Thread: Backup concerns

Microsoft promised us a shiny new backup tool in Windows Vista, and we got one - but it didn't entirely live up to expectations. You can ask the utility to back up all the pictures on your drive, for instance, but can't tell it to pick only the images in a particular folder. That means it's almost impossible to use the tool for quick, selective backups, and that's a real disappointment. Windows Vista also delivered Shadow Copies (automatic backups made at the file level) and Windows Complete PC Backup to make an exact copy of your entire drive. But these only available if you splashed out on the more expensive editions of Vista. Regular Home Premium users would have to do without.

Fortunately there are several ways around these problems, especially if you apply some lateral thinking. Why not make use of Windows Easy Transfer, for instance? Sure, it's supposed to be used when you're moving your settings directly from an old PC to a new one. But so what? The program still effectively lets you save copies of your email, favourites, address book, Windows settings or specific folders to a blank DVD, a USB memory key or a network or external hard disk. And if there' s a disaster you can use these copies to restore everything. Click Start, type Windows Easy Transfer and press Enter on your keyboard to see how this works.



For real control you'll want to install something more powerful, though. and there are plenty of free tools around. Cobian Backup is a simple yet versatile backup tool, for instance. Driveimage XML is a more than adequate replacement for Windows Complete PC Backup that will quickly create a complete image of your drive. And Windows Vista Home Basic or Premium users can gain access to shadow copies by installing Shadow Explorer. although we would recommend trying File Hamster instead. This clever program monitors the folders and files you specifY, and keeps a copy whenever they are changed or over written, so if you lose something important then it's easy to recover a previous version.