Simple Backup Software

koolpc

koolpc

koolpc

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My mate who is self employed is a noob with PC's and has never backed up his pc / work related stuff!!

Now, i am going to get him an external HD to back things up on (Possibly a WD).

What software should he use that, after setting up, allows him to either back up all the pc at a certain time every week / day or allows him to click a button! It needs to be simple. Ta
 
Synctoy, it's a free download from microsoft.

Or if you know your batch files you could just set somthing up using robocopy.

Have you also looked into something like dropbox or crashplan that backup to the web? I think crashplan does hard drives as well.
 
Thinking of getting him a Western Digital External Hard drive. Thing is, he has folders everywhere!! Guess it is best to consolidate them first?

I want to be able get it so that it is easy for him to do as he is hopeless.

Synctoy looks good but he will have to click to backup?
 
I think crashplan will do it automatically in the background.

However you still have to make sure he has a regime of taking the drive away with him and bringing it back. It'll be no good if his office burns down and the drive was left with the computer. And it's only slightly better if the office burns down and the drive is still home where it's been solidly for 3 months before the fire.


Have you audited the actual amount and size of files. If it's all just Work and Excel files they'll all probably be tiny so online backup might not even cost him anything.
 
Anyone recommend an online backup solution? It is only documents and some work pics of ongoing jobs (He is a builder)

Are they free online?
 
I use Livedrive (bought as 'KNOWHOW Cloud' through you-know-who). So far I've been much more impressed than I expected. About 170GB stored - instant access from a web browser or iphone - I like it.

Problem is, it's made me lazy doing my external-disk backups. Could anyone recommend any more software for backing up my entire PC (64GB SSD and 1TB HDD) to an external HDD? Something very simple, and that would let me browse the backup folder-by-folder rather than saving it all in a big mysterious lump?

Thanks.

EDIT: Reading about synctoy I can see one potential weakness for me. If I accidentally deleted or altered a file, didn't realise it at the time, later updated my backup, then realised the problem - the file would be lost/altered forever and I'd have no way of recovering the correct older version. Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
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Livedrive looks interesting. Is it easy to setup?

Do you think it would be a good idea for me to consolidate all his files and folders into one space first before backing up?
 
On Livedrive (via KNOWHOW Cloud) you select which folders to back up when you first set it up (you can change this later if you like). So for example I've selected My Docs, Pics, Vids, and Music, along with certain other folders like the iTunes one in Program Files (so that I don't lose my ratings, playlists etc), and my game saves. I don't suppose there's anything stopping you backing up every single file on the machine, but that's not really so efficient for cloud backups. Livedrive then uploads the files and folders and scans your machine every hour or so for changes, then uploads the changes. There's no need to micromanage the process. There's another feature available called 'Briefcase' which adds an L: drive to your computer - like a cloud-base external HDD, and any file you put there will be backed up and synced across your other computers. I didn't pay for this feature as I only have one PC anyway.

Hope that helps. I'm not claiming it's perfect or anything - but I'm impressed and I'll be renewing next year.
 
potato58 said:
On Livedrive (via KNOWHOW Cloud) you select which folders to back up when you first set it up (you can change this later if you like). So for example I've selected My Docs, Pics, Vids, and Music, along with certain other folders like the iTunes one in Program Files (so that I don't lose my ratings, playlists etc), and my game saves. I don't suppose there's anything stopping you backing up every single file on the machine, but that's not really so efficient for cloud backups. Livedrive then uploads the files and folders and scans your machine every hour or so for changes, then uploads the changes. There's no need to micromanage the process. There's another feature available called 'Briefcase' which adds an L: drive to your computer - like a cloud-base external HDD, and any file you put there will be backed up and synced across your other computers. I didn't pay for this feature as I only have one PC anyway.

Hope that helps. I'm not claiming it's perfect or anything - but I'm impressed and I'll be renewing next year.
Click to expand...

This looks ideal for him. Will try and see if he agrees to it. Pricing is good too.
 
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