Take a look at CrashPlan. While they have a paid online service to backup
to, you don't have to use it.

The coolest feature about their software is that it can backup to a
removable hard drive. You can setup a "master computer", probably the
desktop, and that will automatically backup. Then you install CrashPlan on
your laptop and it can backup to your desktop to the same removable hard
drive. This works on OS X and Windows for sure (possibly Linux too). The
best part? You can also backup over the internet. The backup
is encrypted before it is sent out and the backup is stored encrypted. I
have my sister's laptop backing up to my computer and I have no idea what
she is backing up. I currently have three computers backing up to my one
removable drive. I am thinking about setting up a backup setup to my dad's
house yet for a remote backup.

The software is free but cuts out some features (like real-time backup) and
has ads. I use the free version, and in normal use, you don't see the ads
and it backs up every 24 hours.

--
Mike Wills
http://mikewills.info


On Mon, Sep 6, 2010 at 9:51 AM, Lennon_s_j@xxxxxxxxxxx <
lennon_s_j@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I want to move beyond CDs for backup of my home PC (XP) & laptop
(Vista). The obvious solution seems to be a USB External Hard Drive.

Most of the one’s I’ve looked at seem to come with vendor supplied
backup software, but don’t seem to have much detail on the software
capabilities.

I don’t know that I want continuous backup. I’m more inclined to want
to say when to do a back up (probably weekly) and want to keep several
generations of the backup (this week, last week, the week before, etc.)
Though possibly a continuous backup will allow me to keep “n” copies of
a file and that might be easier for restores.

I also want to back up *both* my desktop and my laptop to the one
external drive.

I’d like to hear your about your experience with specific hardware, the
vendor supplied software, or non-vendor specific software (e.g. Ghost or
Acronis, and your approach to backup).

Thanks, Sam

(And I’m curious about how these drives connect. Do they just plug in
and act like a USB Memory Stick? Can you reformat them? Make multiple
partitions? Do they all work the same way?--I’ve read some that Western
Digital drives install some strange software.)
--
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