EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 3.5 is a commercial backup solution for Windows operating systems. The program is the big brother of the free EaseUS Todo Backup solution which I have reviewed a few weeks ago. If you look at the feature comparison chart over at the Todo Backup homepage you’ll notice that the Workstation version offers some interesting features that the free version does not offer.

This includes a remote control feature for remote backup and recovery sessions, and creating and recovering system snapshots.

The program interface displays core features prominently on the Home tab. This includes system and file backup options, disk cloning and backup management.

The backup and recovery tabs display all related options. The option to create a disk and partition backup is displayed under backup next file backup and system backup. EaseUS recommends the create snapshots before software installations or as a recovery option when the system fails to boot.

Tools finally lists related applications that can be used to check the integrity of a previously created backup, mount backups to access files diretly, convert images to virtual disks or to create a bootable rescue disc to launch the backup software if the operating system is no longer loading properly.

System Snapshots

The snapshot feature needs to be enabled before it can be used. It creates virtual space on the main drive for snapshots

The recovery tab lists options to recover previously created backups. Here it is furthermore possible to recover the system to different hardware, which can be useful if you want to move the operation system to a new PC.

The Snapshot tab offers to create and restore system snapshots. This works similar to Window’s system restore feature. Snapshots need less storage space than full system backups. Due to their size, it is usually a lot faster to restore a snapshot than it would be to restore a full backup.

The first snapshot is automatically activated on first boot after the feature has been enabled in the software. It is from that moment on possible to create snapshots from the menu.

Previously created snapshots can be deleted at any time to make up room for instance.

Remote Control

The second feature that is not available in the free version of EaseUS Todo Backup is the remote control feature. It helps you manage multiple PCs from a single machine.

The remote control feature needs to be installed on the main system. Remote PCs also need to be running the program. You need to enter the computer’s IP address and log in with an existing user account to make use of the functionality. Please note that the user needs to have administrative privileges.

All program functionality becomes available once a remote session has been established. It is in particular possible to backup or recover files, disks and partitions, and the system.

Feature Overview

• File backups – Create backups of files. Supports incremental and differential backups.
• Disk and partition backups – Backup hard disks or partitions.
• System Backup – Creates a backup of the operating system.
• Schedule backups – Backups can be scheduled run regularly.
• Backup options – Include compression, password protection, image splitting, notifications, programs that can be run before or after an operation and offsite copies.
• Tools – Clone a partition or disk, mount images, check image integrity, wipe disks or partitions.
• Pre-OS Recovery – Displays a boot menu with options to launch the backup software before the OS starts.

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. The program supports FAT and NTFS file systems, dynamic discs and hardware RAIDs.

Verdict

EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation is a powerful backup solution for the Windows operating system. Backups can be created with a few clicks. Advanced users find settings and options to customize backups to their liking.

The offsite copy option could however use more options than just backing up to ftp. Integration of cloud space providers, or even secure ftp connections would be welcome.

You find more information about EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation on the program page.

Giveaway

We have ten EaseUS Todo Backup Workstation 3.5 licenses for this give away. Please leave a comment below if you want to take part in the draw.

OPA Backup (which stands for Office-Produktaktivierung Backup, German for Office product activation backup) is a free portable software for the Windows operating system that can backup and restore the activation of Office on a computer system.

To backup, Microsoft Office needs to be activated on the system. The program won’t work if it is not. When you first start the program you may be asked to run it with administrative privileges. The main interface of OPA-Backup then displays a pulldown list where the installed version of Microsoft Office needs to be selected.

The program does not support auto-detection of the installed Office version. The user then has the option to make a backup of the Office activation on the system or to restore a previously recorded backup.

The backup path has to be selected on the next screen. The program displays a warning if a folder is selected that is part of the current Windows installation as it may be removed during a new installation of the operating system.

A status report is then displayed on the final screen of the backup or restoration process.

The process is nearly identical if the restore Office authentication option is selected.

The software can be handy in situations where Office cannot be re-activated over the Internet.

OPA-Backup supports all recent versions of Microsoft Office, including Office 2010. The software requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 on the system. The program can be downloaded from the developer website.

Backup Folder Sync is a program that has been designed to mirror local backups. It is more of a file syncing software than a program to make backups of a Windows system.

Here is how it works. When you first start the program after installation you are asked to configure a job. The program displays all connected storage locations on the left sidebar of the application window. You select the backup folder with a right-click and exclude folders by holding down the Ctrl key before right-clicking.

You then have to select the destination that should store the backup mirrors. This can be another local drive, a removable drive, network shares or mapped drives. Since the program is primarily being used to mirror existing backups, it makes sense to store those backups on a remote computer or server.

It is possible to test the configuration with a click on Simulate to toggle that option and another on Backup. Backup Folder Sync will test the configuration and display a log with all file operations that would have taken place on a regular backup run.

The log lists all files, their size and location as well as a backup summary in the end. The summary informs the user about new files, files where the source files were newer, older or different and files and folders that were no longer available in the source folders (and thus deleted).

While the program’s main purpose is to mirror backup locations, it can theoretically be used to sync any kind of data. It uses robocopy for data transfers.

The program lacks an option to schedule jobs which is the biggest shortcoming. Windows users who want to automate the mirror creation cannot use the program to do so.

Backup Folder Sync is available for download at the developer website. The program is compatible with all recent 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0 to be installed on the system.

A file synchronization alternative with scheduler is the open source software Free File Sync.

Download GFI Backup Free Edition from this link.

With GFI Backup 2011, you can back up essential documents, pictures and videos, music, e-mails, and program settings. This is all done through a user friendly GUI. It will backup data to local and external drives, CD/DVD, remote FTP servers, and other removable devices.

To use the Freeware version, during setup you will have to check the circle next to “Freeware” and then click Next. Then you will have to agree to the terms and conditions which include agreeing that you will not use this version for commercial use. You will enter your Username, password, and Domain. If your computer is on a Workgroup, you do not need to enter the Domain.

GFI Backup uses two GUIs. The first, pictured in the above screenshot, is the GFI Backup Agent. This is for standard backups and is fairly easy to use. For advanced network backups, you can use the Administrative Console, the second GUI feature. For this demonstration, the Agent will be used.

Click on New Backup to get started.

You can provide a name for the backup in the “Backup Task Name” box. By default, the backup will be named “MyBackup 1 (2, 3, etc.)” You can leave the default name or make up your own. There is an option to enter a description of the task and group related tasks. For basic purposes, leave these fields blank unless you need a description attached. Click Next to move on to the next step.

Now you select the source. You can backup Files and Folders, Registry Keys, and Email. Files and Folders are selected here. This will allow you to specify which files and folders on any given disk(s) for backup. Click OK and Next to move on to selecting the destination.

If you do not know the destination path of your external hard drive, you can find it on Computer in the Control Panel. In this case, it is drive (M:). Next you will choose your options and then scheduling. You may run it only once or schedule it for regular intervals. In the Events panel, you should probably leave the default settings. Click Next and the backup begins.

Depending on the size and number of files and drives selected, the duration of the backup varies. You should minimize the window and complete other tasks or go take a long break because it is going to take awhile. Now you don’t have to worry, your files are being safely backed up.

LojiklSweep has a professional look and feel to it despite the fact that it is currently offered for free by the developing company. You need to register on the website to receive a serial number for the backup program, but registration is free and the serial registers the program for a year.

When you first start the program you need to enter that serial number to enable all program functionality. Once done you have options to create a custom backup project or use a pre-configured project that backs up prominent folders on the operating system with a few clicks.

One of the interesting features of the application are the available backup options. Here it is for instance possible to select important Windows folders including the user folder, system fonts or Windows Live Mail, Registry hubs or specific folders from a connected storage device.

Other options that can be configured right away are extensive filtering options, like including or excluding file types, using file dates for file selection or files with specific attributes. Another feature is the option to
execute batch files and scripts before or after a backup job.

The backup program supports storing backups on local or network drives, online storage services or on optical discs. Especially the online backup services that are available by default worth mentioning. They include ftp and WebDAV as well as DropBox, Box.net, CloudMe and Storegate at the time of writing. Even top notch commercial backup services usually do not offer this variety.

Other features include encryption and compression, advanced timestamping options and email notification options.

Backups can be scheduled to run backups automatically. Another interesting option is the ability to create a backup project shortcut on the desktop to run a backup manually with a double-click on that shortcut.

LojiklSweep’s built-in restore manager can be used to display differences between the backup and backed up locations. The program will tell you “what is new, what has changed and what is missing”.

One of the few aspects that can be seen as a negative is that the program is not displaying storage size information when selecting folders, files or data on the system. While it is for instance possible to select the current user profile for backup, it is not possible to determine in the program if a Dropbox account would have enough space available to store the backup. That’s something that the developers need to work on.

The second issue that I personally have with the backup software is that the serial that you get is only activating the application for a year. It is likely that the developers will at one point in time make the decision to release the software as a commercial application. It is not clear if and how you can then use the program to restore previously created backups.

Interested Windows users can download LojiklSweep from the developer website. The software is offered as a 32-bit and 64-bit application for the Windows operating system.

Macrium Reflect Free 5 has just been released. The free backup software only supports disk based backups, which means that you won’t be able to backup individual folders and files. The new version of the drive imaging tool features several improvements over previous versions. Users who have worked with previous versions will notice the new user interface.

The backup software displays all connected hard drives in a list that displays their names, drive letters, used disk space and total disk space. The options and actions feel like they have been sprinkled by the developers all over the place.

An Actions link is displayed underneath the currently selected partition in the interface. A click opens a context menu with options to image the selected partition or analyze the partition’s file system.

Then there are the Clone this disk and Image this disk links underneath the main hard drive. These do not appear underneath secondary hard drives. The purpose of those links and of the check boxes in the interface are not really clear. It feels a bit strange that unselected drives are still displayed under the all-drives backup option (even though they will be excluded from the backup).

Windows users basically have the following options:

• Backup one or multiple partitions.
• Create an image of the Windows partitions
• Clone the main Windows partition. Requires another hard drive connected to the computer.

The task that new users should start with is to create a recovery disk . Available options are a Linux based recovery media or recovery media based on Windows PE 3.1. Once done you can run backup tasks to create the backup images or clone the main partition. Backup locations include a folder on a hard drive, a CD or DVD burner and media, and even a list of alternate backup locations which will be tried in sequence until a suitable location is found to store the backups.

The software unfortunately does not support saving backups to remote locations. You can access advanced options during backup configuration to configure features such as compression, maximum file sizes or comments. There is no option to password protect backups.

Macrium Reflect Free supports scheduling of backups, but the creation is somewhat complicated. You cannot schedule backups right away, but need to create a job first, save it as a backup definition file and configure the scheduled backup once that file has been created.

Many tasks that users expect from a backup software are missing and only available in the commercial versions of the program. This includes incremental and differential backups, the ability to backup selected files and folders, remote backup location support or the aforementioned password protection and encryption.

Macrium Reflect Free is available for Windows based systems. It supports both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. The free version does not support Windows Server editions.

The developers need to work on the program layout and functionality if they want to compete with other free backup solutions.

A better program in many regards is Easeus Todo Backup which we reviewed two weeks ago. It comes with all the features that Macrium Reflect Free offers plus other features like the ability to backup individual files or folders.

If you know the old version you won’t see huge differences interface wise. The interface actually looks almost exactly like it looked in version 2. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, considering that you can reach every program feature with a click or two.

When you start the program it opens with the Home screen, which links to several of the most popular backup options. Here you can create a system or file backup, clone a disk or open backup management to configure backup parameters and schedules.

Easeus Todo Backup Free 3.0 supports three different backup options. You can use the application to create a disk and partition backup, a file backup or a system backup. It is now possible to backup dynamic volumes in addition to a full hard drive, partition, individual files or an operating system.

The backup software comes with several features that you would not necessarily expect from a free program, like the ability to clone a partition, to backup network data or mounting backups as a virtual partition to explore it and access files. You can also check the integrity of existing backup files easily from within the application.

One of the biggest new features of version 3 of Easeus Todo Backup Free is the ability to create incremental and differential backups. Incremental backups only backup changed files which saves time and storage space. Differential backups on the other hand only backup files that have changed since the last backup.

The first thing that you may want to do after installing the software is to create an emergency disk. You can use that disk to recover a system in case it is not longer booting or responding. Bootable disks can be created on an USB drive, CD or DVD media, and exported as an ISO image for later burning.

Once you have done that you can start backing up data on your system. Disk, partition and system backups are only possible if you have enough free storage space on a different local or network drive. I recommend an external hard drive with enough storage for that, but the choice is yours.

File backup on the other hand may not require as much storage space. The backup program suggests some often used locations for backup, like the My Documents folder structure or the desktop. You can switch to a file types selection backup to only backup certain types of files like financial files, emails or documents.

While it is possible to add file extensions to those groups, it is not possible to create your own custom group which seems to be a shortcoming.

The free version lacks features that the commercial backup versions offer. It is for instance not possible to backup SQL databases or Exchange data, or to select tape as the backup location. The free version furthermore does not support Windows Server.

Easeus Todo Backup Free 3.0 is regardless of that an advanced backup solution for home computer owners who want a more sophisticated program than the default backup that the Windows operating system offers. You can download the latest version of the free backup software from the official product homepage.

To begin the process of creating your system backup image, click on “start” and in the search field, type in the word “backup”. Now you should see under the programs section of the search results a program called “backup and restore”. Click on this and it will open up the utility you need to begin creating a system image.

On the left hand side of the screen, there will be a link entitled “create a system image”, so click on that and you’ll be taken to a screen where you’ll get to choose where you want to save your system image. Now – a system image means backing up every file and folder on your computer, so you need to choose a location that is big enough for the task. Usually a removable USB hard drive is a good choice, but if you want you can also back up to multiple DVDs or to a network location if you have multiple computers linked up over a network.

Click on “next” and you then get to choose which drive you want to back up. You can use this utility to backup any drive connected to your system, but in this case we want to choose the “C:” drive, which is where your Windows 7 operating system is, and all your program files. Again, you’ll be shown how much space is being used up on your C: drive, so you need to check to make sure you have enough space on your external drive to save the image. If you’re using DVDs, each DVD can hold only 4.7GB of information, so they usually aren’t suitable for this task, but you have the option anyway. Naturally, you won’t be able to back up onto the same drive as your windows 7 installation, as the whole point of this is to protect against a hard drive failure, and if your backup is on the same drive as your operating system, you’d lose that too.

Once you have selected all the options and you’re happy, click on “start backup” to begin. The time it takes to complete the backup will depend on how much data you have stored.

Once your backup is done, the next step is to create a repair disk. This will allow you to boot up your computer should Windows 7 not work. You do this from the main “backup and restore” page we were at before, but this time click on “create a system repair disk” on the left. All you need do is insert a black CD or DVD, and click “create disk”. Keep this disk in a safe place, as if you have any problems with your computer, you may need it to restore your data.

The free backup software Duplicati offers all of this, and then some more. The program displays a backup setup wizard automatically after installation. The wizard walks the user through the process of creating the first backup job.

It begins with the selection of a name and the folders and files that should be included in the backup. Duplicati suggests several common Windows folder out of the box, My Documents, My Music or all desktop files for instance (if Windows is the operating system of choice. The program is also available for Linux) Users who store their data elsewhere can add custom paths to the backup easily in the same step.

The space requirements are displayed on screen, and re-calculated whenever folders are added or removed by the user.

Backups can be protected with a password. The default encryption is a built-in AES 256 bit encryption algorithm with the possibility to switch to the GNU Privacy Guard for protecting the backup data. GPG is a free alternative to the popular PGP.

The backup destination is configured in the next step. And this is where Duplicati shines. Available are local and remote backup locations. From Amazon S3 and CloudFiles over WebDAV based, SSH based to plain ftp backups and local folder backups. It is all there and easily configurable.

It is necessary to enter a path, and if a remote backup location has been selected authentication to complete this step.

The last step displays several advanced options, allowing the user to schedule backups, configure rules when to remove older backups, size and bandwidth limits or filters to include or exclude files from the backup.

The backup can be started right after the setup wizard or at a later time.

Most backup settings can be configured for all jobs directly in the program options. Here it is possible to set an encryption method and password, authentication settings for Amazon S3, SSH and other services or the system’s GPG path.

It is possible to change settings and configure new backup jobs even while a backup is running in the background.

Backups can be restored at any point in time, but only by running the software program and selecting the data restore option.

Duplicati is an easy to setup backup program for the Windows operating system and Linux. Is there anything that is missing or a feature that could be improved? Well, it would be great if advanced users could configure backups on one page to speed things up. For now, it is only possible to use the wizard to create backup jobs. A missing feature is the ability to backup hard drives or partitions. Another feature that is missing is an option to restore backups externally.

Windows and Linux users who are looking for a lightweight, highly configurable backup software should download Duplicati for a test ride. The program is compatible with all recent versions of the Windows operating system.

The program supports backups from the current system or another Windows operating system installed on one of the connected and accessible drives. Please note that DataGrab is not a convention backup software with options to restore the data at a later point. It is more of a recovery solution in case of a damaged system.

The source drive with the Windows installation is selected under Target Drive. You can select the current operating system, or an operating system on a drive that is connected to the current OS.

Data Grab supports the two user profile locations Users and Documents and Settings. All valid user profiles found on the selected drive are displayed immediately after a drive has been selected.

It is possible to select one, multiple or all user profiles for backup.

The user profiles configuration setting displays a list of files, folders and data that can be backed up by the program. This includes the pictures, music and videos folders, saved games, downloads or application data folders for applications that store user data in the user directory.

Users can add additional folders on the system which are then included in the backup. DataGrab can automatically add documents that are stored in the root folder of the drive or partition. The program suggests a few formats, like Adobe’s PDF format or Microsoft Word and Excel formats. Custom file types can be added with the help of wildcards. This is helpful to include all files of one or multiple types in the backup. The program will scan the selected hard drive for all file types that have been added by the user.

Specific local and guest operating system data plus current user data can be added to the backup as well. The backup includes minidumps or OS information automatically in the backup. Those information may be helpful in analyzing a damaged system.

Most settings and options can be modified to create a custom user profile backup. It is for instance possible to only backup a specific user directory, and of that user directory only specific files or folders. This approach reduces the storage requirements of the backup noticeably.

DataGrab supports multiple copy methods, including shell api, win32 api and use of external programs like Xcopy or Unstoppable Copier.

Data is copied like it is to the target directory. There are no restoration options available other than to move the data back to their original location. The core purpose of DataGrab is therefor not to backup the data for emergency restoration, but to have them available at a different location. This is for instance helpful when analyzing a system, or trying to recover data from a system that is damaged and no longer booting.

Take a look at the following introductory video that explains the core concepts of the backup software.

DataGrab is compatible with the client operating systems Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The developer notes that it may also work with server operating systems.

The program can be downloaded from the developer website at Google Sites. Please note that it requires that the Visual Basic 6 Redistributable Package is installed on the system. (via)

One of the most popular Firefox backup solutions, MozBackup, has been updated recently in preparation for the Firefox 4 final launch. Previous versions of the backup software are already compatible with Firefox 4, but the developer has improved support in the new version. Mozbackup 1.5 has been released as a beta preview with the promise that the new final version will be released before the Firefox 4 release.

Several issues have been fixed in the beta release, among them backup improvements for profiles with a size of more than 4 Gigabytes. It is unlikely that many Firefox profiles cross the 4 Gigabytes mark, which indicates that this particular change largely benefits users of the email client Thunderbird, considering that all mailboxes and attachments are saved in the profile directory.

How to Backup Firefox with Mozbackup

It takes just a few steps to backup all Firefox data with Mozbackup. I suggest you download the portable version of the backup software from the developer homepage, as it is flexible and can be put on an USB stick.

Mozbackup scans the computer for supported products and displays all that have been found in a list. Portable versions of Firefox and other supported programs, or installations that have not been recognized automatically can be backed up by selecting Portable applications from the menu. It is then necessary to use the folder browser to add profiles from the hard drive to the backup application manually.

The available profiles are displayed in the next step if a recognized installation has been selected.

A click on next opens a prompt with options to password-protect the backup file. It is usually a good idea to add password protection to protect the data from unauthorized access. It would otherwise be possible to access all profile data directly, including saved passwords, bookmarks, the browsing history, extensions and list of downloaded files.

Mozbackup then displays a list of available modules that can be backed up. Everything is selected by default with the possibility to uncheck modules that do not need to included in the backup.

The backup is stored in a single file. You need Mozbackup to restore it at a later point in time.

Firefox users can download portable versions and installers for the latest stable and beta version of Mozbackup directly from the developer website. Mozbackup is only compatible with the Microsoft Windows operating system.

The only viable solution is to backup the data and move it to another location, either in the cloud or another local storage device like an USB key, preferably encrypted.

SourceBackup is a free software for the Microsoft Windows operating system that has been designed for the specific purpose of backing up source code files. It comes with a few extras that most conventional backup solutions do not offer, more about that later in the review.

So what is the developers intention?

This utility was created to quickly back up source code files to a single archive (zip file) and copy/move them to another computer or simply to archive them.

The program has been specifically designed to work with Visual Studio, but it offers enough customization options to make it compatible with other editors or source code directories.

The main interface displays the core options. Root folder points to the folder the source code is stored in, zip file to the backup name and folder. This will always be placed in the same folder as the source code. Filter finally offers to backup only select file types and not everything that is stored in the selected root folder. Directories will always be backed up and do not need to be specified directly.

The filter pulldown menu can be used to add file filters to the backup process to only include select file types in the backup. The backup software is configured to backup all files, a default filter has been added by the developer to only backup Visual Studio related files. New filters are easily added with a click on the edit button next to the filter selector.

Here it is possible to specify file types that should be included and excluded in the backup.

The three optional items beneath the root folder path are used to append the data to the file name of the backup zip file, show files in the log that have been ignored by the application, and to filter out bin and obj directories automatically.

Users can select to copy or move the created backup after the process finished. Options are available under Progress in the main interface.

A click on the back up button creates the source code backup of the selected root folder based on the filter. The show ignored files option displays all ignored files in red in the log window, which can be used to identify files that have not been included in the backup.

Visual Studio 2008 and 2010 users can register the backup software in External Tools to optimize the workflow.

Source Backup is a free software for the Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .NET Framework, and should run under all versions of Windows that are compatible with the Framework. It was tested on a 64-bit Windows 7 Professional system.

Backup software is the solution. Newer versions of Windows come with limited backup capabilities, a better solution in most cases is to download and make use of a third party backup solution.

Leo Backup is a commercial backup solution for the Windows operating system. Its features make it ideal for businesses and home users who prefer professional backup software over free solutions.

Leo Backup

A wizard guides the user through the backup creation. The standard options to add files and folders are available, as are several interesting custom solutions, for instance to backup the Windows profile, the Windows Registry, Microsoft Outlook settings or the Mozilla products Thunderbird and Firefox. The standard and custom options can be combined in one backup.

Filter settings are available to exclude or include specific data types. Users who only want to backup documents could add those document formats to the filter settings to make sure that only those are included in the backup. The program has no pre-defined filter lists for popular file types, something that the developers should consider adding in an update.

Leo Backup can backup data to a local disk or network disk, or to a remote ftp (optional SSL/TSL) or SFTP server.

Support for secure data transfer options when transferring files to remote servers is usually a core requirement for organizations that evaluate backup software, to make sure that the transferred data is protected during the transfer.
Individual users benefit from those protocols as well, and it is generally recommended to make use of them. The majority of free backup software does not offer those options.

Additional backup settings can be configured after the backup location has been selected.

Leo Backup is configured for incremental backups by default, which only updates files in future backup runs that have been changed or added. Disabling the option configures the backup program to run full data backups every time.

Users can enable compression to save storage space at the local or remote destination, encryption to add an additional layer of security and timestamped folders for better identification of the backup folders.

Backups can be scheduled during configuration so that Leo Backup runs them automatically on schedule after the initial configuration has been completed. Available for selection are daily, weekly and custom intervals.

Programs that are run before or after the backup, and notifications are configured in the last step of the backup setup.

The backup software supports email notifications only. It is possible to attach the log file to emails, and configure the notifications to only be send out if errors have occurred during the backup.

Leo Backup supports the creation and management of multiple backup sets which are all displayed in the left sidebar after they have been created. The files and folders that are included in the backup are shown after selection on the right.

The sidebar displays a backup summary with information about the backup destination, schedule and last run.

Backup sets can be modified with a double-click. All backup options are displayed in tabs in a single window which makes it easier to modify backup settings.

The developers are working on a free version of Leo Backup that will be first released in this month. It will offer a similar feature set with a few exceptions.

The commercial version is available as a 30-day trial version on the official website. The download page links to a pdf manual and the online user guide as well.

Verdict

Leo Backup is an easy to configure backup solution with several interesting features, among them support for SFTP and FTP SSL/TSL connections, pre-configured backups of important data, active directory impersonation, private/public key authorization and COM support.

The program could use some polishing touches in some areas, namely the file filter and reporting service. Additional pre-configured custom backup options, like backing up Internet Explorer data would be welcome as well.

Giveaway

We have ten licenses for the professional version of Leo Backup. You can win a copy by leaving a comment on our Facebook page, twittering about the giveaway or by leaving a comment here at the blog.

EASEUS Todo Backup Home 2.0 is a new version of the free backup software. The application supports the creating of disk and partition images to backup an entire hard disk or a partition of it. Besides that it is also possible to backup specific files or folders only. Both options have their advantages. A disk and partition image for instance ensures that everything can be restored, a file and folder backup on the other hand requires less space on the backup drive, disc or server.

A new feature in version 2 is the ability to create incremental backups which saves space and time on consecutive backups as only changed files and folders will be processed in the backup. A scheduler has been added in the new version as well which can be used to schedule backups to run at a specific interval or system event.

The backup app displays four options on startup which all lead to additional screens. Backup and Recovery lead to options allowing the user to create backups or recover previously created backups. The scheduler can be used to configure a regular backup plan and clone offers to create an exact copy of a hard drive or partition.

Backups can be stored on the local computer, the computer network or an ftp server that needs to be configured in the options.

Several tools are available, for instance to create a bootable media builder which can be used to restore data if the operating system is not loading anymore or an image integrity checker to verify that the backup has not been modified or become corrupt.

There is also a new backup management option to manage all previously created backups more easily.

EASEUS Todo Backup Home 2.0 is a handy intuitive backup software for the Windows operating system. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows and available for download at the developer website.

Update: Easeus Todo Backup Free 3.0 has been released. You can check out the new review here on Ghacks.

Windows users currently have to rely on third party backup solutions to backup their data. Windows will remind them that a backup software is missing, but does not offer one to the user.

Microsoft aims to change this according to a job posting with the release of their upcoming operating system Windows 8. The job posting confirms that a team is currently “working on a Windows Azure-based service” to integrate it”with certain Microsoft online services and Windows 8 client backup”.

What does it mean? It means that Microsoft plans to integrate a client backup application in Windows 8, and that this client backup solution will include a cloud based backup option.

It is not clear if this will be purely a cloud based backup solution, or if the online backup option is one of the available choices.

It is furthermore not clear if all Windows 8 editions will offer this backup solution, and whether it will be free of charge or a subscription based service.

The inclusion of a backup solution in Windows 8 adds another much requested feature to the operating system. It will be interesting to see what else Microsoft plans to add to the operating system. (via Windows 8 Client Backup In The Cloud, Powered By Windows Azure)

The interface looks minimalistic on first glance, but that impression changes after the first few seconds. The source and target folders, and the mode are selected on the first screen. The depth of the program shines through for a first time when the mode is selected. Available are 14 different modes, from various backup options (standard backup, incremental backups, full backups, differential backups..) over synchronizing, updating or restoring files to copying, moving or comparing them.

• Copy/Move: Copies/Moves the files and folders to the target folder.
• Move to Recycle Bin: Recycle Bin Deletes the selected items (or sends to Recycle Bin)
• Delete Immediately: Deletes the item immediately without sending items to the Recycle Bin
• Backup: Any files in the source folder not found in the target folder will be copied. Overwrites a file in the target folder if the source file is newer.
• Synchronize: Any files in the source folder not found in the target folder will be copied. Overwrites a file in the target folder if the source file is newer.
  Files found in the target folder that do not exist in the source folder will be deleted.
• Backup both ways: Any file in the source folder not found in the target folder will be copied. Any file in the target folder not found in the source folder will be copied. Overwrites a file in the target folder if the source file is newer. Overwrites a file in the source folder if the target file is newer.
• Copy Backup: All files in the source folder will be copied, regardless of the setting of the archive attribute. The archive attribute on files is not modified.
• Full Backup: All files in the source folder will be copied, regardless of the setting of the archive attribute. Clears the archive attribute on each file that it copies
• Differential Backup: Only files whose archive attribute is set are copied. The archive attribute on files is not modified.
• Incremental Backup: Only files whose archive attribute is set are copied. Clears the archive attribute on each file that it copies. Backs up files that have changed since the most recent Full Backup or Incremental Backup.
• Update: Overwrites the file in the target folder from source folder if the source file is newer.
• Restore: Any file in the source folder not found in the target folder will be copied. Overwrites a file in the target folder if the source file is older.
• File Compare: All files that exist in the source folder and the target folder are displayed on the preview window.
  Compares each file within the source folder and the target folder.

Each operation has its own set of project properties that are accessible via the Properties button.

The options here differ tremendously. Only two pages with options are for instance displayed if a copy project is created, but a total of 12 pages for a backup. Everything appears to be there, from network support over file compression, revisions management, filters to logging and history information.

Copyto Synchronizer

• Supports multiple folders.
• Include/Exclude filters which you specify (wildcards supported)
• Excludes folders and files which you specify (wildcards supported)
• Verifies each file on a byte by byte basis after copying.
• Revisions : saves the existing file by renaming according to the following rules before replacing by the newer file.
• Bundled “Task Controller” program. This program enables the project file to be added to the Windows Task easily.
• Compresses all files within each folder into one archive using ZIP compression
• Verifies the volume label of the drive before CopyTo starts.
• Customizes the sounds for specific events, on Finished/Preview/Error/Confirmation.
• Specifies the command line of the application you wish to launch before/after the project file runs.
• Displays Warning dialog box about Not enough space on the disk.
• Automatically Ignore FAT/NTFS time differences.
• Supports adjusting difference of Daylight Saving Time. (Treats files exactly 1 hour apart as equal for daylight savings time)
• Records details of the updating process to the log file (HTML Document).

Copyto Synchronize has a set of global options as well. It is for instance possible to add operations to the Windows context menu to initiate them directly from Windows Explorer.

CopyTo Synchronizer Download And Compatibility

CopyTo Synchronizer is an excellent program for all data synchronization and backup tasks. The software is available free of charge at the developer website. The software has been tested on a 64-bit installation of Windows 7 Professional, and is compatible with all Windows operating systems from Windows 98 to Windows 7.

CopyTo Synchronizer Alternatives

There are lots of alternatives available, but most offer only some of the features of the reviewed program. Check out our backup software guide for alternatives.

The application supports the five popular web browsers Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Safari, and offers to backup bookmarks and other data from one or multiple browsers at once.

bookmarks backup

Browsers can be selected to be included in the backup at the top of the single program window. The only other element that the user needs to specific is the backup folder location on the local computer system. A click on Backup will start the backup of the selected browsers. The program recommends to close all browsers before proceeding, as the backup process may be blocked or halted if they are running.

Bookmarks Backup, as mentioned earlier will not only backup bookmarks but also other data. For Firefox, Opera and Chrome, the whole profile folder is backed up and stored in the backup location. For Internet Explorer only the favorites are saved. Safari was not installed and I was not able to test it, but I assume that the backup will include the full profile as well.

Backups can be restored in the same interface. It is basically a reverse of the process. It begins by selecting the browsers and the restore folder location. A click on Restore will restore the selected backup to all browsers that have been selected by the user.

Bookmarks Backup offers an easy way of backing up data of web browsers. It could use some additional options, like letting the user decide what to backup or scheduling of backups. But as it stands, it is one of the most convenient ways of backing up multiple web browser profiles at once.

How does it compare to Fav Backup, another browser backup tool? The main advantage of Bookmarks Backup is that multiple browsers can be selected at once for backup. In FavBackup, only one browser can be selected for backup at a time. Then again, FavBackup offers better customization of the backup by offering to only backup items that have been selected by the user. FavBackup offers additional advantages, it is a portable application for instance and can backup the default web browser profile or all profiles.

Still, Bookmarks Backup could be an interesting alternative for users who run multiple web browsers on their computer system. The software is available at the developers website.

Windows Mail Saver has been designed as a backup and restoration utility for Windows Mail. The free software program can backup and restore various components and information including email messages with attachments, the Windows address book, mail and news accounts that are configured in the mail client, custom signatures, settings, favorites and RSS feeds.

Windows Mail Saver refuses to install on operating systems newer than Windows Vista. This can be circumvented by running it in Vista compatibility mode.

The backup and restore options are displayed in the left sidebar of the program after installation. It is possible to add or remove components that should be included in the backup. Additional options include the selection of the compression level and password protection to protect the backup from unauthorized access.

The restore option requires a previously backed up file and offers the option to select or deselect the data that should be restored.

Windows Mail Saver has a rather annoying animated header banner that is displayed all the time during program usage. It should not be that much of a problem as it does not take longer than a few minutes to initiate the backup process but it is annoying nevertheless.

The Windows Mail backup software can be downloaded from the developer’s website.

Version control, or versioning, can be very helpful here. This special backup type saves every new version of a document into the backup folder providing the user with access to all versions of the file that have been saved recently. That’s helpful if you do not want to restore the latest but a previous version of the file or document.

The version control and backup software AutoVer is a lightweight program for the job. The main interface lists the configured versioning jobs and displays controls to work with the program. It is here possible to add, delete or edit new backup jobs, view previous backups with restore options, configure the program’s settings or initiate a manual synchronization.

New jobs are configured by clicking on the plus icon in the main interface. The configuration is divided into the four tabs general, advanced, versioning and ftp.

• General: Configure a name, the source and destination folder, backup type (folder or ftp), subfolder support, error handling and if an initial backup should be created.
• Advanced: Add include and exclude filters for files and folders, specify a maximum file size, run on copy, delete backup files if the original is deleted and schedule daily or hourly comparisons between the source and destination folders and files.
• Versioning: Select a versioning mode (none, version all backup files, version previous backups only), maximum number of versions and old version handling.
• ftp: If ftp is selected as the destination of the backup then the ftp host needs to be configured in this tab.

A double-click on a configured job opens the backup explorer which displays all folders, files and the available versions of the selected file.

It is here possible to open those files, compare them or restore them to the original location.

The text and image viewer as well as the app that is used for file comparisons need to be configured in the program’s options. Notepad and Paint are selected for text and image viewing. The compare app points to a non existing folder of WinMerge which suggests that the program needs to be downloaded separately. A notification would be helpful here.

AutoVer is an easy to use version control and file backup software for the Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework and is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system. We had to install it using the run as administrator command.

Mirror is a lightweight portable software program that has been designed for that purpose. All that can be done in the program’s interface after startup is to select the source and target folders to backup the data.

There are but a few options that can be additionally configured including to synchronize the target, to minimize on use and to automatically exit the program when it has finished backing up the data.

Mirror stores the configuration data in an ini file in the same directory. It is from then on possible to execute the data backup not only from the graphical user interface but also the command line.

The program can only be completely closed while running, there is no stop button to stop the backup process. Mirror might be a handy tool for users who want to backup data from source folder to another folder on the same computer system. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Microsoft Windows. It can be downloaded from the developer website. (via ShellCity)