There is always lots of important data on our computers, but sadly, most of us (including me) do not back up our data properly. We realize the importance of backups only when our system crashes, and is not able to reboot and we find that everything is lost. It might be possible to take our system to some computer experts so that they can recover data from our hard disk, but that can easily cost hundreds of dollars.
Easiest way to backup your data is by using some online backup service, like SkyDrive that gives you 25GB of free online storage. Or, some people use software like SpiderOak that keeps data in sync between 2 computers. These solutions are good for backing up the data. But what about other programs that you have on your system. What if the whole system crashes? How will you get all the programs back in that case? Here is a free and easy solution: Drive Backup Free Edition.
Drive Backup is a free software to backup your entire hard drive or a few partitions of the drive. This basically creates a copy of your selected disks and partitions. If your system ever crashes, you can use that copy to restore entire system with all the programs and complete data. So, you can be relaxed that you are protected. If you want to backup just drivers, you can try DriverBackup Free Software.
Drive Backup is a very easy to use software. All the functions come in form of wizard that guide you through each and every step.
Drive Backup comes with following modules:
Backup Disk or Partition
This is the main option of Drive Backup. This lets you backup your entire disks, or selected partitions. Drive Backup lets you store the backup that it creates on an external disk or firewire disk. You can even store your backup on your local hard disk if you have some additional space there. Of course, it would be still recommended to move that archive to some secure location. Probably, move it to SkyDrive to store it online.
Check Archive Validity
Archives of the entire system normally run a few GB in size. So, it is always recommended to check integrity of your archive to ensure there is no problem with that. Drive Backup comes with a built-in archive validator that can confirm that the archive that was created is not corrupt.
Build Recovery Media on USB Drive or CD/DVD
If your system goes down, it becomes very difficult to boot it up. Drive Backup lets you create recovery media that you can use to boot your system in such a situation. You can create the recovery media on USB drive or a CD/DVD. Then, if your system ever crashes or throws blue screen error, this recovery media can be used to recover the system.
Restore Disk or Partition
Drive Backup does not just limits itself to creating backups of your system. It also helps you in restoring back those backups to recover your system. Drive Backup backs this very easy by guiding you step by step in form of wizards.
Drive Backup is really useful utility to backup your entire system. This would really come handy if your system goes down. I really wish it was integrated with some online storage service like DropBox or SkyDrive.