April 7, 2008

We can’t stress enough the importance of backups for your computer. You need to make backup copies of files and photos regularly, but as your needs grow you’ll want more features for backing up and restoring files or your computer. Enter the backup program.

Backup Now 5 Advanced (**** out of 4) is a program that provides a variety of backup options to keep your computer, emails, data, photos, music and more safely backed up to your choice of backup media.

The program is 1-2-3 easy to use. First you choose from one of the three types of backup provided: continuous, where each time files with selected extensions are changed or saved a backup is automatically made; file/folder based backup, where backups are made to include or exclude all specific file types (for example, media files); drive based, which creates an image of your hard drive and is useful for moving your data, programs and settings to a new hard drive or a new computer or recovering from a computer/hard drive disaster. In the continuous backup mode, version control allows you to restore multiple previous versions of your files if needed.

The step 2 of the "1-2-3" is deciding where you want the backup to go: internal or external hard drive, network drive, CDs, DVDs, flash memory cards or USB thumb drives or even the new Blu-ray disks (you’ll need a Blu-ray burner for this last one). Backup Now 5 Advanced will span your backup across multiple hard drives, CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray disks if your backup is too large to fit on one drive or disk.

In the last step you choose when to do the backup, now, later, at a specific time or at a recurring time for automatic backups. You can also create a bootable CD and add password protection to your backup sets.

When disaster strikes, you can recover the needed file or set of files or restore the image of your complete hard drive. Options give you the choice of restoring your file(s) to their original location or to a new location. If you have backed up to a stack of CDs or DVDs, the program will tell you which disk number to insert. If you can only remember part of the name of the file you want to restore, the program will do a Find search using part of a file name and display the matches for you to choose from.

Backup Now 5 Advanced installed easily and was easy to use once we got an initial configuration problem fixed. Help comes in the form of explanations at each of the 1-2-3 steps and an extensive on-line help file. Technical support is available via e-mail.

Remember, it’s not a matter of if but more a matter of when your computer crashes or your hard drive dies. Don’t wait until you lose a copy of that important document or priceless photo to do a backup.

The Rise of Atlantis (**** out of four) is a match-the-tile casual puzzle game (actually match three tiles) offering a few fun surprises in addition to the addicting play.

The program displays a somewhat irregularly shaped playing board filled with several different iconic tiles. The shape of the board changes to match puzzle segments. You play the game by switching adjacent tiles horizontally or vertically so as to create three or more matching tiles in a row. These then fall off the board and are replaced by the tile that was just above each, moving that column of tiles closer to the bottom of the grid.

Occupying a grid space on the board is one or more special puzzle pieces. The object is to get that piece(s) to fall off the board by removing the tiles below it. Once the puzzle piece falls off, it is put in place on the picture of one of the artifacts needed to raise the mythical Atlantis from its Mediterranean resting place. Once you’ve completed filling in the picture using the 15-20 pieces, you go on to the next of seven ancient Mediterranean kingdoms to gain additional artifacts. Get all the artifacts, put them in place and bingo, up comes Atlantis. You’ll need to complete all 77 levels to get there.

You have a limited amount of time to play the game or back you go to the previous level. Scores are kept and bonuses are provided, along with a few fun surprises such as a lightning bolt to blast all of one type of tile from the board, or sun power to randomly blast tiles and such. Difficulty increases as you get further along. When you gain each puzzle piece you are treated to an historically accurate 3D graphic depicting a feature of that kingdom, along with some interesting historical information about life and times there, such as the kind of trading done by the Phoenicians in ancient times.

The game plays easily but requires concentration to get the proper tiles matched. Fortunately, you can pause the timing to get a soda or cup of coffee and the game saves your progress on exiting. We enjoyed the colorful, lovely graphics and animations and the tidbits of information. Fun.