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Info about Handy Backup added to backup guide

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mouser:
the backup guide has been updated with a discussion of Handy Backup: http://www.handybackup.com/pro/index.html


Handy Backup Pro shares almost all of the functionality of Genie Backup Pro, and looks to be an excellent backup program. It is priced at $57 (as of 4/20/05), and a trial version is available for download. Handy approaches some things differently than Genie which may be more appealing depending on your requirements. Backup sets can be created in zip-file compatible format, which can be extremely useful. It is capable of exluding folders based on pattern match, which is something we lamented the absence of in Genie. It also has a job-centric user interface, which we also think is better than the wizard approach taken by Genie. Handy also has a very nice log panel which shows operations as they are performed, which is very nice.

However, the main reason we cannot recommend Handy at this time is the operation of its incremental/versioned backup mode. This is the feature we think is most important and we were not able to convince it to stop backing up all files each time, as opposed to just changed files. Handy also has no support for browsing and restoring files from older snapshots (though because the files are in zip format you can go investigate the files yourself). If these issues were fixed, Handy could easily take over the #1 slot in our document backup award category. And the value of backing up files in zip format may in fact be more important to you than built-in support for viewing/extracting/searching older snapshots. Just make sure you try out the incremental mode and that it works for you.

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