Paragon System Backup 11

Paragon System Backup 11 is a straightforward tool which makes it generally very easy to create regular, complete backups of your entire system drive.

So you don't have to spend time choosing this folder or that, for instance: by default the program selects everything for you. It can also automatically choose a backup destination, ideally an external drive (network drives aren't supported, unfortunately), although the program can also create a new partition on your system drive as a last resort. It'll suggest a backup timetable, too, and then simply start automatically backing up your system while you get on with other things.

And if something does ever go wrong then you've a couple of options. If you've just accidentally deleted a file or two, say, then System Backup can restore them from your last backup in just a few seconds. But if you've been hit by a major issue - a virus attack, perhaps - and Windows will no longer start, then you can always boot from the Paragon System Backup recovery CD (or USB flash drive), restore the entire backup image and so get your system back in full working order.

The focus of the program is in keeping everything as simple as possible, then, but Paragon have also tried to satisfy more experienced PC users with this version by introducing a host of manual options and controls. So you can now decide exactly which volumes you'd like to back up, for instance. You get more control over the backup strategy, such as being able to decide whether to create full or differential snapshots. The new build's Exclude Masks allow you to leave out specified files from the image, and you can now decide how many archives the program will keep.

And of course there are all the usual updates which see System Backup 11 able to support all the latest hard drive types and standards: SSDs, AFDs, 2TB+ and non-512B sector size drives.

The program's inability to back up to network drives is a weakness, but if you've a convenient local drive to hand then System Backup 11 still provides an easy way to create and automatically run regular, complete backups.