Computer Repair Help By PCTechBytes » Backup Software

Easily Access Your Skydrive

Dave — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:06:35 +0000

We’re mentioned before about the free 25 Gigs of space you probably do not know you have with your Windows Live account. The space is called Skydrive and it is storage space in the “cloud” that allows you to store documents, pictures, video–whatever you want. Accessing the Skydrive has always been a convenience issue for most people. There never was an easy way to get to the folder. You’d have to go to your Live account, login, navigate to the folder, open it and finally copy and past your document into it.

Skydrive Explorer is a free program offered at SkyDriveExplorer.com. Once you install it, you will find the Skydrive Explorer icon in your Windows Explorer (right-click the Start button, select Windows Explorer). You can then copy and paste shortcuts for these folders on your Desktop for convenience.

So what should Skydrive be used for? PCTechBytes believes in backup redundancy. So in addition to our local network hard drive backup and our off-site backup solution of Carbonite, we also use Skydrive for backup of massive folders and pictures we never want to lose, but also have other copies. Do not rely specifically on Skydrive for your backup needs. Use it in addition to your current scheme.

If you do not have a Windows Live account sign up here.

Free Folder Syncronization Software

Dave — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:19:20 +0000

SyncToy is a free folder syncronization utility that allows you to effortlessly keep all of your data up to date with a single push of the button. In the day of thumbdrives, external hard drives and other portable devices, this type of software should be built into any Operating System. At least Microsoft is offering it as a free download. Once installed, SyncToy allows you to create Folder Pairs, which are two folders that SyncToy will keep synced. So if you have an external drive you take to work each day, you can map it as a network drive and select a folder on your computer to sync with it.

Once the folders are setup, all you have to do is push a button and the syncronization begins. There are three modes you can use to configure how you sync the folders. The first is Syncronize, which copies changes in both directions. This is what most people will use, as this makes sure all of the data is the same in both locations. The second option is Echo, which copies changes one way only. The last option is Contribute. Contribute mode copies changes one way just as Echo does, except files that are renamed are copied to the destination drive without deleting the previous versions.

SyncToy is not as automatic as it should be. Microsoft has other options like Live Mesh, that tracks changes in folders and keeps files synced without any action on the user’s part. But for those looking for an easy to use utility to keep files in order, SyncToy is for you. We would like to see something like this built into Windows in the future, as mobile devices are becoming more common, but for now SynToy is free and easy to install.

Download SyncToy 2.o here

Backup Software

Dave — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:31:47 +0000

Your computer data is critical, and it is essencial that you have a file backup strategy to avoid losing data when your hard drive fails. We have included some very popular file backup utilities to help you backup photos, music and other data files.

When backing-up your data, be sure to backup to a different hard drive, a different partition or a CD or DVD. It’s also not a bad idea to store backed-up data at an offsite location.

Drive Image XML V1.21

Backup and image logical drives and partitions, create hot images, copy one drive to another. Drive Image will allow you to revert your system and programs back to the pristine state when you made the backup.

Ratings: 4 out of 5 bytes
Download Here

FileHamster

FileHamster monitors your data and creates real-time backups of work in progress. Monitor files and create backups whenever those files are modified. FileHamster can be setup in minutes and provide you with instant backup capability.

Ratings: 5 out of 5 bytes
Download Here

Photo Backup

Photo Backup allows you to easily create backups of your valuable photos. It creates thumbnails on the backups for easy access and tracks files so you do not make duplicate backups of the same picture. The FREE version is at the bottom of their page.

Ratings: 4 out of 5 bytes
Download Here

Back to downloads main page