Although the give-away is over, I thought I would post this as an information resource for the next time one of Ocster's products is offered.

It was good and spoke well of the company that Mr Duden monitored these posts & answered questions. However, both he and his web site are remiss in not being very forthright on some of the "details" of their products.

First, 1-Click is an All-or-Nothing, one-size-fits-all application. All user control of the app have been removed to the point where it is only useful for small systems operated by minimally literate computer users. User choices are strictly limited to selecting which (logical) disk(s) to backup, the location of the backup images, how often to run the backup and how many backup generations to keep. The choices are recorded into a "plan". Only one allowed. That's it for user control. Since you are limited to a single "plan", any disk(s) not included in that plan will never get backed up. And for each entire disk, no matter how many or how few files have changed, all must be copied to the backup location. It totally ignores the differences in importance and dynamics of a disk's contents. (And it is not all that smart either: As an experiment, it happily tried to backup a 120 GB disk onto an 80 GB disk with only 20 GB of available space. Neither does it have a pause or stop button. Taskmanager kill is your only option.)

1-Click assumes that all data is alike and all should be subject to the same backup schedule. However, in reality, data is not all alike. Some files such as archives, installed executables, dictionaries and localization (language) definitions rarely change and only need to be backed up infrequently - as little as once or twice a year. Other files, such as working documents, email folders, configuration files, browser bookmarks and history, need to be backed up daily or weekly. And everything in between. Vastly different backup schedules for vastly different types of data/files. 1-Click is simply oblivious to those requirements. If your system is small enough or if you either don't know how, or don't care, to differentiate your data backup needs and you don't mind dedicating over half of your online storage capacity to backups, then 1-Click may be useful. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

"Reverse incremental" is touted as a unique and outstanding feature that ensures that the latest backup is always a full backup. It offers advantages in safety, reliability and ease of restoration. It works by always making a full backup and then propagating the differences backwards by removing identical files in the previous backup generation. However, the advantages come at a price which is never mentioned.

Since each backup requires a full backup, even for no or minimal source changes, this can result in huge amounts of unnecessary time and resource consuming disk activity. If you have a 6 TB backup set then every backup has to copy all 6 TBs. After a full backup is complete, the previous (full), backup generation is trimmed to remove identical files. This results in severe disk fragmentation which, in turn, leads to slower disk operation and increased wear and tear on the disk itself due to increased head movement. The tradeoff is not necessarily unreasonable but it is disingenuous to not mention the implications.

"Incremental" brings up the question that I asked before and was never answered: What is the criteria for "changed" files? Size and/or date stamps are not reliable criteria. Many application modify their files without changing their date stamps or size. Contrariwise, it is easy to change date stamps on otherwise identical files. For my test case of of 345 files (backed up in two runs 10 minutes apart and with no changes to any of the files' contents or properties), almost one third of them were deemed changed and were duplicated in the backup sets. That is a huge waste and is untenable.

Another application "feature' highlighted by the vendor is its background mode of operation. However, it seems that no I/O activity and as little as 5% CPU activity, is enough to prevent the program from running. Just sitting there Firefox can use 5-10% and prevent the backup from ever running. A better method would have been to just set 1-Click to run at a low priority. This also begs the question of how good a backup of an OS is if it took an hour to complete - way beyond the capability of Volume Shadow Copy Service to compensate. OS files are changing constantly and can get out of synch all too readily.

Contrary to the implications of Ocster's product comparison chart, Ocster 1-Cick Backup and Ocster Backup Pro are vastly different applications - apples and oranges. Yet the web site feature lists, the comparison chart and Mr Duden himself never mention this. In fact, the comparison chart implies that they are evolutionary cousins.

Although they are both backup apps, they are quite different. 1-Click is basically a disk/partition imaging tool. It is an all-or-nothing operation: Either the entire disk is backed up or none of it. This is only useful for small systems where the user can't be bothered with intelligent backups.

OTOH, Ocster Backup is a true back up tool offering multiple concurrent backup backup scenarios. The user has a complete spectrum of choices: from single files, folders to entire disks - each to its own schedule. IOW, the tool allows you to create multiple backup schedules utilizing a mix of offline and online media, each tailored to the importance and properties of the data to be backed up. If it weren't for its failure to reliably recognize unchanged files and its over sensitivity to execution conditions it would be a near ideal tool.

Update: In scanning through the registry I just discovered a disturbing fact: The Ocster backup products surreptitiously create new hidden, user accounts with administrator privileges on your system. That is a major no, no. Permission to install a program is NOT permission to take over one's computer and install additional user accounts. Especially without informing the user. The arrogance of application programmers to not allow users to choose an install location is bad enough but this is much worse. In my forty years of computer experience I have never seen anything as brazen as this.

There are (at least), two problems with this behavior: One is the obvious disk and registry bloat and clutter. More importantly, it creates the potential for a major security breech. These user accounts were created with administrator privileges. Administrator accounts have full reign of your system without any security protection as well as this creates a path to grant full control to any malware or hacker who gains access to the account. The Ocster background service could be run just as well under the localsystem account without necessitating a new user account.

This begs the question: Why create these accounts? I can think of one legitimate rational but the risks and suspicious installation far outweigh the minor benefit. They are not needed to create or run a service. Nor are they needed or installed by any other backup applications. Are they back doors for Ocster remote control?

Although the Ocster accounts have 15 character passwords, where are the passwords stored and how are they accessed? Are the passwords unique for each installation? Does the installer "call home" with the password? Having a known user account and a known password on a remote system is a wide open front door into that system. Very dangerous. Very suspicious. Very unnecessary.

Complete and forthright explanations are required. It will take a lot for Ocster to regain our trust.

#122
Robert

so file compression at 50% claimed by Ocster 1-Click Backup cannot be realized

Installed Ocster successfully on a Win7 64-bit system. Started the backup, but it stalled at about 75%. I killed the program using Task Manager and restarted it. It got back up to about 75% again, and stalled there again. While it was running (and stalling) I ran AOMEI Backupper 1.6 and it finished in about 30 minutes without a stall or hiccup. Verdict: I uninstalled Ocster. No contest.

@121 Robert
The OS (Windows or Macintosh) and programs on most home PC's occupy less than 60-GB. The user files above that are mostly media files such as photos, videos, music, and books/articles (pdf) which are already compressed. This means that very few PC's are going to realize 50% compression ratio regardless of what backup program they use. Much space can be saved by skipping temp files and doing incremental backups instead of all full backups but this is not compression.

The comments on this Giveaway, should be read by all developers.
See how much it is appreciated when you come to this forum and answer questions and educate us?
The fact that Ocster has give tne serial that will continue to work, even on a new install is very much appreciated. So many programs I think twice about because if I have a crash, then I cannot access my backups. Please developers make it so that the serials remain, and dont die if I have to reinstall. You will have more followers if they can be assured that the program can be restored at a later date.
Great day for Ocster and Mr Duden!

Waited until now to download, wanting to read up on comments but for some reason I download the program but it will not open and install so it looks like I will miss out on this one from GOTD. Have gone through the download process twice, but when I click on INSTALL, that is all that happens, from that point nothing happens and a search of my computer fails to find the download. Not a computer wiz by any means so no idea where the downloaded file ends up, I have checked my downloads folder and also temporary folders but still come up with zilch. Pity, I liked what I had read, especially the fact the CEO was prepared to give time to help others with the software. Sometimes waiting isn't a good idea, by the time anyone can give me advice the download/activate period will be ended. Can't give it any thumbs up or thumbs down as I haven't been able to install.

Update:

I must have messed up somewhere on configuring this program so now I'm doing the review again to clear things up. That being said, here are my findings on Ocster 1-Click Backup 2

Backup time was 18 minutes vs Acronis which took about 12 minutes. No biggie here on backup time comparisons.

Backup file size was 36.4 GB vs Acronis which comes in at 34.3 GB so file compression at 50% claimed by Ocster 1-Click Backup cannot be realized. For me, this isn't a big deal maker. Both programs came in very close for total file size.

Ocster 1-Click Backup 2 has only four settings you have to make before backing up something.
1. Configure what drive(s) you want to back up
2. Configure where you want the backup to go. I chose another hard drive and created a folder called "Ocster Backups"
3. Configure a schedule for automatic backups. I chose no schedule as I like to manually back up my stuff when I feel the need to.
4. Configure how many total backups you want to save

When you're all set doing the above, click on the "Activate Plan" button. It will ask you if you want to create your backup on DVD's. I selected "No"
Down, at the bottom, I clicked "Start backup" link to start the process because I chose not to schedule backups. This is a nice feature to have for me. When backup is complete, you can then click on "Show Backup Contents" button to view your backed up files. If you don't do this, then all you'll see in your backup folder are .vmdk compressed file extensions.

Conclusion:
Ocster 1-Click Backup 2 compares well against Acronis True Image.
The 50% compression they tout doesn't really pan out but no biggie for me.
The GUI is extremely simple and laid out well.
I find this to be a very effective program and it does what it claims, as far as I can see, with the exception of the purported 50% compression they claim.

I highly recommend this program. If any backup program is as acccurate as Acronis True Image is, it will get my vote. Nice program..

Thank you very much for this. My brand new Seagate 4TB external would get half way through the Windows Backup and fail - every time. I tried for several days and finally figured it was just a drive problem, even though all the Seagate diagnostic tests and Windows drive checks came back clear. I basically went through my drives and just copied the folders and files I wanted onto the new drive. This is so much better and a more comprehensive backup!

Installed and activated fine on my Windows 7 x64 HP laptop. Registration email came quickly and went through settings smoothly. Backed up my ~400GB of data in only a few hours, which is much faster than the Windows Backup which tried to take almost a day (and still failed!)

My only suggestion would be to make the "Start Backup Now" link into a button at the bottom right corner, and possibly in a different color than the blue ones above it. I set up the scheduled backup and then wanted to start one, and it took me a second to visually pull that off the screen. I'm pretty technically savvy, so I figure most would appreciate a more visible "Start Now" option.

Thanks again!

"Is there a way to prevent Ocster from running all the time and launch only when I want to back up?"

This was always my problem with this software in the past. I was hoping they would offer that setting in this new version.

One thing I did not like at all was that after I installed the application and got it registered, I exited. When I looked in my system tray, it was still running. I had to kill the process from the system tray to get it to go away. This is really bad behavior and doesn't appear to be configurable in the application. Bad form guys (and gals). If the user exits the application, it should die. At least this should be made a configurable option.

Good piece of software on offer today. I downloaded, installed and registered with no problems whatever on Win 7 64 bit. Did the backup to an external drive and worked perfectly.
Thanks for tis GAOTD and Ocster.

OK,

So lets say I've taken advantage of this gracious offer and installed/reg this app into my computer and lets say it worked %100 as advertised. What would happened if, lets say, 1-2 year for now my HHD crashed. Do I now need to go and purchased a full copy from you (assuming you are still around) in order to recover the backups made with this GAOD copy? OR. Can I just go into my download archives and re-install and re-reg this copy, on THAT day, onto my repaired system to restore its latest backed up?

I've been using Ocster 1-Click version for a while, and I like it. I noticed that there is only one main change between version 1 and 2, so I thought I'd go ahead and add the new version 2.04.

What is nsaADED.tmp? That came up in the installation details for this program. I'm glad that the installer actually shows what's going on ... and in.

I had a problem. This one installed in two different directories in c:/program files/ I believe the problem is because I tried to keep version 1 and also install this version 2. Now, it looks like a mess.

Another issue is that my computer shields detected and blocked two Ocster programs which tried to install as default startup programs. This should NOT be installing anything like that unless asking first. I trust Ocster is doing this with good reason, so no problem. Besides, nothing was installed in my system as an automatic startup ... that may be ok ... or it may cause this not to work ????

Like I say, version 1 worked great (since 2011). This version 2.04 seems to have registered ok, and it seems to start up ok from the desktop shortcut.

The only other problem is that this keeps trying to open a different browser than my default Firefox web browser. I don't want Microsoft browsers - please.

Thanks to Ocster and GOTD for making this available and for managing and answering comments. You are GREAT!

Installed ok on my Windows XP PC. I like the idea of the reverse incremental backups. That's the feature that got me to try the software. There are very few options and that's what makes it easy to use. I've had problems several times with backup software not restoring properly so for added security I'll keep using my Paragon software and use Ocster 1-Click also.
The only thing I would change is the rescue disk. The rescue disk was slow to load and it asked me what State I lived in. I doubt it needs that information. I suggest some customization of the rescue disk to speed the loading.

Pros:
Easy to use
Reverse incremental backups
Scheduled backups
Automatic deletion of old backups (as defined by user)
Easy to extract files and folders from the backup

1Click install and register without any problems on my 232G SSD with Win7/64. As a comparison I ran a backup with 1Click vs AOMEI on my main drive containing 56.6G of actual used space. Both programs took approximately 45 minutes to do a full back up, however, 1Click created multiple files totaling 43.8G where AOMEI created just one file totaling 27.8G. That's a hugh difference.

I've used AOMEI on another PC and Laptop running XP Pro with 100% success rate. AOMEI also has the option to install as a portable version and the program is free.

Hi - I think the comments here are very useful and I have downloaded and installed to test it out this weekend. I really like the fact that the CEO got on this page and answered almost all questions in a rational way. That was key in making me want to try the software, FWIW.

Sadly this new version of backup doesn't like either of my dual boot systems; successfully started install? uninstalled previous version OK, then asks for a reboot over and over again, some kind of pending operation? rerunning installer only gives request to reboot now, not finding application in uninstall list, so guess its done now!! lost and gone..

@Hauke Duden: Re "incremental chain runs backwards, so the most recent backup is always a full backup and does not depend on anything before it"

That sounds interesting and good. What happens if I want to restore an accidentally deleted file if not discovered until multiple generation of backups? Is each generation a complete image of the backup set for that generation?

BTW, I did want to mention that I appreciate your online presence today to answer our questions. It speaks well of you and your company.

Mr. Duden: Will your program mirror my first HD into a second HD and keep the mirror current so that if the first HD blows up, I don't have to "restore" from the second HD into a new blank (third) HD but can simply take the mirror second HD and put it in the main HD slot of the PC and it just works?

Thanks.

Whenever I install GOTD software (or might want to obtain it someday) I save all of the comments, in the same folder as the software. The comments are often informative, useful for troubleshooting and learning about the capabilities.

This time, with many good questions and direct & CLEAR answers by Hauke, the comments file will be invaluable. Thanks, Hauke & GOTD fans!

@Hauke Duden: Yes I have a previous version of Ocster Backup installed but the questions are very germane to today's version and to whether it would be worthwhile to DL & switch. If OB7 is "not comparable" to 1-Click then why does it appear in your feature comparison page? I strongly suspect that 1-Click has its roots in OB7 and is an evolution of it, not a brand new product - my questions apply to both versions.

Specifically:

What is the criteria for "changed" files to trigger an incremental backup?
OB7 was extremely wasteful. Is this fixed in 1-Click?

According to the feature comparison chart, 1-Click drops support for 1:1 file copy and backup reports. Why? Is there anything in 1-Click to replace these basic and necessary functions?

Are backup images/files among various versions of Ocster Backup 100% compatible?

Does the rescue disk support USB hard disk drives?
Are the Rescue Disks compatibile among various versions or does one have to burn a unique disk for each OB version? If compatible, backwards only?

Can one move previous or current version backup files to a new location and “import” them to OB?

Is there any more detailed documentation than the in-app help in OB7 or the current PDF User Manual listed under "Additional resources"? Both of these documents are fairly superficial and lack details of backup operations.

Lastly, I will send these questions to your support team but I doubt I will get a response in time to affect today's decision. Besides, these offerings "do not include technical support" hence my questions to you during today's window of opportunity.

Thank you for your answers this time.

I have used Macrium Reflect Free for years and recovered my computer twice now and it worked sweet.
Up and running again in less than an hour with all programs working.
I will try this software because the ceo gave his time to reply to comments but as my website only deals with free software
I won't be linking to it from there.
Thanks GAOTD and Ocster

First of all: I am just another user who wants to say that I am really impressed with Mr Hauke Duden presence and his comprehensive input (free of any marketing tricks which is really rare nowadays). I do appreciate your time and effort, Mr Duden.

Now, there were some remarks on this forum that a new disc is needed to backup with your application, and I may have missed some pieces of advice, so I want to double check one thing:

I assume that all your application needs to backup a disc is another disc large enough to hold backup files and some other application files (if any), which means that the target disc does not have to be a fresh, clean disc. In other words, I understand that if I backup my system disc to a huge USB external drive which already holds some other files on it, my files will not be destroyed and lost during the backup process. If so, can I chose a location on the target disc in which the backup files will be saved and then update. Am I right? I do appologize if my question is simply silly or unproper, but the last thing I would like to experiece is the loss of my old files on the target disc "in return" for a backup having been installed there.
I’ll appreciate if you care to respond to my doubt,Mr Duden.
Regards

hauke, are you still online?
( its been a very long day for you!thanks for your quick answers!)
my questions: if i want to upgrade to the pro 8 version, can i use the backups already taken by this gaotd version??
and also: very important ; how can i stop running ocster always in the background and launch it only when i want it??
if you are alreadz gone, i would appreciate if you answer these tommorow. thanks!

Like most everyone else, I find Mr. Duden's participation quite impressive, and Ocster 1-Click Backup 2 seems to be a worthy competitor in the disk/partition backup arena.

Having installed the software and backed up my C partition, it seems to rival AOMIE's Backuper in size of backup file. However, Backuper was much faster on the initial backup.

In addition, Backuper will do both incremental and differential backups. I prefer the latter which allows for deletion of those backups tied to the initial one if they outlive their usefulness. So if you have "Main" +1 +2 +3, you can scrap 1 and 2 when the mood suits. With Ocster, you likely cannot eliminate any incremental backups except possibly the last one.

Finally, the true worth of any backup program is its reliability in restoring a partition or drive. I haven't tried to use Ocster's restore function, one reason being that the ISO download for its restoration disk is an amazingly huge 500 megabytes. By contrast Backuper is ten percent that size (50 megs) and that includes the main program. Easeus, the only other worthwhile backup program in my opinion, is 100 megs for both program and ISO.

I have restored the C partition a hundred times on my computer and my wife's computer without a single problem. By contrast, I've had problems with Macrium and Paragon (and even one can be catastrophic). Easeus has also performed flawlessly, but restoration time is three times the ten minutes it takes Backuper to get me back up and running.

# Ocster Backup Rescue Disc

From within the GUI of the program, click on “Rescue Disc” and then on “Rescue Disc Information”; this will lead you to the website where you can download it.

Alternatively, you can follow this link.

http://www.ocster.com/ocster-rescue-disc/en?utm_content=rescuedisc%2Fen&utm_medium=go&utm_source=o1cb2%2Fgotd14

Backup FAILURE:

-- 2014-01-31 --
13:02 : Activating...
13:06 : The backup was stopped because of the following error:
Error starting a Windows component (Volume Shadow Copy Service) that is essential for the backup (error VSS 0x8004230f).

XP Volume Shadow Copy Service is running as confirmed by msconfig.exe

Is there a way to prevent Ocster from running all the time and launch only when I want to back up?

First, I confess that my computer knowledge is fairly limited.
(I am not technically savvy.)

I have two hard-drives:

C-drive (149 Gigabytes)
I-Drive (500 Gigabytes)

My C-drive contains all my essential system files, program files, documents, etc.

My I-drive is presently (mostly) empty.

I have just created a 'folder' on my I-Drive called: My OCSTER BACKUP

Can I now simply 'backup' my entire C-drive onto my I-Drive---choosing this 'folder' in which to place/save it?

I would be grateful for any HELP/ADVICE that: (1) Hauke Duden or (2) any others here can offer, regarding the correctness and appropriateness of this backup strategy!

Failed 3 times on me. Got this in the log:

15:06 : Activating...
15:08 : Backup has started.
15:09 : the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. (Path: '\\?\globalroot\device\harddiskvolumeshadowcopy68')
15:09 : the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. (Path: '\\?\globalroot\device\harddiskvolumeshadowcopy68')
15:09 : The backup was stopped because of the following error:
the request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. (Path: '\\?\globalroot\device\harddiskvolumeshadowcopy68')

Similar errors all three times, except the "harddiskvolumeshadowcopy68" had different numbers each time (instead of 68).

It failed when I tried to backup to my NAS twice, and the last time when I tried to save to my E: drive (data drive).

You say that your software cannot copy a backup from a 64-bit computer to 32-bit computer. Can it do the reverse. For example, I'd like to copy an entire drive, minus a few items, from my 32-bit Dell to a 64-bit whatever. The new drive would be larger, so that should not be a problem. However, what happens given that I'm running a 32-bit version of Windows (Win7 Pofessional)?

I get the following every time I try to run the backup. 14:55 : Activating... 14:59 : The backup was stopped because of the following error: Error starting a Windows component (Volume Shadow Copy Service) that is essential for the backup (error VSS 0x8004230f). Is there a way to fix this?

Mr.Duden:
I am using AOMEI. I hate to change the program, but will switch to Ocster 1-Click Backup, if there are compelling reasons to do so. Would you mind telling me why I should switch?
Thank you kindly.

@74 & @84 By the looks of it, there are instructions on the Products page, just go to to the relevant product and then More Info.

I'm running a Software nVidia RAID1 setup with XP on one of the partitions. Will the boot disk be able to see the RAID array in order to restore a C system copy??
Many Thanks

This might seem like a stupid question, but would it be possible to back up to a set of DVDs? I do not have an external drive and my flash drives are only 16 GB. Thanks for your answer.

Downloaded and installed a previous version given here. After some time, I uninstalled it, for (good) reasons I can't remember.

Now Mr Duden, I'm willing to try it again, but before I carry on with the download I have a question:

When backing up a single partition, does the image include empty space?

I hoped to find an answer to this question (and some others) in the PDF manual but the link on the web site does not work.

Installation was simple and easy, as was the first backup of just my C: drive. Speed was great too, but where Ocster fell down for me was in the compression level. I purposely keep my O/S drive to a size where True Image creats a backup which will fit on a DVD. The Ocster backup was 600mb too big. True Image is bloated, but removing that alone won't allow an Ocster backup to fit on 1 DVD. (I always make full image backups and don't bother with incremental)
However, I like this program enough that I will be seeing if I can move anything else to a data drive to get the backup image size down to DVD size.

Thank you Ocster and GAOTD.

I like the software developer's comments. Perhaps he will offer one for me. I tried and even bought an earlier version of Ocster Backup but did not like the interface. I did find it was only one of the several that really did backup the software and that's why I bought. I have been using Norton Ghost version 15 which seems to work well but I am looking for something easier and more intuitive than that software that remains dense even with a download and printed manual of 213 pages.

Thanks Hauke for your timely responses!!!
I usually build my own systems but I recently bought a Lenovo desktop that has 5 hidden partitions on a 1TB drive. I like to keep my data on a separate HD but Lenovo says for warranty all partitions must remain. Can I use Ocster 1-Click Backup to essentially clone to a smaller C: drive?

How will it be possible to reinstall this special version? I see there is a 'normal' version which will also work, but I assume the GAOTD version is different. Won't the setup check to see if the giveaway date is correct and then fail? Or have I missed something? Not unknown at my age. :)

First time commenter...Long time user viewer.
I think this has generated the MOST comments and RESPONSES that I have ever seen

Installation of Ocster 1-Click Back Up 2 [O1C] was a breeze! Changes made on hard disk and registry tracked using Total Uninstall is recorded in a text file re http://sh.st/YMA6

Though the installation showed 131MB disk space was required, O1C took up only 28.7MB installed, 27.5MB having all language folders deleted save the English one, which should be the only one installed since English had been chosen for installation. The folder is over half as much, ie 65MB as Nick the customer service personnel advised. I wonder if it can be further trimmed using UPX without breaking its functionality.

Backing up a Windows 7 Home Basic of 8.5G (trimmed using RT7) used 33.62MB RAM. Back-up completed from 01:14-01:25 hours--amazing--much faster than DiskGenius and DriveImage XML! The folder holding 10 .vmdk back-ups plus others used up 3.9G--over half that of the 8.5G Windows 7 Home Basic installation. DriveImage XML took up only 2.6G! DiskGenius had not been tested on this Windows installation, so no comment on sizes.

I wonder how easy, if at all possible, it would be to edit and extract contents from the back-ups, possible from image files created using Ghost and DiskGenius, not tried using DriveImage XML.

Surely, O1C is worthy of continual usage, particularly if the restoration process is as efficient as the backing up process. I will test it later when time permits.

This is the first time I am commenting on any software offered, as I am most impressed by the time and effort the CEO of Ocster takes to respond to comments/queries, and the ready offer of advice on Ocster.com. I will surely keep on using it since O1C is much less bloated--required much less real estate compared to the free EaseUS ToDo BackUp, Paragon Back Up and Recovery etc. Instered to test? Download them, respectively, from http://sh.st/Y2q3 and http://sh.st/Y2k5 They had been uploaded--fast with ever expanding storage space in TB(free!)--to 360 cloud re http://sh.st/0Atx

Most of these gems are in Chinese, use Google translation if you need.

Hey, why bother?

Just use this fabulous program:

http://www.backup-utility.com/free-backup-software.html

Unlike this gaod can do WHATEVER (yes, whatever) you like for free and without any hassle!

@Hauke Duden

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. The SERVICE is not hidden, the PROCESS that starts with Windows is specifically coded as hidden. At least on my system. This isn't an issue for many users but some of us prefer to see exactly what's happening on our systems.

Hello, Mr. Duden,

as @74 TheArtfulDodger I seem to have missed how or where to get boot medium necessary for recovering Windows partition - I couldn't find anything about it on your homepage. Other backup software I have used offers to create boot medium during install. Thanks in advance.

After reading the comments, I decided to download this to one of my laptops (win7 basic junker I use to play on when bored) Installed really easy, made a full image back up to an external drive. Then to really test it, I completely wiped the C drive and went through the process of restoring it. Every program still works, every picture and music file is there, and I even found some programs on it that I have forgotten about. Was quicker than some other back-ups I've tried, and seems to have also completely restored the registry to the original before wiping. After using it, I'm impressed and also getting this one on the main desktop. Thank you Hauke Duden for your quick and informative replies :) That was the only reason I decided to try this one out. Not very often someone from the company actually takes the time to jump on the forum and answer questions.

I forgot to mention in my last post:
To all the commenters who have written praise and great feedback: thank you so much for that. It is great to see that our product is appreciated. I hope that you understand that I do not reply to every one of your posts - I focus on those that have questions or are critical. But your encouragement is definitely noticed and the whole team appreciates it!

Thank you!

@Steve Dickson: Sure, you can backup to an external disk. That is the most common setup.

@Alexm: First you need to replace the broken drive of course. Then you can start the computer using our rescue system (no need to install Windows first) and restore your backup to the blank new drive.

@Jill Shep: it is no problem to reboot during a backup. The backup will automatically resume after you reboot - but it will wait 5 minutes before it does (because during the first 5 minutes after booting so many programs start that a backup could slow things down too much.

@Subbrilliant: Please contact our support team: http://www.ocster.com/contact

@Stephen Cohen: you do not need to restore your system with the manufacturer disc. You can directly restore your backup using our rescue system.

Regarding incremental backups: you are right that normal incremental backups can be problematic. If the incremental chain gets too long then the risk gets bigger and bigger. That is why Ocster Backup actually creates REVERSE incremental backups. With these the incremental chain runs backwards, so the most recent backup is always a full backup and does not depend on anything before it. This solves all the problems of normal incremental systems - and it has additional advantages as well. For example, you can simply delete your oldest backups at any time, because nothing depends on them. You can read more about the incremental system here:
http://support-en.ocster.com/support/solutions/articles/118615

@TheArtfulDodger: Ocster Backup can create the image backup in the background while your system is running (that includes also the "C:" drive). That is one of the main design goals of our software. You do not need to boot a separate system for backing up.

I like my computer and screwing around on the internet and I've even learned some of the basics about RAM, memory, processors, etc. However, I am not savvy on the HD space required by a program like this.

Is the required 300mb hard-drive space typical, or is it much less or more than should be expected from a software such as today's GiveAway?

Also, what is the 300MB's of disk space used for? Is it for the software itself or is it for the backups that will be created by today's offer?

I am operating on an Windows 8.1 64 bit machine with 8GB DDR3 SDRAM, AMD QuadCore processor, and a 1TB hard-drive. Currently I have 867.9GB of hard drive memory available.

Thanks in advance for any knowledge you may have to share with me.

This is really great software, so I decided to click the "Like us on Facebook" button which opened my web-browser to: "http://www.ocster.com/ocster-1-click-backup/social/en". In the top right corner of the web-page, the dropboxes were set to "America" and "English", however the Facebook portion of the website was not in English (everything else was). And there are two different things to "Like", one is the Facebook page and the other is a link to the website.