any good free backup software?

[cthomer5000]

I have a couple directories I'd like to keep backed up on my PC (mp3s mostly... the thought of ripping 1000+ cds again makes me want to puke) as well as an overall backup in case of catastrophic pc failure. Is there anything out there free or cheap that will do the trick?

[sterlingice]

bump?

SI

[cthomer5000]

come on guys, i really need to backup my midget transvestite porn. HELP!

[terpkristin]

This might be a stupid question, but how much are we talking about backing up, space-wise?

I mean, you say ripping 1,000+ cd's isn't exciting, but is that in data format or music format? My typical method of backing up is either to burn as data to dvd or copy to an external harddrive. Not elegant, but it works.

/tk

[cthomer5000]

about 80 gigs of music for starters. I have an external hard-drive, but i'm looking to automate the backup process to the external. You know, make sure the music directory is a clone of the one on my hard-drive, backup vital other stuff, etc.

[terpkristin]

Wow, that's fantastic. Wish I had that much music. :)

Unfortuantely, I guess that much music does mean at least 20 DVD's. I wish I had something better to offer, when I do full backups, I just backup to external HD, I don't use any special software. Does Ant's page have anything to offer?

/tk

[terpkristin]

There are some inexpensive shareware programs listed at http://www.snapfiles.com/shareware/system/swbackup.html

Cobian Backup (freeware) looks good from http://www.snapfiles.com/Freeware/system/fwbackup.html

/tk

[Antmeister]

I am not sure which operating system you are using, but if you are using Windows XP, I would suggest using Microsoft's software:

SyncToy
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

[Yellow5]

I use Cobian Backup on three of my XP machines and it's never let me down. Best freeware backup available.

[Antmeister]

I use Cobian Backup on three of my XP machines and it's never let me down. Best freeware backup available.


After looking throught what TK posted, it has some good reviews. I may just try this out since I trust your opinions on a number of things.

[Yellow5]

Cobian is great for backing up to an FTP share or another HD, the only thing I don't like about Cobian is that it wont delete remote files and it wont backup to a DVD.

You can install it as a stand alone application or run it as a service under a specific account. An option to mail the backup log file is available, you can lock the user interface, set the priority and set tasks for scheduled backups. I have one task that runs a backup to a directy on my my Dell Axim, one to an FTP site, and one to an external USB drive.

[cthomer5000]

Cobian is working great for me, BTW. Very easy to use, too. Thanks for the help y'all.