Paragon Backup & Recovery is powerful, full disk imaging software that can back up your entire computer.
Pros
- Backup entire hard drive
- Can back up individual files/folders
- Tools to manage and repair drive partitions
Cons
- No online/cloud backup
- Expensive support options
The Bottom Line
If you can do without online backup, Paragon Backup & Recovery is great full-disk imaging backup software.
Installation
The Paragon Backup & Recovery installation is easy to follow and had no errors.
Backing Up
Paragon uses a “Smart Backup Wizard” to help users get started. It will guide you through a series of dialogs, set up your backup job, and finally run your backup.
Paragon’s has several options for backup sources
Paragon lets you backup Disks or Partitions, email, media files, and other files and folders. Users wanting to back up their entire computer should choose Disks or Partitions, and this is the option that will be used for this review.
Select which drive to back up
Paragon can also back up just the MBR (Master Boot Record) of your drive. This is a nice feature, as anyone who has encountered a corrupted MBR will tell you.
The next step is to select the Backup destination. This can be a local/network drive, FTP, or burn the data to optical media such as DVD or Blu-ray.
Next, Paragon will ask if you want to back up now or schedule a backup. Scheduling is best because it takes the guess work out of everything. You won’t constantly be wondering “Did I back up today?”
Paragon will then spit out a Backup Summary page, showing all the options that will be run. All you have to do is click Next, and it’s done.
Restoring
Restoring is a similar process. The software will guide you through the steps of selecting which backup to restore. I found it to be very easy, and restoring my backup completed successfully.
Note: If you do this from within Windows, Paragon will reboot your computer in order to finish.
If Windows is unbootable, you’ll need to use Rescue Media you created after first installing Paragon. This is under the Tools menu on the main screen. Paragon will remind you with a pop up if you haven’t done this.
A Paragon restore operation in progress
Features
Restore to Different Hardware
Code named “Paragon Adaptive Restore 3.0”, this will let you restore to different hardware from which the backup was made (as is common with hardware failures).
Copy & Migration
In the same way it can restore to different hardware, Paragon can also migrate your current system to a new computer.
Backup Capsules
This is a secure partition on your drive where backups can be stored. It’s safe from viruses, malware, accidental deletions, and many other nasties that could affect your computer. This feature is the same as Acronis Secure Zone in True Image.
Cyclic Backup
A “set it and forget it” backup policy that automatically performs and manages your backups. Just specify the max number of backups, or max amount of space for backups, and it takes care of the rest.
Support
Paragon Software offers self support with a knowledge base (KB) and community forum. The KB is a searchable database of questions and answers. The community forum is fairly active with new posts every day or so.
Free technical support is offered for 30 days. Paragon has extensive support services for home and business users alike. It’s disappointing that the Per-Incident Support is a whopping $100 per incident. This is well above the $10 charged by Acronis True Image. In general, Paragon support options are expensive compared to competitors.
Paragon guarantees a response time of three days. I submitted a support ticket and was responded to within one business day.
Discount
Get 20% off with this coupon code: DMX-6V5-7UT
| Specifications | |
| Product Name | Paragon Backup & Recovery |
| Version | 12 |
| License | Shareware |
| Price | $39.95 |
| Operating Systems | Window |
| Backup Types | |
| Files and Folders | |
| Full Disk Image | |
| Incremental | |
| Differential | |
| Backup Destinations | |
| Hard Drive | |
| Removable Media | |
| Network Shares | |
| Blu-ray | |
| CD/DVD | |
| FTP | |
| SFTP | |
| Online Storage | |
| Features | |
| Compression | |
| Encryption | |
| Email Notifications | |
| Error Handling | |
| File Versioning | |
| Priority Setting | |
| Scheduling | |
| Speed Limiting | |
| Synchronization | |
Geoff Akerlund
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