Nero Backitup and Burn

If you've lost computer data in the past, you don't need us to say how important it is to make regular backups.

Whether it's the result of a corrupted hard disk, virus attack or theft, losing precious photos, videos and other files can be devastating.

Nero’s Backitup and Burn attempts to protect users from data loss and, thanks to the included Nero Express software, provides basic disc burning features as well.

With a clean design, the program made a good first impression, but on closer inspection it's not particularly polished. Some menu options were confusing, to say the least, and we experienced frequent long pauses while it worked away in the background.

Data can be backed up to a variety of sources, including CD or DVD, Blu-ray discs or an FTP server on the internet (a more complicated method). You can also use Nero's online storage service: various packages are available, with 25GB of storage (the top package) costing £80 per year.

That’s not as impressive as rivals such as Diino, which offers 100GB for just £39. Worse still, configuring online backups in the Nero program was fiddly and the service is only available when using the software’s Automatic Backup option, which doesn't offer the same level of customisation as the other options.

Thankfully there's no need to sign up for the online service, and backing up to an external hard disk or CD/DVD was a much better experience.

Users can choose to back up individual files, folders or entire disks, and specify how often they want the backups to occur. Cleverly, the program will email the user each time it finishes a scheduled backup, which gives peace of mind.

Other features include the ability to create an image of a complete disk, and it can also attempt to recover files from damaged CDs.

The online backup service is expensive, awkward and comes across as an afterthought. But if you're going to be storing backups on external storage attached to a computer, Backitup and Burn has plenty of tricks up its sleeve – it's just a shame the interface is a little quirky.

At £40, it's also fairly expensive, but you can save £10 by opting for the download version.