[JoshK]

What programs do you use to back up a drive?  I got a WD 500gig drive, but it didn't come with anything but a diagnostic program.  I want to sync this to my internal HD.   I've been adding a ton of ripped music to this drive and I will continue for some time so I'd like it to sync rather than do an entire copy and then recopy later.

[WGH]

Try Microsoft's Powertoy SyncToy for XP or Vista. It is free.

[davidldl]

I've used a couple of free progams to do this.  The first is Replicator from http://www.karenware.com/powertools.asp
I've used this to sync different hard drives with my flac collection.

Another program you can try to use is Cobian Backup.  This is a program might be a bit overkill for your needs but it is a nice useful program that happens to be open source. http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm

A review of Cobian backup software can be read at this link:  http://www.buzzys.net/backup.html

If you are looking to backup an image of your entire drive look for something called Acronis True Image.

Try Replicator first.  It might be all you need.

--David

[JoshK]

Thanks guys.  I'll try the replicator first and then the M$ software if I don't like the replicator.

[JoshK]

Well the replicator looks simple and self explanatory and I like that you can schedule it for a time (like 1am) when you aren't likely to be using the 'puter.

[davidldl]

I don't think Replicator starts as a service. This is one of those programs you have to place a shortcut of the program into the 'Startup' folder if you are going to use the scheduler.

--David

[JoshK]

Thanks, good to know.  I just saw the option to schedule it.  I think there was an option to put it in your startup.   This PC is basically on 24/7 so it isn't such a big deal.

[mgalusha]

If you want something that is set and forget and don't mind spending a few $$ have a look at MirrorFolder from a company called TechSoft (http://www.techsoftpl.com/backup/index.php?retail). It works very well and by default it only does delta's, so the resource utilization is very low. I have it on both my and my wife's PC to keep a copy of important data on a partition of my music server. It's so low key that you never know it's running. At least I don't and I'd be surprised if my wife even knows it's on her machine.

I've been using this for a couple of years and it has never given me even one problem. IMO the price is quite fair for the quality of software.

[Greg Erskine]

hi mgalusha,

Does this software let you know it's done a backup?

The only problem I can see with a "set and forget" solutions is, because it happens in the background, you assume it is working, if it does happen to stop, you may not find out until it's way too late. It may not even be the fault of the software itself, sometimes services/programs don't load on bootup because of other issues.

regards

[mgalusha]

Hi Greg,

In answer to your question, not really. It does keep a log of what is copied and it does have a backup/archive mode but it doesn't email you if there is a problem. There is a little folder icon in the system tray and you can see if a configured folder/tree is synchronized and force it if desired.

I agree, I tend to worry about set and forget utilities but since I've been using this for about 2 years and it's never given me any trouble I've gotten to the point where I don't think about it very often. I do click the icon from time to time just to be sure but it's always doing as expected.

mike

[Greg Erskine]

There is a little folder icon in the system tray and you can see if a configured folder/tree is synchronized

Mike, that icon should be good enough for home use.

regards

[ctviggen]

Has anyone ever tried replacing data using one of these?  I remember backing everything up only to realize that something about my backup was wrong, and all my data was bad.  Currently, I'm using Ghost to back up my OS partition and my data partition on a single 300 gb drive.  When my last drive went down, I was able to recover everything with Ghost. 

[mgalusha]

Yep. I have most of our laptop users running MirrorFolder as laptop drives tend to die fairly often. Our CFO's drive failed not long ago and once we had the replacement drive and OS loaded it was a simple matter to just copy all his data back over. He was up and running quickly. We've had to restore 4 or 5 drives this way in the last year or so. While not images we did have a copy of all their actual data.

One of the things about a synchronization utility it that most of them just copy files and don't use a proprietary backup file. Of course it can become corrupted but usually it's only a few files if any. If an image file such as Ghost becomes corrupted it's usually unusable. Note that I like and use Ghost and am not trying to single it out. We've never had any problems with it but I have had problems with disk images becoming corrupt in the past.

Has anyone ever tried replacing data using one of these?  I remember backing everything up only to realize that something about my backup was wrong, and all my data was bad.  Currently, I'm using Ghost to back up my OS partition and my data partition on a single 300 gb drive.  When my last drive went down, I was able to recover everything with Ghost. 

[rajacat]

Try Microsoft's Powertoy SyncToy for XP or Vista. It is free.

I tried SyncToy yesterday and it was a disaster with dropped files and mini crashes. 

Raj

[rajacat]

Well...I guess you get what you paid for . I had to use system restore to get my computer functioning normally again.

Raj

[Greg Erskine]

Try Microsoft's Powertoy SyncToy for XP or Vista. It is free.

I tried SyncToy yesterday and it was a disaster with dropped files and mini crashes. 

Raj

Hi Raj,

I loaded SyncToy after the recommendation here and it works perfectly for me on Windows XP. I doubt Microsoft's power toys would be available if they were having consistent problems.

regards

[rajacat]

Well.....whew, I didn't lose all my ripped cd's but, oddly, one of my backup hardrives is no longer recognized by Windows. Perhaps it was an external hardrive failure that has caused my problems. I do need a backup unit so I guess I will buy a new backup HD. I can't even get Windows to acknowledge the defective drive so I can attempt to reformat it.

Raj

[JoshK]

That sucks...  I tried the Karen's software and it works a charm.  It is pretty self explanatory if you are use to using a lot of basic windows software.