Product Reviews

Acronis' True Image is held up by many as the paragon of backup software design, and it's obvious that StorageCraft subscribes to this view. The applications look very similar, on the surface at least.

Once you delve beyond the initial screen, though, in turns out that its software is less intuitive than our A-Listed backup software, but you certainly don't need to be an expert to get started and schedule regular backups.

StorageCraft offers two versions of its backup software; one targeted at businesses for use on servers, and another, the one we're reviewing here, for consumer use. The application comes on just one CD, which doubles up as a bootable recovery disc.

Unlike True Image, there is little in the way of bells and whistles. Instead, ShadowProtect has focused on its core task of safely archiving data. This lack of clutter means

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that it is easy to get to grips with, even if the interface isn't the most intuitive on the market.

The software can be scheduled to make complete or incremental backups, where only the changes to files on a disk since the last backup are saved. By taking a complete backup overnight, and smaller incremental archives every hour or so, users can guarantee that even a catastrophic data loss only will set them back a couple of hours.

Should the worst happen, restoring a complete backup image to a disk is a simple matter of booting the PC from the included disc and using the recovery software to ghost the image to a new hard drive. Backups can be stored on local hard disks, optical discs and even NAS drives, and sensibly StorageCraft's software can access all of these drive types, even in the boot disc's non-Windows environment.

The most impressive thing about the software is how it stores backups. All files are accessible even when archived, which means you can easily dip in to view or copy old versions of files, without having to use the software. This approach also allows the software to include subsequent incremental updates within the complete backups, effectively creating full backups every time a partial backup is run.

We still prefer Acronis' more polished interface and fuller range of features, but ShadowProtect's lower price, competent backup features and ease of use makes it a good budget alternative.