- Quick specs
- Price: Free to try (15-day trial); $49.95 to buy (Buy it now)
- Operating system:
- Date added: July 05, 2006
- Total Downloads: 11,970
- Downloads last week: 42
- See full specifications
A newer version of Carbonite Online PC Backup is available.
(Download doesn't provide access to previous versions of this program.)
- CNET editors' rating: stars
- Average user rating: stars out of 147 votes
See all user reviews
CNET editors' review
Reviewed by: CNET Staff
If backing up your folders is one of those good ideas you never get around to, Carbonite Online PC Backup might just be the program for you. Carbonite tales the effort out of your contingency plan with software that automatically backs up your selected data and stores it, encrypted, on online servers. The format and services are useful and intuitive. An entertaining video tutorial explains your options for selecting and deselecting individual files or folders to back up. You can set your preferences to auto-backup your data each time you change it, or run back-ups manually. You can permanently exclude some data from being saved, and quickly recover files from your online holdings. Carbonite has an unobtrusive color-coded system for communicating the status of your file back-ups, so you can determine you status at a glance. For instance, a green dot by the folder on your desktop signals a successful online back-up.
Some downsides we encountered were the high CPU usage (the program suggests two methods for reducing its bandwidth) and the long initial back-up, which is also given due warning. It is likely that the initial back-up will take significantly longer for users whose corporate computers log them out when they idle than for home users whose back-up will continue to run while the user is away. The download itself is lengthy and requires you to disrupt your session with a reboot. New users are also required to register an e-mail address. Despite these minor set-backs, Carbonite Online PC Backup is a worthy investment of time and money, particularly for users who want a hands-off solution to backing up their data and those wary of losing or accumulating too many physical back-ups.
Publisher's description
From Carbonite :Carbonite Online PC Backup will automatically back up all the data on your PC for $50/year - that's right, regardless of how much data you have. You can't beat that price - 90% lower than our competitors. Most importantly, Carbonite is a "set and forget" service. It takes just one minute to download and install and then you're all set because we constantly monitor your PC for new and modified files (and backup only the difference). And we won't slow down your PC/Internet. Carbonite is also integrated with the Windows file explorer so you won't have to learn a new interface. Data is encrypted before it leaves your PC and remains encrypted on our servers. Carbonite is ideal for home use, frequent travelers, students, small businesses--we provide "Backup for Everyone." at a price you can afford.
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User reviews of Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
- Average user rating: 3.1 stars out of 147 votes
- My rating: 0 stars Write review
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Showing 5 of 63 user reviewsSee all 63 user reviews
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47 out of 52 people found this review helpful
Version: Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
"Super cheap and easy to use-- get an extra copy for your mom's PC"
Pros: The product did just what it said it would do -- it backed up all my files while I was using my computer and I didn't notice any slowdown. I barely had to do anything to get it started, and now it's just running in the background, backing up files as I add or change them.
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At first I was confused about how to restore a file, but it was easy once I found Carbonite's virtual drive. (Look for the blue lock icon in your My Computer folder.) The drive shows you all the files in your backup and you can right-click on any file or folder to restore it to its original folder on your PC (or someplace else, like your desktop).
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But probably the best part of this service is it's so cheap! It's only $50 a year to backup all the files on your PC -- this is by far the best deal I've seen for online backup!
Cons: The first backup does take a while. (Same problem you run into with all online backup software.)But once the first backup is done the program only backs up new files and changes, so don't get discouraged.
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22 out of 27 people found this review helpful
Version: Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
Pros: First, I downloaded and installed Carbonite BEFORE coming here, so the number of downloads doesn't reflect EVERYONE who's reviewing it here. I'm NOT a shill for the company.
Once I've told Carbonite which folders to watch, it automatically backs up any changes. I don't have to think about it at all and I know my photos, taxes, databases, etc will be safe if my computer fries from a lightning hit, flood, fire, etc. Nice screen says how many files are waiting to back up (because I loaded a ton of pix from my camera and my DSL isn't the fastest. Great price for the service, which I compared against others.
Cons: If there are files waiting to be backed up when you boot your machine, you get a prompt to Resume Backup. I'd rather it didn't tell me, but just got back to work doing it.
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Version: Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
Cons: The people that give Carbonite such a high rateing must not have ever tryed to use it. I had a computer ********** and lost everthing. I was under a sense of false security that when my PC went down that Carbonite was going to put everything back. Well guess again, out of 3000 files that Carbonite had backed up it would only put back about 300. The files that were most important, like My pictures, My music, other programs that i use it would not install. Carbonite does not tell you what files it can not reinstall while it is backing up your system. You will not find that out until you need to reinstall your files. By that time it's to late. The $50 dollars that i paid Carbonite was like putting my money down a rat hole. I asked for my money back because Carbonite failed to do the job, of course i never heard from them. It's also to complicated for the average user to try to reinstall files from Carbonite because of the directions it gives you.
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16 out of 20 people found this review helpful
Version: Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
"I know my family photos are safe!"
Pros: I am a busy Mom with many digital photos of my children. I know my photos are securely backed up and that is PRICELESS!
Carbonite was easy to download and I love that it works in the background and I don't have to think about it!
Cons: I do have many photos and the initial backup was slower than I expected.
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10 out of 15 people found this review helpful
Version: Carbonite Online PC Backup 2.0.193
Cons: I told Carbonite not to backup anything on installation. I Reboot. What is it doing? Backing up everything! Difficult to stop it except by disabling. Tried reinstalling three times. All "registration failed". So, thousands of my files have been uploaded against my wishes. Can't access them for deletion, web instructions don't work, so there they sit. Used GoBack to get rid of Carbonite. Too much praise on this site. I don't trust that.
- See all 63 user reviews Write review
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