Recommendation for back-up software?

[lovingHDTV]

I'm looking for a good backup software program. I would like it to have an interface that I can browse the backups with, find the file to restore, have it prompt me to put DVD number 135 in the drive, then restore the file. I also want disaster recovery so I don't have to re-install everything. I would like to do incremental and full backups.

So what is everyone else out there using?

thanks,

[Opus4]

I use Dantz Retrospect, but I back up to external hard drives.

- Andy

[willemse]

Drive image, these days refere to Ghost, or Acronis True Image does the job you are looking for. You can select where to back-up to; Internal disk or external USB or other, define file size if you want to burn to DVD, Restore back-up of image etc.

[lovingHDTV]

After digging around for a couple hours here is what I found:

This website listed some software it tested, googled it

http://www.backup-software-reviews.com/

They recommended:
http://www.genie-soft.com/

I'm almost finished reading the user manual. Looks pretty impressive. I do not believe it will do a drive image for recovery purposes though.

[stevech]

I really like Acronis TruImage - better than Norton Ghost.
I have it automatically do an incremental backup every day at 3AM, and once a week a full backup, of the C drive on my HTPC. This is about 40MB per incremental and 4GB per full.

Every 2 weeks or so I do a full backup of my office PC. It's about 8GB per full backup.

The target for backups is a drive on an always-on pc that accessed via the LAN and used ONLY for backups. Otherwise, it spins down.

Acronis DiskDirector is really great too, for adjusting partitions.

I suppose that RAID is the only practical way to backup video storage.

[lovingHDTV]

For those using Acronis or Norton Ghost, do they backup more than one computer or do I have to purchase multiple copies? One thing I like about Retrospect is that it will backup three computers for 1 license. I can't find that info for Acronis or NortonGhost.

thanks,

[Menehune]

I am assuming you need to purchase one license per computer, but I have been known to use one ghost license on more than one machine in emergencies. Ghost 6 is a stand-alone, single user license.

[mayamaniac]

For OS or entire Partition or Drive backup, nothing beats Acronis Trueimage. Its an awesome piece of software. The single license is only for one machine. But nothing is stopping you from installing it on mulitple machines.

For normal Data backup, I suggest Dantz Retrospect. This software is more bulletproof for data backup. They give all kinds of options and relatively easy to use interface. And it does what you mentioned, which is select a file to restore, and it'll tell you to put the disk number in, and then you select the location to put the file.

[ben_95sl1]

Anybody tried driveimage XML? it's free for home users....looks like it does what I want.

[lovingHDTV]

I was reading on the Acronis webpage and it appears that they have added som more "normal" backup features.

I also like the Dantz product. It seems to have been around for a very long time and is developed by a good company. It is a little on the pricey side, but seems to be worth it.

I was initially looking into backing up to DVD-R media, but this means you can't keep anything for more than a couple years before redoing the back as the disc deteriorates. This has got me looking into a tape drive. So I may need a solution that supports a tape drive. I may be able to get a 4 tape DLT changer for free fromwork, they are moving to AIT? format? Will have to wait and see how that works out.

[dblaine2]

I use handy backup for file-by-file backup. It can be found at

http://www.handybackup.com

I've used it successfully restore individual files. I haven't restored an entire system.... yet.

I use ghost for image backups.

[evilpenguin]

I found a really good site that will help you become a Ghosting master. Plenty of tips and tricks that I wouldn't have known otherwise. After reading this guide and doing some of the stuff myself I highly recommend spending the extra cash on Ghost over the free solutions.

(The coolest thing I learned was that you can Ghost an image directly to DVD+RW)

http://ghost.radified.com/

[steingra]

I have also used www.handybackup.com for a long time. Its an awesome program for making backups to hard drives, CD-R's, network drives, external usb drives etc

I have also used Ghost and it works nicely for making whole images to restore an entire system. Its been a while, but I also believe you can browse the images and grab individual files.

I have used Migrate Easy to make clones of drives, and TrueImage. Both from www.acronis.com to clone drives. They work nicely. And have some decent features that you might want. Here is a snippet from their website:

Acronis announces the release of Acronis True Image 9.0. With this new release you get two backup products in one and then some! Two in One!

Acronis True Image 9.0 provides you two backup options in one software:

1) Our original disk imaging backup option which enables you to create an image of your entire hard disk drive, including the operating system, applications, user settings, and all data. Use the image to restore your PC to a known working state without any reinstallation.

2) A new file-based backup option which enables you to backup and restore individual files and folders, like your My Documents folder or a specific file, like your latest tax return. A software wizard walks you through all of the steps.

[lovingHDTV]

As an update I went with Dantz Restrospect. I needed to be able to backup three computers and the Professional version includes support for up to three computers. The one thing I did not get with this solution is the ability to back up to an FTP server. I'll have to handle that myself for offsite storage.

.

[malbec]

Another one to consider (the dumbed down version is free)

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/

[lotusvball]

Originally Posted by malbec

Another one to consider (the dumbed down version is free)

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/

I have been using this one for about a year and it works great.