@Kari thanks for the explanation. My favorite thing about Linux was apt. A major reason I lean toward Debian based distros, other things being equal. Although I do let myself get distracted by the quest for eye candy.. not open candy. :)
Miles, you should most definitely try Chocolatey, and of course OneGet if you go for 10. You will love the simplicity of them.
Brink,
Heres a link to a progam I have just used to retreive files from a usb hard drive that kept issuing the following message 'you need to format the disk in drive ? before you can use it' and although not being the easiest to use, and the wiki isn't easy to follow, I'm pleased to say it retrieved the files from the disk, copied them to another drive and I recieved a big pat on the back from the owner of usb drive who thought the files were long gone.
TestDisk - Partition Recovery and File Undelete
Please take a look and if appropriate add to the list of free programs.
Mines
FreeFileSync
FreeFileSync | Free Backup and File Synchronization Software
I have been using this for a couple of months and it is now my backup program for all my personal files (Documents, Music, Movies, Pictures, Desktop etc.) on to two (rotated) external USB HDD. It is simple, reliable and flexible. Although it allows you to create individual routines for individual folders (eg., Documents) I have set up a single routine to backup all of my X: drive (which has all my personal files and nothing else) in one operation. That's very simple and quick to do, and you can set up timed backups in the background.
I used to use Second Copy which is similar (not free) but having got fed up with how Windows randomly messes up Drive Letters I could not get Second Copy to recognise Drive Name (which Windows does not change) whilst FFS can and does so easily.
I think it should be added to this list.
I totally agree that FFS should be added to the list.
I also use FFS to backup entire drives (except my C: drive: I image that one with Macrium Reflect). The ability to recognize a drive by its drive name instead of its letter is golden for the reason you stated and, I believe, is unique to FFS.
Btw, one has to be careful about timed backups in the background. A backup isn't secure unless the drive the backup is on is kept disconnected from the computer except when updating the backup. That said, I do use FFS to automatically back up my Favorites folder, keeping the backup in a folder on my main data drive, but that folder gets backed up with the rest of the drive to another drive that I connect only when updating it.
Not sure I like the Acronym "FFS" being used - it has a whole different meaning across the web as a whole
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