Acronis True Image or Second Copy?

Brian Barnes, one of our User Group consulting technicians, mentioned to me that some of his Vista Business, Ultimate and Enterprise clients were puzzled as to why their version of Vista offered two backup options. One to back up only their files and folders and another to create an image -based backup of their entire computer environment.

The simple answer would probably be that because the Vista versions mentioned are business oriented versions and Microsoft considers image -based backups more suited for a business environment.

However with that said, be aware image -based backup is not a new backup option and not necessarily only for business environments. It may be one you should consider investigating. Acronis True Image (www.acronis.com) is a good place to start.

The advantage of an image based backup is that in the event of a serious system issue or data loss, it can restore your entire operating system, installed programs, user settings and data files.

However, because it’s purpose is to be ready to restore a complete computer environment if and when there’s a system issue or mishap, it must be religiously updated to insure at any given time the backed up image matches the current computer environment. A potential disadvantage for the average novice user.

Personally until something convinces me otherwise, I’ll continue to recommend the most practical backup for novices is a periodic back up to an off computer device or Internet storage (Carbonite) of only their "Irreplaceable Stuff" using Second Copy (www.centered.com). In my opinion the most novice friendly backup software available.

Second Copy is designed for all versions of Windows. It offers extraordinarily convenient ways to backup your important files and folders and arranges your backups in sets of "profiles". Each profile a set of file and folder specifications configured to what you want Second Copy to copy, where to copy it and when to copy it.

Second Copy includes user a friendly profile wizard that guides you through the setup process. The setup process is separated into Express and Custom modes. The Express mode is so user friendly all you have to do is answer three simple questions (what, where and when) about the files to be backed up. Custom mode has a multitude of special backup configurations the "bit beyond novices" will appreciate.

But please. However you choose to back up your "Irreplaceable Stuff", please get in the habit of doing it often.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.