15-Minute Reviews :: Backup4All Lite v3.9b268

Hello everyone and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Backup4All Lite version 3.9 build 268 by Softland – A backup solution that is also compatible with Windows Vista.

Software Description

As Giveaway of the Day states:

“Backup4all Lite is an award-winning backup software for Windows, offering an intuitive interface making all features easily accessible.”

Quick Pros

• Interface is pretty easy to get around
• Fast mirror functionality nice aspect to speed up backups
• Managing backup groups very handy – Able to trigger a whole group backup handy
• Calculate statistics for next backup good to find out how much has changed
• Decent backup speed on ‘Normal’ priority

Quick Cons

• Wizard isn’t so ‘Wizard-like’
• Lite lacking a lot of useful features
• Not sure why you have to pick a ‘destination drive’ when you pick it again in next box over
• Does not backup empty folders

Expansion

There are so many backup tools on the market this day and age, with good reason. Data loss caused from various sources is growing with time; There are just so many variables with computers these days. Backup4All is yet another on this market, offering multiple versions for those looking for specific requirements.

I found the interface easy to get around. The Outlook-style groups sidebar is easy to navigate, and finding the options you need is pretty quick with this application. This application has ‘critical’ buttons to day-to-day usage out in the open, and then the rest hidden away in the menu system and pop-up menus. There’s not too much to get lost on here, except for when you get into the New Backup Wizard. I know with this day and age, ‘Wizard’ seems to only imply multiple-page actions. I have always felt that ‘Wizards’ should be very simple walk-through series of questions to help you get set up, rather than the sheer number of options on later pages of this wizard; If you don’t know what it means, you have to revert over to the helpfiles. This, in my opinion, isn’t a wizard; It’s just a process of adding a new backup. It would be nice to see a real ‘wizard’ to make it easier for people new to backing up to get set up and running.

While there are a lot of features missing from Lite (See below,) there are a few features that does help this version. ‘Fast Mirroring’ – Essentially it compares all current files backed up and if there is new/changed/deleted files, it will only back those files up, saving you backup time each time you do back up, which is definitely handy to speed your backups along. Backup groups allow you to organize your backups into groupings, such as being able to backup all your personal files spread across multiple directories. You can then initiate a backup of all those files by right-clicking the group and clicking ‘Backup Group.’ There is also the calculate statistics button as well, which essentially runs down how much will be backed up next time you do run a backup, giving you a bit of an idea of how long you’re going to be running for.

While this application does have a good number of features as it is as a ‘Lite’ version, there is a lot missing that most outside of people who may want to occasionally backup their files. This version there is no network support, no ZIP functionality, no scheduling, no ‘quick-launch’ for a specific backup process to begin, no backup functionality besides mirroring, and so forth. There is a lot missing that a common user (Or even a ‘lite’ user would or should want.)

I tested a few different backup procedures. The main one I used for speed testing was 87.1MB worth of files across 5 folders (31 files) took about 7 seconds to back up from one drive to another. Not too bad. If you turn down the priority however, your backup speeds go right down, which may be good for background backups, if a scheduler was enabled. The performance isn’t too bad for raw copying.

I did find a few small quirks in the application. The first being why there needs to be two different boxes for the backup destination – One is the drive letter, the other will bring up a browse function that, in itself, you can choose a drive as well, it just doesn’t save the drive. Is this to help prevent people trying to use network support in ‘Lite’ version from using a mapped drive as well? It is a bit awkward choosing both a drive and a folder. As well, another quirk I have is there is no option for backing up empty folders. There is times when I may want an empty folder as a placeholder for where files may go, especially when it comes to web design. If you go into the backup folders, there is no blank folders to speak of.

Final Verdict

While I do not like the overly-complex wizard (Wizards are supposed to be so easy even beginners can work through it,) and a few other issues (Namely, the lacking of features in the Lite version,) this application isn’t too poorly assembled. That said, while free, if you are looking to do an occasional backup solution, you may as well pick this up while free. However, most may find the lack of features in ‘Lite’ too debilitating. I honestly do not feel that ‘Lite’ is worth $19.95, especially with ‘Standard’ (With features such as scheduling, zip archiving, incremental and differential backups, network support and more,) being only $10 more at $29.95. If you were to buy this application, I’d recommend going with at least ‘Standard’ and avoid ‘Lite’ – ‘Lite’ would be a good freeware alternative from Softland – I myself would use the ‘freeware’ version to promote the higher versions (As noted they did do with Giveaway of the Day.)

Posted by BladedThoth on Monday, June 11, 2007