Best Backup Software? (Page 2): Yup using that little accessory does the job quite well and it is free. Now if you want bells and whistle, do not look at it. Personally I use Acronis I...

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Searcher wrote:

I used Win back up once-my computer broke and it was one heck of a job to get the files on to a new machine. Microsoft did it for me in the end.

Yup using that little accessory does the job quite well and it is free. Now if you want bells and whistle, do not look at it.

Personally I use Acronis I get all I need and it is not too expensive unless you are foolish enough to buy their yearly version. Mine is from 2010 and works exactly as needed so the upgrades??? :thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

Fstop12 Loc: Kentucky

dsmeltz wrote:

Often I see backup software discussed, but usually... (show quote)

I use Goodsync. http://www.goodsync.com/

Xpatch Loc: New York, Antigua, GT.

Does anyone have some Software backup recomendations for a Mac user. I run Lightroom, Photoshop and have Bridge. I have Lots of external drives Available And want to get Away frm Dropbox. I heard Google Drive offers Lots of Storage?, But embaressingly i am not conversaant With that. I would like to keep to external drives for My Main backups, But would like an offsite Storage possibility. Lightroom Has many Different Save options, for Both RAW or Jpegs and The catalogues, perhaps just use Lightroom.? I also use timemachine, But have not been backing up external drives as i had dropbox( got tired of paying $120-$240 year for 100-GB-209Gb of Storage) Will be traveling where internet is slow Or not at all. Thanks.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Unfortunately backup isn't as simple as what you use to backup, there is also where you backup and other questions you need to answer. Here is a post I wrote about it.
http://www.capture48.com/?p=291

As far as the MAC question, Time Machine works really great, providing you also have an off-site backup. I also like GoodSync.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Capture48 wrote:

Unfortunately backup isn't as simple as what you use to backup, there is also where you backup and other questions you need to answer. Here is a post I wrote about it.
http://www.capture48.com/?p=291

As far as the MAC question, Time Machine works really great, providing you also have an off-site backup. I also like GoodSync.

Thanks,

Nice link.

I agree there are a lot of other issues regarding backup. As I mentioned in my post, these other issues have often been the main focus of other threads. This is why I started a thread focusing on the software choice, which often gets short shrift in other backup threads.

Is goodsync the one made by the same company that does RoboForm?

Xpatch Loc: New York, Antigua, GT.

Capture48, thank You for the link.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

dsmeltz wrote:

Thanks,

Nice link.

I agree there are a lot of other issues regarding backup. As I mentioned in my post, these other issues have often been the main focus of other threads. This is why I started a thread focusing on the software choice, which often gets short shrift in other backup threads.

Is goodsync the one made by the same company that does RoboForm?

GoodSync is made by Siber Systems, not sure about RoboForm. If I had only one backup I would use a cloud based one like Carbonite or one of the others I mentioned in the link. One backup is fine providing it is off-site.

If you didn't want to pay a yearly subscription fee (I think I pay $79) a year. The way I use to do it was to use GoodSync to backup to a 2nd external drive and put that drive in my safe deposit box. I had three drives 2 always in the box and rotate weekly. The problem I came across is lack of time (OK laziness) but many times I did not get to the bank for three or sometimes even a week late. This means my BU was at risk. I like a totally automatic approach where it is done in the background and not dependent on me doing something to make it happen. This way I know it gets done.

My .02 worth!

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Capture48 wrote:

GoodSync is made by Siber Systems, not sure about ... (show quote)

Thanks,

So what are the advantages of the backup software that Carbonite provides? Is it easy to use and setup? Does it do incrementals? Is it automatic?

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

dsmeltz wrote:

Thanks,

So what are the advantages of the backup software that Carbonite provides? Is it easy to use and setup? Does it do incrementals? Is it automatic?

Yes it is automatic, done in the background. You don't have to do anything except leave your computer on. The downside is your first backup can take a month depending on your internet upload speed and how many photos you have. It does not do incremental. If you change a file on your computer, it will change it on your backup.

If you really want incremental and differential backup you need to look at very specific backup software dedicated to that task. Acronis, and NetBackup comes to mind, but I really have not used any of those specific program for years so have no recommendations. Time Machine on my MAC does those type of backups, I can go back in time to a specific time and recover a file from that date, or even that hour or minute if I need to. Of course these solutions are all dependent on how much space you have. To keep many copies of your data, you have to have a lot of space.

My wife's PC uses Windows. MS releases patches the second Tuesday of every month. Just prior to Microsoft Tuesday I clone her HD, then install all the MS patches. If it crashes after the patch install, I simply swap HD's and I'm back where I started. Yes I have tested this process, and Acronis makes it very easy. I also believe Acronis does incremental and differentials, its a pretty good program for Windows!

Gudehus Loc: Oregon and California

1. Get one or more external drives
2. On a Mac use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone of your desired drive(s) on your external drives.
3. If your computer is in a safe location (no danger of theft, fire, explosion, etc.) you are done. Otherwise put the backups in a safe deposit box or other secure location.
4. Do this regularly, and also before you leave on a trip.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Gudehus wrote:

1. Get one or more external drives
2. On a Mac use Carbon Copy Cloner to make a clone of your desired drive(s) on your external drives.
3. If your computer is in a safe location (no danger of theft, fire, explosion, etc.) you are done. Otherwise put the backups in a safe deposit box or other secure location.
4. Do this regularly, and also before you leave on a trip.

Thanks,

But the topic is: what is the best software to use to perform the backups and why?

amehta Loc: Boston

Searcher wrote:

I use SynchToy 2.1, a free offering from Microsoft. Set up took about 3 minutes, running the initial backup took about 20 minutes and incremental back ups 3-4 minutes.

To make searching for Searcher's suggestion simpler, it's "SyncToy", no "h".

THRaleigh Loc: NC

Xpatch wrote:

Does anyone have some Software backup recomendatio... (show quote)

Apple's Time machine is a very good backup system for MAC . So many times that I have to restore a deleted file (including some photo files) and it is right there for me to restore. I have a 4TB WD drive connected to the router's USB port and it can backup through my home's wireless network.

I also use Carbon Copy Clone to clone my startup drive to another external drive. I can boot from this cloned drive (tried and works well) in case my main internal startup drive is bad/dead.

Never like any Windows' backup system including Acronis. It happened to me couple of times and the system said my backup files were corrupted and I have to use restore disk to just get back to the conditions as a new computer. Then I have to re-installed all the programs since the time I bought the computer, very frustrated.

romanticf16 Loc: Commerce Twp, MI

Xpatch wrote:

Does anyone have some Software backup recomendatio... (show quote)

CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper both do complete incremental back ups of everything on any drives you designate, and any drive with an OS will be bootable. You still need a method to store one copy off site. You set the backup interval. TimeMachine can fill in the gap between full backups.

Gudehus Loc: Oregon and California

What is the best software?
Carbon Copy Cloner
Why what?
1. Why do a backup?
Bad things can happen.
2. Why is Carbon Copy Cloner the best software/
a. Because you are creating a clone. Everything from your drive
is there, so you can boot off of it, take the clone to another
location, etc. Also a clone will be the same size as what you are
cloning; with Time Machine you can fill up your backup drive
without realizing it until it is too late.
b. Because you can make a clone any time you wish, or
schedule it for one of more times per time interval
c. It's free.