Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Windows Vista Backup and Restore: Almost Useless
Posted by Jason Dunn in "SOFTWARE" @ 08:00 AM
Vista is a deep product, and I find myself discovering new things about it all the time. I was using the comparison chart to look at which features were available in each version of Windows Vista, and I saw that both Business and Ultimate came with Windows Complete PC Backup and Restore. I hadn't actually looked at that application in Vista yet, but when I started reading about it I thought it was essentially a replacement for Acronis TrueImage, and it was free. Cool (or so I thought at the time).
I started to poke around with the tool, and discovered something ugly: while you can back up individual files to a network resource, the complete system backup option only works with local drives. That might be fine if someone has an external hard drive, but I don't have one attached to my main workstation - all my mass storage is on other computers or connected to a home server. If Acronis TrueImage can create system backups to a network resource, why can't Windows Vista Backup and Restore? That's just weak. This issue is eliminated if the user has a Windows Home Server product, but we shouldn't need a whole new product to solve the simple program of storage location.
Next I tried the individual file backup tool. Since it enabled me to back up to a network location, I went through the wizard - and also found it lacking. The core problem is that it's not location based, it's file-type based. That means that instead of allowing the user to select their Documents, Pictures, Video, Music, and Desktop folders, the wizard asks them if it wants them to back up pictures, music, videos, e-mail, documents, etc. - regardless of location, and all file types are checked off by default. That sounds good at first, because not all users are going to understand where their files are located, right?
The problem is, gigabytes of useless data is going to get backed up in the process, making recovery of the actual user data difficult. For instance, in the partial backup I ran on my system using this "smart" filtering system, I ended up with ZIP files from video drivers, readme.txt files from programs, and a whole bunch of other junk that isn't user data - and stuff that no user would ever need to keep.
The Vista tool is a passable solution in some scenarios, but like many Microsoft products, I'm left scratching my head and wondering why they didn't adjust a few minor things to take the product from "barely usable" to "really great". Come on Microsoft, I know you can do better. In the meantime, there's a Vista-compatible version of Carbonite [affiliate] out now that's a far better solution.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He thinks data backup is a really good thing.
I started to poke around with the tool, and discovered something ugly: while you can back up individual files to a network resource, the complete system backup option only works with local drives. That might be fine if someone has an external hard drive, but I don't have one attached to my main workstation - all my mass storage is on other computers or connected to a home server. If Acronis TrueImage can create system backups to a network resource, why can't Windows Vista Backup and Restore? That's just weak. This issue is eliminated if the user has a Windows Home Server product, but we shouldn't need a whole new product to solve the simple program of storage location.
Next I tried the individual file backup tool. Since it enabled me to back up to a network location, I went through the wizard - and also found it lacking. The core problem is that it's not location based, it's file-type based. That means that instead of allowing the user to select their Documents, Pictures, Video, Music, and Desktop folders, the wizard asks them if it wants them to back up pictures, music, videos, e-mail, documents, etc. - regardless of location, and all file types are checked off by default. That sounds good at first, because not all users are going to understand where their files are located, right?
The problem is, gigabytes of useless data is going to get backed up in the process, making recovery of the actual user data difficult. For instance, in the partial backup I ran on my system using this "smart" filtering system, I ended up with ZIP files from video drivers, readme.txt files from programs, and a whole bunch of other junk that isn't user data - and stuff that no user would ever need to keep.
The Vista tool is a passable solution in some scenarios, but like many Microsoft products, I'm left scratching my head and wondering why they didn't adjust a few minor things to take the product from "barely usable" to "really great". Come on Microsoft, I know you can do better. In the meantime, there's a Vista-compatible version of Carbonite [affiliate] out now that's a far better solution.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys mobile devices, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He thinks data backup is a really good thing.
