

You can, however, create the disk image on an external drive, then include that external drive in your cloud backup. You can only store this image on another hard drive (not the same hard drive you’re imaging), and you can’t upload it directly to the cloud like you can with Acronis True Image. Disk Image Backup does exactly what it sounds like: copies a 1:1 image of your drive to another location, so you can restore your drive exactly as it was if something goes wrong. Lastly, you’ll see an option for Disk Image Backup at the bottom of the sidebar-why this isn’t a normal menu option like the others, I’m not sure, but it’s the only real inconsistency in the interface. There is, unfortunately, no way to exclude files over a certain size. Here you can enable or disable IDrive’s “continuous” backup, adjust what IDrive considers a “failed” backup for notification purposes, wake the computer for backups, adjust your bandwidth usage, and exclude certain files or folders. The Settings tab contains basically all of the other advanced options you may want to tweak, and unlike other backup programs, this button is front-and-center instead of tucked away in a corner. The Sync tab lets you enable the Dropbox-esque file syncing feature, and the Server Backup tab is where you’ll find some of the more advanced backup features for SQL and Exchange servers, though these features are only available for the more expensive IDrive Business subscription. The Scheduler tab allows you to adjust when your computer backs up, lets you set up email and desktop notifications for failed backups, and more.
#Idrive reviews 2018 for free#
IDrive offers this service for free once per year to Personal users (subsequent requests will cost $60, but you probably won’t need one). Your files will be online in a few days, and depending on the size of your initial backup, this could be much faster than trying to upload the files from your PC. They ship you a hard drive, you back up to it, and mail it to them. If you have a particularly large backup, though, you might consider using IDrive’s courier service, known as IDrive Express. You can then schedule your backup or click “Backup Now” to begin. However, you can click the “Change” button to add any other files and folders to your backup, giving you lots of flexibility. “After you make that decision, IDrive will open the Backup tab, ready to upload your documents, music, and other user folders. A private encryption key secures your data under a second layer of encryption so that even the IDrive service cannot access your data (with caveats, which I’ll talk about in a moment). You’ll want to make this decision now, since if you change your mind later, you’d have to re-upload your entire backup.
#Idrive reviews 2018 install#
iDrive - Backup and RecoveryWhen you sign up for IDrive and install the program, you’ll be asked whether you want to use a private encryption key to secure your backups. IDrive just doesn’t have a very polished design like some of its competitors (Acronis and SpiderOak, for example). (This is common all over IDrive, from the program to the website to the customer support-English doesn’t seem to be the first language of its creators.) Thankfully, most options have a little “?” icon that you can hover over to get more information about what the feature does. During Disk Image backup, you’re prompted to “select the drive you wish to create Disk Image,” which-besides not being a complete sentence-is a little confusing at first. For example, to restore files from a certain date, you click the “Snapshots” button.


Everything is where you’d expect it to be, but some options are confusingly worded.

All that comes in a neat desktop package that’s pretty easy to navigate. Oh, and it has loads of settings to customize your backups, most of which are accessible from the web, so you can manage your backups remotely. You can schedule backups as you like, including “continuous” backups that upload files as they’re changed.
#Idrive reviews 2018 full#
You can even create full disk image backups and restore them using a boot disk if anything ever goes wrong with your system. On top of that, IDrive contains a file syncing and sharing service through a folder on your PC, à la Dropbox. This is a huge bonus, and while those files take up space, it means you’ll never ask yourself “Hey, where’d that file go?” like you would with more limited services. IDrive keeps up to 10 versions of your old files, but doesn’t remove deleted files from your backup, ever, until you manually click the “Archive” button. “Even at its “normal” price of $70 per year, you get a lot for your money.
