Ah! A new computer! What a great feeling hooking up the machine and watching everything work. Playing the new games and listening to the clear crisp sound from the multi-speaker surround sound.

Once the excitement wears off, you realize you have to get the data from the old machine to the new one. There are a considerable number of programs to help – plenty of cables to buy, all sorts of ways to do it (firewire, USB, RF transfer, etc) so have fun.

Of course, you could use a different way of doing it and also set up a schedule of backups that will protect your data and programs just in case the new computer crashes (terrible thought, but remember it was built with parts from the lowest bidder)

If you didn’t get a new computer for the holidays you might want to consider that the old gal just might start showing signs of aging – the old MTBF syndrome (that’s “mean time before failure” which is a guesstimate about how long the hard drive will last) that can cause great excitement when all data is lost.

You are told to backup frequently and some actually do so. I recommend twice a day for a medium sized business, once a day for a small one, and at least once a week for a home user. Of course, keeping the backup disks in a different place than the computer is just smart.

Microsoft has a built-in program – commercial ones are available all around the place – even simply copying some files to a floppy can work. However, the BACKUP 4 ALL program is so easy – so simple that even a skilled novice like me can run it very easily.

The program downloaded without a hitch and the Wizard guided me through the set-up program. No problems, and we were ready to go.

Figure one is the main page of the program and every icon has its’ purpose visible as soon as the cursor touches it. There is a wizard that pops up to guide you to the backup you want to make, and you can select any and all files and folders that you want to save.

Note: if you have the program disks, don’t save the program – just save the data files since you can always reload the program from the disk.

After you have selected the files/folders you want to backup, the built in CD/DVD burner software takes over and saves the files as you direct. The files are saved in .zip format so that you can also use other programs to unzip them if you are going to transfer them to another computer or hard drive if yours crashes. (Hmmm – bet this works well to load that new computer, eh?).

The program will keep an eye on the files/folders you selected for backup and the next time you come to the Backup4all program you can see which ones have changed. Those are the only ones you need to save from now on which makes the program even faster.

If you use a re-writeable CD or DVD you can recopy over the files you selected to save a bit of money as well as time.

What happens if the computer crashes? Well, just click on restore on the Backup4all program and you can reload the data back onto the computer about as fast as the reader will allow. Since the files are .zip there are lots of utilities that can read it (Windows XP has the capability built-in) so time isn’t wasted while you try to get something to open the files.

This program is a winner in that it does all that it claims to do; it does it easily; it does it efficiently. I like the simplicity of the program since it just doesn’t add a lot of clicking and dragging and keeping track of things for us to consider. And, in all honestly, the three versions of the software are designed for both the power user and the home user.

Go to the site BACKUP 4 ALL and look at the info there. Try downloading one of the programs and try it out. Then, if you like it, you can come to the December meeting and win the copy they are giving away free, or you can go to the site and get an immediate 20% discount.

The program comes from Romania and can be downloaded from their site, BACKUP 4 ALL , and you get to evaluate it for yourselves for a short time. Then, if you want it, they are offering a 20% discount for APCO members – just add the words “ALAMO-PC” in the coupon code box as you check out. Then they send you the registration number to enter and register the program and you’re all set.

If you try it on your old computer, you might want to put it on the new one once you get one. I asked the company how to do it, and their very quick response was to go the site, download and evaluation copy and then register it using the code given for the original program.

I also want to add that their customer support is great. I would email them in the evening and have an answer the next morning – a far cry from the support offered by most software companies. Well done, guys.