Backup program help

[Smoky14]

I'm looking for a free backup program capable of incremental backups.
Is there such an animal, which the computer challenged can handle.
I have a B/U drive.
Thanks Smoky

 

[Familyguy]

What operating system do you have?

 

[uc50ic4more]

Assuming you're using Windows, and assuming you want the least hassle and fuss, you *might* want to first take a look at Windows' built-in backup utility. Here is a small review I found while Googling "simple incremental backup Windows":

http://www.argentuma.com/backup/software/windows-backup.html

Note that this is for XP. I can only assume that subsequent consumer versions of Windows have similar setups.

Apart from which program you use to perform your backups, let me offer two pieces of advice:

1) Try to leave the backup drive physically unplugged when not using it. This will mitigate against damage that could be done by a malicious (computer) intruder who could wipe out backup drives as fast as a working drive, and may very well extend the life of your backup drive.

2) Try to make *two* backup copies of really important things and store one copy off site. Even if you leave your backup drive unplugged, it still won't protect you against fire, floods, etc. I keep a few GB of data on an Amazon S3 account, but you could just as easily leave a second backup drive at someone else's house.

 

[crinkles]

i have found ntbackup to work just fine. go the the "run" button under the start menu then type ntbackup and it will start up.

 

[97tbird]

where IS the windows back-up utility? I can't find it

(XP pro)

 

[TooManyWheels]

All Programs> Accessories> Systems Tools>

 

[97tbird]

YAY thanks!

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Comodo has some good free software:
http://www.comodo.com/home/data-storage-encryption/comodo-backup.php

 

[Smoky14]

Sorry guys I'm running XP Pro

I know it has the porgram I guess I just don't know how to use it.
The incremental part is what is throwing me.

 

[47HO]

Look under backup options under the Tool tab. It defaults to Normal, but you an change to Incremental.

 

[Familyguy]

Originally Posted By: 47HO
Look under backup options under the Tool tab. It defaults to Normal, but you an change to Incremental.


Yep. That's going to be the lowest hanging fruit for you. The initial back-up will take a while and consume a lot of space, but the incrementals will be fast and MUCH smaller in size. With external USB hard disks so big/cheap these days, it's fairly simple to set things up for a daily incremental and forget about it.