Unfortunately, for most users, this type of backup puts unnecessary strain on your PC.  As soon as YOU change a file, or Windows changes a file, then a copy of that file is made.  Imagine how many files get changed on a home PC – even when you are not really using it (just watch the “disk activity” light on your PC when you’re not using the machine).

77Backup uses a system called “near continuous data protection”.  Rather than making a backup of every change immediately, changes are “collected” into the backup set once every four hours.  This means that we don’t strain your PC, and your data is still very safe.

Continuous data protection is also called  continuous backup.

You can backup as many machines to your account as you like, if you choose the premium offer.  Just log in with the same user and password on both machines, and you can back up as many files, from as many machines, as your subscription allows.

The longer answer : yes.

When you backup to 77backup, the first thing that happens to your data, before it leaves your machine, is that we encrypt it using the password you chose when you setup the program.

This encryption means that only you can get at your data.  What’s more, several copies of your data are kept – so even if something horrible happens to OUR datacenter, then we’ll always have other copies.

One of the main security aspects of 77backup is that only YOU knows the encryption password.  If you lose your password, then nobody can decrypt your file, and we can’t help you !

Therefore, when choosing your encryption password, choose something that you can easily remember…

To store an MP3 file, you’ll need on average 1Megabyte (1MB, or 1 000 KB, or 1 000 000 Bytes) per minute the song lasts – so for a song which lasts about 3’30″, you’ll need about 3.5MB.  If you have 10 MP3s to save, you’ll need somewhere between 35 and 40MB

The average photo you take on your digital camera will take up between 500KB and 2MB (it all depends on the number of megapixels your camera is).

So if your pictures take up 2MB each, you’ll be able to backup around 500 with 1GB (1000MB)

Please note – these numbers are approximate, and, yes, we know there are 1024K in a M, and 1024M in a G and so on

Plura is a very small program which is installed with the sponsored beta version of 77Backup.

In the sponsored version, in exchange for free backup space on our servers, you let us use a small part of your CPU time for scientific calculations.  Plura is the module which does these calculations.

Plura does not, in any way, shape or form, take over your computer, or interfere with your normal computing actions. Plura kicks in when your computer is running but idle, making use of extra CPU cycles that would otherwise be wasted. When you put your computer to sleep or turn your computer off, Plura stops running. And the Plura application is a low priority application – meaning, it sits at the bottom of the food chain. If you need your computing power for other tasks, Plura waits until there is excess capacity once again.

Link to the Plura site

When restoring your files, the system wil ask you witch version you want to recover.

When you only backup to a disk at home, or a DVD, and you leave it next to your computer, in case of fire or theft of your machine – then you have lost both the machine, and the backup.

If you backup over to the internet (into the cloud) then you can be sure that there’s always a copy of your data in case disaster strikes.

There’s no point in backing up your “C:\Windows” directory for example – this data will be available on a new machine.  However, if you bought a new PC, then your “My Pictures”, or “My Music” folders would no longer have your files in them.

We recommend that you backup your “home” directory.

• In Windows XP, this directory is called “C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>”
• In Vista or Windows 7, you should choose the “C:\Users\<your username>” folder
• In MacOS X, choose “/Users/<your username>”
• Under Linux, your home directory depends on the version of Linux you run.  It’s usually “/home/<your username>”.  Open a terminal window, and type “pwd” to find out which directory is your home directory.

That’s why 77Backup is designed to do the hard work for you.  You just tell the software to monitor a directory, and then every new file in that directory, every change you make to a file in that directory, will automatically be backed-up to the server, at most four hours after you make the change.