Retrospect

What: Backup software

By: EMC Dantz

Cost: $129 Desktop version for one stand-alone and two additional networked computers; versions also available for more computers

Download: www.dantz.com

Retrospect makes backing up your files easy. It asks if you need to back up networked or stand-alone machines, what media you want to back up to, how often you want to back up, and if you want to switch between two sets of media, in case one becomes damaged. It then creates a script to automate the backup process. You can also perform immediate, unscheduled backups. To speed the process, Retrospect doesn't perform incremental or differential backups, but backs up only entire files that are new or that have changed since the first complete backup. A repair tool lets you fix or rebuild a backup set; another tool verifies that a backup set is readable. For recovery from a really bad failure, the Retrospect CD provides a bootable solution.

The figure shows the main menu on the left and the Immediate Backup dialog box on the right.

Why I like it: Retrospect makes backing up as painless as possible. It sets the standard for backup products on the Macintosh platform and also lets you back up networked Windows machines.