Friedbeef’s Tech

“Of the nine in ten computer users who store personal information on their computers - such as family photos, personal contacts and resumes - about 24 percent report that they have lost personal information in the past month, generally because of system crashes.  Just 57% of those who store personal info on computer back it up” via CNN

As you might imagine, backing up your data is one of the most essential computer habits which people forgo - many a time, because they’re just too lazy.  Setting up an automated backup solution is something we will tackle today.  In this post I am pitting two options against each other, one paid (Backup Platinum), the other free (Comodo Backup). 

Now, unless it can really blow my socks off, I usually find it very difficult to recommend paid software.  SoftLogica’s new ‘Backup Platinum 3.0′ which is a one-stop data backup software solution is unfortunately, no exception to the rule.   

Backup Platinum may be powerful…

Make no mistake, Backup Platinum is a very well designed piece of software which has a ton of useful features which include:

• CD-RW and DVD support
• Local Machine, Network & FTP support
• Synchronization
• Incremental backups
• Secure ZIP compression
• Scheduling
• Ability to run in service mode without user login
• Email notification

But FREE alternatives are just as good!

Backup Platinum costs USD$67 at the time of writing.  Now there are, tons of free backup software systems out there, almost all of which don’t hold a shade to Backup Platinum.  However, you only need ONE free viable alternative to make paying money for a license seem like a bad idea.

That viable free alternative is Comodo Backup (Guaranteed 100% safe at Softpedia).

Now there are some minor differences between the two (particularly in Backup Platinum’s security and Windows settings backup features), but Comodo does a great job in covering the most of Backup Platinum’s key features.  Hence, I find it very hard to recommend the latter (simply because of it’s price) in favor of Comodo’s free offering.

What could Backup Platinum do better?

It is truly difficult to win this battle based on software features as proven by their head to head comparisons to Comodo. 

Better emphasis on a solid support plan needs to be in place.  Premium pricing is only justifiable if you can provide companies with a strong guarantee that their backups are truly robust and easily recoverable.  They currently offer a 2 day response time which I feel is inadequate at this point. 

As for me, I’m sticking to the free Comodo Backup for my daily use.

UPDATE: Comodo Products come with a launchpad which can be annoying. To turn it off, click windows start ->Run -> type in msconfig, -> go to the startup tab and uncheck the 2 items found in the comodo directory. This will prevent this program from starting up the same time as windows. The next time you startup windows, turn off the notification for selective startup, and you’re home free.

If this process is too much of a hassle, you can try a softpedia search for backup software (apply the filter to list freeware items only), which has some decent but not as powerful solutions or you could of course shell out the extra USD$67 for Backup Platinum.

UPDATE : 6th July 2007 - Check out Cobian and Backup4All as much better alternatives for both commercial and freeware backups solutions

Links:

Backup Platinum

Comodo Backup

Disclaimer: Backup Platinum has paid me to review this product, and to give an honest opinion.  Please note that all opinions expressed in this post are completely my own, and have not been influenced by the manufacturer (which I think is pretty obvious if you read the review).

[tags]backup, backup4all, comodo backup [/tags]