Keeping your data safe and backing up your most important files is an obligation for everyone, whether you use your PC for work or as an entertainment tool. Nobody would like that their photographs accumulated over the years or that written documents, papers or publications are lost in nothing due to technical problems or a computer that breaks. The ideal would always be to have an image of the system copied to an external hard disk so, if the PC or hard disk breaks, after repair or replacement, you can restore everything in its entirety, as it was before it occurred problem. Not everyone, however, has an external drive to dedicate to backup and not everyone is able to use the backup image to restore the PC or extract the most important files (even if Windows 7 makes it rather simple, see how to create an image of the Windows system as a recovery disk).
To keep the most important files safe, you must therefore create a copy on a USB stick, on another hard disk, on another computer or online on services such as Dropbox .
However, this copy must be set up so that it is automatic, that it is performed without manual interventions every day or every week.
To make a backup copy of important files and folders you can use free backup programs of which I have already reported the best.
Alternatively, if you want an easier, faster and faster tool, very easy to configure and in Italian, you can use the open source program DSyncronize which you can download for free both in Italian, in a portable version that does not require installation.
DSyncronize is a file synchronization tool that is a program that creates the copy of one or more folders on the computer so that the two copies, the original and the backup, always remain identical.
DSyncronize can be used to copy any type of file, including documents, photos, images, videos and music, to any device visible from the Windows Explorer, then USB sticks, external drives, other internal hard drives or even folders network or shared folders of other computers .
After downloading the portable version, just extract the ZIP file and start the .exe file. DSyncronize is completely portable and the settings for the program are stored in individual files inside the program folder which, therefore, can be moved wherever you want. DSyncronize is also in Italian so everything becomes easier and understandable by reading the interface instructions.
To make a normal backup, just select the source folder and then the destination folder, then click Synchronize.
The first time you need to create a new profile from the first screen giving it any name. The backup profile simply requires you to first indicate the folder you want to make the backup copy of and then the destination folder which, as mentioned, can be any, even the USB stick or the DropBox or Google Drive folder if you want make an online backup You can also indicate a network folder, that is a shared folder of another computer at home or in the office. To facilitate the choice of folders, you can press the three dots and use the Windows Explorer. A file controller is also included which allows you to remotely control the program on other PCs.
As a synchronization method you can choose the option to copy only the new files and make the incremental copy in both directions.
The difference becomes clear: incremental copy means that, after the first synchronization, only the modified or new files are copied the following times.
On the other hand, both directions mean that there is no folder that controls and that the changes made on one are also shown on the other (useful if you are working from the files of the USB stick).
On the other hand, left-to-right incremental backup assumes that the right destination folder is never manually changed.
In no case are files deleted from DSyncronize therefore, if you make a copy of the photo albums and, subsequently, some images are deleted from the main folder, those images are still present in the backup. You can also choose to exclude certain types of files from the copy or to include only certain formats (for example, if in the documents folder there are many other things besides Office files, you can choose to exclude them).
The backup profile can be saved by pressing on Freeze and locking the settings. The timer options allow you to activate a constant real time synchronization between two folders (or backup so that after each change it is recorded and copied).
As you read in the instruction file, to make automatic copies of the chosen folders you have to put DSyncronize in automatic execution then you have to create a link in the Startup or Autorun folder of Windows (it is in the Start menu -> Programs ).
In the schedule configuration, you can put the cross where " Recover missing backups " is written to tell the program that, if at the scheduled time for automatic copying, the PC was off, then it must perform synchronization as soon as possible, the next power on the computer.
For each type of backup copy you want to make, you can create a new profile and schedule it on different days, with different frequency. By moving the mouse over the icon at the bottom right near the Windows clock, you can see when the next backup is expected. When the scheduled folder copy starts automatically, a notification appears, even when the backup is finished.
DSyncronize beats everyone in simplicity and lightness but, in case you want to try other alternatives, there is Microsoft SyncToy and other programs for synchronizing files and folders between computers in another post.
