Automatic, unattended backup / synchronisation system for Windows

Creating backups of my files - which, like for many people includes thousands of digital photos, several gigabytes of music, a few videos, e-mail address books, web browser bookmarks and so on - is one of those tasks that always manages to make it to the bottom of my daily to-do list. Just as I am getting around to it, something more important along the lines of making a cup of tea crops up and before you know it the day has gone and the vulnerability of my laptop’s hard disk becomes the subject of my dreams for the night.

For years I traditionally backed up all my files onto CD. All my photos are burnt onto CD purely based on the size of directory, that is, as soon as a folder of photos on my hard disk reaches 600MB to 700MB in size, I burn it. Of course from the moment I start a new directory until I reach this target size, which can sometimes take 3 or 4 months, I live in fear that something is going to destroy the computer. I’m too ashamed to admit how often CD backups have been made of other “less important files” on my machine, but let’s just say less often than photos.

Things had to change. With documents from clients coming in, invoices being issued and other correspondence being stored on my computer in addition to all my other files, the prospect of my aging laptop just giving up started to make me feel a bit nauseous (this was before it did give up, I now have a new laptop, but the worries remain the same).

The requirements I had for my new backup system and routine were simple:

• Most importantly: It had to be fully automated
• It had to be reliable
• There had to be a large capacity of storage space
• It had to be cheap

So, armed with one hundred dollars or so (approximately £50) I set about looking for a suitable backup drive. Based purely on its huge capacity (compared to the number of files I had to backup) for the price, I purchased a Western Digital My Book 2 Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 hard drive (pictured above, right hand side, the thing with the blue light). I think it ended up costing me $120. I purchased it from an Office Works store in Melbourne CBD, so I am confident that a similar product can be purchased online for much cheaper. I usually buy these sorts of items online, but as I have probably made clear, backup related activities are something I can easily be diverted away from, so when I was in backup mode one day I didn’t want to leave it to chance that I’d forget and therefore had to purchase that very afternoon.

Naturally this device is USB 2.0. No installation disk required as all the software and drivers required come on the disk already (for both Windows and Mac). It was a simple case of plugging it in and clicking a few buttons to get it up and running. The device itself is (as the name implies) in the form of a book. It is very neat and multiple devices can be stacked next to each other, just like on a book shelf.

Included on the disk with the installation drivers is Western Digital’s own backup / synchronisation software. At first glance I was pleased as it looked like my nightmares of no automated backup system were soon to be a thing of the past - and within only 10 minutes of opening the box. However, I then discovered the main piece of software which would do all the automated backing up was a 30 day trial and you had to pay for the full version.

Not one to readily part with more money than necessary, I got onto the Internet and searched around for a suitable Microsoft Windows compatible (I run Vista Premium for reference), freeware, automated backup program. I discovered SyncBack (the free version - they have a premium version called SyncBackSE which attracts a licence fee), liked the sound of the features and installed it.

What I like most about SyncBack is how easy to use it is. When you run it you have a choice of easy or expert mode. Easy mode is all you need if you just want to backup a load of files and/or directories from one location (i.e. your main hard drive) to another location (i.e. your external USB drive or perhaps every just a standard memory stick).

Expert mode offers the options of file compression (including password protection), the ability to FTP files to a remote host, transfer across network, setting the software priority, auto-close of running programs (open files cannot be backed up using the free version, SyncBackSE can though), the emailing of a completion log and a couple of other features too.

Only new or modified files are ever copied to the destination directory when a profile is run. Through the setting of various options, you can either request that missing files in the source location are restored automatically from the backups, if the backups should be deleted as well, or if nothing should be done. These decisions are something you will need to make based on your requirements. Personally I have mine set-up to leave files in the backup location even if they have been deleted in the source, just in case I have made a mistake and besides, I have 320GB of space to fill, so I’m not that fussy what stays just yet.

Whilst it is very easy to simply create a single profile to specify your entire hard drive as a source of files to backup and then select whatever drive you want as your destination for the backups, I only wanted to backup my own personal files to my new external hard disk (namely Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos and a few custom directories). Windows Vista itself is a huge installation, I think of the 180GB capacity my laptop’s hard disk has got, 40GB of that was already gone when I got the machine thanks to Vista’s bloated features, I decided to save 40GB of backup capacity by not transferring the whole Windows install (and besides, it has its own installation/recovery mechanism). I therefore needed to utilise SynBack’s group feature.

Essentially all the group feature is, is a collection of individual profiles. Each profile specifies a source directory to scan for files and a destination directory to put them in. Each group you create can then be given a frequency to run, for instance every 60 minutes. This scheduling feature is probably my favourite part of the whole system - no longer do I have to remember to make frequent backups myself, my computer does it for me!

Conclusion

Most of my backup nightmares are now gone, but occassionally I do worry that perhaps the house will catch fire, or something equally (or less) as bad will happen that results in both the laptop and backup drive being compromised at the same time. However, this is less likely to happen than a run-of-the-mill hard drive crash, so that’s one positive. Perhaps in the future if we get a faster Internet connection I will utilise the FTP backup facility of SyncBack to provide some off site backup, but for now I am just happy having having mirrored file copies stored off of the main hard disk.

For ease of use and features, I give the free version of SyncBack top marks and recommend it. The fact it is not tied to any specific manufacturer of drives or drive type (as in, you can backup to/from any memory stick, an external hard drive or a regular secondary drive - I’m not sure on other media) is also a big plus, so if I did ever take a dislike to my Western Digital 320GB My Book, I could easily just unplug it and plug in something else. But, for the time being at least I am more than happy with my choice of drive.

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