Best freeware backup program for Windows XP that will copy backups to a CD-RW?

On my new Dell PC with Windows XP Professional, I was quite surprised (and annoyed) to discover that the Windows backup program apparently will NOT write backups to CD-RW disks. All I want to do is to copy C:\Documents and Settings to one or more CD-RW disks and then check the resulting disks for accurate recording but there is apparently no easy way to do this. The Dell/Microsoft provided Sonic program WILL copy C:\Documents and Settings but reports errors trying to copy in-use system files and will not continue to a second disk if necessary. There are many freeware backup programs available but it is difficult to tell which is the best and simplest one or whether they can use CD-RW disks. That leads to my question:

What is the best freeware backup program for Windows XP that will copy backups to a CD-RW disk, using additional disks if necessary, and then (hopefully) checking the resulting disks for accuracy?

Thanks for any response and recommendations.

 

I wouldn't recommend any program for writing anything critical to a cd-rw. They are just too prone to err. If you must burn critical data disks, you would be well advised to use cd-r's.

As for freeware backup programs, I know of none that will cover the bases sufficiently to protect you all that well.

That said, I recommend using Acronis True Image. It's excellent backup and imaging software and has features that the others wish they had. It can check the integrity of any file it creates. It can write directly to cd's (spanning as needed) although I recommend writing to the HD first and then burning disks if desired. It allows for doing that easily. I actually write to a second HD and rarely burn any cd's since it saves lots of time and trouble. It can make incremental backups which saves a lot of time also. It has the friendliest user interface of all so it's easy to get up to speed with it. I use it to make a backup image of my entire boot drive so I can recover from nearly any disaster that may happen without doing any troubleshooting. It makes backups and drive images without leaving Windows and can restore an image by using a boot floppy or cd when Windows becomes unbootable.

When it comes to backup or recovery software, aside from GoBack, True Image is the best software purchase I ever made. I also have Norton Ghost, Power Quest Drive Image, and Novastore Instant Recovery but no longer use any of those since getting True Image. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but for my money, Acronis outshines them all.

 

I use Karen's Replicator. It's free and it works and it says it will back up directly to CD. Set it up once, set it to run on a schedule and it'll take over from there.

However, like surferdude said, I don't back up to CD-RW because they're too prone to error. I set up Replicator to back up to a folder on the harddrive and then I manually burn that to CD.

 

Thanks for both replies.

I am quite surprised to learn that CD-RW’s are unreliable. Does this occur even when the CD-RW disk is new? If so, this is worse than floppy disks, which, in my experience, were quite reliable when new but became unreliable after extensive use.

And, is the unreliability also true of DVD-RW disks, which, I am told, hold more data?

 

CD-R disks are inexpensive enough as not to make messing around with CD RW disks an issue.

 

The assumption that CD-RW disks are unreliable is not accurate. CD-RWs do not last as long as the CD-R disks, but other than that, they are equally reliable in terms of being able to record data safely. Brand names when it comes to blank CD medium play a important role in terms of quality.

 

Thanks again for the previous comments and tips. The following procedure seems to work for me:

1. Delete any old backup data from CD-RW disk using Dell-provided Sonic disk-writing software.

2. Delete any old data from backup directory on hard disk.

3. Using Karen’s Replicator, copy C:\Documents and Settings to backup directory, using Exclude filter of *.tmp, *.bak, *.log, *.dat, *.db, *.lrd

4. Copy hard disk backup directory to CD-RW using Dell-provided Sonic disk-writing software.

5. Compare CD-RW disk with hard disk backup directory using CD-Check program available at http://elpros.si/CDCheck.

This has worked several times for me without error. The following variations in these procedures did NOT work:
a. Karen’s Replicator would NOT write directly to a CD-RW disk.
b. Removing old backup data from a CD-RW disk by right-clicking directly on the file and then deleting it did NOT seem to work.
c. Erasing an old CD-RW disk by right-clicking on the disk drive and selecting "Erase" did not seem to work.
d. Using Karen’s Replicator WITHOUT the exclude filter mentioned above seemed to copy system read-only files that were difficult to delete.

The only feature that this procedure does NOT have is (I think) that the Sonic software will not copy to additional disks if necessary, and I suspect that CD-Check wouldn’t work either if that was necessary. I suppose I will have to buy commercial software if that becomes necessary. In summary, I can’t believe that it is this complicated merely to copy backup data to CD-RW, but I guess it is.

 

Roger CCC, I've had some experience in using Nero, Adaptec Easy CD, Clone CD, all on my Dell desktop. Back in 2001, Nero was the king IMHO in terms of data recording. Fast and very reliable. But I have installed the latest version of Adaptec and i can tell you without reservation it's just as good as Nero. It has much improved since 2001 and I like it. I keep using Nero for extracting ISO images for it is much more capable in that regard.