Your Data Is Only As Good As Your Last Backup

Posted by Ken

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Even if you didn’t have to worry about a computer virus potentially stealing or deleting your data, you’d still have reason to protect that data from the likes of software or hardware failure. By performing regular backups you’re creating a safety net in case your computer decides to “kick the bucket”. With so many software packages to choose from, you’re sure to find one that fits your needs. One product that I think you’ll like is Backup Platinum by SoftLogica.

The first time you launch Backup Platinum you’re taken through the process (in wizard-like fashion) of configuring your backups one step at a time. You can select folders, files, types of files, various kinds of settings, and more.

Let’s say you have a folder containing a lot of files, but you don’t want to backup all of them. No problem, just first select the folder and deselect the files or folders contained in the parent folder that you don’t want to backup.

Once you’ve selected the files you want to backup, then it’s time to tell Backup Platinum where you want to store the files and if you want to compress them each into a Zip file, or compress them all into one Zip file. Your mileage my vary, but my tests took a folder of about 10 MB and shrunk it down by 50 percent. You also have several choices of encrypting these files for maximum security.

Let’s say you’ve done a backup already. The next time you backup (and you will do this more than once right?) you can choose not to backup everything if everything hasn’t changed. Just do a synchronization and only the files that have changed will be copied over.

Restoring files is a piece of cake, too. Just select the files from the list in Backup Platinum, choose “restore” and not only do you have a previously saved version of the file you lost, but your pulse is sure to go back to normal.

Are you the type that forgets to do backups? Well, just remember to tell Backup Platinum when you’d like it to do the dirty work by using its built-in scheduler. As long as you have the storage device connected, it will take care of the backup for you at the time you designate. And what’s cool about this scheduler is that you can tell it to backup a certain set of files at a specific time, and a completely different set of files at another time.

Here’s a rundown of its features:

Full CD-RW, USB, and DVD support with disk spanning (which means if you’re backing up to CDs, for example, and you fill up one, but you need more, BP will prompt you for another CD until it’s finished)
Backup and synchronize your files with LAN and FTP
Integrated Zip compression
128-bit encryption using Blowfish (Blow-what? Don’t sweat over it — it’s a catchy name for an encryption algorithm)
A scheduler
Uses about 3MB of hard disk space
And runs on Windows NT/2000/XP

You can download a 30-day free trial. And unlike some trials, this is a full-featured download so you can experience the software as though you bought it.