@orkgandalf: Have not tried AceBackup yet, but I do use Syncback and can confirm that it will compress files as an option. I believe it uses Zip format, and can compress on a file by file or entire folder basis.
--Jason

Jason

I'm a user and fan of Syncback but decided to give a try to Ace mainly because of the compression feature (I didn't explore Syncback enough so I think it cannot compress). Downloaded, installed and started creating my first "project". 2 minutes later, considered it's too complicated and gave up. Uninstalled and it's requiring a reboot to complete which is bad. Maybe another day. For now, let me continue with Syncback. The encryption part of the backup i'm happy with my Truecrypt hidden volume.
Ork

orkgandalf

i installed syncback... hated it, uninstalled and stuck with synctoy...

2 months later reinstalled syncback and found its actually probably my favourite free program!!! its fantastic

gorilly

i used syncback for a little while and hated every minute of the experience (even though I used it for well over 6 months). Someone recommended Acronis True Image to me. I checked it out and haven't looked back for a second... works beautifully, especially the incremental backups and the compression levels are amazing.

atomicrabbit

@orkgandalf: @orkgandalf: just wanted to say that i did install it and uninstallation did not require a reboot on my machine.

testAnt

I have been using SyncBackSE with a utility called SFTPDrive to backup our server to a remote box securely on a Hamachi network. The fact that AceBackup has compression AND an SFTP mechanism built in, for free, makes it the new top candidate for client-side backup app at my remote sites.

I just hope it has a command line interface. Goody!

jaxun

Having made my way through the documentation and the dialogs, I can find nothing that indicates this app has secure FTP (as in SFTP, not simply using FTP to transfer encrypted files). There's a difference.

I will probably stick with the portable versions of Toucan and WinSCP for my remote client backups.

jaxun

I bought Norton Save and Restore off of eBay for about $12. It does a great job of backing up files and it can even be used to reimage the drive in the event of hard drive failure.

I've used it to replace drives and it worked like a charm.

SpudDude

I use Comodo backup and it's never let me down yet. Free and it looks great too as does all of their software.

hippytyre

Cobain Backup is more powerful and is USB-portable. It's the best option short of paying for the full version of Syncback - the free version may be the Lifehacker favorite, but the number of additional features in the full version is astounding.

joelena

I also haven't used either of the products mentioned. But I am happily using _Cobian Backup_. It does scheduled, incremental, compressed, password protected (and more) style backups. Very polished and its been around for while - highly recommended.

drewan

I personally love Cobian Backup.

okolnost

it may sound noobish , but personally i have only recently begun to have things on my hd worth backing up ( photos of my baby growing mostly , along with a few divx movies and some mp3's word docs and the like . ) So my question , what are good features to look for ina back up ? Compression obviously saves space , where as incremental probably saves time .. file versioning probably wastes space ( unless you want to roll back ) .. I am really interested in people at home and what they are doing back up wise and what has worked and what has not . Currently I use cobian , but I do a full back up every week because last time I set up incremental ( probably wrongly) I somehow ended up with not everything backed up , wiped my drives and lost a whole heap of goodies .. so I feel I am probably shortening my HD life by doing full back ups all the time

Kevin.leroy

Does any one know if this is Vista-compatible? I've tried other supposedly Vista-compatible backup programs such as Acronis, AIS Backup, Allway, Cobian, Filesafe, Genie, Vice Versa, and they didn't work on my 32-bit Home Premium.

*crosses fingers*

plasticjesus

@Kevin.leroy:
I think this depends on what you're backing up too and personal needs. I back up my laptop about once a week to a large capacity external hard drive that does doubles duty transporting files between computers. Because I have so much space and I want to quickly open files if I'm on a friend's computer, compression isn't in my interests. However, if my external hard drive was only for backup, I'd probably compress.

Incremental backup saves so much time I find it essential. File versioning is useless in my opinion except in one type of backup - full operating system. I used to use Symantec Ghost to back up my entire drive- files, programs, operating system, everything - which then I can completely restore my operating system if Windows majorly crashed. I kept a ghost of a brand-spanking new install handy as well as a recent backup. Haven't used that in a few years though. I found just backing up files to be more convenient and all I needed if I was careful.

No matter how you backup your data, I also recommend burning a hard copy of your files to DVD disks every once in a while and giving it to a trusted friend (in case of a fire or something). Backup's all about redundancy.

mig_coconut

@plasticjesus:

I can confirm that Acronis True Image works perfectly on my Vista Home Premium 32-bit.

I also use FileHamster for file versioning (a little bit slow, but it can do the job).

blaszta

I wasn't able to get it to work with SFTP. Has anyone had better luck with that?

marisa

My absolute favourite in this application segment is Datasafe Backup. There is no other free backup utility geared with that sort of features.

[www.sofgem.com]

geezery

I chose Cobian Backup as the best free solution, and look forward to testing AceBackup against it.

For a rundown on what I look for in a local backup program, see post #39 of my utilities blog, and see post #40 for my picks of the best freeware and shareware backup tools.

However, many of you might find that Web-hosted online backup services are more convenient and safer; I recommended some in post #26 (and with some new services on the scene, I plan a follow-up soon).

I hope this is helpful.

JonathansToolBarAndGrill

For my everyday files is use Dropbox. Its built in versioning works great.

JustinD.