Norton Backup for Windows adds a slew of handy features; Emergency Restore program allows you to restore files without reinstalling utility. (Software Review) (Symantec Corp.'s Norton Backup for Windows 2.0) (Evaluation)

The latest release of Symantec Corp.'s highly regarded Norton Backup for Windows, Version 2.0, packs in a number of nifty new features. This is a stand-alone version of the backup utility that is part of Symantec's popular Norton Desktop for Windows. The latest release offers tape-drive support, password protection, drag-and-drop convenience, and other useful capabilities you won't find in either the current Desktop version or the 1.2 release we examined in our recent product comparison (June 1).

We have added two categories to our backup report card since the comparison: the performance subcategory of tape operation, and error handling.

Features:

In Version 2.0, Symantec carries over the following attributes from Version 1.2: Windows standard screens and operation; Xtree-style point-and-shoot file selection; native-format file viewers for a wide variety of file types; global file inclusion or exclusion by DOS file specification (including wild cards), attribute, or date; multivolume backup and restore capability; on-the-fly diskette formatting; multiple levels of data compression and verification; a special error correction technique that lets Norton Backup accurately recover data from damaged backup diskettes; macro functions that include a macro recorder; and a scheduling utility that reminds you when it's time to back up or handles the job for you. Both the DOS and Windows versions can restore files backed up by either program.

One of the important features added to Version 2.0 is its Norton Emergency Restore program. Symantec provides this DOS-based restore utility so that after a drive replacement or major system failure, you have the ability to restore your files without having to first reinstall both Windows and Norton Backup.

In our earlier reviews of Windows-based backup utilities, we considered the absence of such a utility to be a serious shortfall.

Version 2.0 also supports the popular QIC 40/80 and QIC 117 tape drives and provides a menu of tape utilities to handle them. Symantec specifically …