Worried about losing your data? You’re not alone. Viruses, hard drive failures, accidental deletions, and theft all pose constant, daily threats to our digital lives.
I reviewed some of the most popular backup programs for Windows. Each were rated based on:
- Performance
- Ease of use
- Price
- Features
Here are the top results.
#1 – Acronis True Image 2014
Hands down the best Windows backup solution. True Image is the software I use to back up and restore my data. It does this with full disk imaging – the ability to restore your computer to it’s exact configuration. It supports scheduling backups, incremental backups (to save space), and pruning old backups according to a policy you set. It’s easy to use and highly customizable.
The price for the software is $50, add 250 GB of cloud storage for $5/month. Acronis’ pricing for cloud storage is unbeatable by most cloud storage providers.
Combined with cloud backup, True Image offers protection from the worst disasters. Hard drive crash? Virus? You can restore from a local disk image. Theft? Fire? Hurricane? Cloud storage has got you covered.
It’s the best of both worlds, and because of that it’s my highest rated backup software.
Get True Image 2014 or Read the Full Review
#2 – Paragon Backup & Recovery 12
Paragon Backup & Recovery is another line of full disk imaging software for Windows. It supports incremental backups, scheduling, and restoring to different hardware. It also uses a “Smart Backup Wizard” to guide users through the process of creating a backup.
Paragon also comes with tools to manage and repair your hard drive partitions. The price for the software is $40, making it one of the most affordable disk imaging utilities on the market.
Get Paragon Backup & Recovery or Read the Full Review
#3 – Retrospect Professional
Retrospect is powerful backup software for Windows and Mac. Like True Image, it also backs up your entire computer using full disk imaging. It supports “backup sets”, which can backup your data to more than one location. Free email support is included for the lifetime of the software. The price is $120, and includes five licenses, which equates to $24 per computer.
Get Retrospect Professional or Read the Full Review
#4 – SyncBackSE
SyncBackSE is file backup and synchronization software. I’ve used it on and off over the years to backup files and folders, and it’s never let me down. It’s fast, powerful, and lightweight. It has two modes: Easy and Expert. The expert mode has more advanced features than any other backup software I tested. And yet, Easy mode is simple enough for beginners to use. The price is $35.
Get SyncBackSE or Read the Full Review
#5 – Genie Backup Manager Home
Genie Backup Manager can back up your entire system state, in addition to files and folders. It can also back up individual Windows programs by using plugins. For instance, you could only back up your Quicken data, or your office program. You could then restore these programs later, without restoring the whole computer. Genie9 provides full, lifetime support for their software, at a price of $50.
Get Genie Backup Manager or Read the Full Review