Backup Software Buyer's Guide

To be clear: this guide is for consumers buying backup software for individual use. The category of business- or enterprise-wide backup is a subject unto itself.

The backup problem is complicated enough that no one product is right for everybody. This guide will help you figure out which backup product(s) are a good fit for your needs.

Speaking of needs, now would be a good time to start thinking about what your backup needs are. How big is the data you need to backup -- is it just your email and browser bookmarks, or do you have tons of high-resolution pictures or huge video files?

You should also think about how frequently you need to back up. Are you creating new material on your computer eight hours a day? In that case, even backing up twice per day could lose you four hours of work. On the other hand, if you mainly work on the computer for an hour every evening, a once-a-day backup may be just fine for you.

Also think about the unthinkable: your hard disk dies, or perhaps your entire machine is stolen. Is it going to be a minor inconvenience to be without a machine for a few days (or maybe even a couple of weeks, if you have use lots of applications that will have to be reinstalled on a new machine)? Or is it going to be catastrophic to be without a computer for even 24 hours? If it's the latter, then you're going to want to be thinking about the complexity and expense of duplicating your hard disk onto a second disk -- or maybe even onto a second computer.