Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Memeo ’s LifeAgent 2.1.71 attempts to speak some limitations rule in other backup programs , including Apple ’s Backup ( ) ( for .Mac members ) and Time Machine . While LifeAgent do some tasks brightly , it has significant shortcomings that decrease its overall charm .
Like Backup , LifeAgent is based onplans — sets of backup germ items and the destinations where they ’re stored . you’re able to have as many plan as you desire , and LifeAgent backs up unlike sets of files to unlike location simultaneously . For extra security , you could optionally cipher any plan ’s backups .
For each programme , a setup wizard walk you through the process of select file and choosing where they ’ll be stored : inner or external hard drives , meshwork mass , or — for an additional fee — Memeo ’s Internet Disk ( costs range from $ 3 per calendar month for 500 MB of data to $ 12 per calendar month for 2 GB ) . LifeAgent does not support optical discs as destination , and can presently use an iDisk only if iDisk Sync is turned off in the .Mac back breaker of System Preferences ( a fix is reportedly in the works).LifeAgent ’s SmartPicks , like Apple Backup ’s QuickPicks , permit you back up a whole set of file with one suction stop .
LifeAgent’s SmartPicks, like Apple Backup’s QuickPicks, let you back up a whole set of files with one click.
LifeAgent use prepackaged sets of file calledSmartPicks(equivalent to Backup ’s QuickPicks ) to easy specify what you want to back up — your Address Book or Mail data point , say , or all the Microsoft Word file in your drug user folder . Most SmartPicks are base on Spotlight searches and are dynamic : if you create a raw Word document , LifeAgent recognize it and back it up automatically . you may also select item-by-item leaflet ( though not files ) to back up or to exclude .
A canny addition to the selection of backup features is the inclusion of funding for the Shutterfly pic - sharing service . you may set up a special plan that maintain Shutterfly update with the subject of your iPhoto library ( or any folder of photos you choose ) . Memeo says sustenance for additional pic - share-out services is forthcoming . regrettably , though LifeAgent rent you back up your entire iPhoto subroutine library , you ca n’t take just sure albums ; it ’s all or nothing .
Where LifeAgent truly break the cast is in its scheduling feature : there is n’t one . Instead , LifeAgent straightaway support up any file meeting the standard you ’ve specify , as shortly as it ’s make or saved . exigent backups have their downside , though . If you oft alter a large Indian file , LifeAgent dutifully backs it up after each change , but in so doing stays busy most of the time and rapidly use up place on your reposition gimmick . If you materialize to alter a Indian file while LifeAgent is in the operation of backing it up , LifeAgent stops the backup .
To restore data , you take a backup plan and , within that plan , the particular file(s ) or folder(s ) you require to furbish up . you’re able to also search your backups for match file names . Files can be furbish up to their original locations or to another folder . If you ’ve backed up more than one version of a filing cabinet , you choose the version you want by clicking a tuner button . But herein lies a major blueprint flaw : the Restore lineament does n’t treat incremental backups of SmartPicks as a unit . For instance , presuppose you used the Address Book SmartPick . If you require to recuperate the most recent version of all your Address Book data point at once , you could do so easy . But if you want to restore Address Book to the style it was at a particular point in the past , you must select every single file in your Address Book data — perhaps hundreds or thousands — and , for each one that has multiple version , choose which version to restore .
LifeAgent was designed to work only with items in your exploiter leaflet . Backups of files that originate elsewhere , including software , do not always uphold their right ownership and may not function correctly after being restore . Also , the program ca n’t back up your entire disk or make a bootable duplicate .
In my testing , I found some other troubling anomalies . For example , sometimes LifeAgent failed to notice that a raw file had been make in a brochure it was backing up — even after the file had been modified several times . In addition , although LifeAgent alerts you when its backup finish is missing , it does n’t always discover when it becomes uncommitted again ; as a resolution , you may assume backups are call for place when they are n’t .
Macworld’s buying advice
The construct of crying and reflexive backups is a good one . But LifeAgent 2.1 needs important work , specially in the area of file restoration , to contend with the likes of Time Machine .
[ Joe Kissell is the aged editor ofTidBitsand the writer of the e - bookTake Control of Mac OS X Backups(TidBits Publishing , 2007 ) . ]
