Some Other Great Free Backup Software!
Freeware backup software is finally becoming more common -- perhaps because of the explosion of large storage devices. Whatever backup option you choose, make sure you choose one and get started early. You can always use another backup method later as your needs grow. The programs below are some of my favorite free backup tools. I'm always looking around at new backup software in an effort to identify good ideas for my own "Back2zip" software.
One great idea that I think will become commonplace soon is that of remote or online backup. I'm thinking about ways of adding this to Back2zip now. If you have any good ideas, be sure to leave me feedback in the backup discussion area.
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Autobackup
No frills, but might save your tush!
AutoBackup is the ultimate no-frills backup software. Just create a list of paths to be checked, and a backup mirrored copy is created every day of all files found in those paths which have been modified since the last backup.
Each day it looks in the list of directories you specify and makes a backup copy of any files modified in that week to a separate directory. Bare-bones, without even compression, but it works -- and if it allows you to restore just one lost file...
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SyncBack
For small backup jobs, powerful free backup software
SyncBack is the "No Install" freeware version of the commercial backup software "SyncBackSE". Make sure you get the SE version if you're after freeware.
This program does just about everything - even has a built-in FTP engine to store data off-site. The catch? Many of the coolest features (like network speed optimization) are disabled on the free version. I typically dislike crippleware but this one doesn't seem to have any significant defects.
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TaskZip
Lightweight, simple, free!
TaskZip is a great little backup tool which runs as a system agent. It will automatically archive specified files and folders into a single ZIP file (although ZIP-64 is not supported so don't try to backup huge folders). TaskZIP also allows you to password protect the ZIP file archives. And although TaskZIP has no restoration features, it stores archives as standard ZIP files.
Backing up with TaskZIP is fairly easy if a bit kludgy (hey, it's free!). Just set up one or more "Backup Jobs" and let it run quietly in the background. The program's scheduler can run backups at any time, and you can set recurring schedules for running daily, weekly, or monthly backups.
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Comparator
Lightweight, free, feature-packed backup software
Comparator provides folder mirroring and data synchronization (again similar to Windows briefcase) optimized for use on a single computer (not across a slow network). Comparator has strong data backup and data restoration features but it requires quite a bit of user interaction (which might be a good thing if you have complex backup tasks.)
Comparator uses a two-panel comparison display to allow you to quickly and easily see where changes to files have been made. This allows for quick custom backups in case you do not want to backup all files every time. You won't need to open two Explorer windows to make painstaking comparisons but you'll still have the Windows system menu available to you by right-clicking a file.
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Lou Backup
Extremely simple, free, slim backup tool
Lou Backup is an extra-ordinarily simple backup tool intended for backing up Visual C source code files -- but also quite useful for backing up any collection of folders. Supports multiple projects, directory and folder exclusion and backup of only modified files.
Lou Backup can manage multiple "projects" simultaneously which works nicely if you want to manage multiple backups on a single computer.
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