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Online Backup Ratings
Product Features
18/20
hr
Security/Reliability
18.5/20
hr
Ease of Use
9/10
hr
Customer Support
8.5/10
hr
Price
8.5/10
hr
Overall Grade:
89%
Carbonite Review

Carbonite is such a reliable and trusted provider of online data backup services that Microsoft includes “Carbonite for Money” bundled in with every copy of MS Money they sell. Carbonite is an effective tool to protect you from all types of file loss – from theft and natural disaster to drive failure and accidental deletion. Carbonite can be simply and easily installed, working quietly in the background as you do your work. It looks and feels like part of your desktop – backing up any new or changed documents – so there is virtually nothing new to learn.

Currently, Carbonite supports both the standard 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. Carbonite will not support older Windows versions. Carbonite for Mac supports Intel-based Macs running OS 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard. To date, Carbonite has backed up over 2.5 billion files and restored over 160 million for customers in more than 100 countries around the world.
Product Features
Product Features

  • Completely automatic – it works by installing a small program on your computer, integrated into your desktop, that stays alert for new files and changes to existing files which it then automatically backs up
  • Secure – encrypted so that you’re the only one who can see your files
  • Efficient – Carbonite works while your computer is idle and goes to sleep while your computer is in use, so it never slows down your computer use or your Internet connection
  • FREE trial
  • Unlimited backup

Security/Reliability
Security/Reliability

Carbonite encrypts files twice, with the same techniques used by major banks, before it then backs them all up at secure offsite data centres, where they remain encrypted so you’re the only one who can access, view and retrieve them.

Carbonite.com backs up everything contained in your Documents and Settings folders, even for FREE trial customers. With a paid subscription, music libraries will be backed up too. And although system files, temp files, videos, and files larger than 4 GB are not part of Carbonite's default backup, you can choose to manually add any or all of these to your personal Carbonite backup service.

Ease of Use
Ease of Use

Because Carbonite is totally automated, once you set it up, you never need to think about it again, unless you lose precious files and need to retrieve them from your Carbonite backup. That’s no doubt why The New York Times declared Carbonite “the easiest online backup software to use.”

With just a few clicks, you can recover any and all lost files, even if you lose your entire computer and need to restore your data to a new one. Little, unobtrusive colour-coded dots in the corner of each file and folder icon on your computer shows whether a file is backed up (green), pending backup (yellow), or not backed up at all (no dot).

Customer Support
Customer Support

The Carbonite support centre has numerous topic-based, searchable FAQs, and several handy video tutorials. You can also contact the assisted customer support team via toll-FREE telephone, M-F 9am – 5pm ET and Sat-Sun 12pm – 4pm ET, or by email 24/7.

Price
Price

Backup service with Carbonite costs $54.95 a year – and that flat price remains the same no matter how much data you need to have backed up. You can also choose to pay for 2 years in advance and save $9.95. Plus Carbonite gives you a risk-FREE trial period with no credit card needed to sign up.