Rating: 7/10
Backing up our precious file systems is a bit like changing one's underwear. Most right-minded people concur that it's a good idea but rarely do it on a regular basis.
We can put the latter down to a clear disregard for personal hygiene but given the ease with which data can be lost why avoid the former?
At one time backing up was easy; you simply put a disk into a drive and clicked copy. Now, with file systems stretching into the gigabytes, it's altogether more difficult. Wouldn't it be nice if someone invented a backup utility that would make the whole process easier, a utility that would backup automatically, a util... oh, someone has. PC Backup is a wonderfully unobtrusive program that commits your precious data to removable media without fuss or fanfare to a date, time and frequency of your choice.
Fundamentally, PC Backup performs three main functions: system backup, system restore, and data recovery. Although the utility will happily run as a background service it does feature a pleasant front-end that makes editing settings or scheduling a backup a painless experience. One click is all that is required to access the backup screen. Once there, the files and directories to be copied are selected using a Windows Explorer style interface. The utility offers two main modes of backup. Full, which as the name suggests copies the selected files and directories in their entirety and incremental, where only the files that have changed are copied. Devices that can be utilized include everything from the obvious tape drive to the various CD/DVD drives and USB pens. Rather than simply copy selected files to your chosen media verbatim, PC BackUp compiles the files into one large file. Amazingly, this aspect of the process is relatively quick. What isn't as expeditious is the writing of data to DVD/CD. StompSoft have either licensed the cheapest (and therefore slowest) CD-burning algorithms on the market or they've had a bash at creating their own. Despite using a range of different media rated for various speeds, the rate at which PC Backup laid down the zeroes and ones was tear-inducingly sluggish. An unfair criticism perhaps, for in the real world backups would be scheduled for an unseemly hour and the precious data committed to tape. Reinstalling lost data from backup media is a lot faster and surprisingly effortless.
Sadly, there can be no more excuses. PC BackUp is an indispensable and well-crafted utility that, unfortunately, makes backing up easy again.
For more information, visit Micromart.co.uk