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(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

Windows 7 isn't officially out until October, but if you want to start an online backup service and make sure you can still use it once upgraded to the new operating system, Proxure has something to offer.

The company announced Tuesday the availability of version 3.15 of its KeepVault backup solution. The new version provides support for Windows 7 (both 64-bit and 32-bit) as well as Windows Vista and Windows XP.

The company also announced a special version of KeepVault that works with Windows Home Server, a special OS from Microsoft designed specifically for network storage devices such as the HP MediaSmart LX195.

The KeepVault backup solution offers an online storage account and an easy-to-use interface to provide continuous, real-time, off-site backup for Windows computers. Apart from online storage, the software can also perform local backup to internal and external hard drives.

Proxure offers online backup services that start at $4 per month for 40GB, which is a rather good deal. In addition, the KeepVault software can be installed on an unlimited number of computers at any location and supports an unlimited amount of users. Many other backup software programs only allow for a limited amount of computers or users. Proxure online backup also allows for failure notification via Twitter, e-mail, or SMS in case a backup job doesn't finish properly.

The KeepVault backup solution is available now and you can try it risk-free 15-day trial version here.

No power? No problem. The APC 550VA battery backup will keep you running for up to an hour.

(Credit: APC)

If you're using a notebook and there's a sudden power outage, no problem: The battery will let you keep on workin'.

Desktop users aren't so lucky, which is why it's essential to plug everything into a battery backup (aka uninterruptible power supply). If the lights go out, you'll still have a few minutes in which to save your work and safely power down the machine.

Best Buy has an APC 550VA Battery Backup System for $39.99 shipped. It includes a total of eight outlets, all of them surge-protected and four powered by the 330-watt battery.

The 550VA promises up to 65 minutes of runtime, depending on the power demands of your hardware. It also has phone/fax/modem and USB ports to keep that gear from getting fried.

APC offers a $75,000 equipment-protection policy, meaning if your gear does get zapped while plugged into the 550VA, the company will reimburse you.

As someone who works at a desktop nearly every day, and who has lost work due to sudden power outages, I consider a battery backup essential equipment. Normally they're a lot pricier, so I'm liking this deal a lot.

(Credit: EMC)

Owners of Time Machine-enabled Macs need not apply. But for the rest--especially small businesses that want a centralized backup solution, then EMC has something for you.

The company announced Tuesday the availability of its Retrospect 8.1 backup software for the Mac platform, which, unlike the previous version 8.0, now also supports the the legacy PowerPC Macs. This is good news for businesses that still have the older Mac computers.

According to EMC, on average, users of Retrospect 8.1 on Intel-based Macs can expect local backup performance to increase from 10 percent to 15 percent over version 8.0, and from 30 percent to 35 percent over version 6.1.

Performance on PowerPC systems, on the other hand, varies depending on the power and speed of the processor. If the machine runs on a G5 processor, for example, performance can be up to 15 percent better than version 6.1.

Other than that, version 8.1 also has a better user interface, including nicer-looking icons, improved workflow, and better responses to the user's inputs.

The new Retrospect 8.1 continues to have other features that were included in version 8.0, including:

• A customizable user interface with remote management capabilities
• The ability to perform multiple, simultaneous backup, restore, and copy operations
• Support for disk-to-disk-to-disk (D2D2D) and disk-to-disk-to-tape (D2D2T) backups
• Certified AES-256 encryption of backup data
• Support for multiple network interfaces and the ability to wake sleeping computers for backup

Other than Macs, Retrospect 8 also supports Windows Server 2003/2008 and Windows XP/Vista clients, in both physical and virtual environments, including those running within VMware Fusion and Parallels.

The new software is available now. The cheapest three-user license costs $129 and the most expensive unlimited license costs $1,669. Owners of Retrospect 8.0 can upgrade to this 8.1 version at a significantly discounted price.

(Credit: HP)

Backing up a computer can be tricky for many people, especially those who access data via the software applications without knowing where the actual data files or folders reside on the hard drive. I have some friends who used to believe that you could back up all your office documents just by dragging and dropping the icons of Microsoft Excel, Word, and Outlook over to an external hard drive.

This is where products such as the SimpleSave external hard drive series, like the SimpleSave Portable that Hewlett-Packard made available Monday, comes into play. (The other drive in the series, the SimpleSave desktop, will be available in September.)

HP SimpleSave photos

Energizer's SP2000 solar charger.

(Credit: Energizer)

Through a partnership with XPAL Power, Energizer has expanded its Energi to Go line of portable battery packs in a big way. The newly branded chargers run the gamut from an iPhone 3G/3G S battery sleeve to a couple of solar chargers to a larger lithium ion charger that can juice up to three devices at once, including a laptop.

Most of the chargers include cell tips for various makes and models of cell phones, and you can get free new tips online as future phones come out.

Many of the battery packs are available already under the XPAL brand, but the new packaging should be appearing very soon in stores.

Energizer's new portable battery packs

Here's a look at the line and check out the slideshow above: ... Read More

The Undelete Plus 3.0 software.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

I've been raving a lot lately about the importance of backing up, and it seems I still haven't done enough to get my point across.

Case in point: since my most recent backup-related post, I have received multiple e-mails asking how to retrieve files that have been accidentally deleted.

The right question is: Is it even possible to retrieve lost files? And the answer is, it depends. Once you have deleted a file (and even emptied the Recycle Bin), the information from the file is still on the hard drive. As long as the same spot of hard disk hasn't been used by another file, it's possible to get that file back. So, the earlier you try to recover, the more likely it is you will be successful.

Note that during a normal operation, a computer does a lot of writing to the hard drive, because it uses hard drive space as scrap notes for different computations. If you need to recover a lot of data from a main hard drive, where the operation system is installed, it's best to put that hard drive into another computer to do the recovery.

There are many software applications that can recover data, and I was given the opportunity to try out the new 3.0 version of Undelete Plus Tuesday. This is the update to the free version of Undelete Plus 2.93, which can be found at Download.com.

Compared with the free version, this update's new interface is much easier to use. ... Read More

The single-PC version of Replica doesn't come with a dock.

(Credit: Seagate)

It's not often you review a product that some folks will find too limiting and almost worthless, while others will find it suits their needs perfectly. But that's the conclusion we came to with Seagate's Replica external storage drive, which continuously backs up your entire Windows PC--OS and all.

Read the full review of the Seagate Replica.

Acronis True Image backup software.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

After I blogged about how Acronis misinterpreted its survey data, mistakenly reporting an alarming 87 percent of users back up their data only once every two or three months, the company released a revised report on the matter on Thursday.

The new report shows that nearly two-thirds (64 percent, as opposed to the earlier contention of 87 percent) of users back up their computers every two or three months, which is still much less frequently than is recommended to keep data safe.

In addition, the survey found that 80 percent of the some 6,100 participants surveyed in North America have experienced data loss or recovery of some sort.

The survey suggests that most of us need to take backup more seriously, and do it on a much more frequent basis. This is especially important considering the increasing risk of malware to computers, which often store critical data, such as financial and personal information.

The survey also found that 81 percent of users have had to reinstall their computers' operating systems or software applications. According to the survey, data loss cost those affected significant time and effort, with 48 percent of those surveyed reporting that the reinstallation process took more than four hours on average.

Personally, I don't know how credible these numbers are considering the error found in the previous report. Nonetheless, I can't stress how important backing up is. I've seen many friends learn this lesson the hardest and most expensive way.

Apart from Acronis True Image--which is one of my favorite backup programs, because of its capability to automatically create an exact copy of the hard disk and allow you to restore the entire machine--you can also use other free programs, such as GFI Back Up Home Edition. Or just get an external hard drive and simply copying information over.

Think of backing up as automobile insurance: it's a hassle to have and you hope you'll never have to use it, but it's really dangerous and sort of irresponsible to go without it.

The survey section where the percentages were taken out--the numbers just don't justify what Acronis said in its report.

(Credit: Acronis)

Acronis, a major vendor of backup software, released a report earlier this week stating that about 87 percent of computer users back up their data once every two or three months--way less frequently than recommended. This suggests that most of us live dangerously when it comes to backing up.

The survey was widely reported in the press, but it turns out the numbers didn't seem to go well with Acronis' report.

The percentages released to the media were taken from the question "How often do you back up your hard drive or files?" Results include: 48 percent for "once a week (or more)"; 55 percent for "2-3 times a month"; 81.5 percent for "once a month"; 86.8 percent for "every 2-3 months", 91.4 percent for "2-3 times a year", 94.6 percent for "once a year or less"; and 25.5 percent for "never."

It may be that I'm Asian and extra good with math, but I couldn't help but notice that when added up, the numbers total around 500 percent. Other ways to interpret the chart didn't justify the reported 87 percent, either. So maybe you're not as bad at backing up as some media reports told you you were.