back-up software for small business

[vickie@j-mar]

I am interested in opinions on software which will back up a stand-alone PC to an external hard-drive for a small business. Need something that is user-friendly and can back up executables as well as data files.

[BHersh]

Vickie,

I find Dantz retrospect to be the easiest to use currently, you can check it out at www.dantz.com.

Bill

[Nightingale]

What OS are you running? If you are on Windows using the built in backup might not be a bad idea. I use it to back up my work harddrive to a mapped drive.

[owen]

Here is a bare-bones solution for those that want to spend literally no money for their backup solutions. This two-step method will especially work well with your external drive, regardless of the version of Windows that you run:


1. A simple batch file that uses xxcopy (http://www.xxcopy.com) will backup any types of files and/or directories. It may take 20 minutes to create the command that works for you the best (there are a LOT of switches) but once you have it, you will not have to touch it again.

2. A free scheduler such as the one found at http://www.splinterware.com to run your batch file in the wee hours of the morning or whenever.

This works beautifully for any drive, external or internal, including USB drives. The one place I have had trouble with this method is attempting to use it to backup large files to DVD's using "Drive Letter Access" software. I definitely don't recommend it for that.