Jason Dunn
07-23-2008, 03:00 PM
<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/dht/auto/1209147251.usr1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><em>[The product photo above says "Up to 2000" photos, but on the package I was sent (also a 5 disc pack) it says "Up To 10,000 Photos Per 5 Pack".]</em></p><p><strong>Product Category:</strong> Software<br /><strong>Manufacturer:</strong> <a href="http://www.hp.com" target="_blank">HP </a><br /><strong>Where to Buy:</strong> <a href="http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?product_code=KQ455AA#ABA&aoid=41841&srccode=cii_23393768&cpncode=12-58381459-2" target="_blank">HP.com</a><br /><strong>Price:</strong> $14.99 USD<br /><strong>System Requirements:</strong> The software will work on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000. DVD-R burner.<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>Pros:</strong></p><ul><li>Extremely simple-to-use software;</li><li>Backs up 10,000 photos per package;</li><li>Affordable at $15 per package.<br /></li></ul><p><strong>Cons:</strong></p><ul><li>Limited to 20,000 photos total (two SimpleSave Photo packs), no option for backing up more automatically;</li><li>Restore doesn't put the photos and videos back in their original location, making it confusing for beginners who need to restore.<br /></li></ul><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Summary:</strong></span><br />HP sent me a backup product a few months ago that serves a very specific need, and does so quite well. The sad truth is that most people don't back up their personal information off their computers, and when hard drives fail (and they do) or a virus strikes, people lose information. A decade ago, the average consumer might have lost their email and perhaps important documents. Now, in the age of everything digital, there's much more to lose: photos, music, videos, documents, and much more. <a href="http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/photo_scanner/cd_storage/cd_writer_media/4/accessories/KQ455AA#ABA;HHOJSID=zplJL4DSgmR9hvywDKdXmpXT2MnCyTvZ2MRTj4kpRQKQQSv8SxDZ!-1204952357" target="_blank">HP's SimpleSave Photo</a> aims to fix the photo and video part of that equation by providing an incredibly simple system for novice and expert computer users alike for backing up their photos. <MORE /></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Everyone Needs to Back Up Their Data<br /></strong></span>It's important to remember that not backing up isn't just a problem for computer "n00bs" - I know more than one advanced computer user who's lost data, and who should have known better. In fact, one friend of mine was so lazy when it came to backing up his data that for Christmas one year I bought him some backup software in the hopes that he'd use it. He never got around to installing it, and a few months after Christmas his hard drive crashed and he lost a bunch of data. People tend not to care about data backup until they get smacked in the face with data loss.</p><p>HP SimpleSave Photo is a very simple package that's targeted at novice computer users: you know the kind of people who know they should back up their photos, because they understand that they can lose them, but haven't the slightest clue how. I encountered one such woman recently: she came to me quite upset because Windows XP on her computer had become corrupted somehow, and a technician re-installed it for her, but she was missing several years worth of pictures of her child when he was a baby. She'd never run a single backup in four years, and despite my efforts using undelete software I was only able to recover a fraction of the photos she'd lost. It was heartbreaking to have to tell her that several years worth of photos were lost forever. If someone had given her this product a couple of months ago, all her precious memories would have been protected.</p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Testing the Software</strong></span><br />Using my testbed computer, an HP Slimline s3200n running Windows Vista Premium SP1 with zero additional software loaded other than <a href="http://www.techsmith.com" target="_blank">SnagIt</a>, I copied over my current collection of photos: 19,879 files, totalling 31.9 GB. I knew that was more than the single HP SimpleSave package could handle, but I wanted to see what would happen when I had more photos than it could handle. The instructions say to simply insert the first disc and the backup would start - I put in the disc, and was prompted to run HP Photo Backup. After a few seconds a splash screen appeared, and a few seconds later the HP SimpleSave Photo program launched and said it would automatically start in 20 seconds.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1216333787.usr1.jpg" border="1" /><br /><em>Figure 1: The initial screen the user sees when the software loads.</em></p><p>I let it count down, then watched as it started...then crashed. An error window appeared stating that "DVD Click Free Backup has stopped working". I tried it on my one of my Shuttle XPC computers, running Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, and the auto-start function worked flawlessly and didn't crash. This Shuttle XPC that I tried it on had a lot of media on it, so I was amused when the software detected 182 GB of files...108 GB of that being RAW files. The software informed me that this backup would take more than 10 DVDs, and the maximum number of DVDs supported is 10, so I'd have to un-select some of my files. It's curious that the software would be limited to 10 DVDs in total, as I can imagine some people having more than 45 GB of total photos, videos, and RAW files. It would be nice if the overall solution supported more than two packages of discs.</p><p><PAGE /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Found The Glitch!</strong></span><br />Tracking down the reason for the crash proved to be somewhat difficult: I spent the next couple of weeks talking with HP as they had me do some testing, and it turns out with the version of the software I was sent had trouble with the the fact that the Windows directory on the hard drive was called /WINDOWS instead of /windows. That's right, the uppercase folder name was the root of this whole problem. HP fixed the software and when the next shipment of the software came from the factory they sent me an updated version. I put it in my HP Slimline computer and it worked perfectly:</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1216335510.usr1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><em>Figure 2: Before starting the backup, the software will summarize the number of photos and videos that it found, giving you an estimate of how many DVDs it will require.</em></p><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Backing Up, Deleting, Then Restoring<br /></strong></span>The backup process is as fast as your DVD burner, and beyond the initial burn it also does a verification of every file that is burned. This adds to the overall time of the backup, but the verification step ensures that the files backed up are completely identical to the originals. There's nothing worse than having a backup that has missing or corrupt files. Once the process is finished, it displays thumbnail images of all the photos and videos that have been backed up. Interestingly, there are options for printing or emailing the selected photo, or making it the desktop wallpaper. Once you click Close, the backup process is finished and the last DVD is ejected. The insert on the software package is reversible - you can use it to record which folders you backed up if you did a partial backup.</p><p>Restoring the images is almost as simple: you put in any disc from the backup, it doesn't matter which one, and select restore. You have the option of restoring all your files, or selected files. I deleted the photos off my hard drive and did a restore: I got all my photos and videos back, but the software doesn't put them back in their original location, which I found peculiar. If the folder structure is identical, why wouldn't it put them back? Instead it puts them on the C: drive under a folder called Restored Files. It then puts the files back in their original directory structure, meaning that the photos I backed up were under Photos > C > Users > Jason Dunn > Pictures > Vacations. Yeah, no kidding.</p><p>It puts a shortcut to the root Restored Files folder on the desktop, which helps the user find the main folder, but I can't help thinking that any backup neophyte using this software would probably not know how to put the files back where they came from. These are the same types of users that have the "AOL Free Trial" shortcut on their desktop for three years, not realizing they could (or should) delete it. HP should do a scan and match the restore folders, and if they're present in the same path, restore to the original location. If the original location is missing, put the files on the desktop in a folder that has the folders at the root level - not buried six levels deep.</p><p>Beyond the rough edges on restoring, this is a great product that's perfect for that friend or family member who doesn't back up their photos or videos. If you know someone like that (and we all do), urge them to buy this software solution and get their photos and videos backed up before they have to learn the hard way that hard drives don't last forever.</p><p><em>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys <a href="http://photos.jasondunn.com/" target="_blank">photography</a>, mobile devices, <a href="http://www.jasondunn.com" target="_blank">blogging</a>, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog.</em></p>