Perfect Backup: Perfect? No, but darn close

This free file and folder backup program is far more versatile than the integrated Windows File History, even backing up to popular online services.

- JON JACOBI

Though Windows provides its own file backup facilities in Windows File Backup (fave. co/3HKItbC), the OS has continually made them less obvious and less intuitive. Why is anyone’s guess. There are plenty of alternatives, but they can be hard to find or just as hard to use. Enter Perfect Backup.

It’s free and, while it’s just shy of perfect, Perfect Backup does grab the brass ring for being the most straightforward and user-friendly interface for the purpose. Add to that stable performance and a cornucopia of options, as well as network, FTP, and online services support, and you’ve got a winner on your hands.

FEATURES

Perfect Backup is file backup—that is, it doesn’t image entire partitions like our favorite R-Drive Image (fave.co/3Wslx4Z) does. Instead, it merely copies files and folders to a new location. Truth be known, with Windows so easy to install and restore these days, that’s all most users really need.

But there are options—a host of them, as a matter of fact. You can specify the number of versions to keep and the number of incremental backups that will transpire before a new full backup is created, and even compress the files to standard Zip format.

There’s also very granular scheduling, logging of results, reporting via email, throttling (CPU usage), and just about everything else you’d expect from a modern backup program.