Backing up your computer: What you need to know

by David L Moore

Backups are a contentious issue at the best of times.

Everyone knows they should do them, people rarely do them and even more rarely do them properly.

The folks who do them properly are very vocal about the way they do it being “the best”.

You know what? There’s no best way. There’s only the way that is best suited for your needs.

Sadly only you can judge what is best for you.

However, in the vein of better informed is better armed I want to tell you about my personal preferred way of backing up (excluding cloud components – that’s a whole other story).

Synchronisation vs backup programs


When doing local backups I prefer to use file synchronisation instead of backup programs per se.

Some of the reasons include:

  • Synchronising puts immediately usable copies of files exactly where you want them on external drive and from external drives if you want.
  • Backup programs tend to put files inside other files for one reason or another and as a result you need to run the backup software itself to get files back from backups.  This can be painful and time consuming if you just want one file back and even more painful if we are talking about “business continuation” in the face of a major disaster.
  • Plugging an external drive into another machine and simply using the files on it’s better than having to install backup software onto another machine, find the right backup set, find the file you want and then hope it can be extracted and returned to where you want it for use.
  • Sync's will also run in the background and copy over new files as they show up or change and when drives are attached etc. They are really very smart these days and some even do bitwise backups of open files (like Outlook PST files) but you usually pay a premium for those.
  • Sync's don't give you "magical recovery" to where you were before a disaster but in my experience even the programs that promise that don't deliver. The amount of time I’ve lost “trying to get a machine back” as opposed to moving on a starting with a fresh machine is mind boggling.

Don’t get me wrong, “magical backups” can work but you’ll need an IT guy of your won to set them and continually monitor them so that you know they are working and in a serviceable state when the disaster comes.

It's getting stuff back that is the most important part of backups.

I personally use the paid version of Allway Sync (the free one has a data limit which is OK for most home/casual users but most businesses will blow that pretty fast :-)

Alternatively you could try PureSync. It also has a paid vs free option but payment gets you "locked file" backup i.e. there is no data limit on just copying files.

There is also "Comodo Backup " which works like Apples "Time Machine" (which the Apple folk rave about). I've not spent too much time with Comodo so can't couch for it. It is also a free product.

There you go. It is up to you now. After all, it is your data.

David L Moore started I Hate My PC in 2006 with the aim of making everyday computer and technology experiences more pleasant. He’s been in the business for over 25 years and has experience across all areas of computing. He’s also written many articles for the industry over that time.

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The views and opinions of the author expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Hotfrog.