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Good Backup software that does Incrementals/Differentials?

Kelemvor

Kelemvor

Lifer
I'm looking to start backing up my data in case something goes wrong.

I have one PC on Vista which has craploads of pictures & music as well as my normal documents. Also have a 2nd PC with Win 7 which has standard documents. I want to back both of these up to a shared drive.

I've looked into online solutions like Mozy and Carbonite and they seem great but I'm cheap so I'd rather have something that I can just backup to a network drive.

Requirements are:
-Automatic backups that run when the PC is not in use. Don't want to have to manually run a backup or schedule it to run at a specific time.
-Some sort of incremental/differential type backup so it doesn't have to redo the whole thing every time since it's tons of data.
-Prefer that it can go to a Mapped drive so both PCs can backup to the same drive over the network.

What are good backup programs to look into using?

Any suggestions?
 
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I'm using Windows Backup on Windows 7 Home Premium. It doesn't do incrementals but that's not a problem for me. Also it won't backup to a network drive with Home Premium although I understand it will on Professional or Ultimate versions.
 
I'm also looking for such a program, preferably free, to use with XP on my parents' computer... I've been backing up my Vista box using its built-in backup program.

Any other suggestions? I looked at Syncback and may try that out..
 
The free version of Syncback doesn't do Incremental type backups. The SE version does which has a 30 day trial.
 
What OS are you using ? Use the OSes backup ,, vista and 7 ,,,, if your on XP you need to find some software.. gl
 
Acronis True Image 2010

You can set it to run every so many hours or at boot up or everyday. It does differential and incremental. Can set it to backup to wherever you want.
 
I am using Oops!Backup (www.altaro.com) on some of my workstations and it backs up to a central share. Does everything you mentioned. Looks to be a relatively new product.
 
I've been using Macrium Reflect and it is very good. I don't know if the free version does increments but there is a trial for the full version.
 
Yes, you can schedule Synctoy with the Task Scheduler. Here's a walk through.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/01/01/schedule-synctoy-to-run-and-automatically-and-repetitively/

That said, I think an online solution is better. I know you said you looked into mozy and carbonite, but honestly, $5 a month or $55 a year is well worth the price. Backing up to an external drive or to a network share is better than nothing, but in the event of theft, fire, or hardware issues what will cost you more in the long run?

At the very least, consider putting critical data off site. Both Mozy and Carbonite offer 2GB of storage for Free. There are also a few other services out there. Microsoft has Live Mesh which will let you synchronize to other PCs AND up to 5GB to the web for free.
 
use crashplan, best of both worlds.

Sync to a drive
Sync to a folder
Sync to a friend
Sync to another computer on your network
Sync to the cloud

All 100% free (except the cloud syncing if you use that)
 
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