TurboBackup is a fast, file and folder backup utility. It works on all versions of Windows and costs $49.95. In this review I’ll take an in-depth look at how it performs.
Pros
- Extremely fast file and folder backups
- ZIP compression option
- Works great for just file and folder backups
Cons
- Complex interface
- No full disk imaging
- “System Restore” feature didn’t work
The Bottom Line
TurboBackup is powerful and fast backup software. However, novice computer users will probably be put off by the complex interface.
Backing Up
When TurboBackup first starts, you can click on the “New” button to create a new backup job. The Backup Wizard will guide you through where you want to backup to, such as:
- Internal or External hard drive
- Thumb Drive
- CD/DVD (live file system is supported, to backup in increments)
- FTP server
- FileStream backup server
The TurboBackup new backup wizard.
You’ll then select the files or folders to backup. TurboBackup also supports so called “Dynamic Folders” (more on this later). You can choose to compress your files to a ZIP file, compress to a backup file, or simply duplicate the files and folders as is (with no compression). Encryption is also supported.
TurboBackup can do full backups, incremental, or differential backups. For completely automated backups, you can also schedule them.
TurboBackup has a lot of options available.
I found the TurboBackup interface to be a bit confusing at times. If you’re looking for a one-click backup solution, this isn’t it. But if you want to do file and folder backups with a lot of control over when, where, and how the backups are stored, this would be a good choice.
When I first backed up my files, I thought the software was broken because only 1 file was backed up. Later I realized this was because I didn’t have “include subfolders” checked in my backup job. So be sure to double check your settings if you run into problems.
I was very impressed with how fast the backups ran. It was much faster than other software I’ve tried.
Restoring
You can only restore from TurboBackup “.tbz” files within the software. If you used ZIP compression, you’ll have to restore manually.
I didn’t like how all the files are listed in restore mode. There is no way to sort them by folder. They’re all just listed in order, so if you have a lot of files it’s quite a long list!
The TurboBackup restore wizard.
However, TurboBackup didn’t have any trouble restoring my files.
System Restore
System restore doesn’t work, at least on my version of Windows 8. TurboBackup lets users click a single button to create a “restore point” – a point in time that the system can be restored to. However, the button didn’t work for me, and just displayed the same message each time it was clicked.
Features
Dynamic Folders
TurboBackup has a lot of templates to automate the backup process. For instance, the “My Photos” template automatically backs up your “My Pictures” folder in your Windows user account. You could use the <OUTLOOK> dynamic folder to automatically back up your Outlook data. There are quite a few dynamic folders to choose from.
FileStream Online Backup
This is TurboBackup’s own branded cloud backup service. It has some nice guarantees, such as redundancy and 99.982% uptime. However, with only 5GB of storage for $99 a year it’s just too expensive to recommend over competitors.
Support
Technical support is available via email. FileStream encourages users to read the FAQ before contacting support. I contacted them and was responded to the very same day. The user manual is also very good; I had no trouble finding answers to my questions.
| Specifications | |
| Product Name | TurboBackup |
| Version | 9.1 |
| License | Shareware |
| Price | $49.95 |
| Operating Systems | Window |
| Backup Types | |
| Files and Folders | |
| Full Disk Image | |
| Incremental | |
| Differential | |
| Backup Destinations | |
| Hard Drive | |
| Removable Media | |
| Network Shares | |
| Blu-ray | |
| CD/DVD | |
| FTP | |
| SFTP | |
| Online Storage | |
| Features | |
| Compression | |
| Encryption | |
| Email Notifications | |
| Error Handling | |
| File Versioning | |
| Priority Setting | |
| Scheduling | |
| Speed Limiting | |
| Synchronization | |
Geoff Akerlund
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