Today we proposed to analyze some of the software used for backups for computers. I’m sure you all want to keep the information you care about.
This kind of software appeared as a necessity because the “classic” solution required, almost all the time, using external storage supports or using blank DVD’s.
With the help of backup software all you have to do is install, configure them with the desired parameters, and then watch the software create a backup of your files at preconfigured time intervals.
Backup software is very important, for example, in a company, where useful information are a lot and need a lot of space, and saving each file one by one would be very hard.
In this post, you can see a classification of these backup software based on how good each one is.
Norton Ghost
A very popular software but it doesn’t come cheap, being the most expensive software of it’s kind. Of course, we have to pay a lot when buying something from a company as big as Symantec. Besides the huge price, the software has some flaws: first, it lacks possibility to create, delete, or format a computer drive. For this reason i think it’s not a complete product.
O&O 3 Disc Image Professional
Right under Norton Ghost comes this software, it’s main flaw is the lack of Linux support, because the functionality is very good.
Another problem that should be resolved it’s accessibility because it can raise some serious questions to IT newbies, however with a bit of computer know-how you can manage to use this software without problems.
Farstone Drive Clone 7 Pro
This software, although superior in performance as the same flaw as the first software, it does not manage very well computer drives, the user will need another software for this job.
There is nothing negative as functionality, because it’s very versatile, working even on Linux. A one big “NEGATIVE” is the support, the lack of a phone line for their customers, the only option for support is only email, in case you have problems. The staff will respond in maximum 2 days.
Paragon Drive Backup 9.0
This software is almost complete, because it implements everything you need from a software like this, the only flaw would be the difficulty to redo backup images on more than 1 workstations.
A positive is the fact that is has a free version, for home use. For a server version you need to pay around $300.
Acronis True Image Home
This is the winner of our top, being the most complete and easier to use from the lot. The latest version has native support for Windows 7.
Also, he has wizards that makes the users job even easier, a guide that looks like a basic software install wizard, without seeing a bunch of options that might confuse you.
It also offers the option to redo a backup image on many workstations – extremely useful if an install is required on other computers. One thing that we noticed is the speed with which it works: almost 70 minutes for 30 GB’s of data.
We are certain that this software can handle all the tasks with ease, at a reasonable price ( $50 ), however if you don’t work in a business environment and you do not own essential information then i think that manually sorting the files you want to save is just as good as using a specialized software, especially since in every household there is now an external storage source: flash drive, cd’s, dvd’s, and so on. This way you save on an investment that you just don’t need.
Acronis
