Labs

Backups4All is run by UK-based Cognition Software. You can sign up for a free 30-day trial, or take out one of a range of monthly subscriptions. Home users can choose from four storage levels, up to 20GB, which costs £18 including VAT a month - three times what SquirrelSave charges.

The service uses almost identical software to BackupRight. It's easy to install and configure but provides

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fewer options than other packages, such as Mozy. Backups can be started with one click and scheduled by day of the week and time, but continuous backup isn't an option.

Backups4All produces a detailed log file, but there's no bandwidth throttling or pause function. The progress window's estimated time was wildly optimistic in our tests. The application used very little processor time, but the processes that it ran together used more than 100MB of system RAM, which could be a problem if you don't have much.

When restoring, you can select individual files or folders and choose the backup date from which you want to take files. You can specify the original location, or a new folder. Subfolders are preserved if you choose this option.

Backups4All was one of the fastest applications when backing up, and its restores were comparatively well managed and acceptably quick. The software is a little basic, however, and the storage space is limited for the price.