NTI Backup Now EZ Review

NTI Backup Now EZ is the simpler cousin of NTI Backup Now 5 Advanced.  It’s also less expensive, at only $30 ($20 with current promotion).  It’s lacking a few advanced features, but it had no trouble backing up and restoring my entire computer.

NTI Backup Now EZ Main screen

Editor's Rating:
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
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User Rating:
Rating: 2.5/5 (95 votes cast)

Pros

  • Ridiculously easy
  • Price ($30)
  • File, folder, and full system backups

Cons

  • Lacking advanced settings

The Bottom Line

NTI Backup Now EZ is a simple, inexpensive, full-system backup solution.

Backing Up

When first started, NTI Backup Now EZ automatically scans your computer and creates backup jobs for you.

The source, destination, and backup schedule are automatically filled in.  These settings can be modified to your liking.

NTI Backup Now EZ Main screen

The main screen

I de-selected the file and folder backup (so I’m only doing full system backups), and changed the schedule to daily.

With that, NTI Backup Now EZ began backing up my entire computer.

If you’re backing up to an external hard drive, the software will make it bootable.  This means you can boot from the same media your backups are stored on.  No need for a separate rescue CD.

Restoring

The recovery environment runs on Linux and there isn’t much to it.  It restored my computer without any problems.

A NTI Backup Now EZ restore in progress

NTI Backup Now EZ restoring my partition

However, on first boot Windows wanted to run checkdisk to check the disk for errors.  I was told by NTI that due to the complete system backup running within Windows, it creates an image file that is not properly shut down.  I haven’t encountered this with other backup software, but it did not seem to cause any problems.

Features

Complete System Backup

To me, the main selling point of NTI Backup Now EZ is the disk imaging feature.  It can create incremental backups of your entire system on a regular basis.

File and Folder Backup

File and folder backups are also supported.  These backups won’t be as large, or take as long as the system backups.  They’ll also allow you to back up specific folders such as your desktop, family photos, etc.

Support

The software includes a help manual.  The manual is fairly small, since there aren’t a lot of advanced features in NTI Backup Now EZ.

Technical support is available via a web-based email form.  I submitted a support request and was responded to the same day.  NTI writes, “We will make our best efforts to answer your question within 24 business hours of receipt, but please allow us up to 48 hours for a guaranteed response.”

Specifications
Product Name NTI Backup Now EZ
Version 1.5.0.115
License Shareware
Price $29.99
Operating Systems Window
Backup Types
Files and Folders yes
Full Disk Image yes
Incremental yes
Differential no
Backup Destinations
Hard Drive yes
Removable Media yes
Network Shares yes
Blu-ray no
CD/DVD no
FTP no
SFTP no
Online Storage yes
Features
Compression yes
Encryption yes
Email Notifications no
Error Handling yes
File Versioning yes
Priority Setting yes
Scheduling yes
Speed Limiting no
Synchronization no

Geoff Akerlund

Geoff Akerlund

Geoff Akerlund is the founder and editor-in-chief of BackupReview.com. He enjoys attending music festivals, whitewater kayaking on the American River, and board game nights in his free time.

Geoff Akerlund