EMC Retrospect Express HD

List Price: $49.99 Discount Price: $9.90

Features:

• Simplifies backup and restore with step-by-step wizard
• Backup-and-restore software protects with unparalleled accuracy
• Stores backups on a local or networked hard drive
• Schedules auto backups or protects files immediately with 1 click
• Backs up everything or just critical files; installs in minutes

Customer Reviews:

Imperfect Solution DO NOT use with VISTA [Posted on 2008-03-01]
Unlike a lot of reviewers I have had absolutely no issue with either installing or backing up my data - but then again I always log in as the ADMINSTRATOR on Windoze XP - I have used version 1.1 on XP PRO for nearly 3 years and upgraded to this version as a cheap solution - particularly if you don't buy from Amazon, for use on a new Vista machine.

To be fair this software works great under XP - it saved my bacon countless times over the last three years BUT it is next to useless with Windoze Vista ... sure the backup is efficient, incremental and scheduled backups work a treat BUT don't think for one moment it will restore Vista to a working state ..... I got nothing but errors after restoring a Vista PC. Fortunately I had a disc image created with Acer eRecovery management which I used to restore the OS plus applications and then restored my data from the Retrospect Express HD backup.

Consequently I have donated this software to my son for use on his XP Home machine, meanwhile I am in search of a better solution, i.e. Acronis or Norton .... there must be something better out there????

THIS HAS A SERIOUS BUG EMC REFUSES TO FIX-DO NOT BUY IT!!! [Posted on 2008-06-02]
I bought and installed this software several months ago. As I typed or dictated, the window would suddenly lose focus every 5 to 10 minutes and my typing or dictation would be lost until I noticed. It was frustrating. But then, when I used my computer to give a presentation to a client in PowerPoint, it lost focus and just hung. Every 5 minutes!! Using msconfig, I finally traced it to this #$*&(#$ software. I looked on their website and sure enough, they acknowledge the bug but have never fixed it. There is no solution and no work around. It appears they are focused on porting to the Mac to get more suckers. I uninstalled their software and will never buy anything from them again. I suggest you save yourself the pain I suffered through and find a different backup program.

Very buggy with non-existent support [Posted on 2008-07-14]
Had problems installing and using this software and I am a computer professional. I emailed support and got no response. When I then called for help they said that their phone support cost $69 - I pointed out that this was more than the software (which never even worked!) and the customer service rep. simply responded with "I don't make the rules. Have a nice day." and just hung up the phone on me.

Rude, non-existent product support and it's probably because they get flooded with problems. Stay away from this company!

It crashed my system [Posted on 2008-09-13]
Although the software was included at no charge to me because it came with a portable hard drive purchase, I still cannot recommend it as a good choice for a backup program.

The highlights of this program are that it simplifies the task of backups to a very easy level. Choose the type of backup...full or custom, click the button, and you are done. However, the program seems to work at a snail's pace when when compared to other programs. It also somehow crashed my system the first time I used it. And no, I was not using Vista, I was using XP.

The program is easy to use, but for what it does, it is awfully expensive. There are much better programs for backup purposes and they don't crash your system.

For the computer user who is wary about doing anything with their computer except common tasks, Reflection Express will look attractive. However, for average to seasoned computer users, it will be a waste of money.

I had to do a system restore to get it off my computer. Total time on my computer? One hour and 10 minutes.

makes backup, restore doesn't work for Vista [Posted on 2008-09-15]
It came with the new iomega USB drive I recently bought. Installs fine, will backup selected files or the whole drive... WON'T restore my Windows Vista laptop to bootable condition...

Just to test after it screwed up, did system restore disks, made a backup, tried to restore. Rendered the system unbootable missing partition table entry and many files... tried to "repair" with restore disks... ended up having to do full restore again to get the laptop back to usable condition.

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