It’s truly amazing how reliant we have become on our computers in such a short period of time. Not only have computers changed almost every aspect of our business and personal lives, but they have become so quickly and completely integrated into everything that we do, that we tend to take it all for granted. I’m sure that everyone would agree that backing up your important files is imperative for both businesses and individuals, yet the number of people that do not back up anything is absolutely astounding. Most of us will end up shutting the gate after the horse has bolted. Until we have lost precious files, we don’t even think about backing up. For those of you that want avoid this catastrophe, I would like to share with you what is considered to be some of the best backup software solutions available on the market today.

For some reason people tend to think of backup software as something that is primarily needed for businesses and corporations, but I can guarantee you that losing the data that you have on your personal home computer would be a devastating experience. Think about how it would affect you if you lost the baby photos of your children, or your collection of music files, or the thousands of emails that you have lovingly kept for so many years. Even the bookmarks that you have collected over the years would be sorely missed if something were to go wrong. It’s easy to forget just how much we rely on our computers, and it’s just as easy to trust blindly in the fact that all that data will still be there tomorrow morning. The reality, however, is that there are many different ways that all that data could be instantly lost.


It doesn’t matter how careful you are, or how secure you think your computer is, anyone can suffer from a sudden and fatal hard drive failure. Recovering your data from a corrupt hard drive can be one of two things; extremely expensive or impossible, and it doesn’t matter how good your hardware is, drives fail for inexplicable reasons all the time. Another big cause of data loss is viruses. You may consider yourself very careful when online, but it only takes an accidental opening of an email attachment to lay all your files to waste. That is without even mentioning the very real risk of storm damage or theft.

When looking at the best computer backup software, the first thing you will need to consider is where you are going to store your backed up files. Online storage is becoming very popular for many people, however it can be difficult to feel secure knowing that your data resides on some far away computer in a foreign country. If you are going to choose an online backup solution, then you are definitely going to want to choose a company with a proven track record and a large and satisfied customer base. The benefits of backing up your data online are twofold; firstly, it allows you to have access to your files from any computer, all you will need is your login details and an internet connection. This means that when you are on vacation, as long as you can plug your Windows XP laptop (or whatever operating system you use) into an Internet connection, all your files are readily available. The other benefit is that your files are stored offsite, which means that in the unfortunate event of a house fire or a burglary, your backup data is completely safe.

For those of you that are wary of backing up your personal information online, you will need to find a desktop application to handle your backups for you. Below is a list of the fives best pc backup solutions available. If you have a favorite that is not listed, please feel free to add to this list in the comments…

Cobian Backup – At first glance Cobian may look like a simple application without too many options, and the fact that it is free can be off putting for some people. The fact of the matter is, this free program has all the bells and whistles of the much more expensive ones, and then some. It’s interface is beautiful in it’s simplicity, allowing the user to set up their backup tasks with minimal fuss. Setting up a new backup schedule is as simple as selecting the files and folders you want to include, specifying where they should be backed up to, and defining a schedule. While a lot of the extras are available, they are hidden behind an advanced option. Switching to advanced mode provides you with a slew of options such as encryption, compression and email notifications.

SyncBack – Another popular choice amongst computer users, SyncBack has both a freeware and shareware version available. The shareware version (SyncBackSE) will only set you back $30, and provides the added benefit of versioning your backups, and backing up files even if they are currently in use. That said, the freeware version is extremely feature rich and should provide most home users with enough back up power to suit their needs. It will compress your files into individual zip files, and provides support for CD’s, DVD’s and even FTP backup. With preset backup profiles, SyncBack is a breeze to use or the novice and expert alike.

Acronis True Image – This is a shareware product that is a little different to the two mentioned above. Instead of backing up individual files that you select, Acronis True Image backs up a snapshot of your entire computer. This means that you don’t need to worry about whether you have forgotten to include important files in your backup task; Acronis will just do them all. The downside of this sort of solution is that the backup is going to take a longer time to perform, and will need more space for storage. You can, however, choose to only backup files that meet preset criteria, and Acronis also provides an online backup storage service that can be integrated into the software.

Carbonite – Carbonite is a little different from the programs mentioned above, as it backs up your files and documents to a remote server. The difference between Carbonite and other web based back apps is that Carbonite does not have a fancy user interface that allows you to access music and movie files online. It does have a bare bones interface, so you can benefit from the advantages of being able to access your files while abroad, but it’s popularity is based on its simplicity. Carbonite charges a flat annual fee of $54.95, which includes a small application that is installed on your computer that automatically keeps track of updated files and backs them up in the background as you work. There is no limit to the amount of data that you can back up, so those of you that have a lot of files to back up, this can be the perfect solution.

Mozy – Another online backup tool, and one that is tried and true. Mozy provides a similar service to Carbonite, but differs in its pricing structure. Mozy has a free version that allows you to backup up to 2 gigabytes of data, and a paid version that costs $4.95 for unlimited storage. For businesses, Mozy caters for multi user environments and offers 448 blowfish encryptian, so you can be sure that your files are secure.