Can anyone recommend back up software to back up data to an internal back up hard drive.

Thank you.
Pavel

Fast, cheap, powerful, easy to use

www.secondcopy.com

Can anyone recommend back up software to back up data to an internal back up hard drive.

Thank you.
Pavel

I use an inexpensive, but powerful little utility called Backup Magic. Not real elegant in terms of GUI or built-in scheduling, in fact auto launch is initiated through XP Started Task function. What I like is files are copied in Windows format, not proprietary format.

I mirror 3-HDD a night. Once setup, it's done automatically via 3 started tasks.

Danny, Frank, thank you.

Pavek

For Mac users. Time Machine in OSX 10.5 is very basic and a great place to start. I prefer a direct clone of my hard drive once a week with daily backups of data files daily to keep the clone updated.

SUPERDUPER: Updated for use with OSX 10.5.2, this utility does a complete and BOOTABLE clone of your drive to another drive (internal or external). The free version will do the clone, but if you pay for it you have access to the best features. Scheduling specific time/date to do the backup and "Smart Copy" which, once you have done the original clone then only backs up the files that have changed, or are new. The advantage being it's a time saver. I have scheduled Superduper to backup my entire hard drive on Friday's at 3:00. It all runs in the background (you can just keep working on stuff while it runs) and total time to do the complete Smart backup of about 90GB is 15 minutes.

CHRONOSYNC: This backup utility is designed to let you choose specific files/folders/drives, to backup. It uses a simple Source-Destination interface to let you assign the backup tasks, set scheduling etc and set the "rules" for synchronization (similar to "Smart Copy" above). You may choose to delete files on the destination that have been deleted on the source or not and change this option at a later time. I've got ChronoSync set to do daily backups for all my important data folders at 5:00 every day. Once you have done an initial "sync" routine ensuing "smart" backups only take a second or two, even on large folders. There is even a audio "ding" alert to let you know the backup was successful, a different sound if there has been a problem with the backup. This happens sometimes with cache files in the userfolder, but you can check errors in the provided log.

I back up my files with Chronosync daily to the cloned copy on the external drive. If my main drive ever goes south it's a simple matter of replacing the drive, boot from the clone and reverse the Source/Destination to restore the OS, Applications, files, email, bookmarks, passwords etc. I sleep well at night! :-)

These two shareware programs are reasonably priced and can save your bacon in a crisis, Check VersionTracker.com for latest updates and pricing.

Swampy, thank you for starting this discussion, something I was thinking about for a long time.

Pavel

Norton's Ghost is very good. that's what i use. i used to use another on my old computer called Retrospect. however, i didnt use that one that much, so cant really tell you much about it at this point.

Craig, Retrospect is also available for Mac, but I don't know many Mac folks that use it. I think most people prefer a backup routine that includes some form of immaging or cloning that is fully accessible and not encrypted. Retrospect, writes a "stream" similar to a tape recording. You can't just simply go to the backup and "grab a file". In order to restore you must first reinstall an OS along with the Retrospect App and use the application to retore the "stream". I tried Retrospect years ago and found the UI clumsy and convoluted.

I've heard of Ghost for the PC and that it is an excellent option.

I meant to include links for Mac users.......SuperDuper (http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html) (Shareware $27.95) and ChronoSync (http://www.econtechnologies.com/site/Pages/ChronoSync/chrono_overview.html). (Shareware $30) In addition, the developer support for both of these programs is outstanding.

If your budget is limited you would probably be best to purchase SuperDuper since it not only copies data, but it does create a BOOTABLE clone. You can still schedule it to do a "Smart" (synched) back up daily but it just takes more time because it still has to touch every file on your hard drive to compare date/time info for the synching process. Whereas teamed with Chronosync for the daily backups, Chronosync only has to compare and copy the folders you designate ergo much faster.

that must be why i never used it very much, dee dee :) as i recall, it was a somewhat limited version that came with a cd-rom drive, too. and yes, i found the gui somewhat confusing also.

and yes, Ghost is quite good. you can even backup your files in a compressed form, saving drive/cd/dvd space.