Number 286 - March 2007

SHADOW NTI...On-The-fly Data Backups
by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D.* Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Backing up applications and data is probably the most neglected operation on any computer.    Even when it has been automated to some extent, we neglect to add new folders to the list that should be backed up. Some users have set their backup to write CDs or DVD's. Then they never check to see how the restoration process really works, if it does. I have seen some where the process is set to append to the original file, but it can't be carried out because the CD is full. The user simply ignores the disk full message and keeps on failing to write any new backup data. So is there a way around this that would be simple enough for any user? That's the idea behind NTI's Shadow software.    This is a small, 12 GB, application that installs quickly and simply. When it is run for the first time you select the folders to back up and the location where the backup should be placed. Then you select the frequency of backup. You can select to have a file backed up every time you save changes to your computer, or you can specify the frequency in terms of minutes, hours or days. Or you can specify once a day on selected days of the week. The next selection is how many revisions of the document do you wish to keep. You can keep no previous version or you can select a specified number of versions to retain in the backup file. You can also choose to have the backup file deleted when you delete the original file on your computer. These are the configuration steps. Certainly not too difficult and the choices are well explained in the help file if you need further assistance.    The problem of deciding what device to use to store backup files is also simplified. Shadow will write your files to any drive that has a drive letter. This includes many forms of removable devices such as external USB drive, flash (pen) drives, FireWire drives as well as internal secondary drives. If you select a pen drive as the backup destination and later remove the device, Shadow will recognize the change. It will suspend the backup until the original drive is replaced. So it is possible to have different flash drives for different purposes.    The problem of restoring files becomes less difficult with Shadow. All the files are copied to the backup destination in the standard format. Therefore you can replace a file or files simply by dragging and dropping the file from the backup to the original location. Or, you can copy it to a new location if you prefer.    I have Shadow running on my main computer backing up any data files as they are saved. I selected the "My Documents" folder as the one I wanted to backup. You can also add other folders that are not in this location. For example, you might want to backup your incoming/outgoing mail. That folder can be added at the time you do the initial configuration. In my case, I save important mail to a folder within the "My Documents" location. As I work on this	review, Shadow is saving a copy on my external hard drive whenever I save the document to my internal hard drive. Something I do quite frequently. The best part of this is that I do not observe any noticeable delay due to Shadow's function. Keeping a constant backup of my work on an external drive is certainly an asset. If it were saved on my internal drive and it failed, the whole purpose of the backup would be lost. I would really like to backup my files to a flash drive. However, my folder contains over 8 GB of data. That would require a 16 GB flash drive which is more than I want to pay for at the moment. However, if you have 2-8 GB of data in your data files, the flash drive cost is quite reasonable. Also, if you have a USB drive that can read/write Secure Digital cards, compact flash cards, Sony memory stick, etc.; these cards can also be used for the backup destination.    One caveat that everyone should be aware of with regard to Shadow. It does a great job of backing up your data files and keeping the backup current. However, it does not backup up program files, system files or the registry. For this I recommend that you use an image backup program to make a complete copy of your primary hard drive. That way, if the drive fails, you will have a source for readily reinstalling your operating system and your applications. This image copy doesn't have to be done daily or weekly. Since most of us don't install new programs every week, once a month would probably be adequate for the creation of an image file.    If you don't mind the work involved in reinstalling your operating system and applications from the original CDs, then you can even ignore the image file. However, if you don't want to replace or recreate your data files (pictures, music, etc.) then Shadow is well worth its cost.    Shadow is published by NewTech Infosystems, Inc. The price for a downloadable copy of Shadow is $29.95. There is also a version that includes "DragonDisc" which allows backup to any form of optical media including BluRay. Its price is $39.95. The NTI website is www.newtechinfosystems.com.    *Dr. Lewis is a former university & medical school professor. He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years. He can be reached via e-mail at bwsail@yahoo.com.    Copyright 2006. This article is from the December 2006 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication.
Number 286 - March 2007