SMART backups

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gcam032

20 posts

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#17141 14-Nov-2007 10:31

Hey guys and gals,

I use macs and have this great utility called SuperDuper! that I can make SMART backups of my entire harddrive to a USB external HDD. By 'smart' I mean it compares the existing backup to the main HDD and only changes to sync with the current HDD rather than starting from scratch.

I have a friend that requires this capability on his laptop - does anyone know of/use a windows equivalent to do this task?

Thanks

Gareth

freitasm

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#95114 14-Nov-2007 10:37

If he wants a full image backup try Acronis Home. If he's looking for a synchronisation style then Goodsync will do it. If he's running Windows Vista Ultimate there's an image backup option too.

gcam032

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#95115 14-Nov-2007 10:39

Thanks mate,

I'll have a look at them today at some stage. Thanks for your prompt reply

paulchinnz

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#96949 26-Nov-2007 12:58

Autobackup's a little more expensive than Goodsync but works reasonbly.

freitasm

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#96955 26-Nov-2007 13:25

Memeo AutoBackup is good... The only problem I found is that sometimes it would lose the network path (UNC) and only restarted the backup with a reboot. I like the AutoBackup option to keep more than one copy of a file.

Memeo also makes AutoSync which is like GoodSync - keeping two folders in sync.

paulchinnz

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#96963 26-Nov-2007 14:37

Yes it Autobackup does often seem to lose its way ... I've had it sit doing nothing for hours while lots of files are being changed by me. I've two bugbears with it: the purge feature is a bit too much of a shotgun for me, which I've brought to their attention and they're working on as is the lack of single file backup/sync support.

ashtonaut

614 posts

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#97365 28-Nov-2007 16:25

I have been searching for a compact, easy-to-use, smart (and free) backup utility for a while. Today I found something by Microsoft themselves: SyncToy. It's recently had a 2.0 Beta release. It can perform a range of backup types, and can be automated or run from the command-line. I am finding it incredibly useful (I need to do one-way synchronization from my laptop to an external hard drive). It will even work if the external drive letter has changed. For a free tool, it has a great level of functionality.

freitasm

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#97380 28-Nov-2007 18:04

SyncToy is great - the only problem is that you have to manually start the synchronisation, and having the user doing this is certainly not "smart".

You always need a backup solution that can be set and forgotten...

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Madmax77

152 posts

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#97388 28-Nov-2007 18:27

freitasm: If he wants a full image backup try Acronis Home. If he's looking for a synchronisation style then Goodsync will do it. If he's running Windows Vista Ultimate there's an image backup option too.

Why do Microsoft insist on having these differing versions of the same OS, when I part my hard earned cash for a Mac upgrade...I get the full version. How many consumers are going to fork out the extra $$$ (I have no idea on the extra cost of Windows Vista "Ultimate"....sounds like a Tui ad in the making) but no doubt only the high end and business machines will come with it...madness

ashtonaut

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#97482 29-Nov-2007 09:52

freitasm: SyncToy is great - the only problem is that you have to manually start the synchronisation, and having the user doing this is certainly not "smart".

You always need a backup solution that can be set and forgotten...

It's pretty easy to set up a scheduled task to run SyncToy (say) nightly if required... I think unattended execution was added in the upgrade from 1.4 -> 2.0 Beta.