Free Backup Solutions
"I know I need to backup my computer, because I've experienced a hard drive failure in the past. But I don't have a lot of money to spend on backup software. Are there any good FREE backup software programs, or free online backup services you can recommend?"
Free Backup Software and Services
If you run a business on your computer, or just use it to store your photos and music, a hard drive failure can be devastating. Failure to backup up your data on a regular basis can lead to data loss, heartbreak and costly recovery fees. I've heard plenty of excuses for not backing up, but fortunately "backup software is too expensive" no longer applies. There are several free backup software tools and even free online backup services that you can use to backup and manage your data.
Free Downloadable Backup Software
There are several great free downloads that deliver backup software that you can use to backup your business or personal files. There is a free backup utility that comes with Windows XP and Vista. I don't generally recommend it, because the feature set is pretty basic, and not all features are available in all versions of Windows. So let's look at a couple of free downloadable backup solutions.
One option that you have is FileFort Backup Software. This program works with the Windows operating system and can be used to backup both your PC and your Windows CE devices. This program is fully functional, safe and completely free. It is also very easy to use as it walks you through the set up process via a set up wizard. FileFort allows you to automatically backup your data to a file on your hard drive, network, an FTP site or to a portable media storage device like a CD or DVD.
Another good choice is Comodo Backup 1.04.337. If you are familiar with the Comodo name then you know that this software manufacturer has a good reputation. Comodo Backup works with Windows XP, Vista and 2000. It requires a 233 MHz or faster processor, 128 MB of RAM and at least 12MB of free hard drive space. It will allow you to backup your files and store them in a file on your hard drive, a portable storage device or on an FTP site. This program also allows you to schedule your backups and compress your ZIP files to save disk space.
If you have a Mac, Time Machine is an excellent automatic backup tool that's built into Mac OS X Leopard. In typical Apple fashion, Time Machine is very intuitive. Just plug an external drive into your Mac, and Time Machine will say "Do you want me to use this as your backup drive?" If you respond Yes, Time Machine will begin backing up your hard drive automatically. You won't ever have to think about doing your backup again, and if you lose a file, or need to see how it looked in the past, you can recover it with a few clicks.
Free Online Backup Services
There are still a few companies that offer free online backup services. One of the most well known online backup services that still offers free accounts is Mozy. Mozy's Free Backup Service offers you 2 GB of storage space. Your backup files will be encrypted and stored in a secure, remote location that's only accessible to you. This service is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista, as well as Mac OS X 10.4 and higher.
Another free online backup services is iDrive. IDrive's free account offers you 2 GB of storage space. What's great about this service, besides accommodating both Mac users and Windows users, is that it is a full version of their remote backup service. This means you have access to automatic and manual backup options, true archiving, versioning, mapped drive backup, continuous backup options and web-based backup management options.
Selecting a Free Backup Option
Obviously you have many backup options to choose from, and I've only mentioned a few of the choices in each category. So which is better, local backup, or an online backup service? Some people are nervous about the security and privacy of online backups. But if you do backups locally, there's always the chance that your backup media could be lost or corrupted. Post a comment and tell me if you use a free backup solution, or a commercial backup software or service.
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Posted by Bob Rankin on March 17, 2009 09:00 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Free Backup Solutions (Posted: March 17, 2009 09:00 PM)
Source: http://askbobrankin.com/free_backup_solutions.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Free Backup Solutions"
(See all 24 comments for this article.)Posted by:
Martha
06 Apr 2009
I've heard very bad things about Mozy and will not go near them.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I've heard Bad Things about Ford, GM, Toyota, Dell, Gateway, IBM, Microsoft, and Google. Also, doctors, lawyers and bankers. Martha, your "hit and run" comments just aren't very helpful without supporting details.
Posted by:
Tony Devlin
12 May 2009
I bACKED UP MY HARD DRIVE WITH 7 dvd'S. The first disc was corrupt and would not load the operating system so I had to get baqck-up's from HP, the manufacturer of the puter. Is there a way I can now explore the other DVD's to recover personal files since doing a restore did not complete due to that bad first DVD. The computer is working again but I need those personal files and directories. Thanks. . . .Tony
EDITOR'S NOTE: It depends on the backup tool. Some use a special data encoding method that can only be read by the tool that created it.
Posted by:
Jeff Smith
16 Jun 2009
In reference to Geof's comments about Acronis True Image, my personal Back-Up favorite. It is one of the most flexible and yet most powerful backup and imaging systems on the market today. With the ability to mirror a Drive and have a Bootable copy. It is my all around favourite. Just Google Back Up and you will find Acronis, giving away free an app that a couple of years ago would have cost you $40-$45. Great marketing plan, Acronis figuring you'll like the free version so much you will pony up the extra donero for the latest version. Jeff Smith
Posted by:
Richard
21 Jul 2009
Bob, have you checked out http://www.getdropbox.com/. Works great on all three of our Macs. Backups for my work, backups for the kids school work. Instant and free for 2Gb.
ps. Happy Birthday Tourbus.
Posted by:
Michael
01 Aug 2009
One downside to Mozy is that if you you delete a file by accident on your computer, they delete your backup copy. See
Everybody likes Mozy--except me Part 1
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13554_1-9752330-33.html
July 30, 2007
Perhaps things have changed in the 2 years since this was written?
Posted by:
John
19 Sep 2009
I have been using Imaging and commercial backup software since the early 90's both at home and at work. My personal favorite these days is Acronis True Image. I have recommended it to my SOHO users and feel fine about doing that because I use it myself (Eat your own dog food so to speak). It is easy to install and maintain, but most importantly easy to restore as nearly no computer home user tests their backups. You can use it for both imaging and personal file backup and it can back up to any medium that you have available. It is also clean and easily understood, you don't have to be a geek. I spent $40 dollars on mine at the Geek squad and I would spend it again today after using it for over a year now.
Posted by:
Jason Wallwork
21 Jan 2010
Been using MozyHome Remote Backup (the free version) to backup critical files for 4 months now. I like that you can set it up once and them forget about it. It only backups up 2x/day in this free version but does it in the background when the computer is idle so doesn't affect your work.
As long as you're not doing anything that needs full use of the CPU (like gaming) though, you can do backups in the background (at least on my Intel Core 2 Duo 1.87 Ghz with 2 GB RAM, Vista Ultimate, hardly a high performance machine anymore).
Like most backup programs, MozyHome does a full backup only the first time. After that it just backups changed files. And yes, it's true that if you delete a file it will be deleted on Mozy's servers, too. They say they do this after 30 days so there might be some chance of recovery of them during the 30 day period.
Acronis is excellent software too although I've found some versions are finicky.
Posted by:
Jay
22 Jan 2010
Best/most powerful file backup software I've found is SyncBack at 2brightsparks.com. I've used it at home and work and on a laptop for several years now and so far the free version does everything I need and more. However, this is not an imaging solution.
Posted by:
Jim Williamson
23 Jan 2010
Another addition would be CrashPlan (www.CrashPlan.com). A multi-destination software package (free and paid versions). It is my preferred choice for online / offsite backup.
I backup to a CrashPlan system at my brother's house and he does the same to my house. Files are encrypted so we can't snoop at each other's files (or a virus at either end likely wouldn't corrupt a file).
On-site backup is possible as well as is paid CrashPlan corporate destination.
Posted by:
Brenda
16 Mar 2010
Hi there I was just wondering what people think - if you have 2 hard drives on your computer, is it ok/ wise to back up files from your main drive to the lesser used one. For example all my pics are on one disk only, so if they are copied onto the other Drive, does that mean I am less likely to lose them???
Thanks
EDITOR'S NOTE: That's a pretty common backup strategy. And it will work fine unless your house burns down, or someone breaks in and steals the equipment.