Looking for a multilevel incremental backup software for Windows XP (32bits)

[Castor Nageur]

Hi all,

I am looking for a backup software which would maintain a multilevel
incremental backup database.

The idea is being able to restore a directory given the date (like the
Apple Time Machine does).
I would like an easy to use GUI so I can search for a specified file and
the tool would give me the backup history from the first full backup (like
developers' source code managers like VCS, SCCS, VSS would do).

I would like it to be free but as far as I am concerned I found none having
the multilevel backup feature so if I have to pay for it, I will do.

I got a first list from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_backup_software
I heard the the Unix "dump" command does multilevel incremental but it is
only available under Linux :-( and I do not want to install Cygwin.

* Could give me some software names and your personal advices/reviews ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Rod Speed]

Castor Nageur wrote

I am looking for a backup software which would maintain a multilevel
incremental backup database.

The idea is being able to restore a directory given the date (like the
Apple Time Machine does).
I would like an easy to use GUI so I can search for a specified file
and the tool would give me the backup history from the first full
backup (like developers' source code managers like VCS, SCCS, VSS
would do).

Acronis True Image can do all of that and lots more.

I would like it to be free

The older versions of TI are free.

but as far as I am concerned I found none having the multilevel backup feature

TI does.

so if I have to pay for it, I will do.

I got a first list from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_backup_software
I heard the the Unix "dump" command does multilevel incremental but
it is only available under Linux :-( and I do not want to install Cygwin.

* Could give me some software names and your personal advices/reviews ?

I've been using TI for years now. The most you might have to do is download
the latest build for free if you have bought it and some glitch shows up.

 

[Mike Tomlinson]

I am looking for a backup software which would maintain a multilevel
incremental backup database.

What's wrong with Windows Backup? It'll do what you want - incremental
backups which are date-stamped.

 

[Castor Nageur]

It does not do what he wants to do.


He wants more than just that and said so too.

Yes, that's it.
I tried Windows Backup and it does no more than what I do with WinRAR
using the archive flag.
I have RAR timestamped backups but if I can not get the backup history
for a specific file.
Imagine I want to restore a file like it was one year ago and now
deleted then I do not know which archive to start from.

It seems that Acronis allows you to display a file backup history so I
am going to try it.

 

[Castor Nageur]

Acronis True Image can do all of that and lots more.

Thanks.
I read many very positive feedbacks about Acronis so I am going to try
this one.

 

[Arno]

Hi all,

I am looking for a backup software which would maintain a multilevel
incremental backup database.

The idea is being able to restore a directory given the date (like the
Apple Time Machine does).
I would like an easy to use GUI so I can search for a specified file and
the tool would give me the backup history from the first full backup (like
developers' source code managers like VCS, SCCS, VSS would do).

I would like it to be free but as far as I am concerned I found none having
the multilevel backup feature so if I have to pay for it, I will do.

If you can do without GUI, have a look at rdiff-backup. It is
a file-tree backup utility that is available for POSIX. There
seems to be a native Windows-port as well. There may even be
a GUI, but I have not lookad as I do not need or want one.

Can be used locally, and over the net. And it uses a reverse-diff,
which means the newest version is recoverable directly, older
copies take incresingly more effort with increasin age.

I got a first list from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_backup_software
I heard the the Unix "dump" command does multilevel incremental but it is
only available under Linux :-( and I do not want to install Cygwin.

* Could give me some software names and your personal advices/reviews ?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I used to use dump, then it became unsafe under Linux.

I have been using rdiff-backup for several years now, for
automated Linux full-system backups and for Windows partition
backups. Works well and reliable and has numerous verify options
(e.g. data against checksums, backup against checksums,
data against backup, etc.)

Arno

 

[Castor Nageur]

I used to use dump, then it became unsafe under Linux.

I have been using rdiff-backup for several years now, for
automated Linux full-system backups and for Windows partition
backups. Works well and reliable and has numerous verify options
(e.g. data against checksums, backup against checksums,
data against backup, etc.)

rdiff-backup seems to be very good (and absolutely free ) but I am
working under Windows XP and that's a pity I have to install all the Cygwin
or GunWin32 stuffs so I am able to use it :-(
I will think of it when I work on a Linux workstation.

 

[Castor Nageur]

rdiff-backup seems to be very good (and absolutely free ) but I am
working under Windows XP and that's a pity I have to install all the
Cygwin or GunWin32 stuffs so I am able to use it :-(
I will think of it when I work on a Linux workstation.

To correct what I just wrote : it seems that all the GunWin32 packages can
be installed independently without needing an heavy install like with
Cygwin.
I now have to wait for someone making a port of rdiff-backup ;-)

 

[Castor Nageur]

Acronis True Image can do all of that and lots more.

Hi again,

I have been trying Acronis True Image 2011 for more than 2 weeks and I am
not really satisfied with it.

* I like the non stop backup feature but when I tried to recover some data
from my "documents and settings" directory, Acronis took hours and hours
when WinRAR took minutes.

* The backup of my 230 GB of data takes a reasonable time (2 hours) but the
validation never ends (if I let it terminate, I think it would take 10
hours). WinRAR takes less than one hour for verifying all the data.

* Acronis does not integrate recovery records whereas WinRAR does.

* Of course, WinRAR is not automatised whereas Acronis is.

* I crashed Acronis many times while setting some file backups (non stop
backup was running on the same time) / WinRAR never crashed even when
running 5 or more instances of it and I have been using it for years.

I think I will go back to WinRAR despite the fact it needs many manual
steps.

 

[Rod Speed]

Castor Nageur wrote

Hi again,

I have been trying Acronis True Image 2011 for more than 2 weeks and
I am not really satisfied with it.

Nothing ever satisfies everyone.

* I like the non stop backup feature but when I tried to recover some
data from my "documents and settings" directory, Acronis took hours
and hours when WinRAR took minutes.

Doesnt take hours and hours here. What are you backing up to ?

* The backup of my 230 GB of data takes a reasonable time
(2 hours) but the validation never ends

Works fine here. Try a different build.

(if I let it terminate, I think it would take 10 hours).

Works fine here. Try a different build.

Looks like there is something about your backup media it doesnt like etc.

WinRAR takes less than one hour for verifying all the data.

I've never had TI take any longer than the backup did.

* Acronis does not integrate recovery records whereas WinRAR does.

Recovery records are hopeless compared with multiple images.

* Of course, WinRAR is not automatised whereas Acronis is.

And cant do anything like as much incremental backup wise.

* I crashed Acronis many times while setting some file
backups (non stop backup was running on the same time)

You shouldnt do that.

/ WinRAR never crashed even when running 5 or more
instances of it and I have been using it for years.

Whats the point in running multiple instances ?

I think I will go back to WinRAR despite the fact it needs many manual steps.

You're welcome to do anything you like.

 

[Castor Nageur]

Doesnt take hours and hours here. What are you backing up to ?

I tried to recover the 32000 files (26 GB) stored in my "document and
settings" directory. I had several Acronis crashes when NSB was running.
I forgot to tell that the crashes generally occurs when I hot plug an usb
device (flat scanner or usb key).
On other thing I forgot to say : the ETA is not reliable. During my
operations, the ETA could grow to 15000 days (this is an example) and 5
minutes later, the validation terminated.
My disk fragmentation could also explain the problem.

Works fine here. Try a different build.

Ok, which build are you using ?

Recovery records are hopeless compared with multiple images.
And cant do anything like as much incremental backup wise.

I agree, multilevel images is a great feature I only found in Acronis at
the moment.

You shouldnt do that.

Ok, I will think of switching off NSB before recovering.
But I would like Acronis did it automatically instead of me.

Whats the point in running multiple instances ?

The point is testing reliability and robustness of the process.
I made this comparison because Acronis was crashing when running NSB and
doing a recovery on the same time but you told me it should be stopped.

* Because most of my problems seems to come from NSB, I am going to give
Acronis one more chance stopping it as you said.

* I will also defragment my backup hard disk.

Thanks for you useful feedback.

 

[Rod Speed]

Castor Nageur wrote

I tried to recover the 32000 files (26 GB) stored in my "document and settings" directory.

Yes, but what are did you originally backup to media wise ?

I had several Acronis crashes when NSB was running.

I forgot to tell that the crashes generally occurs when
I hot plug an usb device (flat scanner or usb key).

On other thing I forgot to say : the ETA is not reliable.

It isnt with any imager, it can only be an estimate.

During my operations, the ETA could grow to 15000 days (this
is an example) and 5 minutes later, the validation terminated.

Most likely, as I said, it doesnt like your backup media.

My disk fragmentation could also explain the problem.
Nope.

Ok, which build are you using ?

I agree, multilevel images is a great feature I only found in Acronis at the moment.

Ok, I will think of switching off NSB before recovering.
But I would like Acronis did it automatically instead of me.

Sure, that would certainly be an improvement.

The point is testing reliability and robustness of the process.

There is still no point in running multiple instances.

I made this comparison because Acronis was crashing when running NSB
and doing a recovery on the same time but you told me it should be stopped.

* Because most of my problems seems to come from NSB, I am going to
give Acronis one more chance stopping it as you said.

* I will also defragment my backup hard disk.

That wont make any difference.

Thanks for you useful feedback.

No problem, thats what these technical newsgroups are for.

 

[Castor Nageur]

Yes, but what are did you originally backup to media wise ?

I don't really understand what you mean by "media wise" ? (I am French).
Anyway, I am backing up docs and media files (but I don't think that's what
you want to know). I am backing up the data stored on one internal SATA2
1TB hard-disk to another of the same size. Both are extractible internal
hard disks.

It isnt with any imager, it can only be an estimate.

Displaying the process rate like download softwares do would be more
interesting (then you can see when the process hang up).

Nope.

Why ? The less the hard disk heads move, the faster the read/write
operations are.

I disabled the automatic on creation backup validation.
This morning, I decided to run the validation manually using the context
menus and it took less than 30 minutes.
Moreover, I did not have to reboot my computer (I started it 2 days ago).
I still do not know what caused the problem yesterday ...

Anyway, I think I am going to keep on testing Acronis (it's not so bad ;-))

 

[Rod Speed]

Castor Nageur wrote

I don't really understand what you mean by "media wise" ? (I am French).

What are you writing the backups to, an external hard drive, internal hard drive, something else ?

Anyway, I am backing up docs and media files
(but I don't think that's what you want to know).

No its not.

I am backing up the data stored on one internal SATA2 1TB hard-disk
to another of the same size. Both are extractible internal hard disks.

OK, thats what I wanted to know.

Displaying the process rate like download softwares do would
be more interesting (then you can see when the process hang up).

Cant think of any backup app that does it that way.

Why ?

Fragmentation cant cause crashes.

The less the hard disk heads move, the faster the read/write operations are.

But the rate at which the data is moved from one disk to the other
isnt usually limited by the head move times, its usually limited by
the speed at which data moves from memory to the hard drive.

I disabled the automatic on creation backup validation.
This morning, I decided to run the validation manually using the
context menus and it took less than 30 minutes.
Moreover, I did not have to reboot my computer (I started it 2 days
ago). I still do not know what caused the problem yesterday ...

Anyway, I think I am going to keep on testing Acronis (it's not so bad ;-))

Yeah, one thing I dont like much is that they do tend to release stuff too quickly,
so you can find that you need to try a later build when you see some quirk.
They appear to do that so that the new stuff gets out there quickly but is a bit
of a nuisance at times.

 

[Ed Light]

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handicapped spots.

He wasn't demanding. It's your hangup. His ideas could become open
source software. Don't be a guy everyone filters out.
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