Clickfree Backup: This may be the best product I’ve ever tested

I have to admit: I sat on this one for awhile. I received a Clickfree Automatic Backup device sometime last fall. It sat on my desk awaiting testing with the same level of importance I place on backing up my hard drive. I had thoughts like, “well that seems like a nifty and useful product and I’ll get to it… at some point” along with, “damn, it really would be good if I were to back up my hard drive one of these days.”
Because apparently the weekly Outlook popup that stated, “WHITNEY, BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE” didn’t have much affect as I’d hit “dismiss” each week amongst a flurry of emails and other things that were “more pressing.”
Dumb, dumb, dumb Whitney.
But here’s proof I must have had some good technology karma from a previous life. That, or there’s a nice computer fairy looking out for me somewhere. Because last Monday, I was inspired and cleaning my office and I picked up the Clickfree device. I thought, what the heck, I haven’t backed up in awhile (May of 2008, to be precise, as I soon learned) and I plugged the device in.
Here’s what it is – it’s a back-up system for your hard drive that’s pretty much an all play. Totally computer illiterate? Don’t have a clue how to back up your system or how to open up an email? This product is for you. In fact, I can say with much emotion, this product is for everyone.
It’s a small external drive that comes with smart software. Plug it into your USB and that’s it. Seriously. It launches and starts to run. It backs up everything it’s been taught to back up – in other words, the smart folks at Clickfree have programmed it to pull all the stuff that sounds like it would be important – emails, pictures, Excel files.
I ran it last Monday afternoon. It took FOR-E-VERRRRRR. I’m normally an impatient person so I really can’t say why I didn’t pull the plug on it. It did warn me that for a first time user, it may take awhile. I’d guess it took about 5 hours to run. (It only takes awhile the first time you run it, apparently.)
It finished and I vowed to “later” check out what it backed up so I could do my review.
Fast forward to Thursday afternoon, when Nate was playing on You Tube watching Bakugan videos. “Mom, your computer isn’t working,” came from across the room. I rebooted to a screen that told me an important system file was corrupt. Many days and may hours of tech support later, I found out that I completely lost my hard drive.
I am typing this email from my new Sony pink Vaio (more on that one later!). And as I type, the restored files that copied onto my Click Free device last month are copying onto my new machine. Including all of my Outlook emails and more. All I can say is I am SO lucky. It backed up everything I would ever need – including tax files, work-related documents and so much more.
So, given how easy it is to use this backup device, I solemnly swear I will be using it several times a week to back up now, if not daily. I mean it this time too.
This unit is normally $170.00 and it’s on sale on Amazon for $89.50. Do not be an idiot. Go and buy this product, NOW. It beats backing up manually (which is what I did, and why I always put it off and never did it.) And the bottom line is that you just never know. Everyone knows they should back up. But it’s easy to put it off, forget, not consider the consequences. I got lucky. Get lucky too by purchasing one of these devices and saving yourself from mass hard drive destruction.