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DoubleSafety 4.3 Giveaway
$29.95
EXPIRED

Giveaway of the day — DoubleSafety 4.3

DoubleSafety is a program for automatic data backup.
$29.95 EXPIRED
User rating: 279 52 comments

DoubleSafety 4.3 was available as a giveaway on March 13, 2009!

Today Giveaway of the Day
$36.00
free today
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DoubleSafety is a program for automatic data backup. With an effortless user interface, you can store backups on your hard drive or use a local area network, send them to an FTP server or write to a CD or a DVD. You can also automatically encrypt data using the 256-bit AES algorithm.

Benefits of using DoubleSafety:

  • Thought-out interface;
  • Writing backups to CD/DVD and Blu-Ray/HD-DVD;
  • Uploading backups to an FTP server;
  • Encrypting according to the AES standard;
  • Incremental and differential backup;
  • A powerful and flexibly customizable scheduler.

System Requirements:

Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista; Approximately 4MB of free disk space

Publisher:

Power Labs

Homepage:

http://www.doublesafety.com/

File Size:

3.00 MB

Price:

$29.95

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Developed by Informer Technologies, Inc.
Developed by IObit
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Developed by Disc Soft Ltd.

Comments on DoubleSafety 4.3

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Please add a comment explaining the reason behind your vote.
#52

@42-Skye-hook: "I count on Ashraf, Whiterabbit, & Fubar to give us their opinions, which are usually better informed than most, & I appreciate them all a lot. Bladed Thoth & Bubby too. I take what they say as informed opinions, as I’m sure MOST here do. Write your own opinions & LEAVE THEM ALONE! Drop the crayon & back away from the commenters!"

ALF is a commenter like we all are. And he is very well informed too.
Who you trust is none of my business and I don't care too. We will all have our ways.
Quote from #21 "For the most part, I agree with #17, ALF." Puzzeling huh?
Quote from #36 "I’ll leave it at this." He dropped the crayon when he said that, everyone had his say.
So there are different views. Make up your mind and & ?? back away from the commenters ??

Reply   |   Comment by Waterblow  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+3)
#51

Re #38:

"So what if you need to restore your whole backup instead of just the part that was backed up with the incremental backup? You go back and have to restore each individual incr backup one at a time. Have fun."


Quite simple, since your backup folders would probably be stored in the same folder, it would make no difference if you have multi-thousands of them there.
Run an un-archive program, toggle the flags to overwrite the files, not to overwrite the files, overwrite only the older files or any multitude of options you wish.
You don't even require this program for that, as it would be slower than using a simple unarchiver.
It can run completely unattended if there are thousands of backup folders there, so there's no "fun" whatsoever involved. Absolutely no complication at all.

Reply   |   Comment by Fred  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#50

like a carbonite.com alternative

free, but only first 2GB of data for free

definitely a good program though

It's called: Drop Box

It's at: www.getdropbox.com

Reply   |   Comment by Ian  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#49

Thank you GOTD! This is a fabulous little backup application. I've been using NTI Shadow 4 and it has more features but there enough things about it that I don't like which makes replacing it with this jewel a no brainer. Sure, there are more features that would be nice (plugin for Outlook, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) but if all you need is a way to quickly back up your data files without hogging your hard disk and resources, THIS IS IT. If you don't like this, then go pay for something else!

Reply   |   Comment by jlutgring  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#48

Simple, easy to use software. Granted, not all of the features of some freeware programs such as SyncBack, but it is not -intended- to have all of these. As one of my friend said, "The best backup software in the world is the one you will USE."

This one is simple enough to activate and use that it may get some people to backing up their files that would not have before.

Reply   |   Comment by Mark Magill  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#47

I like it. I haven't used many of these sort of apps before, so I can't compare it, but one issue I have, is that (unless I'm wrong) you can't see how much data you are putting on a CD, or DVD, as you're adding files to the list.

The good news is, the program automatically splits the file between discs.

Reply   |   Comment by John Brusseau  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#46

I think there's enough freeware around anyway that does this kind of thing.
I always back-up to an external drive anyway and wonder why people spend a fortune on programs, There is no substitute for hardware backing up.
Even if it's CD/DVD or HDD, It HAS to be worth the investment!

With some of the specs of PC's posted on here, I often wonder why some can spend a fortune on a PC but feel the need to hang around any internet based software site that offers it's wares for free.

Sure, At least GOTD is a good place to check out anything new and trial it but I'll usually buy it if it's good enough and compatable with my PC.
The problem recently is GOTD has repeated so many of it's offerings :-(
I checked todays offering of course but it failed miserably on quite a few files.
Like I said, There's no substitute for Harware methods of backing up what you find invaluable!

Reply   |   Comment by Simon Moorcroft  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#45

Installs on
Windows XP x32
Windows XP x64
Windows Vista Ultimate x32
Windows Vista Ultimate x64
Haven't tested it beyond that and won't. I back up by doing true-clones of the drive and dumping a virtual partition to a new drive and remounting. 100% identical backups 100% of the time.

To #6, #7, #8 and every one else who has ever posted comments like this on GOTD pages:
"That’s why I would never adopt a free-for-a-while backup software…"

THIS IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE. It's not meant to be free. This is a one day, 24 hour period offer, for which you are supposed to try out, evaluate, test, and torture software, and then post feedback This is a post-release beta testing program! Always has been. If you LIKE the software, and wish to continue using it, like any other shareware product; you are expected to purchase and register it on your own.
Granted you are given open use on this version if you installed it during the giveaway period, but that's not the point.

Reply   |   Comment by lostinlodos  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#44

It seems to function ok. Using Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 32-bit. Was able to backup and restore files with no problem.

Reply   |   Comment by Beldin  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#43

Two Hard Drives. XXClone. Read jumper settings on Hard Drives. Master Slave. Backup To Slave. Set slave to Master When reinstalling. Switch Cables When reinstalling Switch Jumpers When reinstalling Trouble Free Every Time. Back up Every Thing Fast and Easy.New backup Drive Will always have all Your info at Hand.

Reply   |   Comment by Joe Backup  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#42

FWIW, it's actually more important, useful etc. in many situations to be able to back up the registry than the files that make up Windows, so not being able to is a definite black mark against Doublesafety. You can always re-install Windows, worst case, but most all your customizations & keys are in that registry. While I can always do that with ERUNT, some folks might not want to do a 2 step backup.

As far as the Font folder goes, I would guess that Doublesafety doesn't have the capacity to take a snapshot of files that Windows is currently using [which would account for it's not backing up the registry as well]. Again something I could live with, booting into another OS & then running the backup, but not everyone is willing or able to do that.

All in all, I prefer to run 2 types of backups -- one disc image & one zipped. The disk image I'll keep current -- the zipped version I only perform after major updates. The image I can restore in less than 1/2 hour using Paragon's software, & it's as foolproof as anything I've ever used. The zipped archive comes in handy when I try unknown software, & it replaces existing files in the Windows' folder -- you can easily access a single file in a zip archive, while any disc image program will by necessity have you jump through a few hoops, like mounting the image to a virtual drive. With the size of Vista's Windows' folder, you can't easily use something like WinZip because it doesn't in my experience like 4gig+ files all that well, so I keep something like Nero' Backup or Titan on hand.

Another part of any backup strategy is how to deal with backup storage... Optical discs stored remotely may be the most bulletproof, but it's also pretty inconvenient. External hard drives are more convenient by far, & usually faster, BUT they can fail &/or be easily damaged... their only real advantage over an internal hard drive is if something happens to your PC & not the external drive, which like your PC catching fire, is [knock wood] pretty rare.

I prefer to backup to internal hard drive, & to split those backup files over DVDs... the only reasons to use the DVDs is if the drive holding the backup becomes damaged, &/or if I'm storing them off site in case of fire/flood/theft. Writing a backup direct to DVD works of course, but restoration is then guaranteed a pain, & a slow one at that. [MediaCodeSpeedEdit might help in that respect, speeding up reading with your DVD drive] This way as long as the backup on the hard drive is OK, which I'd think would be 99% of the time, I'm guaranteed max speed restoring the backup... In the much less likely situation the drive's been trashed, it takes very roughly the same amount of time restoring as if I put the backups on DVD to begin with.

Reply   |   Comment by mike  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#41

Hi #27, I see no one answered your question so...
Many users consider Acronis to be the best "image copier" but Norton Ghost (especially old v6.5 and v9 ) still has its followers as does Ranish but it (IIRC) had some limitations regarding the resizing of partitions.
HD CLone will copy your h/drive - the free version is quite limited though regards size of h/d. Others include DriveImage XML (may still be free) plus XXClone and the like.

I tend to prefer making a direct copy of a drive to a fresh hard drive by utilising CasperXP. In the past I also used their program drive2Drive for Win98.
Relying soley on DVD or CD images via Acronis has cost me in the past (on a few occassions) as Acronis burnt some errors to disc - and it was impossible to regain use of the OS (unless I had prepared old fashioned boot-up discs.
But TBH, Acronis is now much improved since its early days and is much more reliable. I suppose it reminds me somewhat of when one burns data to CD & DVD - it's always best (if you have the time) to "Verify" that burning/copying has indeed worked properly - before
assuming that all has gone well.
Check out software from Paragon as they also made some good clone-type backup software.

Sorry I cannot give full comment on online back-up services as I simply do not use them.
However, there is another possible option and that is to utilise Backup to email via Win Explorer. In other words, you can add a small utility which allows you to backup your data to your email account - if it is big enough to hold your data! Obviously, large files are zipped so if you open up say a GMail account you can set your data
up there via a simple right click in Windows explorer.
Try www.backup2e.com
Watch the video there (youtube) to get an idea of the concept.
Hope this is of some help.

Reply   |   Comment by struan7  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#40

Installs & runs fine. Pretty easy to use. I LOVE that it saves the backup copy as a zip file u just unzip & run later to restore the backup!!! So many backup programs don't do that! Seemed to backup most sub-folders ok, but it did skip a few that were buried 6 levels deep, which is kinda sad, as many of my folders have a lot of layers! I like that it has a scheduler, so you don't forget to run it. The very few things I would ever use it for actually are things I normally just copy to my external harddrive, but by using this I wouldn't have to remember to do so every night, it would do it. HOWEVER, I have too many very specialized programs on my hd to save this for such a small use, so I will go on just copying my file nightly to ext hd myself.

THANKS Power Labs & GOTD! :)

I count on Ashraf, Whiterabbit, & Fubar to give us their opinions, which are usually better informed than most, & I appreciate them all a lot. Bladed Thoth & Bubby too. I take what they say as informed opinions, as I'm sure MOST here do. Write your own opinions & LEAVE THEM ALONE! Drop the crayon & back away from the commenters!

Reply   |   Comment by Skye-hook  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#39

@Ashraf [#4]

> * “Differential” and “Incremental” create new .zip backup files instead of modifying current backup file.

Just google what "differential backup" and "incremental backup" means. Look for a sync-software, maybe that's what you want. Total Explorer is a perfect Explorer replacement and has a sync tool on board.

> * No registry backup.

This is nothig what you can expect from a file backup program. Files and OS need different backup strategies.

---------------------------------------------------

@(german)werwölfchen [#18]

> For testing I had choosen a heavy task: the folder C:\WINDOWS.
> THE PROGRAMM LEFT OUT SEVERAL sub-folders e. g. the complete folder FONTS!!!

Guy, get Acronis True Image or Paragon Drive Backup. To try backup the OS with a file backup program is ... isn't such a good idea.

---------------------------------------------------

@Bob [#27] Acronis True Image or Paragon Drive Backup will handle the job.

Reply   |   Comment by Weißwurscht und Brezn  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#38

like a carbonite.com alternative

free, but only first 2GB of data for free

definitely a good program though

Reply   |   Comment by Ian  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#37

download and installed on win xp sp 3 will test it out. I realy like to use Allway Sync http://allwaysync.com/ and Beyond Compare 2 http://www.scootersoftware.com/ and syn files to usb drive when they are changed.

Reply   |   Comment by winracer  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#36

@ALF #17 and #29

I was not going to bother responding to your points, but your comment is just misleading people which is counter productive to what I am trying to do: help them.

* No registry backup.

This is a product for file backup not for registry backup. Would your shoes be bad because you can not fly with them?


First of all, for a program to be a complete and through backup solution, you need to be able to not only back up your files but also the registry such as what Titan Backup 1.5 (a software that is now forever free) does. Secondly, there is a big different between wanting to do some impractical, i.e. flying in your shoes, and wanting a program to do what other rival software can do. Ever heard of the false analogy fallacy? Maybe you should look it up.


* A sync feature would have added a nice touch.

Many things would be a nice touch but that is not a neutral verdict, but very personal. The product never claimed to offer such a thing.
Having buttons on my coat instead of a zipper would be a nice touch, but does it make my coat bad?


Again if rival free programs (i.e. Titan Backup 1.5) can do similar things I don't see how it is wrong to desire a commercial software to do the same.

Also, again you "analogy" is flawed. Buttons and zippers will keep both your coat closed but not having a sync feature will not help you sync two folders.

* Deleting a job from within the program does not delete the backup file on your computer.

This is actually a GOOD thing. When I stop a project and want to keep the history in backups I can keep them now and remove item/job from the app. now it is no longer needed. “job” and “backup” are not related in a way that as one is removed the other has to go aswell.


Debatable. If I don't need a 'job' for a 'backup' anymore that means I no longer need to backup those certain files. Therefore I would not need the backup. What I would like to see is the developer add in an option in settings that lets the user choose how they want it to be.

* Renaming a job from within the program does not automatically rename the backup file on your computer.

When my project has to be adapted I can alter the properties and give it a proper name accordingly. I can still keep the backup-history. This is much like the former “Ashraf-bad”.


Have you even used the program? If you are concerned with a backup history you can use the "Timestamps" feature. Renaming a job not resulting in the renaming of the actual backup file can create confusion if you are backing up many things: you may not know which file goes with which backup.

* Burning backup onto a disc has no option to create an ISO if you don’t have a disk on hand.

I agree that this would be nice, but the app just didn’t claim te provide such a facility. Many people wouldn’t even need it. It’s also a bit personal and not a neutral verdict.
I would like extra pockets in my coat, but is my coat in general bad now?


I always list what I see bad or missing in the "The Bad" list. I compared the program with other rival free programs and list what I find missing. Then when I give my final verdict I always say which are the major points I have against this program. Maybe instead of spending your time to try to make yourself look good at my expense you actually read what I wrote you would know this point is not a major point I have against the software. But yes I see not being able to burn an ISO as a bad nonetheless.

* “Differential” and “Incremental” create new .zip backup files instead of modifying current backup file.

This is just the way it works. The kind of backup you describe would be a full backup of the latest state with everything new in it.
This is what diff. and incr. backups do/are.
My shoes are not my coat, that is not bad that is plain reallity.


The difference between a differential/incremental backup modifying the current backup file and a full backup modifying the current backup file is that a full backup copies all the files and replaces the current backup while a differential/incremental would only modify the current backup and insert files that have been changed or added. In other words it would be faster.

Also, the way it is currently, if a person constantly makes differential/incremental backups, they will end up with hundreds, or possibliy even thousands of .ZIP files that they would have to manager. Lose one and you have messed up a certain section of your backup. Much easier to manage just a few .ZIP files. However the developer does not need to choose between one or the other way. He/she simply has to add an option in the settings that will allow the user to make their own decision of how the backup works.

* The .zips created by “Differential” and “Incremental” must be restored one at a time instead of automatically being restored together via the restore feature.

That would deprive you from many possibilities:
5 day ago I made a full backup and every other day an incr. backup.
Now I can choose to go back 2 days or 3 days. Your way turns everything back or nothing at all.


So what if you need to restore your whole backup instead of just the part that was backed up with the incremental backup? You go back and have to restore each individual incr backup one at a time. Have fun.

Again if you actually used the program, you would know that when resotring a backup you have the option of choosing only specific files to backup. Therefore if a incr/diff backup just modified the current .ZIP, whenever you want to restore you could just choose to restore XXX files instead of the whole backup. Further, if the incr/diff backup just modified the current .ZIP if the need ever arrises to do a full backup of everything, you won't have to individually restore each and every .ZIP file (remember you may have hundreds of them depending on how often you backup).

Lastly, again all the developer has to do is add an option in settings that allows the user to choose which way they want to do thigns.

* Need more visual confirmation message boxes.

Well I certainly don’t. Am I allowed to call this a “good”?

You may not but I am sure many users would appreciate a window telling them their backup is done.

* Restoring a backup file in a different location other then the original is done very badly.

And why might that be? My other location is basically another location.
What do you want?


Once again you just prove that you have yet to use the software. Also, if you bothered to read my review you would know what I mean by the con I listed: if you restore the backup file to a different location, then all the folders within the zip will be extracted, such as the C, program files, users, desktop, etc. folders instead of just the specific backup folders/files.

* If you pause then cancel while running a job, if you have a back up file already, it will be deleted.

While processing the job a file is being filled with your backup material. When you stop it, you basically tell it you don’t want an backup right now. The file being filled (and also not ready for use being partially filled) is deleted and now you end up logically with no backup. You told it so. Think about what you want it to do and then.. it magically happens. It’s like working with a computer.


Of course you are right. However does that mean the program should delete a previous backup? I think not. I am sure there will be many people who will go to create a backup then end up pausing and canceling for whatever reason. I am sure those people will be very surprised to find that if they got o restore their backup, there is no backup to restore because it was deleted!

Take care ALF.

Reply   |   Comment by Ashraf  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#35

This is just a huge thank you to all the polite people who answered my question regarding "What would happen if my hard drive failed"?
I am extremely impressed with the quality of information, please accept my grateful thanks.

Tall53

Reply   |   Comment by Tall53  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+9)
#34

@Archangel, #30: I was not reacting on the person but on what he wrote.
He wrote about the software and so did I. Learn to understand what you read.
By the way I write what, where and whenever I want.

@Ashraf, #33: Your age is not an item. Like I said it is very promising that you could accomplish what you did and you have the potential to grow very big. That is admirable. I used it more as a compliment than as a discrediting thing.
If you feel otherwise I am sorry about that but feel assured that that is not the case. I'll leave it at this. Succes.

Reply   |   Comment by ALF  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+2)
#33

The issue at hand is not about the accuracy of what I write, because like it or not, what I write is usually accurate.***

Reply   |   Comment by Ashraf  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-11)
#32

System Toshiba Satellite Laptop with Vista SP1 I like this software I need to back up personal files and pics Works for me!

Reply   |   Comment by Misty Knotts  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+1)
#31

@ALF, #17, #29

You don't have to agree with me. Disagreeing is fine and expressing your opinion about it fine. It just gives people more opinions and more to read up about. It helps them come to decision of their own. However trying to discredit what I say by saying that "Oh he is just a teenager" (which is the basis your second post) is really not addressing the issues but rather uses fallacies to supplement your argument. Lets just stick to what I write.

Furthermore, you said "you owe the people some accuracy". The issue at hand is about the accuracy of what I write, because like it or not, what I write is usually accurate. Rather the issue is that you disagree with what I write. There is a big difference.

Thanks for taking the time to critique what I wrote.

Reply   |   Comment by Ashraf  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#30

PS - As far as this software goes... it's your basic kind of old-fashioned back-up software (no sync... no web... proprietary... ). Today you're probably better off with Carbonite or one of the other online services, but hey... this is free and backing up somewhere - even if it's to a USB hard drive - is better than not backing up anywhere. Since this supports FTP -you could set up a cheap hosting account somewhere and get your critical files off-site that way. Not a bad deal for free.
-Roj

Reply   |   Comment by Roj Blocoyevik  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-1)
#29

Asschaff is just a young kid ? HAHAHA That explains a LOT.

Actually dude, you are creating quite a volume of work you can point to later - but trust me... a good bit of it 5 yrs from now you'll wish you had never posted. My advice - do relentless research and fact-checking. If you're not _absolutely sure_ about a feature/function you're reviewing, either don't mention it at all (very safe) or be sufficiently vague that you're not risking a foot-in-mouth situation a year from now. That takes practice. Printed software reviews are bad enough, hanging around until someone uses the magazine for a fire-starter... but on the web they live forever.

-Roj

Reply   |   Comment by Roj Blocoyevik  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#28

@comment #26 ALF

This section is not a platform for debate or criticism of another poster/commenter/member. None that we know of get paid that posts here so take what they give. Even better, post your own review and if they conflict they conflict.

Reply   |   Comment by Archangel  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-5)
#27

@Argonaught, #25:
Sorry for this OFF TOPIC comment, but I take the change defending myself from your personal accusations.
You are completely missing the point. I am certainly not "nitpicking and discrediting Ashraf".

Being 19 years of age he already accomplished a lot, that is very much promising. That's why I also like him to keep on going.
Many people listen to his advice. I started to compliment him with the efforts he puts in and all of the good screenshots that will be a guidance for many people.
But that does not mean that he will do only good and no critisism can be applied.

He is a human being making mistakes as we all do. Being a teenager could only be partly an excuse may be for being less experienced, but when many people listen to your advice and put trust in that you owe the people some accuracy. Acting big means being judged big and I thing he is old enough to cope with that; even improve and grow to be may be a second Bladed Toth.

I don't think I was unfair to him. He can if he wishes, discuss every sentence I wrote and prove me wrong. There is nothing wrong with a debate.
It is more likely you're ranting me. But I'll cope with that don't worry.

My (constructive; in case you start doubting again) point for Ashraf is:
Every feature is either bad or good in your review.
A featurelist is a good thing, but some things are just neutral.
It would be a good thing to seperate those.
It would also be a good thing to add a wishlist instead of naming every wish a bad thing because it is not there.
And sometimes there will be a mistake. This happens all over this site. I think it is a good thing to address that.
No offence meant.

Reply   |   Comment by ALF  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+22)
#26

@Phil K, #23; Charles K, #20:
Whatever motivation to vote or not vote, voting thumbs up or down for whatever reason, it will just happen, people unstopable do this.

The voting system does not sort out all the different conceptions and the only thing you'll see is some thumbs up and some thumbs down, meaning all those different expressions of things and reasons and therefore meaning nothing at all (are you able to sort it out just by comparing the numbers?).

Some people bought a copy before it became a GAotD, they can vote without downloading others are just disappointed and vote also without downloading and again others downloaded but personally hate the looks of the GUI etc.

The most senseable thing ever said about this (and this will come back again and again) is BrainGel's Theorem: "vote thumbs up if you want it for Christmass".

Just ignore the voting system, it isn't worth a disscusion.

Reply   |   Comment by ALF  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+6)
#25

There seems little point in repeating what previous posters have ascertained about this program other than it is rather nicely set-out and relatively tidy with easy-to-use functions. Lacking registry copying is not a problem as your registry clnr suite/prog may offer you that ability - otherwise use the old Run, regedit and save the reg files to a safe folder - somewhere.

I tested some internal file saving and all seems to go ok as I did not encounter any failures when utilising some very large external ide & sata slave drives.
In spite of the current voting, it would be somewhat unfair of me to condemn this program as it has worked here - AFAICS, flawlessly.
If anyone has encountered problems, then perhaps they could test their h/d platters for checksum errors and unfold some zipped files etc - just to be 100% sure it's not zipped and other compressed items at fault.

My second test involved utilising a 4 way USB adaptor linking 4 small usb sticks with a variety of 7-zipped, zipped and normal software files (just under 700MBs) - FLas, swfs, mp3s, png etc.
All went well both in saving and restoring data. No flaws (were so far) detected! I later threw in PageMaker4, Corel and other large program files and all went well in unfolding.

If you feel you may need this type of software then I could recommend you try it along with the likes of Backup4All as it too offers most (if not all) the normal necessities for simple file backup - scheduler, BkUp 2 removable media, Filters, incremental etc.- enough options for most people. For something that little bit better, then try Titan.

One of the main advantages of formulated backup software is to allow for those little extras - often time wearing tasks like making incremental backups - and it's nice when a measure of tidiness & reasonable eye candy is thrown in - without detriment to the program.

Everyday alternatives to this kind of software include the simple drag & dropping of files into the likes of CDBurnerXP (free) or Nero etc - and burn your data onto cd or DVD etc for safekeeping.
If you require true system protection or disaster recovery software, then this is not exactly what you should use.
As I mentioned this morning, you should therefore go down the Acronis or Casper route.

For casper go to : http://www.fssdev.com/ much better than Ghost etc. And for Acronis try: http://www.acronis.com

BTW, BackUp4All (last free version) can be downloaded from http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware
Only you can decide which one (if any) is best for your particular needs.

Thanks GOTD, Although I am more used to Titan, DoubleSafety seems to perform its tasks quite well here - so it's thumbs up.

Reply   |   Comment by struan7  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+8)
#24

System AMD Athlon64X2 4000~1TB Seagate HDD~4Gig Ram~Windows XP SP3. Interesting software easy installation,operation and design. Really excellent software does what it says .. I have a need to back up my data, not necessarily my entire hard disk (For Example personal photographs and music)so,for me a keeper.....NOW FOR SOMTHING DIFFERENT
The above comment is aimed at letting fellow product downloaders and the software developer know how I feel about the product offered today. If my comment about the actual offering is wrong I apologise. It's my opinion however. This comments section is becomming less of a forum discussing todays offering from GAOTD and more a "lets nitpick and discredit Ashraf" section. Personally his insight is normally "spot on" his comments like "if added would have been a nice touch" are actually aimed at DEVELOPMENT of the product or or the software programmer who wrote the code .....Shakes his head sadly at ALF and his fellow bloodsucks who has been on a rant to discredit Ashraf LATELY)The whole idea is to see how we as the consumer use or dont use a software package. I have seen where the consumer or testers like ourselves have taken originally offered software and made comments like " It would have been nice to have this feature added, actually to see a few weeks later a newer version of the software offered again ie verson 2( for want of a better name of an upgraded product) In other words the developer used our comments here to upgrade the software originally offered here. Finally!!!Thank you GAOTD for offering us this software and thank you Ashraf for helping me decide in a lot of cases.

Reply   |   Comment by Argonaught  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-6)
#23

I INTENDED to make such a backup: But for I know, the "fonts"-folder is not protected at all and ADDITONAL HAVING SET choices TO INCLUDE(!) PROTECTED and as well files being in use this is NOT ACCEPTABLE, for several special attributes could exist for other folders which you INTENDEDLY wish to back-up.

The workaraund to choose all those folders seperately to be saved is not teally acceptable, too...!

I would NEVER trust a backup(synch/mirroring tool, which gives no at least a warning, what will happen/happened (or, even better, WHY it happened...)!!!

Reply   |   Comment by (german)werwölfchen  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+4)
#22

#20 - Thats WHY there is a thumbs up, thumbs DOWN system, for God's sake !
What is the point of ONLY allowing thumbs up ?
There are poeople who try it and say it's not getting their thumbs up
The same bafflment applies to me (and many others) that the "If you don't like it don't get it, and don't vote" idiocy that the pro-everything posted bunch rant about.
This is how democracy works. - If YOU don't like it don't comment

See ? Such pomposity is monumentally annoying isn't it ?

Reply   |   Comment by Phil K  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#21

No way to back up your Windows Mail settings on this, none that I could see of saving your fonts, and a few other things that only a few others actually think of which are actually NEEDED - like Genie Backup manager which is the only one I can think of offhand that DOES.
NOT a keeper.

Reply   |   Comment by Phil K  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-4)
#20

#18, (german)werwölfchen, Windows contains a number of special folders, Fonts is one of them. This type of backup program isn't suitable for those types of backups, it's more for your own data. An image backup is best for a system backup. This is just a simple backup program; I don't find backup programs this simple to be very useful. It's using its own copy of StarBurn, which isn't the most recent. While I don't find simple file backup utilities to be very useful, I find much of the other criticism of this to be unfounded and unfair. It's designed to backup data files, not your system or your registry. For the most part, I agree with #17, ALF.

Reply   |   Comment by Fubar  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+25)
#19

In just over a year of daily visits to give away, I've never questioned or cared about the voting system. But, todays makes me wonder. If you don't need an offer, just pass & come back to see whats here tomorrow. Why vote if your not gonna try something?
I'm loaded with both data & drive backup software so I'm passing without voting. In fact, I own 3 of each but in actuality need only the best of the imaging programs for my (other then Vista Ultimate systems). That would be because Vista Ultimate has one built in which is far superior to any I've ever seen or used. All my systems have a built in data backup. However, I will say this. Everybody should have & use a backup application often & if you can, use both a data & drive imaging program. Keep both up-to-date! This system I'm using today is Vista Ultimate thats recovered from an image made with it's own drive imaging module.
You never know when disaster might strike so be prepared. I lost a hard drive just a few weeks ago. My backups saved my bacon. If you need a backup program, give this one a try. What have you got to loose? If not, pass but don't downgrade something without a good reason. Thats not fair to give away or the publishers who generously offer their goods here, for free.
And as others have pointed out, this one has a free trial that can be used to recover your data but since it uses standard compression for it's backups, you might not even need it to recover as long as you have a compression application. 7-Zip is free & very good.

Reply   |   Comment by Charles K  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#18

I agree with you in part zzz, however I've had occasions where the data (usually image files) have somehow become corrupted, or more correctly I end up getting a cyclic redundancy message. I've tried everything to extract these images to no avail; some of which were irreplaceable. I no longer trust just CD/DVD back up, I'll use external drives as well as DVD's which are used exclusively for backing up my important programs; so hopefully they will have a long life because they are only turned on infrequently. I'm sure many years from now I'll have to back them up again just to be on the safe side.

As for today's program, I find it's an easy way of backing up my files. Before I started using backup programs I'd manually zip and then copy all the files I wanted using my old copy of NERO and Winrar or stuffit, (I no longer use NERO by the way), but it was much more labor intensive than using one of the many backup programs that are now available. In my opinion the initial expense of buying a program (if indeed you do bother to buy one now that there are several free alternatives) is well worth it just for the labor saving costs. I'd much rather be playing a game than doing mundane tasks like manually backing up all my programs.

Regards

Whiterabbit

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit aka Stephen  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#17

What I tested (see above comment #10):

For testing I had choosen a heavy task: the folder C:\WINDOWS.

THE PROGRAMM LEFT OUT SEVERAL sub-folders e. g. the complete folder FONTS!!!

As long as I don´t know, WHY and under WHICH COONDITIONS such misbehave occurs, NOONE could trust such a toool in other circumstances/surroundings!

Reply   |   Comment by (german)werwölfchen  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+12)
#16

Fisrt of all I like to express all the work Ashraf puts into his reviews. Especially the screenshots on his site can be guiding for many people. Keep on going. But there is critisism also.

I am amazed many times when I see your list of "bads".
When I see (german)werwölfchen, #10, he points at something that is really bad or even disasterous! (I did not encounter that yet, but I'am worrying now about the quality of this product because the usualy high quality of the comments by (german)werwölfchen).

The Bad by Ashraf:
* No registry backup.

This is a product for file backup not for registry backup. Would your shoes be bad because you can not fly with them?

* A sync feature would have added a nice touch.
Many things would be a nice touch but that is not a neutral verdict, but very personal. The product never claimed to offer such a thing.
Having buttons on my coat instead of a zipper would be a nice touch, but does it make my coat bad?

* Deleting a job from within the program does not delete the backup file on your computer.
This is actually a GOOD thing. When I stop a project and want to keep the history in backups I can keep them now and remove item/job from the app. now it is no longer needed. "job" and "backup" are not related in a way that as one is removed the other has to go aswell.

* Renaming a job from within the program does not automatically rename the backup file on your computer.
When my project has to be adapted I can alter the properties and give it a proper name accordingly. I can still keep the backup-history. This is much like the former "Ashraf-bad".

* Burning backup onto a disc has no option to create an ISO if you don’t have a disk on hand.
I agree that this would be nice, but the app just didn't claim te provide such a facility. Many people wouldn't even need it. It's also a bit personal and not a neutral verdict.
I would like extra pockets in my coat, but is my coat in general bad now?

* “Differential” and “Incremental” create new .zip backup files instead of modifying current backup file.
This is just the way it works. The kind of backup you describe would be a full backup of the latest state with everything new in it.
This is what diff. and incr. backups do/are.
My shoes are not my coat, that is not bad that is plain reallity.

* The .zips created by “Differential” and “Incremental” must be restored one at a time instead of automatically being restored together via the restore feature.
That would deprive you from many possibilities:
5 day ago I made a full backup and every other day an incr. backup.
Now I can choose to go back 2 days or 3 days. Your way turns everything back or nothing at all.

* Need more visual confirmation message boxes.
Well I certainly don't. Am I allowed to call this a "good"?

* Restoring a backup file in a different location other then the original is done very badly.
And why might that be? My other location is basically another location.
What do you want?

* If you pause then cancel while running a job, if you have a back up file already, it will be deleted.
While processing the job a file is being filled with your backup material. When you stop it, you basically tell it you don't want an backup right now. The file being filled (and also not ready for use being partially filled) is deleted and now you end up logically with no backup. You told it so. Think about what you want it to do and then.. it magically happens. It's like working with a computer.

So the question I have to ask myself more and more is "Is this an Ashraf-bad or a real bad"

Reply   |   Comment by ALF  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+19)
#15

No offense, but this whole "Why would I need this" angle is well past my last nerve. Believe it or not children, not everything in life is designed for YOU! Amazingly, other people have different desires and needs than YOU!

This comments section is meant for people to review the SOFTWARE and HOW it works.

This software appears capable, but i think a built in Sync should be standard. I am expecting a new slave drive to arrive so hopefully i can give it a full back-up test later if it comes today.

Reply   |   Comment by Anidem  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+20)
#14

why not just burn everything to a flash drive? i do that all the time. i've burned things to CD's, too. no sense fretting over restoring stuff (and needing the program to do that) if you just burn it.

Reply   |   Comment by KW  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-14)
#13

#6
The backups are just .ZIP files that you can manually extract/restore if the need arises.

#10
Not sure why it won't work for you but I backed up a folder that contained 12 sub folders. All the files, including the ones in the last subfolder, backed up just fine.

Reply   |   Comment by Ashraf  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+11)
#12

Hello #6 - #7 rogdias has provided you with the initial answer.
However, if you are prudent enough, you can take certain precautions to protect your current info -ie Hard drive in use.
As you surmise, if your drive fails, then you (braodly speaking) do loose your data and since the download offer time had now expired you will have to wait until GOTD offers it sometime in the future. There is no guarantee GOTD will do so.

Solution:
Either make an ghost-image (clone) of your current drive via the likes of Acronis (CDs or DVDs) Paragon etc or better still, get a copy of Casper (CasperXP if you use XP - or Drive2Drive if you use Win98) and make a direct copy of your current hard drive onto a fresh/new or different hard drive (preferably of the same or larger size).

Since Casper (and similar cloners) make copies of your complete drive (including registry etc) you can simply insert the newly "copied" drive into your pc in times of failures etc.
Casper or indeed Acronis-like programs should be part of your existing software collection as hard drives are certainly not infallible - regardless of brand.
Complying with the above practice will ensure that you never have to worry about h/d failures - you will always have some form of copy.
Hope this helps.

Like others here, I'll download today's offer and give it a try - and make comparisons with the likes of Titan - it's the only true way of knowing if one can find a use for it. Thanks GOTD.

Reply   |   Comment by struan7  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+11)
#11

OK, I have not tested the program, but I really don't understand why one would need such a program at all. If I want to backup my files, I simply burn them to a cd/dvd. FULL SYSTEM backup is another thing though - thank you for Macrium reflect GAOTD!
Regards,

Reply   |   Comment by zzz  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-27)
#10

WARNING:
^^^^^^^

THE PRG. IS STILL FAULTY!!! WHOLE SUB-FOLDERS WERE NOT INCLUDED WHILE BACKING UP A BIG FOLDER TREE!!!

While now are much more basics features are implemented I must still warn you: this package still needs a lot of work...

Reply   |   Comment by (german)werwölfchen  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+49)
#9

Today’s free game posted by reverseOrder is a simple but well designed airplane time trials style racing game called 3D Game With a Guy Flying a Pedal Plane (And a really ridiculously long name) which was created by students from the University of Illinois at Chicago.


Link to 3D Game With a Guy Flying a Pedal Plane


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for today's free application, to answer Tall 53's question, the backup is saved as a simple zip file and does NOT require the presence of the original program that created it. I tested this by creating a backup of a few folders and then deleted the giveaway program. Opened up the backup folder and unzipped the file. The resultant folder was exactly the same as the original folder. The only danger with this system is that you don't get a registry backup, so any installed software that requires registry registration will also require a good registry back up program, of which there are plenty available.

so, rodias, you are safe to download and try this extremely simple to use program. I'm really impressed with its simplicity and ease of use and will certainly be comparing it with the backup programs I've already purchased. A big thumbs up from me. :)

Reply   |   Comment by Whiterabbit aka Stephen  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+24)
#8

6&7 - "what would happen if my hard drive fails, how would I be able to restore without purchasing the program."

The version that is freely downloadable on their website - will give you 30 days to do your restore.

That would be my first guess.

Reply   |   Comment by BuBBy  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+35)
#7

#6 said: "what would happen if my hard drive fails, how would I be able to restore without purchasing the program."

That's why I would never adopt a free-for-a-while backup software...

Reply   |   Comment by rogdias  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)
#6

Looks like a good program, may I ask what would happen if my hard drive fails, how would I be able to restore without purchasing the program. I would be interested in any comments please.

Reply   |   Comment by Tall53  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-10)
#5

Nice software.Activates smoothly and easy to work.Also Vista 64bit is supported.But it also has drawbacks as described in comment of Asraf.Overall Thumbs up for this program.Nishant appreciates GOTD for this software.

Reply   |   Comment by Nishant Gupta  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (-2)
#4

One interesting fact to note: DoubleSafety is very similar to an earlier giveaway Document Backup. The interface of both program are the same (only icons have been changed), both programs have the same features, and both programs work in the same way. I don't know if the developer just re branded the software or both DoubleSafety and Document Backup are resales of some other software. What I do know is that DoubleSafety is better then Document Backup in the sense that it has addressed/fixed a few of the grievances I pointed out in my review of Document Backup - mainly the fact that AES encryption did not work with Document Backup (it works with DoubleSaftey as far as I can tell).

Anyway:
The Good
* Nice clean interface.
* Decent backup speed.
* You can specify what type of backup you want.
* You can exclude X file type from backup.
* You can include X file type only in the backup.
* You can exclude X file type from compression.
* Good compression rate.
* You can encrypt your backups.
* Scheduler for automatic backup.
* You can backup to disc, local/lan folder or FTP.
* You can restore your backups from within the program.
* Self extracting backup files.
* You can backup multiple locations in one backup or "Job".
* You can have the program save old versions of your backup file.
* You can password protect the actual program.

The Bad
* No registry backup.
* A sync feature would have added a nice touch.
* Deleting a job from within the program does not delete the backup file on your computer.
* Renaming a job from within the program does not automatically rename the backup file on your computer.
* Burning backup onto a disc has no option to create an ISO if you don't have a disk on hand.
* "Differential" and "Incremental" create new .zip backup files instead of modifying current backup file.
* The .zips created by "Differential" and "Incremental" must be restored one at a time instead of automatically being restored together via the restore feature.
* Need more visual confirmation message boxes.
* Restoring a backup file in a different location other then the original is done very badly.
* If you pause then cancel while running a job, if you have a back up file already, it will be deleted.

Free Alternatives
Titan Backup
Comodo Backup
Cobian Backup

For final verdict, recommendations and full review please click here. However I can tell you I give DoubleSafety a thumbs up but don't recommend it.

Reply   |   Comment by Ashraf  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+118)
#3

Latest version changes.

1. Open files backup.
2. Improved support for command line parameters.
3. Faster file search during backup operations.
4. Now the "USER user@hostname" mode instead of the "OPEN" mode is used to connect to the proxy server.
5. The problem with the tray hint has been fixed.
6. Labels that were displayed incorrectly in some languages have been fixed.

http://www.doublesafety.com/help/version_history.htm

Reply   |   Comment by SarahBeth  –  15 years ago  –  Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (+28)
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