Carbonite Online Backup review

In many respects, Carbonite is the friendliest of the online backup services we tested.

After a getting-started tutorial that reads instructions out, its interface melds with Windows in such an unobtrusive manner that using it becomes second nature within minutes.

By default it backs up the Documents and Settings (for Windows XP) or Users (Vista) folder, which stores all the user files in a typical Windows installation. Adding or removing other folders and files is performed via the right-click menu, so there's hardly ever any need to visit the software's control panel.

Files that are backed up are marked with green dots in Windows Explorer, while those that are pending have an orange dot. Backups are performed automatically, and Carbonite quickly spots and uploads files after they've been edited. Further changes weren't backed up for 24 hours, but you can do an immediate backup for a particular file via the right-click menu or for all files from the control panel.

Restoring files is just as easy. There's a read-only virtual drive in My Computer that holds the entire backup set, while the right-click menu presents a list of all the old versions that are available for restoration. Previous versions of files are kept daily for the last week, weekly for the last month and monthly for a further two months. A new feature provides web access to backups, giving a handy way to access files from other PCs.

Each account is for one PC and, although there's no capacity limit, there are other limitations. The C:\Windows folder can't be backed up, nor any .exe, .dll or various other system files. That's reasonable in most cases, but it excludes downloaded application installers and other files that you may need. Video files are also excluded unless individually selected and marked for backup. Files on external disks can't be backed up at all. These limitations not only make Carbonite less useful, but also compromise its set-and-forget design.