When was the last time you backed up
important files from your computer?
I bet you can't say recently. If you are
like 95 percent of the people who use computers, you
probably don't remember when you last backed up all
important data files.
Yes, backing up computer files is boring and
a hassle. Also, the new generation hard drives are pretty
reliable. But people aren't perfect, so even if your hard
drive never crashes, it takes only a few accidental clicks
of the mouse or a destructive virus to wipe out valuable
information.
That could be a catastrophe if you've gone
digital and most of your working documents, photos and audio
clips are on your computer.
Even worse, it is all too easy to wipe out
information by mistakenly overwriting a document.
What people need — especially those who work
from home offices — is an automatic, easy to use system to
save them from themselves.
Luckily, a few hardware/software products
can ease the drudgery and make backups easy. I just tried
out CMS Products' ABS Plus kit, which makes the process of
disaster recovery and backup plug-and-play. It is an
automatic backup system that includes an external hard drive
and BounceBack Professional software.
CMS touts this product as the world's
easiest backup system. And from what I can see, CMS makes a
good point. It works with both Windows and Mac computers and
with desktops and portables.
It took us less than five minutes to set up
the software and the external backup drive. Just plug in the
cables and install the software. Then it automatically tells
you the amount of time and megabytes required to make a
complete backup of your system.
It can make itself a fully bootable drive,
so if your hard drive ever crashes, you've got a complete
duplicate to restart where you left off. Or you can create
custom sets of data to backup and schedule those backups
sets either by date and time or, in the case of a laptop,
when you connect it. This is great for storing important
information from portable computers.
You can even set up the software to save
different versions of a file. That way, if you put a change
into a spreadsheet or other document, then decide you don't
like it, you can roll back to previous versions.
The BounceBack Professional software even
synchronizes data between multiple computers and hard
drives. So if you want to keep files on several computers,
it can make sure you've got the right version everywhere.
The ABS system works with USB, Firewire and
PC card ports. It works fastest on USB 2.0, where it
transfers data at 480 megabits per second. But if you have
an older machine with the slower USB 1.0, it works just
fine.
The complete kit of software and hardware
costs about $280. But if you are handy with hooking up your
own gear, you can get the BounceBack Professional software
alone for $99 online at
