Data Backup v.2.0.4

Data Backup v.2.0.4
Prosoft Engineering
$59 US
http://www.prosoftengineering.com

Part “1-A” of a Two Part Review (First part plus reader comments can be read here)

David Weeks and I are disappointed that real-life conflicts prevented us from becoming experts using Data Backup 2 (DB2). We recently had a brief session installing and running this update, and here is our report. During 2005 we’ll dig deeper into this and the other utility applications from Prosoft Engineering.

David installed DB2 onto his mighty G5 tower and I loaded it onto my humble G3 iBook, both running the latest Panther OS X 10.3 updates. Installation is quick and effortless. We observed the six levels or categories of backup options.

Prosoft’s latest edition of the DB2 Help manual appears as one enormously long page, which is weird for navigation but full of practical instructions and hints. Why not compile a multi-page PDF? It would only be 34 pages. Oh, well — the content and production quality are very good. Tool Tip popups are very descriptive, when encountered.

David did a Quick Backup for his entire “dweeks” user home folder, and I began a comparable backup of my entire internal hard drive. We had snooped around to determined the difference between Copy and Full backups, and the manual provided an explanation. The option to ignore certain criteria is helpful, and David de-selected a few items this way.

Then he blasted off, and the software scanned 14,852 items from his 13.15 GB folder. My entire hard drive contained 245,455 files on its 8.43 GB. David’s dual 2GB processor ran Data Backup in the background, but I kept mine front and center.

For typical users, DB2’s presets are all that will be needed for most beginner or intermediate level backup demands. Not many preferences need to be set, but it’s worth your while making the effort to understand the manual’s descriptions of the hows and whys of the software. Please do a test drive in a non-critical situation, and learn if any of the customized options are best for your situation. Your relationship with Data Backup will mature as you become more comfortable with it.

This revision of Data Backup (all updates are free downloads) feels more polished and smooth than our first look, last summer. As Dantz’s Retrospect becomes more “serious” and heavy-duty, DB2 feels more comfortable (we hesitate to use the word “simple.) If all you want to do is clone, then Carbon Copy Cloner will suffice, but for comprehensive backup capability DB2 is now a reasonable choice. Look for more improvements during 2005.

David’s speedy Quick Backup was completed efficiently, but mine took over four hours. When I get my G5 in 2005 I’ll be able to take advantage of its monster processor unlike the pathetic, prehistoric G3 in my iBook.

David encountered a few glitches when trying to open the resulting DB2 folder, and he’ll discuss them with the developer at Macworld in San Francisco. Yet David’s overall impression remains, “it’s fast when it works.” I’m a little concerned about the way a DB2 backup file doesn’t respect or match the original folder structure. We’ll have more on this topic in our third installment.

We want Data Backup 2 to become our regular backup utility, but neither we nor it are fully ready, based on our limited experience using it. Our original rating stands, but we don’t feel able to offer unqualified praise yet.

Thanks for your patience. We intend to answer all questions posted and emailed by readers when we conclude this multi-part review. If you are not yet scrupulous about archiving and backing up your precious data, please use DB2 or a competitor to create reliable, stable, restorable backup files and reside offsite. One day you’ll be glad you did.