homePCnetwork - Retrospect from Dantz Review

Software Reviews

Retrospect by Dantz

Dantz makes a range of backup software products designed for everything from a single home computer or small office / home office network to a massive enterprise-wide network. For this review, we looked at the brand new version 6 of Retrospect Professional for Windows, designed primarily for single computers and small office / home office networks.

Although the Professional version is very affordable (we found it for $78 at buy.com), it is based on the same technology as the $700 Multi-Server version. As a result, it is chocked full of great features including easy to use wizards for scripting backups and for disaster recovery; Dantz' Progressive Backup® technology that takes the guesswork out of full versus incremental backups; remote backup across a network; and much more. Of course, the Single- and Multi-Server versions add some significant capabilities, including a "Proactive Backup Client" that automatically backups up a notebook, for example, whenever it's conveniently connected to the network. Cool, eh?

You can download and use a trial version of the software packages for 30 days.

Overall, we found Retrospect Professional to be absolutely solid: great features, easy to use, thorough instructions and a good price. Retrospect Professional deserves the homePCnetwork.com Editor's Choice award. Read on.

Overview

Retrospect Professional comes with an installation CD, a registration card, a technical support card (including toll-free phone numbers) and a comprehensive 260-page manual.

The Professional version can back up single computers running Windows XP Home or Professional, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and Windows 98/Me. It also will backup across a network as many as two computers (additional remote client licenses are available) running any of the same operating systems as well as Macs running OS 7.1 or later. For this reason, it's the absolute perfect backup program for PC to Mac networks.

Installation

The installation CD includes a number of options, including the Retrospect program, the client installation (used for remote computers) and several utilities including Abode Acrobat.

Installing the full Retrospect program was nearly flawless. We inserted the CD in our drive and the install routine automatically started. We clicked "Next" a few times and the required files were quickly copied from the CD. At the end, the install routine requested that the machine be restarted, which we did.

Unfortunately, the first time we attempted to run the program, we got an error message and the program would not start. We re-ran the install program, and the program automatically added an option to the install screen called "Repair." We clicked "Next" and the install program copied files and finished. We restarted the program and everything was fine. You can fault Dantz for the problem to begin with, but the "self-healing" feature -- in our minds -- is outstanding.

We ran the program and were presented with three options: Backup; Duplicate (essentially making a copy of a drive or volume) and Disaster Recovery (more on that later).

For our tests, we also installed the client software on our test notebook computer. The client software allows Retrospect to back up drives, folders and files on a networked computer, without having to worry about mapped networked drives. That's all handled automatically and is one of the big advantages to the Retrospect program...even in this low-priced Professional version.

To install the client software, we simply inserted the CD, selected "Install Client," picked a password and let the program install the files. Although the program doesn't request it, we restarted the computer to optimize the client program. That's all there is to it.

Performance

Back on the main computer, before starting a backup that included a client, we needed to configure the client. On the left hand side of the main window, we clicked Configure and then selected "Clients." We clicked on the Add button and found the name of our test laptop. We selected it, clicked on the Add button and were prompted to type in the password that we selected during the client installation. We were then presented with a series of tabs and clicked on Volumes to pick the drives that would normally be backed up when that client was selected.

We selected Done on the properties screen and closed the configure window.

We then selected the Backup option and used a simple file window to select the drives on the computer and the client that we wanted to back up. For our test, we picked the local C drive (where the operating system is) and the C drive on the test notebook computer.

Next, we had to pick the backup device and the program did a quick scan to find the CD writer on our test computer. Next, we had to name the backup set and indicate a place to store the "catalog file" which Retrospect uses to track which files have been backed up.

We clicked on OK and then clicked on Backup. The program analyzes the files to be backed up and then requests new media for your backup device; in our case, a blank CD for the burner in our test machine. We inserted the disk and the program started to back up the selected volumes automatically. During the backup, the program required us to insert three disks and sometimes wanted one of the previous disks. Overall, though, the process was very simple.

The program performed well. It took just over 60 minutes to back up and verify 1.2 gigabytes on the primary test machine and just over 30 minutes to back up 500 megabytes on the test notebook connected over the network. When the backup was complete, we clicked on a "report" button to get a summary.

The program also has a "Prepare for Disaster Recovery" button, which we then clicked.

A screen opened allowing us to select which volumes we wanted to prepare. In this instance, we selected the local test computer's C drive and clicked on Next. We selected the option to create a bootable recovery CD and the program instructed us to have our backup set and XP CD ready. (You can not, by the way, create a bootable recovery CD for a remote computer.) The program provides very specific instructions and, after following those, and a few more clicks, we had our recovery CD. The program also provides instructions on how to use the disaster recovery feature, which we printed out after creating the CD image. Very slick.

To test disaster recovery, we deleted the operating system volume. Then, following the Dantz instructions, we booted from the recovery CD and completely restored the volume. Outstanding. If you've ever had a hard drive or operating system fail, you know that the value of getting it back to full operation this easily is worth the purchase price alone.

To test the normal restore functions, we deleted a file on the local computer and the networked test notebook. We then started Retrospect, selected the restore option and selected the files we wanted to restore using a simple file selection window (as shown here):

We clicked on OK, and the program quickly located the files and restored them. The process of restoring the files, some 60 megabytes in total, took less than a minute each. Retrospect restores the files to a separate folder, but it's easy enough to move the files back to where you want. And, in our case, the files -- both mpg movie files -- worked perfectly after they were restored.

Technical Support

Dantz provides a range of technical support options including a toll-free phone number (during normal business hours on the West coast) and e-mail, as well as on-line FAQs and, our personal favorite, on-line forums hosted by the company.

Summary

Overall, we thought this was a great program.

The instruction book is comprehensive, the installation was easy, operation was basic and the feature set is very, very rich. With that combination, Retrospect Professional wins our Editor's Choice Award.

If you want a less-expensive and still solid backup program, check out Backup MyPC from Stomp. However, if you can spare the few extra dollars and want even more features, look no further than Retrospect Professional.

Finally, as we've said before, if you're not routinely backing up your hard drive, start. Now.

Grade = A+

Quick Facts

Product - Retrospect Professional
Company - Dantz
Street Price - $78
For information - www.dantz.com
10/13/02

This page last updated 12/07/2003