Memset SquirrelSave (2012) review

Memset's SquirrelSave is a simple online backup service that doesn't have any of the web-based sharing and syncing features of many of its rivals, but as well as having an endearing logo, SquirrelSave provides unlimited storage for just £5.05 per month.

By default, SquirrelSave backs up all the non-system files in the Windows User directory, but you can change that during setup or via the Windows Explorer right-click menu at a later time. You can also exclude specific files or folders, even if they're located inside a folder you’ve already included, but we’d have liked to exclude files by type or extension, too. That, however, is a minor omission from an otherwise excellent system.

Its interface displays lots of useful information and includes a handy pause button and the ability to throttle the maximum bandwidth. Eight-hourly is the default schedule for new files, but backups of changed files are made on a continuous basis.

Not the best featured software, but it does the basics well enough and is very cheap for unlimited storage

The ability to recover old versions of files is a little complex. Instead of keeping all versions, it keeps one from six hours, 12 hours and then one day, two days and so on, on a doubling time scale. It's a clever system that provides ample scope for recovery without filling Memset's servers with pointless multiple copies. Deleted files are recoverable for 32 days and all files included in the first ever backup are kept forever.

Sadly, SquirrelSave is limited in other areas. It won't back up external drives or network locations, for instance, and there’s no web access to files at all, let alone any way of sharing them with others. Using the service with multiple PCs is a bit complicated, too. Although the service is sold as only for use with one computer, SquirrelSave's own FAQ tells you how to use it with multiple systems. To do so, you must make sure that the path you're backing up on each PC is unique. You could, for example, back up C:UsersKat on one and C:UsersDave on another, but you couldn't have a path with the same name backed up on both.

Because of its unlimited storage, ability to handle backups from multiple PCs and its retention of old versions, SquirrelSave is an excellent choice if you just want to back up loads of data. Livedrive Pro Suite is more flexible, particularly when it comes to accessing and sharing content online, but it’s significantly more expensive. SquirrelSave is the best backup around if you don’t need synchronisation.