Until you get burnt for the first time, you don't fear the fire. The same applies to computing, when talking about data security and backup. Since this is a popular topic, especially for those who happened to feel the fire once, my advice for everybody is to stay safe before something bad happens.

How can one avoid data loss? Even most reliable hard drives and UPS devices cannot give 100% protection against accidental file deletion or hardware failures. You can't rely on luck, and regular backups are the safest answer to the above.

Of course, you have two ways of performing a backup, as usual. First one would be the sluggish and complicated manual backup, involving the risk of forgetting about some of the vital items that need to be saved, while the second way, the right one for most computer users out there, is to use a specialized backup program.

Today's backup application is called Backup4all and comes from Softland. It reached version 3.3.216 and can be taken for free into a 30 days trial run. The installation kit is 7.4MB in size and the setup process is easy to complete, all you have to do is read carefully the instructions displayed on the screen.

Backup4all's interface is well designed and easy to use for everybody. In order to backup your data, you will use the New Backup Wizard, accessible from the File menu , toolbar or using the Ctrl+N keyboard shortcut. Let's follow it while creating a new backup and burning it to a CD!

First step is called General and will ask you for basic information, such as backup name, group, icon, and description. There are also three predefined backups you can choose from – My Documents, My Pictures and Outlook Express.

Next, you have to specify which files and folders are to be included in the backup. This area is entitled Sources. Files or folders that have been added can be excluded easily, using check boxes.

The Destination window lets you select where to store the source files. You can choose between a local folder on your hard drive or optical drive, a FTP location or a computer on your LAN.

In the fourth step of the wizard you have to specify the type of your backup and set different options for the one that you have chosen. Here you can also enable encryption for your backup archives. The strongest encryption supported by Backup4all is AES-256bit method, which is an excellent choice.

The Filters area allows you to include and exclude certain file types into the backup. Files can be filtered based on their names, attributes, sizes and dates. After setting the desired filters, you can use the Customize tab to manually override them.

Next stop is a real power house for this program, and its name is Advanced. Some of the options that can be set here are comparison criteria, automatic test, actions before or after the backup, sounds and email notifications. The last one can be extremely useful, especially combined with the Scheduler.

Did I say "Scheduler"? Here it is, the last step of the wizard before finally casting the backup spell! All you have to do is to set carefully its options and the program will take care of your backups from now on! You have the choice to use the Windows or Backup4all scheduler, but you can also set the program to perform the backup before shutting down Windows.

When talking about backup on optical discs, Backup4all can use its internal burning engine or a secondary one that you can specify in the Options window. But wait! This is not all! Maybe you want to backup on an USB device?

One Touch Backup can be enabled pressing a button on some USB devices that have such a configurable switch. All you have to do is choose the backup job you want to perform from the available ones and you will have this done in a flash!

If I missed some of the great features of this program, you will have the pleasure to discover them. I am not saying this is a must buy, because this decision is up to you, but I can say that Backup4all is definitely a must try!

The Good

Its wide range of features and ease of use make Backup4all one of the best backup applications available. The help file is excellent and the program's price is very good, considering the fact that it's always better to stay safe than be sorry.

The Bad

I can't really find anything bad about this program, so I will tell you about one thing that I'd like to see in the future. A bootable restoration media would be pretty useful, in my opinion, and I don't have to tell you why...

The Truth

To be honest, I always say "I'll burn that backup folder someday this week" and the week passes without having my files backed up. With a program like Backup4all this issue can disappear, and the stress related to "what if my hard drive crashes" problem will disappear. I think that I'll leave the backup tasks for this program from now on. What about you?

Here are some snapshots of the application in action: