Time Machine is one of the most touted features of the Mac OS. There are other automatic backup programs for Windows, but the secret to Time Machine’s success is that it follows the set it and forget it concept. Windows users can now take advantage of Genie Timeline, a program that was recently released that was inspired by Time Machine. It brings a similar feature set to Windows, and even provides new features.
Automatic Backups for the Everyday User
Data often goes unprotected because backup programs are frequently seen as a chore to most users. The average home user might not be affected financially by data loss, but with all the new digital devices available the loss will often be felt just as keenly. School documents, music, bookmarks, emails, home videos and family albums all share space on a home computer.
Genie Timeline makes it easy for anyone to have an automatic backup solution. In addition to bringing all the features of Time Machine to Windows, it brings a unique set of extras that improve on the basic concept. Genie Timeline provides the following Time Machine features on Windows:
- Integration with Explorer makes it easy to use within a familiar context
- Continuous automatic backups
- Tracks files and only backs up files that have been modified
- Version history allows the user to rollback to a previous version of a file
- 30-minute backups are saved for 24 hours, daily backups for a week, and weekly backups for a month
However, it’s important to note that Genie Timeline can only be installed on Windows XP or Vista, and only backs up user created files. A version control program like FileHamster can be used to backup files on Windows 2000 and cloning software can be used to backup system files.
New Features in Genie Timeline
Far from being an exact copy of Time Machine, Genie Timeline brings a set of innovative new features. During installation the program can automatically detect the most common user files and configure itself to back them up, requiring no user intervention. Advanced users have the option to configure the specific folders and file types that will be included in the backup.
Genie Timeline also addresses a flaw in the Time Machine concept: security. A user provided password is used to encrypt the backup files with AES 256 bit encryption. AES is considered secure enough to encrypt classified data. Even if the backup drive is lost or stolen, the data it contains will still be secure. A home computer may not contain corporate or classified data, but it often will contain sensitive financial records.
ZIP compression and Auto Resume round out the extra features. In order to reduce the amount of space used to backup files, Genie Timeline only backs up modified files and uses ZIP compression. If a backup is interrupted by a power failure or the backup drive is disconnected unexpectedly, the Auto Resume feature will continue the backup where it left off when the drive becomes available again.
Complicated backup software is the most common user complaint. Genie Timeline brings the simplicity of automatic backups to Windows users. There is no reason not to make use of it to safeguard all the personal information, photos, music and movies that have been moved to the computer in the digital age.
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