Users of the service were able to pick programs from the list. Volery would create a custom installer which when executed would download and install one program after the other on the operating system.

The service to create custom software installations is now out of beta and has been renamed to Ninite. But that’s not the only change introduced. The service is now publicly available for everyone with no registration required to create a custom software installer for personal use.

Even better is the increase in software programs. The developers have tripled the amount of programs supported by the service.

The applications are now also divided into categories to make it easier for users to pick the programs that they want to include in the custom installer. Many of the software programs that we use and recommend at Ghacks are now offered for download including Thunderbird, Aimp2, Paint.net, uTorrent, ImgBurn, 7-zip or WinSCP.

The software will be installed silently in the background with toolbars and other add-ons that are considered “junk” not installed with the programs.

Ninite offers a comfortable way of installing software in bulk. This is an excellent option after the installation of a Windows operating system or the purchase of a computer. Interested users can visit the Ninite website to create their own custom software installers.

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The customization is as easy as it can get. All the user needs to do is to pick the programs that should be included in the installer. This installer can then be downloaded to the local computer system. The installer itself has always the same size of 159 Kilobytes. It currently contains the names of all programs that get installed. The developers should probably rethink that naming convention as long names can cause all kind of difficulties on some systems (next to looking confusing and slightly spammy).

The installer will then start downloading the programs which means that an Internet connection is required. The programs are then installed one by one on the local computer system. The benefit of this approach is that users can customize programs that they want to install. Silent installs are used and all the usual add-ons like toolbars or other questionable content is not installed in the process.

The service is currently in private beta which means that only beta participants can try it out. The amount of applications that are currently offered are limited but the developer’s promise to add additional programs to the service in the near future. Users who want to try the service can try a temporary account by signing up for the service at this url (99 invites remaining). It should be noted that the accounts and the installers will stop working in a week’s time.

It would have been nicer if beta users were allowed to continue using the service. This severely limits the service right now.

Update:

Got a reply from Volery about some of the issues that I addressed:

You’re right about the one week period being too limited. Although the site won’t be updated to say it until later, we’re going to allow all beta accounts and installers to work through our whole beta period. This change applies to all existing and new beta accounts.

For the long filenames issue we currently limit the name to 128 characters. We may need to lower this further if users run into trouble.

Good news is that the beta accounts and installers will now work longer than the initial seven day period.

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That’s usually not a very pleasant thing to do as it takes lots of time to download and install all these programs. The Smart Installer Pack tries to reduce the time it takes to install popular software by providing an interface to download and install dozens of popular software programs.

The program will display a full screen interface after installation that can be used to select some or all of the included software programs which will then be automatically downloaded and installed (one after the other). Included are programs like Firefox, Opera, Google Chrome, Filezilla FTP Server, Digsby, Skype, RocketDock, Picasa and iTunes among dozens of additional programs.

The latest version of the selected software programs will be downloaded according to the developer’s of Smart Installer Pack. One limitation that is currently in place is that the software programs are listed in groups of eight on individual pages and that it is only possible to download software from one page at a time meaning it is not possible to go through all pages to select all software that should be downloaded and installed.

It is also a good idea to check the version of the programs downloaded with the latest version on the developer’s website (or through an existing update function in the software) to make sure the latest version has indeed been installed.

Smart Installer Pack would be more user friendly if all software programs would be listed on one page to streamline the process and make it more comfortable to the user.

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Probably one of the most important pieces of software you think about when looking to keep your PC healthy is anti-virus software. You have the option of purchasing top of the line software that will provide excellent protection, however unless you’re running a business where damage caused by a virus could be potentially expensive, there are many free anti-virus programs that provide great protection too. Avast! and Avira are two very well regarded anti-virus programs which, if you so desire, you can pay to receive even better protection with their premium versions. If you want even better protection it is recommended you download a spyware and adware removal program, the best ones quite unanimously being Spybot and Ad-Adawre, both free programs as well.

If your PC’s hard disk has Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (or S.M.A.R.T) you can enable it through your PC’s BIOS in order to monitor your hard disk by having it report on factors that affect your hard disk’s reliability. In order to see the results of this you need to download a free program called Active Disk Monitor, which can easily be found through Google or any other major search engine. Installing this will allow you to see the health of your hard disk so you will be able to anticipate failures so that you can purchase a new one and make appropriate backups before you lose all of you data.

Browsing the internet, running programs, deleting files and other typical activities on your PC causes many temporary files to be created on your PC. This can cause your computer to run slow and valuable hard disk space to be taken up. To remedy this there are two easy to use pieces of PC software that you can download and run for free. The first program is known as Clean-Up. Clean-Up will go through your computer and delete many of these unnecessary files and the best part is it works very fast and only requires the press of a button to run. The other program is called CCleaner. This program will also delete those unnecessary temporary files. It is best to run both of them so you can maximize the amount of files that are deleted. CCleaner also has another function though: it will clean up your registry. While having a registry with broken and useless keys doesn’t normally cause a big problem, it doesn’t hurt and sometimes if there are a large amount of problems it can cause problems. Also, to make sure you get rid of as many unnecessary files as possible you can also open up your internet browser, such as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and chose to clear the cache, delete cookies and other such things.

Obtaining PC software for maintenance can be a chore at first, but it is very important and in the long run can help yo

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In many applications the desktop software allows you to take advantage of more than one function at a time on your computer screen. Instead of only having ‘one’ display for a spreadsheet or a document, you can open them in smaller windows that ‘overlap’ your other windows programs and can be viewed at the same time in separate windows on the monitor.

From this point, you can arrange your work just like you would if you were working on an actual desktop. The convenience is fantastic. You no longer have the need to reload programs or reformat any of your data. It doesn’t mean that these programs don’t encounter any problems though.

Say you were using your desktop software and had a spreadsheet application open separately on your screen. By having it displayed in a smaller window, you’re dealing with a much smaller portion of the spreadsheet than you would be if you were using it as a full screen size display. But this is remedied by the software, as it allows you to zoom in to one certain window while it ‘hides’ the others until you choose to leave it.

The whole purpose behind the desktop software is to take that limited screen area and expand it and give the user a better viewing capability and much more functionality. It’s designed to help you do a better job of putting information together.

To understand it further, let’s look at your context. The software is about helping you to retain it. You can be in the middle of a document, and find you have need of an online calculator, or some information at another site. Without the ability to use more than one window at a time, you have to open another screen page, find your information, then come back to the original screen. But while you view your new information, the original information is gone, or hidden. You can lose your place or forget something you needed from the original, and have to go back and consult it by bringing it back up. You want the original to ‘follow’ you to the new information source.

Working on a basis of ‘interrupt’ is how we as humans work. We start our work, then have the need to interrupt it and grab something from somewhere else. With these desktop applications this can be a smooth experience. And in today’s computer world, there are many different types of desktop software becoming available, and each with some unique functions designed for specific types of uses.

Whether your type of desktop software is for contacting your computer from a remote location, or used to sync with Blackberry programs, or for integrating multiple applications and being able to move data between them, there’s surely a desktop software available to suit your needs.

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There are whole communities for open source software. These are legally created programs that have been designed by programmers who are tired of the strangle hold certain industry giants have on the market. They are called “open source” because the source code is transparent and can be redesigned by anyone who wants to improve or alter the program. However, if you aren’t a programmer, this isn’t necessary. The programs are constantly being improved. Linux is one such site and program. Linux is a computing platform that replaces Windows. Many consider it to be easier to use than Windows, less cumbersome and of course, it is free.

There are also websites that provide feedback and links to various types of free software. One such site is PC-WORLD. If you navigate to their site and click on “downloads” they have categories like; utilities, anti-virus and security, office, etc. If you click on one of these links you will get a whole list of screened software. Some of the software is for sale, some is “shareware” and some is free. Most of the free programs are just as good as the programs for sale. You should stay away from “shareware” as most of it requires you to sign up for a website or allow tracking cookies to be placed on your computer. Compromising your security isn’t necessary. The free software is usually well written, user friendly and often takes far less of your computers thinking power to operate. For example, there is a search utility called “Agent Ransack”. It is completely free, is tiny compared to Microsoft’s search feature yet does a MUCH better job at quickly searching your computer.

Of course there are the free software programs that are becoming quite famous and are readily available. Internet browsers are the most common because they can easily pay for their development by selling advertising. Mozilla’s Firefox is a very popular free browser. Google Chrome is another. There is a full office suite called Open Office that is becoming more common that replaces Microsoft Office while still being compatible. Open Office provides word processing, a spreadsheet program compatible with Excel, basically everything offered by Microsoft office but it is completely free.

What you get from commercial software is a look. Commercially sold software is almost always bloated and saps computing power because it has a very sharp color scheme and looks really slick. If you aren’t hung up on looks, free software performs as well or often better. And with the more popular free software like Firefox, their graphics are becoming higher and higher quality. One word of caution: When searching for free software, go directly to the download site. Don’t download from the many “free software” sites that offer pages of links. You often have to compromise your privacy or security to use these sites. Find the name of the software then go directly to their site to download directly from the developers. And no matter what, always scan you new software with an anti-virus program before opening and installing it.

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There is a computer in our cars, TV’s, cell phones, our cable boxes, and other electronic devices. Without the software, these electronics would not work as they do. They may turn on, but the programs that we need to use would not work properly without the help of software.

The operating system that came with your computer is a computer software program. All computers come with an operating system, such as Windows aka XP, Vista, 2000, etc. Other operating systems are Linux and Mac. Without an operating system, your computer will not operate as it should. It may turn on, but it won’t run properly.

There are so many different programs today to do just about anything you want to on your computer. Some computer software program names are Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office, Print Shop, QuickBooks, video games, etc.

Some programs come in the form of CD or DVD, or floppy disks. This software can also be downloaded from the Internet, called electronic download. A software program is usually all set up to run on your computer. Each program will tell you what operating system and other criteria needed to use the program on your computer.
There are programs that will diagnose, troubleshoot, and fix problems that may occur with your computer, without the help of a computer tech.

Some programs online are in the form of a zip file, closed to make the file smaller. Most operating systems have a program on them that will automatically open a zip file so that you can install it onto your computer without a hassle. If you do not have a zip file software program, you can find a free program online. A great place to find free software downloads is at http://download.cnet.com/windows/.

Each program will tell you what the computer requirements are to run the program on your computer. It may specify that the program is only for Windows 2000 or XP, but most programs are available to run with Vista, Mac, and Linux now. http://www.microsoft.com/en/us/default.aspx offers free trials for a lot of their software programs so that you can try it out before purchasing a copy of it.

Nearly everywhere we go or whatever we do, there is computer software running something. It is a wonderful idea to learn more about the computer world, as it will always be a big part of life. The technology continues to change and improve in most areas. A lot of the local Adult Education centers offer classes for free or at a very reasonable price to learn more about computers. Some local computer technicians also offer tutoring at reasonable prices. The World Wide Web has loads of free information on this topic as well.

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The Firefox add-on External Application Buttons mod changes this as it allows Firefox users to add software links right in the web browser. Using the add-on is unfortunately a bit complicated, at least at the beginning. There is no visual sign of the add-on after installation.

What the Firefox user needs to do is to right-click on empty space in the Firefox toolbar and select customize. There should be a new item called applications in there which has to be dragged to one of the Firefox toolbars. There is apparently no icon for that item which means that it will show up as blank space in the toolbar at first.

A right-click on that blank space will open a context menu with the option to add a button to the toolbar. This will open a file browser giving the user the option to select any executable file from the computer system. The icon of that software program will then be displayed in the location in the toolbar. It is possible to add multiple icons (one after the other) until all program icons that should be launched from within the Firefox web browser are displayed there.

A click on a software icon in the toolbar will launch the application on the computer system. The add-on is working with all Firefox 3.x versions and can be downloaded from the Mozilla website.

Update: Forgot to mention that some advanced properties become available after adding a link to the Firefox toolbar. It is for instance possible to change the icon size, create a keyboard shortcut or set arguments for the application launch.

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The computer program has to be installed on the system. It integrates itself into the right-click context menu of executable file extensions such as exe, bat and cmd with the option to add custom file extension during installation.

The advanced run box becomes available after right-clicking a supported file type and selecting run with parameters from the context menu. It is then possible to supply command line arguments to run the software with these additional parameters.

The computer program will remember command line arguments that have been used in the past for that specific software program. This option is also configured during installation. Up to 20 arguments are saved by default. The program will only use system resources during execution. The main application will terminate its process after the selected program has been started with the command line arguments. Run With Parameters is therefor a lightweight software program ideal for launching executables that require parameters from time to time (for example Google Chrome with or without extensions, Firefox with another profile). It can be downloaded from the developer’s homepage.

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New Folder Wizard is a portable software program for the Windows operating system. It requires the Microsoft .net Framework 2.0, runs on both 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the operating system and can be downloaded directly from the developer’s homepage. The software itself comes with a set of interesting features to aid the user in the folder creation process.

The configuration of the software is handled in the main interface. The user needs to select a target folder which becomes the root folder for the folders that are created. It is furthermore possible to add folder prefixes and suffixes, starting and ending numbers and steps for those numbers.

Another option is to load a text file containing names into the program to create folders based on these names. The process can be previewed so that the user knows how the folders will be named. The generated folder names can be copied to the clipboard for external processing.

New Folder Wizard is an interesting lightweight application for the Windows operating system.

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Only portable applications are problematic. A portable software is by default one that can be run from a folder without installation. It works out of the box and will not write data to the Windows Registry. But without changing the file associations it means that the user has to use the Open With dialog or drag and drop to open files on the computer system with a portable application.

The creation of PEM, Pure Enigmatic Magic, changes this. It has been created to fill the gap. The software program acts as a proxy that can be configured to associated certain file extensions with programs on the computer system. It could for example be configured to direct requests to open mp3 with AIMP2 instead of the default iTunes or Windows Media Player.

PEM is a tiny portable software program that runs quietly in the system tray upon execution. It uses about 400 Kilobytes of computer memory while doing so and will direct all requests to open the configured file types to applications that have been added by the user.

The user needs to type in a file extension and a relative path to an application that should open that file extension. PEM will then ensure that the file type will be opened by the program configured in its options instead of the default program that has been associated with the file type in the Windows Registry.

The software program is very helpful for users who work with portable software and makes a perfect fit for any USB software collection.

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The reason for this is that many users believe that the data is safe on Internet servers. A lot can happen that can put the data on those servers at risk. This ranges from hacking attempts, hardware failures that cause data loss or bankruptcy. It is therefor essential to make sure that data that is stored online is backed up regularly.

We have already mentioned how to backup Gmail before should be essential for every Gmail user. While it is unlikely that Gmail will be discontinued there have been times where the service was not accessible. Having a backup of the data would make it possible to access the emails anyway.

Google Docs Backup is another Windows backup software that can be used to backup one of the popular Google services. Users can use it to backup all documents on their local computer system that they have uploaded to Google Docs. Usage of the backup software has been simplified. All that needs to be done is to enter the username and password of the Google Docs account and to select a directory on the local computer where the data should be downloaded to.

A few optional settings are available. It is for example possible to select the output format for each document type and to route the traffic through a proxy server. A click on the Exec button will initiate the data backup which can take some time depending on the size of the data stored at Google Docs and the connection speed.

Gdoc Backup (via To The PC) is a free software program for the Windows operating system.

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The list of supported applications reads like a who is who of the most popular free computer software programs. Everything seems to be there from Firefox over AIMP to Notepad++, True Crypt and WinSCP.

Liberkey comes with its own application launcher which can be extended with software that the developers have not already included in the packages. Software can easily be added by a simple right-click in the program’s interface. It is furthermore possible to remove and add categories and applications from the application launcher.

A left-click will attach a new window to the launcher that contains information about the computer program while a double-click will load the software right away.

Liberkey will automatically check for computer program updates which can then be downloaded to replace the old programs. A free account is required to make use of the auto-update feature though. Liberkey is an excellent portable software suite that shines because of its update feature and extensibility.

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Many users felt that it was a great idea but lacked custom commands which would increase the functionality and usefulness of the software. The software developer has now released a major update of the software program which adds a plethora of new and exciting features to the application.

The program will now send a reply to the user over Twitter so that the user who initiated the command will now if it actually worked.

New commands include locking the PC, requesting the IP of the computer system, putting it on standby or hibernate, taking a screenshot of the desktop, getting the list of processes, killing processes, download a file from an url, getting a file list and files from the remote computer system.

Especially the option to download files and to get files from the local computer system are interesting new features. Users who are still missing commands can now create custom commands in the software.

Custom commands are made up of a name and linked to an executable file on the remote computer system. It would be really nice if the program would accept batch files as well as executables.

The additions to TweetMyPC increase the usefulness of the software program.

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It only takes a minute to select the folders or services that should be monitored. The functionality is limited to the following. Services can be monitored and the computer program can try to restart them if they are not running. It will notify the administrator after a set amount of failed attempts.

Folders of connected hard drives can also be monitored by FS Guard. It is possible to monitor them for size changes. If the size changes the system administrator will be informed as well.

The software is compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista and will most likely run on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 as well although that is not mentioned on the developer’s homepage. It Pros will miss features that they are used to work with like executing programs or taking screenshots of the situation.

The monitoring software FS Guard might come in handy on the other hand for users who are satisfied with these basic options.

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The following software programs are available as special editions:

• Paragon Total Defrag 2009 Special Edition
• Paragon Rescue Kit 9.0 Express
• Paragon Partition Manager 9.0 Special Edition
• Paragon Drive Copy 9 Special Edition
• Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal
• Paragon Hard Disk Manager 8.5 Special Edition

Just follow the links. They lead to registration websites that ask the visitor to enter a few basic information including the name, email and country. Paragon will send an email to the email account containing the product key and serial number needed to activate the software program on a local computer system. The very same email contains a link to the user profile page at the Paragon website from where the software program can be downloaded.

Update:

Download links for programs that are not listed under My Downloads in the Paragon profile.

Drive Backup 9.0
Partition Manager 9.0
Drive Copy 9
Hard Disk Manager 8.5

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F.Lux

I reviewed the computer monitor lighting solution a while ago and it is actually one of the few applications that run all the time on my main computer system. Flux changes the brightness color temperature of the computer display automatically. It uses a 24 hour graph to visualize the changes. The color temperature will be normal throughout the day and be lowered automatically as the day passes to adjust to the real world. You will love this application if you have to look at (to) bright computer screens especially in the evening and at night.

2. Speedfan

Speedfan is an interesting application to monitor system temperatures and control fan speeds. Users run usually in two scenarios. The first group thinks that their computer system makes to much noise while the second has to fight high temperatures that can lead to crashes and data loss. Speedfan can help both groups. It can lower the fan speed of connected computer fans automatically to reduce the overall noise level of the computer system. It can also warn the user if temperatures are reached that can cause damage and problems.

3. Drive Namer

Drive Namer is an excellent application to add names to optical drives such as DVD or CD drives. Windows is blocking the name changing on those drives by default which gets confusing if more than one optical drive is installed or virtual drives are used. All of the drives will be named DVD Drive or CD Drive. Drive Namer can change that name to something practical that helps identifying the drive at first glance.

4. Deltacopy

Windows Backup Software Deltacopy is a sophisticated backup software program that uses a client server approach which makes it ideal for computers located in a network.

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Rarst did all the work on the project with me and Samer doing a little bit of beta testing. It’s his project that we fully support. You can take a look a the appnews website to see how it looks and subscribe to the various update notification options.

Rarst made an announcement post where he is going into a little bit more detail on the technicalities. The service is basically a mashup of Rss, Dropbox, FeedBurner and SimplePie.

Here are the direct access links:

Home: http://appnews.net/
Feed: http://feeds.appnews.net/appnews
Email subscription: http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=appnews&loc=en_US
Twitter: http://twitter.com/appnews
Search engine: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=014146561317267595789:1f-ivlvlh7y

Feel free to leave comments here or at Rarst’s blog. Suspect that Samer will introduce the service on his blog as well soon. We would also like it very much if you would blog about it, send it to your friends, comment about it on other sites or add it to social media sites that you are a member of. We think that this service is something special. And there is of course growth potential to add additional review sites to the mix.

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It is however not possible to fix the item directly in HijackThis. A portable software program called LSP-Fix comes to the rescue. It has been primarily designed to fix Winsock errors.

The program is interesting in this case as it can be used to remove the nwprovau.dll dynamic link library from the computer system. The box “I know what I’m doing” has to be checked before that option becomes available. The program lists the currently installed dll files in the left column, nwprovau.dll should be one of them. All that needs to be done is to select this dll and click on the arrow that is pointing to the right to move it to the Remove column. Keep in mind that this will remove the dll permanently from the computer system (creating a backup before proceeding might be a good idea)

A click on the Finish button will complete the process and remove all files that are listed in the Remove column from the computer system.

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Backups are the single most effective method of preventing data loss on computer systems. The following article will list the 10 best Windows backup software programs.

Cobian Backup

Cobian Backup is a free for personal use backup software that supports both local and remote backups. The software is constantly under development by the developer which means that features are included regularly. Some of the key features include full, differential and incremental backups, file compression including the popular 7-zip format plus strong encryption for data security.

DeltaCopy

An Open source backup solution supporting incremental backups, one-click restore options, task scheduling and email notifications. Some advanced options include ssh tunneling and connecting to rsync daemons.

It makes use of a server client system. One or multiple backup servers can be created on computers running Windows by installing the server version on these computer systems. The client will be installed on the any computer system where files should be backed up regularly.

The backup software supports authentication, scheduling and connection by IP or hostname.

Cucku Backup

Cucku Backup calls itself social backup. It provides local backups but also backups on friend?s computers. It supports complete and continuous backups and can automate the remote backup process to take that of the user?s shoulders. All files that are backed up use encryption algorithms to ensure data safety and integrity so that the backup partners cannot see the filenames nor contents of the files that are send over to their computer systems.
It works best in computer networks but can also work over the Internet if enough time or upload bandwidth is provided.

Backup Maker

Backup Maker provides extensive backup capabilities. It comes with a standard and expert mode to suite both the needs of experienced and inexperienced users. The software supports full and partial backups, local and remote backups, selection of a backup execution interval and execution on certain events like USB detection or start and shutdown.

All in all an excellent software program to backup files on the Windows operating system.

Ace Backup

Powerful backup software that supports multi-versioning, backups to local and remote locations, file compression and encryption.

Microsoft SyncToy

SyncToy is offered by Microsoft as a free download for the Windows operating system. It can be used to easily synchronize data between computer systems. The program offers five different synchronization options that the user can choose from including a preview option before starting the process.

Mozy

Mozy is an online backup solution that offers backup clients for Windows NT based systems and Mac OS X. Every registered user receives 2 Gigabytes of free space with the option to sign up for a paid account for currently $4.95 that offers unlimited backup space. Several pre-configured backup sets are populated after installation including bookmarks, documents and multimedia files. These can but do not have to be backed up. Expert mode provides access to the full file system to pick files or folders to backup directly.

Personal Backup

A backup for the advanced user that provides great file filtering options. It comes with the usual set of features including local and remote backup creation (including SFTP), file compression and encryption, status reports and log file generation.

Allways Sync

Another software that has been primarily designed for file synchronization that is also supporting file backups to a local drive, over a local network or the Internet. It works on a per directory basis and can be installed on as many computer systems as the user desires. The software comes as a setup or portable version.

Comodo Backup

Another free backup solution for Windows users. Comodo Backup can backup files and folders on a local computer system to other drives, network locations, ftp servers and removable media. Backups can be scheduled and notifications can be send to inform about completed backup jobs. Other features include compressing backups, data recovery options, support of multi-session backups and incremental backups.

DriveImage XML

DriveImage XML is more a drive imaging software than a backup program. It can however be used to backup a full hard drive or partition to another drive. It uses the Volume Shadow Service to create exact backups during runtime. It is afterwards possible to restore the backup either from within Windows or with the use of a boot disk.

The verdict:

The choice of the correct backup software depends on several factors including the data size, the frequency of backups or the local computer infrastructure.

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