The best backup programs. Data backup programs

A simple and reliable backup solution for your PC

Download and set up Exiland Backup to automatically automate your home photos, videos, work files and other important files, to save once and for all them from viruses, PC breakdown, accidental change or deletion, etc.

Backup program light, fast, does not contain advertising and unnecessary functions, and at the same time very easy to learn. All you need is to create a task once, specifying in it which files and folders to copy, where to save backups and set up a launch schedule. All is ready! More from you no action required!

If you lose your files, you can quickly restore them from a backup!

Screenshot of a free backup program

Program:	Exiland Backup Free
Version:	5.0
Update date:	10.10.2018 , Version history
Interface language:	Russian, Ukrainian, English, German, Turkish, Polish, Chinese
System:	Windows 10,8,7
File size:	5.4 MB
Price:	For free
Rules of use:	License agreement

Limitations of the free version

Free backup program for backing up files Exiland Backup Free is recommended for small businesses and home use; it contains a number of basic features sufficient to create backup copies of files. But, despite this, such service functions as automatic deletion of old archives, duplication of backup copies to other storages, job queue management, copying files into multiple threads, setting up archive encryption, etc. not available in Exiland Backup Free version. The best way to find out the full list of limitations and learn about the advantages of other versions is the Version Comparison Table.

We recommend using the Standard or Professional version, since they do not have the disadvantages described above. Plus, you will be entitled to priority technical support from the developer and new versions of backup software for free .

Advantages of paid versions Standard and Professional

Automatic duplication of backups to other drives/servers
Automatically delete old backups
Multi-threaded copying
Running the program as a Windows service (in the Professional version)
Copying files from multiple PCs on a local network (Professional version)
Flexible ZIP settings (encryption, compression ratio, division of archives into volumes)
SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol) support
Shadow backup of locked files (VSS in Professional version)
Setting a password to enter the program
Email notification
Managing the Job Queue at Runtime
Free receipt of new versions and updates
Priority Technical Support

How to download and install the program?

You can download the backup program for free. The program distribution takes only about 5 megabytes. The program is distributed both as a regular installer and in a portable version that does not require installation on a PC.

Normal version (installer):

The downloaded ZIP archive contains the installer file "setup.exe". Run this file and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard to complete the installation. By default, the backup program Exiland Backup Free will be installed in C:\Exiland Backup Free, but you can assign a different installation folder.

Portable version (does not require installation on a PC):

The downloaded ZIP archive contains program files that you can simply place on disk in any folder and run the main program file "ExilandBackup.exe"

It would seem that there is nothing difficult in creating a backup copy, but many users often forget how important it is to take care of the safety of their data in a timely manner. After all, you may lose important files due to a technical failure, theft, or infection of your computer with a virus.

But where to start? Of course, you can always manually copy important files to a free drive. However, to simplify the process, it would still be more logical to turn to professional programs that will help you create a backup copy with minimal expenditure of your time and effort.

In addition, creating backup copies is extremely necessary for small business owners if it involves the collection of personal information about clients. Thus, in accordance with the recently introduced General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, any company that gains access to users’ personal data is obliged to protect this information. Personal data includes the user's name, email and residential address, as well as IP address.

In the settings of the backup program, you can always choose how often and which files from which folders need to be copied. In addition, you can also select files that will require the maximum level of protection. When choosing such a program, you need to pay special attention to how protected your data will be and how easily you can access it in case of a critical situation.

This list will help you get acquainted with the most common, easy-to-use and, importantly, free programs for creating backup copies.

EaseUS Todo Backup Free

This program represents a perfectly balanced balance between automatic protection and manual control:

Various types of backup

No difficulty in setting up

Automatic smart backup system

With EaseUS Todo Backup Free, you can back up individual files, folders, and drivers. It is also possible to create a backup copy of the entire system. In addition, the program offers a “smart” feature: it remembers which folders you most often copy files from. However, you can also save the created copies in cloud storage.

The program allows you to choose from several backup modes: full, incremental, differential backup and scheduled backup.

Some functions are available only in the premium version, however, the free version of EasusUS Todo Backup provides a sufficient number of options for comfortable work.

The free version of EaseUS Todo Backup provides access to almost all the features found in the paid version. For example, you can set up scheduled backups. However, in the free version you won't be able to perform trigger event backups, which is definitely not a necessity for most users. You also won't be able to access command line copying, Outlook mail backup and recovery, or computer-to-computer transfers. In fact, these features may be useful, but they are certainly not critical for most people.

During installation, you will be asked to install the Chrome browser and Bing search engine by default, so if you do not need this, then simply uncheck the appropriate boxes before clicking “Next”.

The program is free for personal and commercial use.
FBackup is a backup program that is free for use at home and in the office.
This means you save money instead of paying for another data backup program.
Automatic reservation.
You create a backup profile, set it to run automatically, and you'll never remember about it again. FBackup will automatically create copies of data at the appointed time, which gives you not only confidence in the safety of your files, but also additional free time.
zip packaging of backup copies.
When backing up the full type, the source files are archived using the standard zip algorithm. FBackup uses ZIP64 compression, which allows you to create archives larger than 2GB. Moreover, you can protect archives with a password, which will be requested when extracting data from them.
Perform actions before/after backup.

For each backup profile, you can specify an action to be performed before or after.
For example, you specify a "Cleanup" action before starting a backup, which will delete all previously archived files before creating new ones. As an action after backup, you can set the system to shut down, log out the user profile, put the system into sleep mode - any such action will be performed at your discretion after the successful completion of the file backup operation.
Exact copies of files.
If you do not want to store files in a single archive, FBackup can create exact copies of the original objects. Because FBackup correctly handles empty folders, you can use this type of backup to create a “mirror” copy of the original files in a specified location.
Ease of use.
The two main functions of a backup program are data backup and recovery.
Multiple reservation assignments.
By default, the location of future backup copies is the operating system partition.

To ensure the security of your backups, you will need to place them in other destinations supported by FBackup (such as external USB/Firewire drives, or a mounted network drive). In this case, if a hardware failure occurs, your data will be safe and sound on an external independent storage device.
Plugins.
Archiving open files.
If a file is being used by another program while a backup is in progress, FBackup will still be able to back up the file using the Volume Shadow Copies service provided by Windows. Thus, if you are using Windows 10, 8/8.1, 7, Vista, XP, 2016/2012/2008/2003 Server (32/64-bit), FBackup will archive these open files. For example, you can make a backup copy of your Outlook mail database and settings without closing it.
Multilingual

Select the user interface language from the currently supported ones (

Recently, my friend asked me to explain to her how to backup data. She's a humanitarian, so she wanted options that didn't require any customization. Since she is not a stupid person who likes to understand the problem herself and make decisions, I decided to collect the basic principles for her and describe the pros and cons of certain options (as I see them). I decided to publish it here in case some of you find it useful - to help a friend or relative. I would be very glad to receive comments on how the text could be made simpler and clearer.

Basic principles

1. Regularity and frequency

Data backup should be as regular as taking pills. It is for this discipline that you can thank yourself if some kind of collapse suddenly occurs. Sometimes losing even just a few working days due to a failure to backup can be very painful. It’s possible to answer the question of how often you can make backups by understanding the data for what period of time would be least painful for you to lose. One of the best options is to backup data once a week on weekends.

It is advisable that the data be saved to a separate external hard drive (or other storage medium) and stored in a separate place from the main data. The principle is quite obvious - if a problem occurs, it will be localized in one place. For example, if the hard drive on your computer fails, the backup disk will function perfectly. However, there is a balance to be struck between ease of access and security. Having a hard drive next to your computer significantly increases your motivation to use it for its intended purpose. And at the same time, this is not the safest option for very important data that should not be lost under any circumstances. This is why there is a distinction between data backup and data archiving.

Recheck

As soon as the first backup copy of your data is made, you must immediately check that this data can be restored from it! This means not only that the files become visible. You need to open several files to choose from and check that they are not corrupted. It is advisable to repeat such a check once every certain period (say, once a year).

Discrimination

The best practice is to differentiate data into categories. The category could be their importance to you, the frequency of updates, or simply the topic.

Often backup programs create so-called “images”. They look like one single file. So, it is better to save various data in each such image.

What is it for. Data of different importance require different handling, this is obvious. You will probably want to store your important documents more carefully than, say, a collection of films. By dividing the data by update frequency, you can, for example, save time spent on backups. Topic - what data is desirable to recover together in one step? A striking example of two types of backups that should be done separately:

Data backup

These are Word documents, photographs, films, etc. The same applies but is often forgotten - bookmarks in the browser, letters in the mailbox, address book, calendar with meetings, configuration file of the banking application, etc.

System backup

We are talking about the operating system with all its settings. Such a backup eliminates the need to reinstall the operating system, make all the settings, and install programs. However, this is not the most necessary type of backup.

Where to make a backup

1. External hard drive. You can often buy it straight out of the box. There are laptop ones - such disks are small in size, but more expensive. Regular hard drives can be purchased relatively cheaply with a capacity of 2 TB - then you won’t have to worry about disk space for a long time.

Fairly reliable (as long as you don't drop or shake excessively)
+ Relatively inexpensive

You must remember to connect the backup disk yourself.
-Not very convenient to carry (does not apply to laptop drives)

2. USB stick - suitable as an additional tool when you would like to transfer data from one computer to another and/or have it at hand. Also, if you don’t want to store the data itself on your computer.
There is one big but - a flash drive has a limited number of records, so if you store data from an application on it that will write intensively, then the flash drive (usb stick) will quickly die out. In addition, in my personal impression, they break quite often. A friend of mine, buying the most expensive flash drives, which were positioned as “unbreakable”, received a broken flash drive within a month or two. To be fair, I must say that I still haven’t had a single flash drive break; some have been working for 5 years already. However, I wouldn’t store data on a USB stick alone.

Mobile storage
+Takes up little space
+Very cheap

Unpredictable reliability

3. Data storage on a remote server (or in the cloud).

There are pros and cons:

The data will be available not only at home, but also at work and while traveling.
+Local separation of main data and backup copies (for example, if a fire happens, God forbid, the data survives)
+There is no need to connect a hard drive for backup; as a rule, everything is done completely automatically.

It is advisable to encrypt the data, since it is unknown who can access it
-A large amount of traffic is wasted (if it is limited, problems arise)
-Often you can only store data up to 2 GB for free. So, such a backup is an additional expense item

A list with a good description of services can be found

How to make a backup

Here is a list of applications that are worth paying attention to (in my opinion) when backing up to your hard drive.

Popular among the free ones

1. Genie Backup Manager is a very convenient program, but it is a little slow when working
2. Handy Backup - simple interface, works quickly.

Additionally

Often in the settings of backup programs there is an option to make an incremental or differential backup. The practical difference is quite simple. With differential backup, you can save on the space it takes up. But there are only two recovery options: data in the state when a full backup was made + data at the time when a differential backup was made.

Incremental backup allows you to roll back to any point in the past when the backup was made. However, especially if changes in data occur frequently, the space will be consumed quickly.

Special project with Acronis

We all sooner or later face the need for backup. And believe me: better early than late. Once upon a time, in 2009, I lost all my data. Back then I made backups on DVD-R/RW, which was not very convenient, so they were rarely made. Some of the data was sent by colleagues (it’s good that they kept it), but a lot of it was lost. It was from that time that I regularly make backups, and today we will talk about finding the ideal product for the family budget.

Where will we store backups?

Before choosing software, we need to decide where we will store the backup. You understand that DVD-R is of little use for backup. Firstly, it is small, secondly, it is slow, and thirdly, it is noisy. And since I switched to laptops a long time ago and don’t recognize stationary devices at all (although I have them on the farm), I had to buy several external drives. First 250 GB, then larger.

I did not consider the cloud for one simple reason - there is not enough space:

You understand that even 15 GB is not enough, especially if the minimum size of the external screw available on the farm is 250 GB. Extra space? You could, of course, pay $2 a month for 100 GB on Google Drive or $10 for an additional 1 TB, but 100 GB won’t save me, and 1 TB is a little expensive. Ideally, 500 GB would be suitable for 2-3 dollars per month :)

Later, the family acquired two Android smartphones and one tablet, from which they also made backups to an external screw from time to time, the old fashioned way (after all, I was used to just such a process). Here one could safely use the cloud, but habit is a strong thing.

Search for backup software

Now we come to the most interesting part. How to make a backup?

In principle, you can use the free Clonezilla. The capabilities of this program, if not impressive, are at least quite good. Here are some of them that I consider the most important:

support for Linux/macOS/Windows file systems: from ext2 to ext4, xfs, jfs, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, HFS (macOS);
MBR and GPT support;
support for data encryption (AES 256);
the ability to deploy one image to several local devices;
support for SSH, Samba, WebDAV and NFS.

If you need to make a backup of a server in a corporate environment, and even on a shared server, there is no better option. For cloning systems in the case of deploying one operating system on many machines with the same configuration, that’s it: they brought in a fleet of computers, installed an axis on one of them, configured everything, made an image of it and deployed it to other computers. An admin's dream!

I have also been familiar with Acronis products for a long time, but mainly with server versions. I won’t compare them with Clonezilla now, since we are talking about home backup: after all, you have one or two computers and several Android devices at home, and you don’t need to constantly create images of all these devices. In general, CloneZilla is not suitable for home use. Once, I remember, I made a backup at home with it, when I changed the system disk to a larger disk and was too lazy to reinstall all the systems. Then this program, of course, saved me.

CloneZilla is a good program, but it’s 2016 and I want something more modern, but it’s stuck in the past. I want some kind of automation, management of backups from all devices, including mobile ones, I want to copy photos from my profile on social networks, I want to search inside the backup copy in order to find the file I need. I want a lot of things. Sometimes I even think about buying a NAS specifically for storing backups.

Actually, I started searching for the ideal software for myself. I came across the “File History” function in Windows 8/10. I somehow missed “Eight”, and “Ten” is installed on only one computer. Although “File History” was created in the image and likeness of Apple Time Machine and should be convenient, in practice it turned out to be not very convenient to use, and besides, it is not compatible with computers running “Seven” and Android smartphones.

If anyone is interested, while I was looking for the necessary software, all this time I was making backups using Total Commander by simply copying files. But this is very inconvenient. Firstly, no automation: you need to go to each computer with an external screw and make a backup. Secondly, irrational use of space. I didn't use compression. Why? Yes, because I periodically need to search for information on a backup. Have you tried searching for something in an archive of several GB in size?

Quite by accident, I remembered Acronis True Image and discovered that version 2017 had been released. Let's see what it can do now:

It looks like the perfect backup software exists! However, it’s not very ideal, but I’ll talk about the shortcomings later, but for now I’ll brag about the capabilities: Acronis True Image 2017 is a completely modern backup program, and unlike ancient software like CloneZilla, it has everything a modern person might need. This is what I personally really liked...

Firstly, saving space on the screws that are used for backup. The backup is made in compressed form, but Acronis allows you to search inside the backup.

Secondly, now I don't have to worry about data on mobile devices. Over the past two years, two microSD cards have failed: one on my wife’s phone, the other on her tablet. One photograph was at least partially saved, but the second was not, it “died” completely. Acronis True Image 2017 allows you to backup an unlimited number of Android/iOS mobile devices to your local computer.

Thirdly, you can (as I already noted) remotely control the backup on all home devices. Using the web panel, you can check the status of backups and configure data protection in real time.

Fourthly, there is support for copying Facebook profile content. A lot of information is now published on social networks: photos, videos, comments. A backup of this data will protect against page hacking or accidental deletion.

Finally, cloud orientation. I couldn’t even imagine that Acronis now has such powerful cloud support: by purchasing a subscription, you get 500 GB of cloud space! This volume is quite enough for me for home purposes (unless, of course, I upload entire hard drive images to the cloud, although Acronis allows this too).

About the disadvantages

Everything has its drawbacks. I hope the Acronis developers will listen to the criticism. Personally, I didn’t like two things about the program.

The first is the lack of Linux support. Data stored in Linux will have to be done the old fashioned way: either by copying, or using Clonezilla by creating an image of the partition with the data (fortunately, I have /home on a separate partition, out of habit).

The second is the lack of support for other social networks other than Facebook. I think, however, that over time it will appear. But whether Linux support will appear is a question. Of course, Acronis has a Linux Server product, but I don’t want to use it for several reasons: firstly, using the server version for home use is tantamount to shooting sparrows with a cannon, and secondly, I don’t want to pay for another product (and this is the minimum 792 rubles per month), and thirdly, I want everything to be managed from one product.

About the price

We all know that Acronis has never been free. However, the prices also pleasantly surprised me: on the official website there is a calculator that allows you to find out how much Acronis will cost you.

A one-time license for 1 computer (the number of mobile devices is unlimited) will cost 1,700 rubles (approximately $27 at the current exchange rate). But it’s more profitable to buy a subscription: in this case, you will get both the program itself and 500 GB of cloud storage. The cost of a subscription for a year will cost 1400 rubles. (~22$), for two years - only 2000 rubles (~32$), which is approximately 1.83$ or 1.33$ per month. For that kind of money you can only buy 100 GB of Google Drive! And here I got an excellent backup tool + 500 GB in the cloud.

If we calculate a more realistic configuration: 3 computers and 1 TB in the cloud, then a subscription for a year will cost 2400 rubles, and for 2 years - 3600 rubles. Only 150 rubles per month compared to 600 rubles for 1 TB on Google Drive! To me, the conclusion was obvious. 150 rubles is an amount quite affordable for a home user and will not put a strain on the family budget.