Oops! Backup Review: Backup Software for Big and Little Disasters - Recover Older Versions of Home Office Files
Do You Backup?
Everyone knows that backing up your computer’s data is important, but not everyone does it. This is usually because backing up data can be a real pain in the butt. The most effective way to back up data is to an external drive. This means you have to turn on the drive, plug it in to the USB, Firewall, or eSATA port, take a mental note of what files you’ve changed since the last time you backed up (if you can remember), and drag and drop files over to the removable disk. You also probably only do this once a month - but what happens if you have a problem a week before your regularly scheduled backup?
Oops! Backup is aimed at reducing this frustration by doing everything for you except actually plugging the removable disk into your computer. The goal is to automate the process of backing up your computer’s data so that it is no longer a hassle and is performed on a regular schedule. Does it succeed, or are you better off doing it yourself?
Setup and Installation (5 out of 5)
The Oops! Backup installer is straightforward and easy to understand, although it seemed to consist of two distinct parts. The installer, once executed, runs the basic installation. It doesn’t ask the user any questions except where the software should be installed.
The first time you run the program, you have some initial setup work to do. Much of this relates to how Oops! Backup handles backing up information and will be covered in the next section. The only real issue I had with the Oops! Backup installation concerned my Internet security software, Trend Micro Internet Security. It asked at least ten times if Oops! Backup was legitimate. This is not necessarily a problem with either program but be aware that your Internet security software may ask you many times for permission to allow Oops! Backup to run.
I also uninstalled the program and reinstalled it to see how well the program handles these situations. Uninstalling the program took less than a minute, and upon reinstalling the program I discovered that it had kept my information so I did not have to re-specify how I wanted the program to handle backups. It didn’t even ask me to re-enter my license key. This sort of convenience isn’t a must have, but it is appreciated.
Ease of Backup and Restoration (4 out of 5)
Backing up information with Oops! Backup couldn’t be easier. The first time you run Oops! Backup, the program will ask you to select a drive and ask you to select what you want to back up. You can back up folders or entire drives. The program will wisely advise that you use an external drive if you try to back up to another drive in your computer, but will allow you to proceed if you click out of the warning. Once you’ve selected what you’d like to back up, the program creates the backup automatically in a folder clearly labeled OopsBackup.
Restoring information is done through use of the GoBackInTime and Restore manager. The interface is initially a little off-putting because it doesn’t look much like the interface you used to back up your files. The folders which you have backed up are displayed as large icons and can be selected individually. If a folder needs to be restored you can click on it and then click the “Restore All” button. The rest is handled seamlessly. I couldn’t find a “Restore All” button which could restore all folders at once. It would be nice to have this in future releases.
Continue on to the next page to find out more about the features of Oops! Backup as well as the final verdict of the software.
Features (4 out of 5)
What is most interesting about Oops! Backup is that the program is meant to provide real time backup information. This is not a program which is supposed to be used once a month or even once a week. The default backup setting in Oops! Backup is once per hour, which means that you will have extremely current information available if a hard drive does ever go down. It also means that you can easily restore files which you might accidentally delete - hence the name of the software.
Oops! Backup also provides real-time monitoring of changes made to the folders it has backed up. If you delete a file in one of the folders you have backed up, the Oops! Backup management screen will be updated with this information. This real-time information is helpful because it offers a reminder of the changes you made so that if you later seem to be missing a file, you can check and see if you deleted it or if you moved it. The program also keeps several backups available so that if you deleted a file, but a backup has occurred since then, you’re not out of luck. You can revert to an earlier backup and still recover the file.
One feature which is lacking is the ability to back up to multiple drives. You can only select one drive for your backup. If you try to select another, the original drive is deselected automatically. You also can’t restore multiple files unless you restore an entire folder.
Verdict (4 out of 5)
There is very little wrong with Oops! Backup. The goal of this type of software should be to make backing up your computer an easy and largely automated process, and Oops! Backup accomplishes this goal. My only complaints against the software concern the GoBackInTime interface, which is slick but also not as informative as I would have liked.
Oops! Backup costs $37 for a single PC and a bit less if you purchase it for multiple PCs. I think it is worth the money. This program will back up your information frequently and painlessly, and the $37 will seem like nothing if you ever do have a hard drive crash or need to recover a file that you’ve accidentally deleted or written over.
