There’s a certain irony to this, because I’m a laptop-only person, so I’m not going to be building my own computer anytime soon, but last week Dave Wiebe of the Build My Home Computer site asked if he could interview me about backups. I agreed, and the resulting interview is now posted on his site. Dave also has his own page about backup.

I didn’t reveal any deep, dark, never-before-mentioned secrets in the interview, but if you’re new to this blog, you might find it useful.

And if you’ve come here because of reading that interview, welcome! Hope you stick around for a while.

Acronis kindly notified me that they’re having a back-to-school sale on Acronis True Image Home 2010. Act now and you can get it for $29.99 instead of $49.99.

I haven’t tried the home version of True Image—or not for some years—but the Ur-Guru swears by the Workstation version, which he installed on my new laptop. I haven’t had to restore from it yet, which is the real acid test, but it creates backups speedily and effectively.

PS. Nope, I have no financial relationship with Acronis, though if they were to offer me one, I might accept it.

Just announced today: Dmailer and Verbatim have joined forces to launch “A Backup Saved My Life,” a contest that invites you to submit your videos, photos, and stories in order to win a Verbatim 250GB Pocket Drive (see photo above) and a one-year subscription to Dmailer Online’s unlimited storage plan.

For complete details, read the press release and watch the video below. Submissions are due by May 22^nd.

Our three winners in the CloudBerry Online Backup giveaway contest are:

• Larry H., who will be using it to back up his business data.
• Ty Taylor, who has some higher education and training presentations and video files to back up and synchronize.
• Tim Larson, who needs to back up all the photos and videos of his kids on his Windows Home Server.

Thanks for participating, guys, and good luck with your backups. Keep an eye out for future contests here on the Backup Blog.

I happened across this in my Google Alerts the other day and figured I had to check it out. It’s true: until midnight tonight, January 19th, 2010, you can download a copy of Paragon Backup and Recovery 10 Compact (normally $39.95) and get a free serial number. That link will take you to the V3.co.uk store, which actually has a number of free software offers.

You’ll be prompted for your serial number as part of the installation process. Just click on “Get free serial” when you see this screen.

You’ll be taken to the registration page to fill in your name and e-mail address, after which Paragon will send you the product key and serial number.

The product itself seems fairly comprehensive, all things considered. I just did a very quick test yesterday; a full review will have to wait. According to the product comparison page, the compact version lacks several features offered in the full suite. It still seems like a real bargain at $0.00. Go grab a copy while you have a chance.

FTC disclosure: I have no relation to Paragon, to V3.co.uk, or to anyone else involved with this promotion. No one either paid or asked me to write this.