When a backup job is se tup and one chooses the target location, you must name the resulting backup file. The backup file has a *.wbb extention on it. This originally threw me off, as I thought WinBackup would just copy the folders over to the target and leave it at that. Actually, the WBB file has an important function in that it maintains the relationships between the files and folders in the backup and the original location of those files on the PC. This really helps when it comes to restoring files from a backup. It also means that you will need WinBackup installed to make any use out of your backups.
When you choose “Restore”, you just choose the WBB file and it will give you the same Explorer-like interface as when you created the job, but this time you will only see the files and folders that are included in the backup. I did note that when I chose the WBB file, there was a long pause before I saw anything appear on the screen. At first, I thought the program locked up. If it is really just the wait for WinBackup to parse the files in the backup, it would be nice to see some kind of feedback so we don’t think it locked up.
When doing a restore, it is basically the reverse of what you did before. You can restore everything or just certain files or folders. You can restore them to the original location or anywhere else on the PC. You can also control the settings as to what files are replaced on restore and which are left alone.
The Wizard
WinBackup has a built-in wizard to help you through the process if you can’t figure it out (which I would find hard to believe). There are a couple of buttons at the top of the GUI, to start the Backup Wizard or the Restore Wizard. The wizard will introduce you with a brief window in the center of the screen. Choose “Next”, and the window will move on to guide you through the process. The window will pop around the interface and point little arrows at what you need to do. Boittom line – you can’t get lost here.
Little Things That Bug Me
Whenever I do a software review, I realize that my review is not only for end users to evaluate the software, but also for the developers to get some feedback on what they could change to improve their product. That said, I will point out a few minor things that happened during my use that could be looked at:
- When you open the program, it re-tallies the size specs of each backup job on-the-fly. It is not a big deal because you can still use the software even while it is performing these tallies. But, it would be nice if the WBB files for each backup could internally store the number of files contained therein, as well as the size specifications. This would alleviate the issue of it re-computing everything every time you open the program.
- In the Add/Remove files section, the folder list in the left frame is not alphabetized and there is no way to alter it. It would be nice of this tree structure was in alpha order, just like Windows Explorer.
- On a large backup job test, WinBackup hung up at the end of the backup process. I had to end the program and restart it in order to get the status window to go away. It only happened on one test.
- The status window has a big red background under the animated folders (see right). Could just be some video driver issue.
Final Thoughts
I am quite pleased with this software. One of my biggest problems with backups is remembering to do it. I began leaving my PC on almost all the time a few months ago and now I am able to take advantage of the overnight hours to have the PC perform grunt work without wasting my work time during the day. This includes virus scans, defragmentation, download backups from the PC Media web server, and now, with the help of WinBackup, perform backups of my important data. Yes, there is the little issue of remembering to put a CD into your recorder at night (if you choose to run backups directly to CD overnight), but if you just leave the backup CD-RW in your drive, WinBackup will take care of the rest. Or if you have a LAN setup, you can have WinBackup store the backup to a mapped network drive, thereby getting the backup off of your hard drive (which is the entire point, is it not?).
WinBackup is a great product. Its very easy to use and allows you to truly set it and forget it. You now have no excuse not to backup your PC.
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