PureSync

After a year or so of using Microsoft's Synctoy 2.0 for ensuring I always have an up to date synchronised copy of my important data, I finally decided to look for something a bit more flexible.
Synctoy didn't allow for easy changes to the directoris and files that you set up for synch.
To cut a long story short there was a clear contender, namely PureSync from Jumping Bytes.
This is a very powerful and flexible tool, with way more options to really specify how you want to back up / sync your files.
I have three main directories that I sync regularly to ensure minimal data loss in the event of a 'catastrophic failure' eg hard drive fail, theft etc. And so I am only scraping the surface in my use of what PureSync can do, even so, it is far more preferable than SyncToy.
If you are looking for a free sync tool that beats the competition, I would recommend PureSync as the solution.

backups using MS synctoy

I have had a (fairly non strict i must admit) backup routine now for a couple of years - and thankfull I haven't had a hard drive fail (at home - plenty have at work) yet... Still, we must be careful and press on with making sure our data is not to be lost!

I have been looking for a nice backup utility, as havce used ntbackup till now, which does the job, but you have to do a normal backup, then incremental / differential etc which can be time and HDD space consuming.

Looking at various Sync software, I came across SyncToy v2.0 which really does a good job and gives you a lot of control of how to keep various folders / drives synched. You can add the sync job/s to a scheduled task, to ensure that your backup is up to date.

Hows that? Very nice indeed !