Price Tag: $9.99/3 up to $27.99/10.
Official URL: http://www.clickfree.com
Rating:

The most difficult part of the ClickFree backup DVDs is opening the standard DVD-style packaging, and even that only took one minute.

This is the first truly intuitive backup software that I have used and I am literally sitting here trying to figure out what to say beyond “It’s EASY!” I mean.. It’s REALLY easy. Not “I am a computer programmer and it’s easy”, REALLY easy. You pop the DVD in and ignore it until it says that it’s done backing up, then you pull it out, scribble a name on it with a sharpie, and pop it onto the shelf. Done. That easy.

You’re still here? You mean you haven’t gone off and bought it yet? Oh. I know, you want some nitty gritty details. Sure thing! We do love to over-analyze things, after all. Just keep in mind that really all you need to know is “It’s easy” and “it backs your stuff up”. All the other details are things you will only bump into if you’re dorks like us and go looking for things.

BACKING UP FILES

Setup for the DVD is simply “insert DVD into DVD-R drive and wait for your computer to recognize it.” On my Vista laptop I just had to click a little checkbox to allow Clickfree to autorun every time I insert a Clickfree DVD. That was it. On my XP computer I didn’t even have to do that. Uh. Yeah. Easy.

FILE SUPPORT

“Easy” apparently doesn’t mean “ineffective”, the way it sometimes does.  The Photo DVD backs up a long list of photo, video, and RAW formats including both common file types and some that I’ve never heard of.

My DVDs gave me the option of backing up these file formats (Note: New formats may be added, contact Clickfree support if your format is not listed):

Images: BAY, BMP, BMQ, CEX, CMP, CS1, DNG, FPX, GIF, IMG, J2C, J2K, J6I, JFI, JFIF, JIF, JP2, JPE, JPEG, JPG, JPX, MDC, MNG, PCD, PNG, PSD, RDC, TGA, TIF, TIFF, and X3F. (31 types)

Videos: 3G2, 3GP, 3GP2, 3GPP, AMC, ASF, ASX, AVI, CIN, DV, DVR-MS, FLC, IVF, M15, M1V, M2P, M2V, M4E, M4V, M75, MOV, MP4, MPE, MPEG, MPG, MPM, MPV, MSWMM, NSV, OGM, QT, QTL, QTS, RM, RMVB, RP, RT, RTS, RTSP, RV, SDV, SMI, SMIL, SML, SSM, SWF, VFW, WM, WMD, WMV, WMX, WVZ, and XMZ (53 types)

RAW: CAM, CR2, CRW, DCR, K25, KDC, KQP, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF, PMP, RAF, RAW, SRF, and THM (16 types)

For my personal use, the only file format that wasn’t covered on that extensive list was “FLV” files, or flash video. While SWF is included, FLV is not. The DVD software also doesn’t allow you to add file formats, only remove formats that you don’t want to have backed up. Too bad! It’s not one of the more common file formats though.

ADVANCED BACKUP OPTIONS

While you can’t add more file formats to back up, you can set a variety of other options. To do this, when the DVD opens up the “Backing up in…. seconds” countdown window, click the options button at the bottom. From there you can adjust settings for: Search Locations, Types and Sizes, Embedded Photos, and Language.

Search Locations: This section allows you to limit your backup options to certain folders or hard drives on your computer. If all your documents are stored under the “Photos” folder in “My Documents”, for example, you can get rid of all of the other stuff to speed up your backup and make it less likely that you’ll be wasting space with files that are meaningless to you.

Types and Sizes: This setting window allows you to UNCHECK file types that you do NOT want backed up. For example, if you never create .gif files, the only .gif files that are likely to be on your computer are junk that your browser stored in its cache. So you can easily ignore those here. You can also choose to not back up any file smaller than a certain size, which will eliminate most useless files while making sure you are still backing up all your photos.

Embedded Photos: This setting allows you to toggle on the options of searching in compressed files and emails. So if you have any photos in a .zip file, or if your sister sent you a few hundred photos of your niece through email.. They’ll get backed up.  (This does not work with web-based email, only with email software that you run on your computer such as Outlook Express.)

Language: English, Spanish, and French language options are available here.

RESTORING FILES

Restoring files is.. uh.. Hold on a second while I check my thesaurus so that my editor doesn’t faint at my over-use of that “E” word… Uh.. Yeah. Effortless. So effortless that you can use these DVDs to send off pictures to the grandparents or other “less computer literate” friends and family, and they can “restore” the pictures to their computer to see them.

So.. How easy is it?

Pop in the DVD, it will auto-run and say “This DVD has files on it”, offering you the option of restoring the files to your computer, or viewing them. You can also change your language options here. (English/Spanish/French)

Restore: The “Restore” button allows you to “Restore All” or “Restore Selected”. If you restore all, you will be asked where you want to restore the files to. The default is C:\Restored Files\Photos. If you choose “Restore Selected” you will see a list of the backed up folders to the left, and the backed up images and videos to the right. You can click on the checkbox next to a folder to restore the full folder, or you can click on the checkboxes next to individual files to be more selective. (Note: Only commonly supported images such as JPEG and GIF will have thumbnails. Video and RAW files do not.)

View& Share: This screen is a little bit more interesting. It has a similar interface as the “Restore Selected” window, with the folders listed on the left and the pictures shown as thumbnails on the right, but along the bottom are “Print”, “Email” and “Wallpaper” options that allow you to quickly print and email your photos, or turn them into your desktop wallpaper.

The “Email” button will open your default mail client (I tested it with Outlook and Thunderbird) and attach the selected images to the email. Be careful with larger image files as the file sizes can quickly add up. Generally you don’t want to email anyone anything larger than 1-2MB at the most. It would be great if future versions of the software could resize the images before attaching them. The size of the files you’ve chosen are displayed across the top as you pick them, so it makes it easy to keep an eye on how big your attachments are getting.

The “Print” button is pretty cool. It offers you a bunch of different print options, from a single image that takes up the whole screen, or to print multiple images on a page.

HOW FAST IS IT?

Compared to other methods of backup it is faster than some, slower than others. What really makes it fast is the fact that there’s practically zero setup time. You don’t have to select the file types you want to back up, choose the folders to back up, or any of that other stuff that most backup software makes you go through. You pop the DVD in and ignore it. When it’s done backing up it lets you know and you pull the DVD out, label it, and you’re done.

PACKAGING

Clickfree DVDs are packaged in DVD cases that hold multiple discs. The side is sealed with sticky “Security Device Enclosed” tape, and the case is shrinkwrapped.

Once you open it up you will see the licensing agreement and Quickstart guide on the left, and the DVDs on the right. The DVDs are held in place with two clips and are stacked on top of one another. This packaging seems to hold up much better to the abuses of shipping, and even if the mechanism holding the discs in place comes loose, there’s a very good chance that the DVDs will not be damaged because there is no “center hub” to scratch them and they are held in place on all four sides by raised bumpers, as well as by the clips.

The clips themselves are very easy to operate. You simply depress them to release a disc. They are as easy as any “center hub” mechanism, and more easy than most. They put far less stress on the disc. Brilliant.

The DVD case for the “3 pack” is a standard DVD-sized case which makes it very easy to store. You can also simply pull out and reverse the Clickfree DVD wrap and write on the other side to label your backups.

NITPICKS

Ahh.. Nitpicks. We really only have three itty bitty ones. Three teenie tiny nitpicks that really probably only bother us. And the solution is stunningly simple: If one of these items bugs you? Buy the hard drive version instead. It has none of these little nitpicks. But really, these nitpicks are so minor that they’re almost silly.

1- Each DVD is single use. This means that if you insert it into a computer and only back up 10 files, you will only be able to put 10 files onto the DVD. Solution: Use the hard drive version instead, or wait until you have more than 10 files to back up.

2- The backup is not incremental. This means that if you back up once with a DVD, then have another DVD you can’t just back up the new files. It backs up everything again.  Solution: Use the hard drive version instead, or keep your files into date-sorted folders and customize the backup options to only include the new folders. The DVDs are cheap enough that you can do multiple backups without worrying much anyway. It simplifies your backup library, too, since you can get rid of older backups.

3- You can only backup files that are supported by the DVDs. The list is LONG and you’re unlikely to have anything that isn’t on it.. But it would be nice to be able to specify some additional options.

Like I said, little nitpicks that you’re unlikely to run into. I’m just mentioning them for the purpose of being thorough.

BOTTOM LINE

These DVDs are the easiest to use backup that I have ever encountered. They totally eliminate every single excuse you can dream up for “Why I haven’t backed my computer up since 2002″.  What are you waiting for? Go buy some. Your child’s baby pictures aren’t going to back themselves up!