Hi.
I’m looking for a backup program to use on a couple of networked WinXP machines at my house. I’m posting my questions here because I can’t find a way to speak with or email a sales associate for the Norton line of Symantec products. I understand that.
I’ve used versions of Backup Exec since the ‘80s (before Seagate, Veritas and Symantec owned it), originally backing up to tape drives. I always liked the program. However, nothing I’ve lately seen, tried, or even bought and returned has functioned the way backup programs used to. They all seem to use a wizard/one-click model that lacks features I’m used to thinking of as basic. My local retail computer store staff seems not to have a clue either.
For me, two key features in the user interface are the ability to work with an expanding directory and file tree (think Windows Explorer) to define (on a single-folder or even single-file basis) what is to be included in a given backup, and the ability to specify file types to exclude from a backup (for instance, .mp3 files). While Backup Exec still offers this, in its current incarnation as an enterprise solution with MSRP over $1000 it’s way out of my range.
I’m working with a demo version of Norton Save & Restore right now. It appears to work in an “easy setup” (wizard?) approach, but I have spent the time needed to define a custom list of directories (folders) for a file-based backup set. I accept that I cannot work from a directory tree but must do this one directory at a time though a series of small dialog boxes. I accept that I cannot specify file type exclusions. I accept that the traditional file-based approach to backups (saving, loading, modifying, and renaming backup set definitions though functions on the “File” menu) is now hidden from the user.
I have three questions for any kind and knowledgeable soul who has answers or who can point me in the right direction:
1. Will the interface allow me to view a list of the files that were backed up on a given run? I want to assure myself that my custom file backup design is working as intended.
2. How do I tell the program whether to create a full, incremental, or differential backup? The user interface, and the help file, are strangely silent on this point. Perhaps the terminology has changed with the years?
3. Is there a more-detailed explanation (than contained in the help file) of what to use in the user and password fields of the dialog that appears when I try to back up to a zip drive that’s on my wife’s computer? Other programs (and Windows) can see the drive just fine and do not present a login dialog when I try to access it. I’m unable to get past that dialog in the Norton program.
Thanks in advance.