Back Up Software Recommendations

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

Would like to hear of some recommendations for backup software to run of Windows 7 Home Premium.

I want to back up to a NAS drive and hence why i cant use windoze

The drive is a MAxtor shared storage and the back up software that came with it doesnt work with windows 7

[Dai]

Acronis True Image. I've used it for many years and it's saved my bacon on a few occasions.
There are a few mixed reports about the new 2011 version but I've not tried that yet. If you can pick up the 2009/2010 version at a reduced price it'll do perfectly for a NAS backup.

[Wicked_and_Crazy]

ohhh meant to say. Particularly interested in freeware backup software

[Mick Fisher]

I've been testing a few backup softwares for use with a NAS lately and so far I am torn between BestSync and Acronis.

I already have a license for Acronis version 11 so for me it is a no brainer.

---------- Post added at 11:07 ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 ----------

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

ohhh meant to say. Particularly interested in freeware backup software

BestSync will degrade to a free version at the end of the trial period. Unfortunately most advanced features are no longer available.

I have seen Karen's Replicator and Comodo recommended but haven't tested them personally, both are free.

Don't waste your time on M$ Synctoy or any products from Memeo. Neither work properly plus Memeo products may destabilise your OS. Both fail to remove deleted folders from the synchonised backup. This behaviour results in yout backup increasing in size over time. Memeo doesn't use Shadow Copy so cannot backup active partitions.

[berkut]

I have had this one recommended to me, and it is free as well.

http://www.cobiansoft.com/index.htm




Berkut

[Shaggy]

It depends on how much you value your data and photos Acronis is only £18
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acronis-True...6340268&sr=1-1

[progers]

I use Synchback, available from http://www.2brightsparks.com/ it's good and it's free

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by progers

I use Synchback, available from http://www.2brightsparks.com/ it's good and it's free

I am currently using this soft. It seems to do exactly what it says on the tin. Thanks for the link.

ATM I am using Acronis version11 to make an Incremental Archive of my desktop's Active partition only and the complete HDD in my laptop as it is only 320GB. Using this method Acronis will auto-consolidate the incrementals always keeping at least one full backup image and a few incrementals to roll back to should the need arise.
Step by Step for above.
Earlier versions of Acronis can only accomplish this by use of the 3rd party app Chain2 Gen scroll down to How to do backup generations (GFS-Grandfather,Father,Son) with Acronis TI. (chain2gen)

While all this is fine for relatively small HDD's and partitions it is too slow and cumbersome for larger e.g. my desktop has a further 1.2TB to backup and maintain.

For this task Syncback seems to be doing a good job. Once the mammoth task of copying everything to your NAS is completed you can use Syncback to keep the source and destination synchonised. This only takes seconds provided you have not downloaded or moved any massive amounts of data. I have Syncback set to autoload and then to auto synchronise every 30 minutes. Syncback has a small footprint and hardly any impact on the system when it is working.