We all know that backing up our computer’s hard drive contents is a must do operation. That said, how many you out there actually do it? The better question is how many of you aren’t doing it? Not backing up your data (pictures, documents, videos, etc.) is like playing Russian roulette. You might never get “lucky”, but chances are good that you will and that’s the kind of luck you don’t want. Why is it that most of us do NOT backup our data? The number 1 reason is probably because it’s a hassle to setup. The new Clickfree Wireless backup system takes away the hassle. Just plug this wireless drive into each computer (PCs or Macs) on your network to perform an initial backup. All settings will be found and configured, and subsequent backups will be done automatically using 802.11n wireless. The Clickfree drive can be placed anywhere in the home, and does not need to be plugged in to any of the computers for it to continue backing up and safeguarding your data. Clickfree Wireless Backup is available now online from Clickfree.com. The MSRP for a 500GB is $179 and 1TB is $249. Larger capacities will be available in Q1 2011.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Backup, Spotlight Gadgets, Wireless

Clickfree Introduces New Clickfree Wireless Backup Drive originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 4, 2011 at 9:16 am.

CyberSynchs is a program that installs on your phone and backs up your personal data to their secure website.  The program is currently available for Windows, Java, Blackberry, Symbian and will debut later this month for Android.  All your contacts, text messages, voice mail, email, ringtones, photos and calendar information will be copied to your secure, password-protected account on the CyberSynchs servers.  You’ll be able to access your data from anywhere in the world, even without your phone.  You can easily transfer your data to a new phone, and you’ll even be able to erase data from your phone should it be lost or stolen.  You can even manage multiple phones from one account.  CyberSynchs costs $2.99 a month.

Filed in categories: News, Windows Mobile related

Tagged: Backup, Cell phone application

Backup, Transfer, and Protect Your Personal Phone Data with CyberSynchs originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 1, 2010 at 4:59 am.

As with all their products, Clickfree engineers simple backup solutions that provide users with the ability to store and transfer data from one computer to the next. Basically your iPod/iPhone turns into a portable flash drive that is compatible with both the OSX 10.5.4 + and PC platforms (including Windows 7 support).

Instead of forking over $100 + for external HDD, whip out the iPod/iPhone transformer and backup with devices you already own. I attached a 1GB iPod Shuffle to the transformer, and from there you can see that I could either choose to backup data to the device or I could bring over the Shuffle’s music to my iPod library – a great solution if your iPod/iPhone was hooked into a computer that is no longer with us.

No need to worry about overwriting over existing songs or data, the Clickfree software only adds data and does not delete any preexisting information already on the device. Be aware though, as with all Clickfree devices, you will not be able to backup any applications to your iPod or iPhone.

Super easy to browse through menus, adjust or customize backups, delete Clickfree data or update the device. Support and options are just clicks away!

The Clickfree Transformer for iPod retails for $49.99, and is available @  http://www.clickfree.com/products_transformeripod.php.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related, Reviews

Tagged: Backup, iPhone, iPod

Clickfree Transformer Backup for iPod/iPhone Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 6, 2010 at 8:12 am.

PocketMac has a long history of useful applications, and now they offer a tool to help you recover a lost Smartphone- Blackberry ER. Considering how much personal info there is on the typical Blackberry, this is potentially a very handy tool.

I will do a lot of things for a review- even to frying eggs on a hard drive- but I am not real keen on loosing my Blackberry to test it out, so this review is based on other sources. Besides, I have a CDMA phone- more on that later.

What Blackberry ER does is relatively simple- when some evil person takes your Blackberry, they will generally change the SIM card. Once they do, the Blackberry sends a signal to a designated cell phone with enough information to help police recover the phone.

There is not much in the way of controls or settings- you can turn it on, set the contact number, and set the message sent. There is not a lot of documentation with the program or on-line… but seriously, what do you need?

Does it work? It seems to do a perfectly good job based on most reports. Of course, most of the reports are not based on an actual recovery either.

One interesting point- the site does not clarify that this product needs a GMA phone with a SIM card… so my Sprint phone cannot use it (Sprint is CDMA, click here for an explanation of the differences.)  You enter your Blackberry’s model, but it does not ask if it is GMA or CDMA, and you sort of have to notice how it works in the rather vague description to figure it out on your own.

Another interesting point- you will get a free copy of a pdf called “47 Things You Wanted to Know About Your Blackberry, But Did Not Know Who to Ask” with chapter headings like:

1. How to save up to $26,000 on your cell phone bill…
2. What to do if you drop your BlackBerry in the toilet
3. How to do hands-free Dialing when you’re driving
4. How to deal with “BlackBerry Thumb”
5. How to maximize the battery life of your BlackBerry
6. How to keep from being bored waiting for a meeting to start
7. What to do with your BlackBerry when you carry an iPhone, a Cell Phone, and a BlackBerry

Some of the articles are quite short and rather obvious, others are rather clever and interesting. The pdf may be worth the price of the software for some users.

Filed in categories: Blackberry related

Tagged: Backup

Blackberry ER: A Recovery Utility originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 8, 2009 at 12:30 pm.

Earlier this year, we reviewed the Clickfree Portable Backup drive. Now they have an even smaller solution with more features. The new Clickfree C2 is a Windows and Mac OS X compatible drive. It is available in 250 or 500GB capacities and has a built in USB cable that snaps into the body when not being used. The C2 is able to automatically import music from iPods and iPhones, burn backed up files to CDs and DVDs, extract and organize all email attachments and protect files with encryption.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, News

Tagged: Backup, Hard Drive, Spotlight Gadgets, USB

Lose your Sidekick data? Don’t let the same thing happen to your PC – Clickfree C2 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on October 13, 2009 at 10:29 am.

The package from UPS weighed over 15 pounds! I don’t get to review a lot of things that go THUD when I put the box down, so I was excited from the start to review this drive that claims to keep your data safe in fires and floods. Plans for barbecuing the hard drive flitted through my mind as I plotted how to best destroy a nearly indestructible hard drive! I was sent the IoSafe Solo 500Gb USB Hard Drive with Disaster Protection to review.

The basic specs are:

• Quiet forced air cooling.
• Multi-platform compatibility: Windows, Mac and Linux
• USB 2.0, 7200 RPM, up to 480Mb/s
• Size: 5.0″W x 7.1″H x 11.0″L, weight: 15 lbs
• Fire protection — 1550° F, 1/2 hour per ASTM E119
• Tested per UL, FCC and CE Standards
• Flood / submersion protection — to 10 feet water depth, 3 days.
• Proven data protection and recovery. Tested to ASTM E119 standards for fire exposure.
• Physical theft protection
• Box includes: Drive, USB cable, power cable, instructions

System Requirements are:

• Intel Pentium II 350 Mhz-compatible or Mac G3 processor & greater
• Microsoft Windows XP/Vista or Mac OS 8.6 & greater
• USB equipped system
• For USB 2.0 speeds, the system must support USB 2.0 specifications

Front View- nice LEDs

Back View- Connections, power switch, and riveted serial number plaque

The claims are impressive- 3 feet of fresh or salt water for 10 days, a half an hour at 1,550 degrees F? Solid construction with a bolt hole to allow you to bolt or padlock the unit in place? That’s a lot of security for a $150 500Gb hard drive!

My dreams of baking this thing in an oven were squashed when I read the manual, though. It rightly points out that the IoSafe protects your data, but does not promise that you will instantly be able to recover it. We will talk about this aspect more later.

As a hard drive, the IoSafe works perfectly well. It does not come with back-up software, but back-up and sync software is available all over the place to fit your needs. The drive mounted flawlessly for me with XP quickly finding the needed drivers- a great example of ‘plug and play’. Backing up data goes quickly on the USB 2.0 cable, if your computer supports 2.0. For the purposes of this demo, I just copied the contents of the My Documents folder from my HP Mini 1000, but with 500Gb to play with, I could copy most of my computers to this thing! The Solo is also available in 1 and 1.5Tb versions.

Disaster protection and recovery- these are the big selling points. IoSafe products are designed to protect your data from physical theft, fire, floods, and similar disasters. While companies are a targeted customer, it makes sense for individuals to protect their data as well.

The plan here is that the IoSafe will protect the drive from many kinds of damage- but the user needs to understand that the data may not be immediately accessible. Cables and connectors can melt, some of the circuitry, like the fan, is outside of the ‘vault’ and can be damaged, etc.

If you can mount your drive after a disaster, great! If you cannot, IoSafe offers several Disaster Recovery Plans that give you the support you need with a toll-free number. The packages range from 1 year for free to 5 years for $100. They even offer $1,000 of insurance if they canot recover your data.

When you call, you will be assigned a point person to coordinate your recovery, and they will try to do everything possible over the phone first. If needed, you will be directed to ship your drive to the company so they can do their magic.

Is it better to store your data in a system like this, backed up on site, or to back it up elsewhere? Is this a good option for me or my business? How the heck would I know? But- their site has several good articles to help you design a plan for your company based on many variables, including things like how long you can be without key data.

Now for the fun! I backed up several megs of data to the IoSafe Solo. Let’s mess it up! Here at the Gadgeteer Test Labs and Lemonade Stand, we have lots of high-tech devices that we can bring to bear on this issue, like a deep sink.

After taping over the connectors to help make it easier to reconnect, I put the drive in 7″ of lukewarm water. I added a little hand soap so it will better infiltrate the drive’s guts and to simulate the sort of gunk that would be in flood water. It bubbled a lot! I let it soak for about 30 minutes and drain for a few hours.

Under water, still bubbling several minutes later!

I plugged it in with a little trepidation. The power cable provides 12v at 2A so I was not worried about shocks or anything, but I was a bit concerned that the more exposed circuits might be damaged. When I plugged in the USB cable, the lights on the drive came on and the little chime when you connect things rang, and an hourglass popped up- but nothing loaded for a few minutes.

I left it alone for about fifteen minutes and everything was fine when I returned- drive icon, proper files, everything opened- perfect! While this is not a great test, it does suggest that it will survive worse.

Now for the heat. I’m gonna try to fry an egg on the case! My recipe is to preheat the case with my shop heat gun for as long as I can tolerate the tedium. It goes slowly since the drive has a large mass to help it absorb and dissipate the heat. When the top is warming nicely, I spritzed it a bit with oil, added a couple home-made rings, and fried me some eggs!

Heat test- you can see them setting on the edges a bit already

Heat test- about as done as I am willing to wait!

In hindsight, I should have used a torch because the case kept sucking the heat in instead of letting it heat the eggs, but the basic premise worked- I got the case hot enough to fry up a couple sunny-side up eggs! Dang that was fun! And clean up was a breeze- the metal is polished enough that whatever dribbled onto non-lubed areas just wiped right up. (I’m beginning to sound like a pitchman, aren’t I?)

I let it cool enough to carry, then plugged it in and was not surprised to see that it just loaded right up.

This is not nearly the same thing as surviving a house fire or flood, but I got the sense that the drive was just laughing at my efforts to test it. Between the tests I ran, the promises on the website, and the specifications it is built to, I would have to say that the ioSafe Solo works exactly as advertised.

If you’re interested in buying this product, ioSafe has a rebate page for possible savings.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear

Tagged: Backup, disaster, Hard Drive, protection, recovery

IoSafe Solo USB Hard Drive with Disaster Protection Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on September 1, 2009 at 7:29 am.

Back in a Flash states over and over that ‘This is NOT a flash drive!’ Instead, it chooses to focus on the fact that it is pretty much a ‘one click’ back-up and recovery tool. It is that, but it is also a great stand-alone operating system and file transfer tool.

If you are familiar with PortableApps.com, you are already familiar with the idea behind ‘Back in a Flash’ (or BIAF, as it often shows up on device lists). The USB stick has a pre-loaded suite of programs that can run right from the stick, and can act as its own OS if needed.

The package includes the BIAF stick and cover (which does not fit on the other end or anything), mini-CD for recovery on some systems, an advertising folder, and a heavy card stock quick guide. Most materials are in several languages. (Green note: the packaging is a bit overkill- with a slight redesign, the advertising and guide could be easily combined, for example).

Package contents- I forgot the mini-CD, though

Specs are… uh… well, it is a USB flashdrive that works on Windows 2000, XP, and Vista and comes in several sizes, from 3.5Gb to 63.5Gb.

According to the instructions, all you need to do is to plug the BIAF stick in and click on one button to automatically save most of your files in your My Documents, My Music, My Pictures, and My Videos folders. (They suggest that other critical files be placed in one of these four folders- not always a practical suggestion, but theoretically you can use other back-up software to ‘clone’ the data from its normal location to one of these spots.)

So… I plugged it into my HP Mini without reading any other manuals, just the short introductory stuff on the included card, and… it worked exactly as advertised!

Screen during first back-up

I have about 7Gb of data, and it takes up about 27% of the 7.5Gb sample unit they sent (it comes in several sizes.) Several files were not backed up. This is slightly disturbing as I cannot find a list of what they were or why. The manual says that there can be many reasons for this, including already being backed up or open and in use.

Speaking of size- the website has two tools to help you decide how big of a BIAF stick you need, a quick chart and a more extensive version. Because of the good compression used, it does not have to be as large as you might think.

The manual (available on-line, on the mini-CD, and on the stick) covers pretty much anything you want to know, and the site is very helpful. This is one of those nice devices where you really don’t need to know much, but can dig in under the hood quite a bit if you so choose.

An example of some of the things you can tweak

BIAF claims that they can do more than just recover data, that it can resuscitate a dead computer! The claim is that if your computer can start at all, you can run an OS off the stick and do a lot of your work right off the stick! They point out that you won’t want to do this forever, and that there are things you cannot do this way (like video editing), but it is a nice idea, and it takes the ideas of back-ups to another level of simplicity.

BIAF puts its money where its mouth is by suggesting that you simulate a crash, and walking you through how to safely boot your computer from either the USB device, or the mini-CD if your computer does not support USB start-ups. I tried this, and it showed the secret behind BIAF- a Linux-based OS!

BIAF's recovery screen/OS. Ignore the ugly reflection- obviously a digital artifact!

BIAF is pre-loaded with a lot of programs and applications that open in these conditions, from OpenOffice to games. There is an Internet browser, players for music and videos, and a lot more. You can do an awful lot of work with just this stick and a computer connected to the Internet- which is another whole layer of benefits to BIAF, especially for people who like a lot of privacy when using other computers. It was easy to find my saved documents and edit them. Again, it worked exactly as advertised. On a side note- it is cool and stable enough that I am seriously thinking about reinstalling some form of Linux!

Opening the BIAF stick when your computer is running normally allows you to access your compressed files, but not any of the pre-loaded programs. The stick programming seems to be carefully made to be robust and foolproof. The stick itself feels a bit light and plasticy- I would love to see a more solid version available.

This is a good, solid tool, altough the regular prices ($79.95 to $399.95) are a little steep- right now it is on sale with ‘Back To School’ pricing that is absolutely incredible- $9.95 to 199.95! A 82.5% to 50% savings!

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear

Tagged: Backup

Back in a Flash USB Backup Device Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 18, 2009 at 8:37 pm.

Clickfree, makers of the Clickfree Portable Backup System that Bill recently reviewed, is introducing the Transformer for iPhone and iPods.  It allows consumers to backup the data on their computer into the excess storage space on their iPhone or iPod. The Transformer can also be used to transfer music from any iPod or iPhone to a Windows or Mac-based computer without  downloading any tricky or expensive software.

Filed in categories: iPhone, iPad, iPod related

Tagged: Backup, iPhone, Spotlight Gadgets

Backup your PC to your iPhone – Clickfree Transformer originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 10, 2009 at 8:00 am.

Do you regularly backup your important files? If you answered no to that question, then you deserve to be spanked. Seriously, it’s just a matter of time before disaster strikes. When it does, I’ll be there to say I told you so… unless you get smart and start backing things up. Today I want to show you a super easy way to get started with the SanDisk Ultra Backup USB drive.

The Ultra Backup drives are available in 8, 16, 32, and 64GB capacities and range in price from $49.99 up to $277.99.

According to SanDisk, this is the first USB drive with a built in backup button. Other than that unique feature, it looks like a typical USB flash drive. It’s made of Black plastic and has a sliding USB connector. When you slide the connector out, it enables you to press the backup button. When the connector is retracted, the button will not depress.

There is a lanyard attachment point on the corner of the drive.

The only other notable physical feature is that the connector slider latch thingy (that’s a technical term) has a Red LED built into it, that blinks during file activity and pulses when idle.

I was sent the 16GB version of this Ultra Backup to review. Of the 16GB, 14.9GB is free for file storage. The backup feature is completely plug and play as long as you are running Windows XP or Vista. It also has U3 functionality, which allows the drive to appear as an autostarting CD. If you’re a Mac or Linux person, you’re left out of all the fun as the flash drive will only function as a regular old, boring, file storage device.

This device is

When you plug it into your computer, the SanDisk backup software program will automatically launch. This app will allow you to choose which types of files that you want to backup (all, images, music, documents, presentations, spreadsheets) and which folders.

There are various advanced backup options that you can set, like only backing up files after a specific date or files that are smaller than a certain size.

You can also have the backup process start automatically when you insert the drive into the computer. For me that takes away the fun of being able to press the built in backup button on the drive

After the backup procedure is complete, you can browse through the file list. This software will save multiple versions of the files, which is a nice feature. You can define the number of versions to keep. Three is default.

When needed, you can restore individual files or folders to the location of your choice. One feature I found surprisingly missing is the ability to restore multiple individual files. You can only choose individual files or folders to restore.

All in all, the SanDisk Ultra Backup USB Drive is super simple to use and works as advertised. It easily backs up the files you want and restores them with equal ease. The price is kind of steep when you compare this product with a regular USB flash drive of equal capacity, but the ability to save multiple versions of files and back them up with the press of a button is very convenient. If the price doesn’t bother you, it’s a handy little backup system that will fit in your pocket.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear

Tagged: Backup, Flash Drive, USB

Sandisk Ultra Backup USB Flash Drive Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on July 28, 2009 at 8:15 pm.

Roughly the size of a quarter, the DiskGO flash drive is available in capacities of 1GB to 16GB. Each drive comes with Dmailer Backup software installed on it. Users can create an encrypted profile and set redundant file backups to the external hard drive; it is also possible to archive past versions of files as they become modified for access at a later time. Using Dmailer Backup, users can back up files to a personal online “cloud” that can be accessed from any computer connected to the Internet using a simple, search-engine style interface. Dmailer Backup requires no installation and is both Mac and PC compatible. They are available for pre-order today and will ship early next week. Price is $14.95 – $59.95 depending on capacity.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear

Tagged: Backup, USB

DiskGO BackUp USB Flash Drive originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on June 24, 2009 at 3:00 pm.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and data loss. While the clickfree data backup solutions can’t do anything about the first two, they may provide you with an answer to the data loss issue. These solutions are geared toward the technophobe and procrastinator, but do provide features that the more adventurous will appreciate. We’ll look at both the clickfree backup drive and the clickfree transformer, similar approaches that only differ in their implementation.

The clickfree devices are essentially a software solution packaged in hardware. The backup drive is a USB portable disk that includes a backup application resident in a protected partition on the drive. The transformer is a USB cable assembly that has the application built in to an eprom. The user must supply a USB device for the storage. I have used both devices in this review and because they operated virtually identical, I’ll only call out the differences.

Technical Specs

Technical Specs

The premise behind the clickfree device is that a user need only plug the device into an available USB port on the system to be backed up and then the device takes over. These devices do differ from Julie’s recent review of the Seagate Replica in that it ONLY backs up the data files. The operating system and applications are not backed up.

I began by plugging the clickfree drive into my front USB port on a Dell desktop running Windows Vista. The drive has a double ended cable that provides an extra USB plug for power, in the event you are using a port that doesn’t supply enough. This wasn’t needed on my desktop, but it was necessary when attaching to my laptop with the port replicator. It also has a 5v power socket next to the mini usb connector, but no supply is provided. You can tell when extra power is required because the drive continuously seeks. If using the transformer, you would plug in the cable instead of the drive.

After about a minute, the above window pops up. At this point you can either wait until it counts down to a start or click the start button. If you were using the transformer, an additional window would pop up advising you to plug your drive into the transformer cable.

Next the application searches the hard drives for files to be backed up. It will back up all local drives and partitions.

The initial backup took about 1.5 hrs and while I was waiting I searched around my system to see how the PC recognized the clickfree drive.

You’ll notice that the clickfree hardware is comprised of 2 logical drives. The one with the application (M:) looks to the PC as a CD drive and the other (L:) acts like a regular removable disk.

At the completion of the backup, the above window popped up and I clicked on OK and then……….

I could go into detail about what I did, but suffice it to say, I wasn’t impressed. After reading the 65 page manual and checking the web site for FAQ’s and running a fix it utility resident on the disk, the best I came up with was that it could be made to work, but only after plugging the device in for a second time in a row. The first time I plugged it in the searching window would come up and then just disappear. Thinking that I might have a faulty device, I used the Transformer device and received the exact same error symptoms.

I decided to continue my review by switching to a Windows XP system and had no problems. Both the drive and transformer worked flawlessly.

At the conclusion of the backup, you are presented with a summary page. From here you can search for or browse files and by clicking on the photos tab, any backed up photos will display as thumbnails within the clickfree application.

In addition to viewing the photos, one can e-mail, print and share photos, all from within the application. Also, any file in the back up set can be double clicked and it will invoke its application on the system and cause it to display/play.

The real test of a backup device is whether you can actually restore what you saved. The clickfree devices give you the options of restoring individual files or a complete data restore.

I purposely deleted several files on my desktop to test the restore capability. It was a little difficult to find an individual file, but the easier option turned out to be a complete restore and then skipping restoration of files already on your hard drive. I checked the box for “do this for all duplicated files” and just the missing ones were restored. You can also use the search feature on the summary page to find a file in the backup set and then double click to have it restored. You’ll notice that you can have multiple systems backed up and it is only limited by the amount of space on the back up drive.

Final thoughts: The clickfree product set can be a viable solution for the road warrior, whose main concern is the loss of data. He/she would have an IT department to reload the system and applications if need be. It also would be a good solution for those who don’t back up at all now. At least using it on Windows XP was plug and play, with Vista being a little problematic. For those who are more techie, there are options to schedule back ups, limit what is and isn’t backed up, add file types to the backup set and generally customize operations. If you buy this solution, I would suggest the transformer option. I gives you the flexibility of using multiple backup disks of varying sizes.

Personally, I prefer an image back up. I do not enjoy reloading the operating system and all the updates. Even though clickfree says they backup over 400 file types, how do I know that all my file types are part of that list. I would be concerned that some obscure file type would be attached to something I couldn’t afford to lose. At least with an image backup, I know everything is there.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear, Travel Gear

Tagged: Backup

Clickfree Portable Backup and Transformer Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on May 14, 2009 at 2:00 am.

We all know that to be healthy we should exercise every day and drink plenty of water. But how many of us actually take this advice instead of making excuses or saying something like “I’ll start at the first of the month…”? It’s the same thing with backing up the files on your computer. We all know we should do it, but how many of you shrug your shoulders and say “I’ll set something up next week…” or “I’ve never had a hard drive failure, so I’ll be fine…”? 

After my own laziness caused me to learn a painful lesson a couple years ago, I finally bought an external hard drive and software. Then using the software, I setup a schedule to automatically back up my files every night at a specific time. None of this was particularly difficult, but I know there are people out there who are even lazier than I am. For these people the solution has to be dirt simple, plug and play, fool proof. Mac users have enjoyed backup simplicity with Time Machine, and now Windows users have the Seagate Replica PC Backup Appliance.

There are two versions of the Seagate Replica. A 500GB multi-PC version that also comes with a dock and a 250GB single PC version. I was sent the multi-PC version to review.

Package Contents

Seagate Replica 500GB external USB hard drive
Desktop dock
Short USB cable
CD with restore software

The sleek looking drive has a smooth aluminum cover with the Seagate logo etched at the top.

The back is made of slightly rubberized feeling Black plastic.

There’s a mini USB connector recessed on the bottom along with two holes for the desktop dock.

The dock has a shiny Black base and a dual USB cable.

A nice touch is the ability to route the USB cable either out the side or back of the dock.

For some reason, this drive reminds me of a toaster. Yes, I’m warped…

A long thin Blue LED along the top seam of the drive lights up and blinks during data transfer. For all my testing, I used the single USB cable to connect the drive to my computers. I’m not quite sure why the desktop dock requires two USB cables instead of one.

To use this drive, all you need to do is plug it into your Windows XP or Vista machine. All the necessary software will install automatically after you answer the registration questions.

Once the software has installed, it will immediately begin backing up your files – all of your files. The entire operating system, your pictures, your music, everything. The back up will require no intervention from you and there are no special settings. You don’t have to tell it when to back up and what specific files to back up. It just does it automatically. Remember those one button backup systems that have been all the rage? Well, this is better because there are no buttons. You just plug it in and you’re done. You don’t even have to tell it to start backing things up, it just starts on its own.

The initial backup does take awhile. I didn’t actually time it on the two laptops that I tested, but it seemed to take a over 2hrs or so to backup 9GB on my HP mini 1000 netbook (running XP) and several hours to backup 40GB on the HP Touchsmart TX2 (running Vista).

The only indicator that something is happening can be found when you hover your cursor over the icon in the task tray.

If it is backing up files when you do this, you’ll see a status of how many files are remaining to be backed up. If it’s not backing up anything, it will tell you the date and time it was last backed up. Right clicking this icon will give you just a few basic options. You can open the Replica drive in a file manager, safely disconnect the drive, set a password, remove a PC, select drives to backup and check for updates to the backup software.

Opening the drive shows you all the files on the Replica drive. You can traverse the folders like you would any other drive and you can copy them back to your computer’s hard drive. You can not copy or delete files on the Replica drive though. It is nice that it’s protected so that you can’t inadvertently wipe something out.

If all the Replica drive did was keep a constant mirror of your hard drive, it would be great. But it does a lot more than that. It actually keeps multiple versions of files and system recovery points in case you need to restore the entire hard drive to rebuild your system.

Even if you delete a file on your PC’s hard drive, the file will still be there on the Replica, so that you can restore it if needed. Multiple versions of the same file will show a date and time stamp in the name. This drive uses something called Neverfull technology to make sure that it doesn’t run out of room from saving multiple versions of really old files. When it needs to make room for newer ones, it will delete older copies as needed.

I’m impressed with the Seagate Replica PC Backup Appliance. I love the plug it in and walk away setup routine that is so easy your grandma could do it. It’s whisper quiet, doesn’t get in the way of day to day tasks and is always in the background keeping copies of your data. With this product like this one, there’s no longer any excuses for not backing up your hard drive.

Filed in categories: Desktop Computer Gear, Laptops and Gear

Tagged: Backup, Hard Drive, USB

Seagate Replica PC Backup Appliance Review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on April 30, 2009 at 1:00 am.

How’s this for a tiny backup system? Sandisk’s new Ultra Backup USB drives come in capacities of up to 64GBs and have a button that you can press to automatically backup your files. No cables or messy software installs necessary. Security minded folks will be happy to note that they provide both password protection and AES hardware encryption. I wonder if they are OS X compatible… Hmmmmm.

Filed in categories: Uncategorized

Tagged: Backup, Spotlight Gadgets, USB

Spotlight Gadget – SanDisk Ultra Backup USB Portable Flash Drive originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 6, 2009 at 7:22 am.

Non smartphone users that are looking for a way to back up or transfer their mobile phone’s
contacts database without the aid of a computer, will want to read this review
of the Advanced Wireless Solutions Backup-Pal.

I know that it may be difficult to imagine, but not everyone owns a smartphone or
even a computer for that matter (gasp!). Making a backup of your data on smartphone is usually pretty easy and something most owners of these devices would be well equipped to do. But for those people that own a basic mobile phone, that task is not always a simple one. Typically it requires the purchase of a data cable and some proprietary software. Of course, this won’t be helpful if the person doesn’t have a computer in which to install it on.

I should not have to sell anyone on the fact that keeping a backup of your data is a smart thing to do. People lose their phones all the time and then have to reconstruct their phone books after they purchase a new phone. Then there are the people that get a new phone every two years with their carrier plans. Most of the time you can have the store where you purchase the phone transfer your contacts from the old to new phone for free, but that doesn’t give you a backup that you can use anytime you need to. That’s where the Backup-Pal comes in.

The Backup-Pal is a small hockey puck shaped device with three buttons, an LED and a mini USB cable connected to it. That’s it. No displays or switches to fiddle with.

On the back you’ll find a battery compartment that holds 3 AAA batteries required to power the device. The memory inside the Backup-Pal is non-volatile. That means that once you do make a backup of your data, it will not disappear if the batteries in the device die. You’ll also see a label display with all of the necessary information needed to back up and restore your phone’s contacts.

The mini USB cable is attached to a module (called the interface head) that plugs into the main body of the Backup-Pal. The interface head is where the brains of the Backup-Pal lives. As compatibility for more phones is added, this is the part that will require an update. During my testing with this device, they actually sent me a second interface head when I told them that I needed compatibility for one of my Nokia phones. They are pursuing a way to upgrade this part without requiring a complete swap of the physical part.

As of this writing, the Backup-Pal supports a limited number of Samsung, Motorola and Nokia phones. You can view the current compatibility listing here. Each of these brands of phones has a different type of data connector. You buy the data connector adapter that you need with the backup unit.

The adapter plugs into the mini USB cable attached to the Backup-Pal and then the adapter plugs into your phone. Some phone models such as Motorola don’t even require an adapter at all. You can plug the mini USB cable directly into the phone.

I tested the Backup-Pal with a GSM Nokia 6131, a GSM Motorola SLVR and a CDMA Motorola V325 (not pictured).

I already had about 150 contacts on the Nokia phone, so I started out with a good selection of test data. To start the data backup procedure, I attached the adapter for my phone to the end of the Backup-Pal cable and then plugged the adapter into my phone. Then I pressed the Orange backup button. The LED on the Backup-Pal blinked a few times and then a message on my phone asks me to choose the communications settings that I prefer. The default choices are USB Data Cable, so I click OK and then OK again to start the backup. Every phone is different in that regard and happily the folks at AWS include a sheet with the instructions for your particular phone model to help you with this step.

Once the phone and Backup-Pal are connected, the LED will start blinking Green to let you know that the backup is in process. Depending on how many contacts that you have, the backup process might take less than a minute or several minutes. For my 150 or so contacts, the process took approximately 3 minutes. Once the backup is complete the LED will turn off. You can then double press the Orange backup button to get a status of the last operation. If it blinks Green, you know you are good to go.

That’s all there is to backing up your data. You can then unplug the device from your phone, stick it in a drawer and be secure in the fact that you have a backup of your phonebook information. But of course I had to test the restore process too… So I deleted all the phonebook info from the Nokia, reconnected the Backup-Pal and this time, pressed and held the small Grey Restore button for a few seconds. The connection procedure is the same. A message on the asks me to choose the communication settings to continue. After the restore completed, I checked the data to see if it was all there. This is where I learned about a limitation to this device. The Backup-Pal will only backup text fields. It will not backup images or other multimedia fields that may be attached to your phonebook entries. All my other data was there, just not the images.

My next test was to restore the backup that I had done from the Nokia onto the Motorola SLVR that already had one phone number stored in it. This test would mimic buying a completely different phone and transferring the phonebook data over it it. The Motorola has a mini USB connector, so using an adapter was not necessary. Again, I had reference the instructions to setup the Motorola to accept the data connection to the Backup-Pal. It was just a couple of seconds of work, nothing hard to do. After the restore was completed, I checked the phonebook on phone and learned a couple of things about the Backup-Pal that were a bit unexpected and confusing at first…

The phone book entry that was on the phone before the restore process was no longer on the phone after the restore was completed. This wasn’t surprising to me as in my mind a restore does not mean merge. It means whatever data is saved in the Backup-Pal, will completely overwrite the destination device during the restore process.

After the restore, I noticed that some of the entries for people were duplicated. After closer inspection, I learned that the Nokia entries that had an email address or multiple numbers per entry were duplicated in the Motorola phonebook. This is a bit annoying to me, but not the fault of the Backup-Pal, it’s just the limited way that Motorola handles entries on this particular phone.

Some of you might be asking, why don’t I just backup all the phone numbers to my SIM card and skip using the Backup-Pal all together. Sure, that’s an option… It’s just not a very good option because it leaves out none GSM users as well as the fact that saving to a SIM is very limited. First of all, you can only save 250 entries to a SIM card. That might sound like a lot to some people, but the Backup-Pal in comparison, can hold about 4000 entries. The other fact is that a SIM card can only save a name and a number. That’s it. No email addresses, birthday, notes, etc.

If you do go ahead and save your contacts to the SIM card, you’ll be glad to learn that the Backup-Pal backs them up during the backup process too. During a restore operation, it will also restore back to the SIM card (when the phone hardware/firmware allows). Another cool thing is that if you are transferring info from a GSM phone with a SIM card that has info on it, to a CDMA phone, it will copy the contacts from the SIM card to the CDMA phone’s memory and mark it with an * to let you know that it came from the SIM card. Nifty.

Using the Backup-Pal is easy to use, doesn’t require a computer and provides you with peace of mind knowing that your information is backed up and secure.

Filed in categories: Wireless

Tagged: Backup

Cellular Phonebook Backup-Pal originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 29, 2008 at 11:36 am.