet or Intranet to online backup servers. The backup can be scheduled during the time frame when the computer is not in use. The entire process is completely automated and most employees do not even realize that such a process is in place. These kinds of backups are usually a part of the disaster recovery plan of large organizations.

Depending on your needs and the needs of your organization, it is very vital that you have a scheduled backup process in place. For some of us, the data that is stored in the computers help us earn our daily bread and water and there is no way to afford the loss of the data. If your organization is a little big in size and can afford a licensed version of a backup tool, then it is more advisable as you will also receive all the newer versions and patches when you purchase the tool. Backup your data and sleep soundly.