Free Backup Software?
 

I'm looking for a nice (and free :D ) app to backup my data to a USB HDD. Mirroring would be a real big plus. Anyone got any suggestions?

No. I've tried several. I was using Cobian for a while, but it doesn't have real Vista / Win7 support. It runs, but it's slow because it can't use the shadow volume stuff, and I found out later that it was not actually backing up everything I told it to do.

Right now I'm using Norton 360 for both security and for backup, and while I hate that it puts files in its own custom format that's harder for me to browse and extract from, at least it works. I've read reviews of many others (such as Acronis), and all seem to have complaints about how reliable they are.

The state of PC backup is really just abysmal. I just want one that works. I want my entire Documents folder backed up, period, okay? Even with Norton I have to add file types or whole directories because it tries to be intelligent about what to back up. I'm a developer, how about adding a "source code" category instead of making me specify all my extensions manually? Or even just a "back up everything under my user profile, k?"

This is so much harder than it should be.

I'm a computer simpleton, so this may not be the same as what you guys are referring to, but I use mozy.com - so it's online storage, not on site. There's a free version, but with limited storage space. I started with that but outgrew it and now use the unlimited storage for $5/month. But it's easy (although, again, maybe not what you are after), but I just click "My Documents" and set it to automatically back up every so often (you can pick the criteria.) I've retrieved files a few times, and it's easy.

I don't like the idea of throwing, say, my Quicken files up on some easily-hacked server.

Those are good for limited amounts of data, but having had to do a restore of our work server from that (13gb), for large quantities of data, even on a FioS line, they take a long long time. That's the key downside I see. And if you don't leave your computer on and connected to the internet all the time anyways you'll have to do that in order to have your backing-up ever finish in the first place, let alone a restore.

but they're a useful piece of the puzzle. we still do that, along with backing up to a USB drive.

I'm in the same boat. I have a MacBook Pro for my research and I love Time Machine. I just wish there was a comparable program for the PC desktop and laptops at my house.

www.crashplan.com

I've been using for months now to backup family pictures and stuff like that. I have it setup on a PC at home as well as my Macbook and even a buddy and I have played around with backing up to each other's computers...pretty slick if you ask me.

The initial backup takes a little while, especially if you are doing it over a WAN but if it's on your internal LAN then it's no issue at all. Afterwards, it just does changes as often as you like.

Edit: Oh, and it's free!!

check this site out

13 Great Free Backup Programs for Windows, Mac, and Linux