What do you want to back up?
- Pictures
- Documents
- Emails
- Address Book
- Memos
- Tasks
- Calendar
For the rest of the items on the list, however, their integration with Outlook can present a problem. If you are like me, Outlook is always up and running. Unless Outlook is shut down, Carbonite cannot back up the rest of the types of files on the list because Outlook is using them and has them "locked".
To ensure Carbonite or an other backup program you use is able to access all your Outlook stuff, you need to export the contents of Outlook to a .PST file and that .PST file needs to be in a place where Carbonite will back it up. Since different versions of Outlook will go about the process of exporting a .PST file differently, I suggest a Google search of "Outlook
Another problem with Carbonite shows up during file recovery. Let's say your computer needed to be re-loaded because of a hard drive failure or a virus attack. Where will Carbonite load your backup files? The short answer is all over your desktop. You are expected to cut and paste the individual files to their proper locations. If you don't know what you are doing, this is a very time-consuming and tedious process. It is not recommended for the faint-hearted.
Here is another scenario where Carbonite fails. You have a windows based laptop that you have been backing up with Carbonite. You decide to replace the windows computer with an Apple laptop. When you try to restore to your new Apple laptop, you find out that you cannot restore from windows to your Apple laptop. You must find a windows computer that you can restore to and then copy the restored files to the Apple laptop via an external hard drive or cd's that you created..
Given these three areas of concern, I would not recommend Carbonite. There are better solutions out there that can backup your system safely if they are used properly. I would suggest engaging an IT professional to design, implement and test a back up and recovery strategy for you. The small cost you pay will be worth it when you have peace of mind knowing your important files are backed up and can be recovered, with a minimum of effort.
