Paragon Drive Backup 8.5 enjoys distinct advantages, and experienced users will find that Drive Backup offers the best overall experience and level of control.

If you're not backing up off-site to guard against data disaster, you should be, and Fabrik is as good a way to do it as any, especially when it has 2GB for free.

Yosemite FileKeeper Pro 2.8 is a first-class product. It works transparently, getting on with the job of protecting data without fuss, complication or by tying down the PC. You always have a backup of files regardless of whether the backup drive has always been available, and those files will be only minutes old if a primary drive fails. At the same time, it allows a sophisticated degree of control over backup. Stable for the several months we've tested it, Yosemite FileKeeper Pro 2.8 is the backup program we'd use on a laptop if our data depended on it.

We had reservations about the first release of BullGuard Backup, not so much because of the software which was a delight to use, but the rather stingy storage provision. Now that Bullguard has addressed this issue, BullGuard Backup 8.0 comes highly recommended.

GoodSync is, well, good. If you want a simple and effective synchronisation program, you need look no further than the program — now at iteration 7.2.8.