I think I need a bit of a breather after yesterday's article, so today's we're going to go all techie. The subject at hand is backup programs.
For a long while, I used Acronis as my backup program. Acronis was generally a top-rated program (or perhaps the top-rated), though I only needed about 8% of its capabilities, its yearly subscription was getting expensive, and it wasn’t the most user-friendly program. I mentioned this to my tech guru whiz friend Ed Bott (who’s written about 25 books on technology, including the official books for Microsoft Press on how to use Windows 11 – and before that, Windows 10). And his response was, “Why are you still using Acronis??” While he knew it was a high-regarded program, he also knew my needs, the issues some people have with Acronis and what the wider field of backup programs was. He pointed me to a recent article he’d written for his ZDNet column on backup software. I have limited, but specific needs with a backup program. In fact, one need predominates all – it has to back up in native format. That’s when a file is backed up as it exists in its original Windows form. Some programs use file compression, some use a proprietary format, all the make a smaller backup. But with huge hard disks these days, that’s less an issue. And besides – I just want my backed up files in their native format – if a .docx file is going to be backed up, I want it backed up as a .docx file. If a Quicken file is backed up…same thing, that’s the format that I want it backed up in. I want to be able to access my backed up files whether or not the back up program is accessible. There were a few programs on Ed’s list that intrigued me, and I ended up getting something with a lousy name called EaseUs ToDo Backup. It did less than some of the others, but it still did a lot – and everything I needed (including creating an “Image” file of my hard disk). And of course, backed up in native format. It also offered a free version, which did pretty much everything I needed. The few things it didn’t do that the paid versions did, I didn’t need. The one other thing I did is something that might be bothersome to many, though worth putting up for the free price – the free version of EaseUs ToDo is known for being relentless with pop-up ads asking if you’d like to upgrade to the paid version. But this is the point of writing this. A year subscription to EaseUs ToDo is $29. But right now, it’s on sale for $23.20. (Why the “20 cents” I have no idea.) But that’s not the point – because they also have a special on where for that same $23.20 price, you can get free lifetime upgrades. In other words, you pay $23.20 once – and that’s it. Whenever they release an upgrade, you get it for free. And there’s no annual subscription, just that one-time cost. That’s why I’m mentioning this now. I’m not even recommending the program – it works wonderfully for me, but it might not be to everyone’s test. But that’s the good thing about the free version – you can download it for nothing, use it for as long as you want to see if you like it, and then, if you do, decide whether you want to keep using the free version, or upgrade to the paid Home version and get rid of the pop-up reminders…and, right now, get free upgrades for life. (To be clear, I think they have offers a lot. When I bought my lifetime subscription, they had a lifetime offer. But it did eventually go away. And then returned. So, if for some reason you do like the program but they don’t have the lifetime special offer – hold off and wait a bit, and then check later.) You can find more about each version of the program here.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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