Avanquest Perfect Image 11 Backup & Protect review

Perfect Image 11 Backup and Protect is a suite of tools for managing and backing up your data and disks. It comprises three distinct applications: Perfect Image 11, AutoSave 2.0 and Disk Copy and Clean.

Immediately after installation, AutoSave 2.0 asks which files you would like to protect and quietly goes about the task of keeping an eye on them. It logs changes to your working files as they are made and periodically backs them up, saving multiple versions. You can save backups to either an external hard disk, another partition on your main hard disk or to DVDs or CDs using a spanning mode that enables you to save large backups across several discs. You can view and retrieve files from these backups through a basic, efficient interface.

Disk Copy and Clean comes on a bootable CD and allows you to migrate data from one disk to another. This can be useful if you want to upgrade to a larger, faster hard disk while retaining your existing system and partition configuration. The software can expand partitions to fill the new disk, whether they use Windows or Linux file systems, and can wipe the old disk clean. These tools are available only when undertaking a disk migration however; there is no software for day-to-day partition management.

The Perfect Image application itself uses a stripped down version of the Paragon Hard Disk Manager engine. Through the same familiar interface you can view your disks and partitions and browse your file system, disk images and backups. You can clone disks and partitions, create backup images and recovery disks, and even create and manage a backup partition, all using exactly the same wizards used in Hard Disk Manager.

Although it's relatively expensive at £40, Perfect Image 11 Backup and Protect arguably provides a more useful suite of tools for the average home user than Hard Disk Manager, with AutoSave providing a particularly hassle-free method of data backup.