Windows and other solutions to backing up your hard disk

Recent versions of Windows have had some backup facilities bundled with the operating system. But are they good enough to allow you to do without dedicated backup software? Unfortunately, the general consensus on that point is : no.

However, don't despair.

Windows XP shipped with a basic backup utility, although it is not installed by default in the Home edition (you’ll need to install it from the CD). Basic but functional, it performs acceptably for simple backup tasks. It does have some serious limitations, however. One is that it is unable to use optical media such as CDs or DVDs for storing the backed-up data – quite an omission, since these would be storage media of choice for most people. It also saves your data in a proprietary format, which makes you dependent on Windows XP. If you decide later to upgrade to Windows Vista, your backups become useless. In general, the XP backup utility lacks many of the features found in dedicated backup software, such as options for compressing data, applying encryption, controlling CPU usage and using sophisticated scheduling options.

Microsoft decided to get more serious about backup in Windows Vista. Its approach, however, seems rather astonishing. Although the Backup and Recovery service is fairly easy to use and can perform backups regularly for you in the background without hogging the PC’s resources, it suffers from one extremely severe limitation : it does not allow you to select the files you want to back up!

Your options are limited to selecting a drive that will be included in the backup, as well as the major file types. For example, you can tick a checkbox to say that you want “Pictures” to be backed up or “Music” or the disturbingly vague “Additional Files”. The program then decides for itself which files belong in the category you have selected. If you select “Pictures”, this might lead, for example, to all the graphics from your browser cache being included in the backup job, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. As the backup is performed, you will briefly see the names of the files as they are being saved. If you decided to save “Pictures”, you will undoubtedly be amazed as you see graphic files used in the various applications you have installed being included in the backup job!

Other aspects of the Vista backup tool leave a lot to be desired. For example, restoring files from backup is far from simple. You are presented with a interface similar to a normal file browser and have to navigate around your backed-up data, selecting files on an almost individual basis. It’s also rather confusing to use and most users will have some awkward moments when they’re not sure whether they’re browsing the backed-up data or the actual drive in its current state. The Home and Starter editions of Vista also lack any facilities for applying encryption to your stored data.

Given the remarkably flawed character of Vista’s inbuilt backup utility, particularly the constraints it place on what files will actually be backed up, it is difficult to recommend it. It certainly is no substitute for a dedicated backup solution. Which leads us to the big players.

The major commercial packages available for data backup are Norton's Ghost and Acronis' True Image. You can pick them up for around $70 - $100. So, not really that much. If not much is still too much, however, a variety of shareware and even freeware options exist, giving you most, if not all, of the options of the commercial suites. The most distinctive feature of the high-end commercial software is its ability to do a complete backup of your computer's state at any given moment and restore it if needed. This means that you are essentially taking a snapshot of your computer as it exists at a moment in time. If you restore from backup, every file, every email, every registry setting will be returned to its previous condition.

Most of the available shareware and freeware backup packages don't have a full image backup capability and instead focus on providing for more limited data security needs. But, do you even have to bother with shareware and freeware tools? Interestingly, there are options that don't involve the buying or downloading of any software. Some very interesting options indeed, and ones that will save you a big packet of money. More coming soon. (Update: Three cool data backup ideas)