In simple terms, Backup is the copy or replicate of digital data which is build to restore your data in case of any mishap. Mishap may be termed as physical damage to the storage device or incidental deletion which results in loss of precious data. In either case, the user is capable to recover all or some of the files depending how much data is lost. The user may keep back up on same storage device but it is strongly recommended that some other storage media is used. The necessity to back up data is becoming compulsory as the figures in the Kabooza Global Backup Survey are alarming. According to this survey, 82% of home pc users do not back up regularly and 66% have lost their data while 71% users are concerned about data loss.
Now, you need a cooperative and free tool to backup the data. Areca Backup provides nice features to easily manage the creation of twin data. This utility is bundled with pretty options which
simplifies the backup process. To create a Backup, go to Edit>New Group and enter the details. Now Select Edit> New Target and you will be presented with a new window have a left side bar with multiple options. In main, choose the target name and the repository location where backup will be created. It may be a local or Ftp directory. Leave Archive Name as it is. Standard choice is recommended from Storage Mode option for common users.
In Sources tab, choose the file or directory to be replicated and then move to Compression. You can choose to compress the archive in Zip or Zip64 encoding. The user can also opt to archive each file separately or combine them in a single archive. If the resulting archive is expected to be large, you can select to split the archive accordingly.
Areca Backup also lets you encrypt your backup for security if needed. There are two algorithms to choose encryption in advance tab. Select the appropriate and enter your key whose strength will be also shown.
The rest of option tabs are not for general users but in last tab you can edit the description of your target. Now, you can directly run Backup command or simulate from Run Menu. The simulate backup can help in identification of errors if occur. The progression will be also show in the main window.
If satisfied, now select back up and you will be asked to choose backup type
Full Backup : When a full backup is performed, ALL files are stored in your archive (whether they have been modified or not).
Incremental backup : When an incremental backup is performed, only the files which have been modified since the last backup are stored in your archive.
Differential backup : When a differential backup is performed, only the files which have been modified since the last FULL backup are stored in your archive.
After successful backup, almost all the tabs will be populated with some information which you can view for better understanding of the process. You can even search the backups created for a file in Search Tab.
The recovery process is even more simpler. Highlight the archive and then select Recover from right click menu or Run menu. Choose the directory and check the remaining options accordingly whether to recover only deleted files.
One last feature which lets you automate the backup process. Backup shortcut wizard (Edit Menu>Wizards) will create a shortcut to selected place which can be executed in future to create a backup for the specific target.
This handy software is a good fit for free backup of your Hard Drive, PC, and system.works both on 32 bit versions of Windows XP/Vista and Linux. The application requires Java to run.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I always take backup, and incremental backup will help me out in this software, is it a complete freeware ?
.-= Ruchi´s last blog ..Is Excessive Blogging Hurting your Relations =-.
Not only free but also Open source. You can even improve it
Some times very difficult to do some easy stuff in Wimdows, so thanks for good advise.