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Review Criteria

Before  we started  reviewing backup software, we identified a list of essential features for any quality backup program:

• Easy for average users to install

• Easy to use wizard for creating  backups

• Easy to use wizard for restoring  backups

• Supports both full and incremental backups

• Can create backups in excess of 4GB and  65,525 files

• Can create backup data sets that span different drives and folders

• Can backup from and to and from any standard Windows drive

• Can create scheduled, unattended backups

• Can compress backup data

• Can explicitly backup email files for major email clients

• Can explicitly backup Favorites and Desktop

• Provides backup data verification

• Can record multiple time stamped backup sets in one folder

• Backups can be encrypted or password protected

• Backs up new sub folders added since backup set defined

• User accessible log file

• Write to a wide range of CD/DVDs drives without the use of third party software

• Can create multi-volume backup sets (e.g. backup over several CDs)

• Warns conspicuously if a a scheduled backup fails

• Can restore individual files from a backup set

• Can restore to a different drive or folder

• Email support by vendor

To this list of essential features we added these desirable features

• Backs up quickly

• Supports differential backups

• provides pre and post backup processing

• Offers robust encryption

• Can backup in non proprietary format

• Provides simulated runs

• Offers more than one level of compression

• Can restore individual files from a multi-volume backup set

• Can backup to a remote FTP server

• Can explicitly backup Windows Registry

• Can explicitly backup Windows Drivers

• Can format and erase rewritable CDs and DVDs

• Can backup exclusively opened file such as Outlook

• Email or SMS notification of failed backup

• Phone support by vendor

All the short-listed products were downloaded from the vendor's web site and tested on our own office machines. Testing involved creating backups on the various supported media and then recovering the test data using the created backup sets.

After testing,  we ended up with only 5 recommended products. This was disappointing particularly when the major reasons for exclusion were ease of use and CD-R support.

Backing up user data is not a complex task and with a well designed interface, should be an easy task, even for an inexperienced user.

It is totally inexcusable for a backup product to be difficult to use.  Several were.

None of the programs, from the small and meek to the well known software giants, was great at backing up to CD-R’s. I can hear the gasps now, but it’s true.

Also disappointing was the poor support for backup to CD-R. 'Poor' is defined as requiring second-party software in order to pre-format the blank CD-R(s) before use or a short list of supported drives.

A number of the contenders required Roxio’s DirectCD, for pre-formatting the CD-R’s and writing.  The documentation of this requirement and/or instructions for obtaining and installing the necessary software was generally poor and the end user always has to figure the added cost of that software into the buying decision, unless they already own it.

Other products came with their own CD-R drivers but these worked with only a limited range of CD drives. Worse still there was often poor documentation of what CD-R drives worked with the software.

The products that we ended up recommending were all relatively easy to use and offered acceptable solutions to the CD-R problem.  I regret to say none of the products were ideal, each had one or more limitations either in ease of use or functionality. However all were capable of doing the job and collectively represent the best options currently available in the marketplace.

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