What backup software to use

[ExRayTed]

Hi all,

A friend has a lot of word documents (receipts etc) that he wants to keep a backup of. Not being very computer literate he's after an easy to use program that automates the backup process as much as possible.

Is there software out there that automatically keeps a backup of folders whenever the contents change and will automatically update documents he changes? Looking for the best recommendation, doesn't matter if the software costs but would obviously prefer free.

 

[panyan]

Is there software out there that automatically keeps a backup of folders whenever the contents change and will automatically update documents he changes?

Dropbox

 

[b3n]

Two options, make your own using ownCloud or take up one of the many offers available on the web, SugarSync is the one that I would recommend.

 

[ExRayTed]

So the best option is cloud based? Nothing that will do it to an external drive?

 

[Craig321]

SugarSync (free) is pretty good, automatically keeps multiple copies of files. All you do is tell SugarSync to back up a folder and it'll do the rest.

 

[b3n]

So the best option is cloud based? Nothing that will do it to an external drive?

Yes, sure there is! I only know of two off the top of my head but I have never used them so cannot comment on functionality, but there is sure to be many more applications that do the same job too.

http://www.jumpingbytes.com/en/puresync.html

and

http://allwaysync.com/

BUT for your friends purpose, it may be prudent to use an on-line third party solution.

 

[Lee]

I use Allwayssync to back up my photos to another PC on the network. Got too many to use a free cloud service for that.

I do however also use dropbox for really important stuff or for things I need access to on the move.

 

[Make]

Is there software out there that automatically keeps a backup of folders whenever the contents change and will automatically update documents he changes? Looking for the best recommendation, doesn't matter if the software costs but would obviously prefer free.

Sure, I use "Cobian backup" for this. It is free. It's a bit troublesome to set up, but once done, never need to do it again.

Backs up my data every week to my 3TB HDD, and if I change anything on the original locations, it deletes them from the backups as well. The first backup will take forever, but as it only does the changes afterwards, it won't take too long on the consecutive backups. Of course, depending how you set it up.

Yes, someone might argue this is not a "True" back-up, but it works for that data.

My main windows-drive is being back-upped to an image using the win7 utility.

 

[ExRayTed]

Fantastic. That gives me a few options. Cheers guys

 

[bledd]

open notepad..

robocopy /e "C:\source folder" "X:\Destination folder"

save the file as 'backup robocopy.bat'

Every time you double click the bat file, it will do a backup from source to destination.



The first time it runs, it will copy everyting, then after that it will only copy new/updaed files.

It's an awesome tool. Built into Windows (not on XP, but you can download it for XP)

 

[b3n]

open notepad..

robocopy /e "C:\source folder" "X:\Destination folder"

save the file as 'backup robocopy.bat'

Every time you double click the bat file, it will do a backup from source to destination.



The first time it runs, it will copy everyting, then after that it will only copy new/updaed files.

It's an awesome tool. Built into Windows (not on XP, but you can download it for XP)

I was gonna mention that but its not very autonomous...

 

[Maverick01]

I was gonna mention that but its not very autonomous...

It is if you schedule the command through windows scheduler

 

[apatia77]

Dropbox is soo good. Or robocopy to a local drive if you have a lot of data.

 

[johnbeards]

i would use local owncloud server, really impressed with owncloud

 

[ronald_h]

Dropbox is soo good. Or robocopy to a local drive if you have a lot of data.

Dropbox is my choice too. I like to use it.