Backup4all can help you preserve the integrity of important data by creating backup copies. In spite of the fact that the program is very powerful, it is also relatively easy to use. Yet, it requires the user to know what to do, such as in the case of making decisions related to the kind of backups to perform.
Much of the tool’s simplicity comes from the possibility of using a wizard to create backup jobs. Thus, it can guide you all the way through the steps of deciding what to back up, where to store the copy and when to do it. However, expert users have the option of turning to advanced mode.
The program supports saving the resulting backup data to various types of locations, including local folders, the network, an FTP site, a disc and even several on-the-cloud storage services. In this respect, one outstanding feature is that you can use multiple destinations at the same time for extra security. Although you can make a manual selection of the contents to back up, this process is greatly simplified if you use one of the available plugins. Fortunately, there are plugins for many purposes, like saving Microsoft Outlook mailboxes and exporting Mozilla Firefox profiles. In addition, there are predefined filters that let you copy specific file types only.
The hardest part of configuring a job is probably deciding what type of backup you want to perform. Luckily, the tool supports smart, incremental, differential, full and mirror types. Special mention is deserved by the smart backup type, which combines other types to adapt to specific conditions, such as the available storage space in the destination. Additionally, you can set the program to carry out a block backup, which saves a lot of time as it does not back up the whole file but only specific parts.
A critical issue related to backups is data security. Luckily, Backup4all lets you encrypt the resulting files and protect them with passwords. Good news is that you do not need to worry about remembering to run backups, because the whole process can be automated by scheduling specific times or frequency. Additionally, you can set the program to send notifications directly to your email box.
To sum up, Backup4all is widely recognized as one of the best backup solutions available, which, in my opinion, is a well-deserved reputation. The program is sold in four different editions (Lite, Standard, Professional and Portable) and, fortunately, all of them are free to try without restrictions for 30 days. You should also know that the same developer offers a free product called FBackup, which has a limited number of features.
v4.6.261 [May 23, 2011]
- Added a Backup4all gadget for Windows Vista and Windows 7 (Professional edition only)
- The CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning engine was updated
- An exclamation sound is played when the CD/DVD/Blu-ray needs to be changed
- New backup tags were added for hour, minute and second
- When forcing a shutdown during the backup, you will be notified that "Shutting down will corrupt current backup"
- Excluding a file from sources lead to removing the entire folder
- If the upload of a file failed, the retry caused the progress to exceed 100%
- Clean backup was executed on external drives even if those were disconnected
- Filters could not be changed from Include to Exclude
- The application did not start when computer was idle
- When backing up to a CD/DVD/Blu-ray, the fist execution date was not correctly imported after the second session
- If "Test after backup" option was not used, the application was still asking for the disk
