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Acronis^® True Image 11 Home does about everything a backup program should do, plus more. You can use it to back up your entire hard drive or just individual files and applications, create a system backup disc in case of a dire computer emergency, and complete incremental or differential backups. (Incremental backups copy the files that have changed since the last incremental or full backup you performed, while differential backups copy only the files that have changed since the last full backup.) Acronis^® True Image also backs up email and provides message-level search and restore capability. Another plus is its ability to back up your application settings, so if you should ever need to do a system recovery, you won't have to go through the painful process of again personalizing Microsoft Office or iTunes.

Version 11's new Try&Decide™ feature builds in extra security. This tool creates a temporary workspace on your system where new software or suspicious files can be installed or opened without putting the rest of your PC in jeopardy. You decide afterward whether you want to keep the changes made by the new software or delete them. You can also create a "secure zone" on your hard drive for backup and bootable rescue data. Acronis also includes other security measures such as Drive Cleanser and File Shredder that can erase hard drives and eradicate individual files. That doesn't have a lot to do with backup, but it is helpful if you're recycling a PC or sharing it.

Acronis^® True Image's interface is professional and easy to navigate, with four categories on the home screen: Backup And Restore, Try&Decide™, Disk Utilities, and Management Tools. Above the category buttons is a "traffic light bar;" its color changes depending on your security level. There's a wizard for all the primary functions, which takes all the guesswork out of creating a backup, launching a recovery operation, or any number of other tasks. If you do get lost somehow, Acronis^® True Image's comprehensive help files should show you the way. Online help is also available.

PC Backup Pro V8

Don't let the company name confuse you-this is the same application previously marketed by StompSoft, just wrapped in a new package. PC Backup Pro is a bit like a Geo Metro in a garage filled with Toyota Land Cruisers; sure, it will get you where you're going, but the ride won't be all that interesting.

The main screen offers links to four wizards: Backup, Restore, Copy, and Disaster Recovery. Each wizard opens a rather bland window with simple options. Unlike other programs we tried, PC Backup does not include predefined "profiles" of commonly backed up data such as email or the Windows Registry. You can still back up those files, but you'll need to hunt them down on your own. PC Backup will write to optical drives, but it does not have the built-in ability to back up to remote servers via FTP (File Transfer Protocol).

The Restore function is also pretty utilitarian. Users pick a backup set, select files from within the set, and choose where the files will be saved. Filters can be used to automatically select files to restore.

The Copy wizard is almost exactly the same as the Backup wizard. Given that any backup program is essentially a copying program, a separate Copy function doesn't actually add much. The Copy wizard does provide a mirror option, which is good for keeping two folders or drives in sync.

Backups can be made "disaster recovery compliant." If you choose this option, the program adds to your selected file set the entire Windows and Program Files directories, as well as other files you can use to start over from a hard drive crash. Selecting this option adds a considerable amount of data to a backup.

PC Backup does offer help files, many with helpful screenshots. Users can also submit questions using an online message form. Overall, PC Backup is a decent, relatively basic backup program, but for the same money, you can buy programs with additional features.

Genie Backup Manager Home V8.0

Genie Backup is a well-designed program that leaves no excuse for failing to safeguard your files. The program has an "easy" interface setting, but the standard option is pretty easy itself. A huge Backup button leads directly to a screen setting out the steps to make a new backup routine.

Users new to backups will appreciate Genie's Profile view, which lets you quickly select important files for backup that might be difficult to track down, such as email, the Windows Registry, and browser settings. You can also do a mix of items from the profile list and a standard folder browsing window. A filter option allows more advanced users to set up rules to exclude files with particular characteristics.

Automatic scheduling of jobs is simple, as well. You can set a backup to run every few hours, once a day, weekly, monthly, or at Windows login. Laptop users can tell Genie to hold off on a backup if the computer is running on batteries. Backups can be full, incremental, or mirror.

Genie offers the full gamut of backup location options. It can send the job to a network drive, remote FTP locations, directly to removable media such as optical drives or flash drives, or, for an extra fee, Genie's online server. Genie will span multiple disks for big jobs.

Restoring a backup is equally simple. Genie remembers the backups it has performed and where the files were stored, so you can usually just pick the latest backup from a list. If necessary, you can also browse to a backup file manually. Once a backup set is selected, you can choose to restore only certain files or the entire thing to the original location or an alternate location.

Genie also includes a special Disaster Recovery mode, which backs up your entire system along with the operating system. When restoring a disaster recovery backup, you won't need your Windows setup disks or serial number; everything necessary to get your system running again is included in the restore file.

Genie's product support is average; look to the Web site for an online, email-style help desk, or you may be able to get a question answered by instant messaging.

NTI Backup NOW! 4.7 Deluxe Suite

NTI Backup NOW! lives up to its name. Even users unfamiliar with backup software should be able to quickly define and schedule a backup by following the simply numbered steps that feature prominently on the interface.

Open NTI and you can't help but notice the EasySteps column on the left. The six buttons there, labeled 1, 2, 3, Start, Schedule, and Help, take users directly to all of the critical sections of the program. Step 1 offers two ways to select files to back up: by browsing through folders or by picking preselected sets of files on the My Profile tab.

Once you've picked files, NTI assumes you'll eventually be tempted to click the big number 2. This leads to the screen where you decide where the backup should be stored. As with its competitors, NTI can save files directly to optical drives and remote services via FTP. Click 3 and you can pick the type of backup: full, differential, or incremental. Mirror backup is not among the choices offered.

Additional options can be accessed through a button at step 3. NTI includes customizable rules for filtering files in or out of the backup set. The program will also span media if the backup grows too large to fit on one removable disk.

The next button, labeled Start, kicks off the backup. The Schedule button below that, however, is probably the better next step and seems a bit out of order. However, you can click on any step you want at any time to change options before actually clicking Start.

Restoring works the same way. Users click a restore button in the main toolbar and then work through steps 1 through 3 on the left side. It took a bit more effort in NTI than Genie to locate a backup set and pick files to restore, but only a bit.

NTI includes the ability to make a backup image of an entire drive, including all documents, programs, the operating system, settings, and hidden files. This is a good option for complete disaster recovery, although it can take a lot of disk space and time depending on the size of the drive to be imaged.

There's not much to complain about with NTI, but it is priced a bit higher than Genie or Acronis: $69.99 for the version with the disk imaging, $59.99 without. As with the other programs, an online help form is about the extent of the available product support.

Back Up, Back Up, Back Up

Any one of these applications would serve most users well. The most important thing about backing up data is not the tiny details of the job, but that the job gets done, one way or another.

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