Group test: what's the best backup software?

5. Rebit 5

• Reviewed on: 9 April 12
• RRP: £50 inc VAT (3-PC licence, £25 for 1-PC licence)
• Rating:

£50 for a 3-PC licence, under £17 per machine, is a good price, though an inability to use online storage and an over-simplification of options make Rebit 5 a mixed bag. Its slow initial backup and high local storage requirements (1-3x the total capacity of the drives being backed up) may rankle against rival products, like Acronis True Image.

4. O&O AutoBackup

• Reviewed on: 27 January 12
• RRP: £29 inc VAT
• Rating:

For anyone who wants to simply insert a drive, back up and remove it, it works well… but it's a one-trick pony that won't cover everyone's needs. O&O AutoBackup is free during January 2012, but £29 after a 30-day free trial beginning in February.

3. CrashPlan

• Reviewed on: 13 January 10
• RRP: Free
• Rating:

If you can put up with the adverts, the ‘free’ version of CrashPlan has all you need for regular backups to a variety of media, including the unique hosting of your personal backup on a friend’s computer. Or pay around £43 for a cleaner and more secure CrashPlan+ version. And the paid-for subscription, at around £33+VAT/year, is actually one of the cheapest online services currently available, with its promise of unlimited offsite data storage.

2. Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced Edition

• Reviewed on: 2 December 10
• RRP: Free
• Rating:

Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced Edition is a great freebie. Between it and the free version of Partition Manager I'm not sure how Paragon plans to make any money. Windows 7 users can accomplish much the same thing with the built-in Windows Backup, albeit without a couple of bells and whistles, but Windows XP users should grab Paragon Backup & Recovery 2010 Free Advanced Edition for sure. Maybe now, before they forget the name.

1. Easeus ToDo Backup Free 3.5

• Reviewed on: 3 November 11
• RRP: FREE
• Rating:

I called Easeus ToDo Backup Free 1.0 the best free backup program in existence. Despite some exceedingly minor usability issues, that's still true. It will be a rare user who needs more than it provides.