Keeping backups in sync

[miniman]

I have an external hard disk which I never remember to copy my photos to - does anyone use any software that does a decent job of keeping everything in sync in a sort of one-button-leave-it-overnight kind of way?

[mhill]

Only thing i have ever come across that is cost effective (if you have the equipment) is Apple's Time Machine seamless backups in the background all the time.

[Fordo]

ich works very well- i have an external HD tucked away, and whenever I plug my laptop into everything on my desk, it auto backs up.

its a smart system- it does one huuuge backup to start with, then it just backs up and new files or changes to existing files, fmor then on.

You do need a mac though.

Im sure they're are some smart pc backup solutions out there. Does Vista have something similar to time machine, built in?

[trackdemon]

Cheapo way of doing it, although it doesn't sync deletions:

xcopy source folder\*.* destination folder\*.* /s /e /y /d

stick >c:\xcopy.txt on the end if you'd like a file which lists everything the command does.

Have a look at xcopy /? to see what the switches actually do, (the command I use automatically overwrites the destination if source is newer)

[Dr MAD]

try this... works for me and there's a free trial

http://www.memeo.com/autobackup.php


ETA You just need the standard version. I've been using it for 3 years now and it hasn't missed a beat. It has an auto purge feature which will delete any files that have been marked for deletion, ie if you delete a file on your system then that file will remain in your backup until you purge it from the backup.

Edited by Dr MAD on Tuesday 20th January 07:42

[ian in lancs]

i bought a Seagate external hard drive and it came with Seagate manager a programme that does incremental backups and/or synchronizes machines. It can also be set to backup at set times.

[bulb763]

I've been using Genie Backup Manager for the past couple of years. Not bad once it's all set up. Sceduled backups etc. However recently I've swtiched to Microsofts SyncToy which seems to do exactly the same thing but is much quicker to set up and easier to understand IMO No option within the app to schedule backups, but I'm sure it's possible within windows somehow.

Edited by bulb763 on Tuesday 20th January 08:47

[miniman]

Thanks everyone, will give memeo and SyncToy a try tonight.

[Dogsey]

Dr MAD said:

try this... works for me and there's a free trial

http://www.memeo.com/autobackup.php


ETA You just need the standard version. I've been using it for 3 years now and it hasn't missed a beat. It has an auto purge feature which will delete any files that have been marked for deletion, ie if you delete a file on your system then that file will remain in your backup until you purge it from the backup.

Edited by Dr MAD on Tuesday 20th January 07:42

I also use Memeo, works almost like a RAID system in that as soon as you create a new file / change an existing one it automatically backs it up for you.

[ginettag27]

+1 for Synctoy, whilst I'm not sure if it can run automatically it does do a good job and is simple to set up. I keep three PCs in sync with it.

[C&C]

trackdemon said:

Cheapo way of doing it, although it doesn't sync deletions:

xcopy source folder\*.* destination folder\*.* /s /e /y /d

stick >c:\xcopy.txt on the end if you'd like a file which lists everything the command does.

Have a look at xcopy /? to see what the switches actually do, (the command I use automatically overwrites the destination if source is newer)

Same as what I do, although I've just been looking at another option - if on the backup disk you create a briefcase (in Windows) and tell it to contain your photos directories, each time you sync it, it will backup your new files, but it also handles deletions. Think I may switch to this method.

[Tycho]

ginettag27 said:

+1 for Synctoy, whilst I'm not sure if it can run automatically it does do a good job and is simple to set up. I keep three PCs in sync with it.

+1 again for synctoy. Small, easy and reliable. (bit like my wife, apart from the reliable bit.....She'll kill me if she sees this.)

[Andy888]

Try SyncBack. It's freeware and works perfectly for me.

[Bee_Jay]

Another one for SyncToy here - use it to back up my NAS drive to an external drive weekly - excellent little thing.

[miniman]

Trying SyncToy now, seems pretty good. One concern I had was that it was "all or nothing" (i.e. deletes on the NAS would be mirrored back to the laptop and vice versa) but the "contribute" mode seems to just copy new stuff and leave everything else alone which is perfect.

[Established 1984]

Picasa 3 has a one click back up option. I use it but haven't actually checked if it is copying everything properly. I might have to correct that tomorrow.

[Bernie-the-bolt]

Andy888 said:

Try SyncBack. It's freeware and works perfectly for me.

+1 - I use it to back up my pc to three external drives (just to be sure ) and it has never failed.

[cirks]

for standard sync jobs then you can't go wrong with Syncback. Very simple to use, good logs and free. If you spend a bit, you can get the SE & Pro versions that do more.

I have just switched to using True Image Home 2009 though (£30) which handles scheduling of full system (incl.OS) backups and restores as well as the specific file and folder ones you want too. The backups can be from and to different external drives (including making backups of backups) and to FTP etc. Add to that that you can determine how many versions of backups you want to keep and whether full, incremental or differential, it does everything most people would want. You can also tell it to run when the machine is idle.

Edited by cirks on Wednesday 21st January 08:28