[General Topics] Menneisyys:
I've long been promising the second part of One on one: final versions of Spb Backup and Sprite Backup 5 - the Definitive Comparison - Part I. Here's what you (may) have been waiting for, completely enhanced and listing all the solutions, comparing and benchmarking all the current backup applications, with a lot of additional, real-world tests and, as usual, loads of never-before published hacks, tricks and tips.

Note that this article contains about 140 screenshots (most of them in the main comparison chart) showing examples of ALL the usage areas of the reviewed applications and a lot of usage tips. That is, you may want to spend some hours in reading the article and scrutinizing the comparison chart(s) to find out all the necessary information. It's certainly worth it - this article may contain a LOT of usage tips, tricks and secrets you may never have thought of. Make sure you click the screenshots - I've created them to be usable as mini-tutorials too.

If you don't want to spend that much time with scrutinizing the chart in finding out what features each backup application has and how they compare to each other, feature-wise, jump forward to section 4., the verdict, to find out which backup applications I recommend the most. However, to find out more about these applications, I do recommend spending some time in deciding what features you absolutely need in a backup application and what are the currently available backup apps that do provide these features. After all, it's all about spending your hard-earned dollars and defending yourself for paying extra for unneeded features, based on real comparisons - you don't possibly want to spend, say, 30 bucks on an application you may not fully use all its features of.

1. The need for backing up

What are backup applications needed for? you may ask. Isn’t plain ActiveSync synchronization sufficient?

Synchronizing with a desktop computer via ActiveSync (as long as you don't use ActiveSync backup) only protects some sorts of your data, not all of them. For example, if you have Microsoft Outlook on your desktop PC and you synchronize everything, then, "only" your Personal Information Manager (PIM) data (contacts, calendar, tasks, notes), (mobile) Internet Explorer favorites and files in the \My Documents directory will be safe and restorable in case of a fatal system failure: a hard reset made by the user to get rid of the probably completely messed up system or an accidental hard reset caused by a depleted battery on pre-Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) devices.

Other things won't be saved: programs you've installed on the device, (non-ActiveSync-synchronized (desktop Outlook)) E-mails, SMS, MMS messages you have on your device, all the data files not stored in \My Documents (this directory is automatically backed up by ActiveSync if you enable synchronizing "Files") etc.

This is because standard ActiveSync synchronization is really limited in what it can synchronize (back up): only a part of the file system (everything outside the \My Documents directory is left out), only part of the WindowsCE databases (only PIM databases are synchronized, mail, queue etc. and third-party databases aren't) and none of the Registry.

This means ActiveSync (or any of the above-mentioned plug-ins) is not capable of saving / restoring your

ALL third-party applications you've installed on your PDA (because they use the file system outside the only-synchronized \My Documents, sometimes heavily depend on the registry (they store settings / data in them) and sometimes (in very rare cases: see for example the case of some mobile phone handler apps) even on the WindowsCE databases)

System-level settings you've made (font size, ClearType, Today wallpaper, Today plug-ins, menu changes, input changes, button settings, owner information, sound & notification, backlight, power, audio, (if present) wireless settings) - they are almost exclusively stored in the Registry (I've elaborated on many of these in many of my articles) and, consequently, they aren't backed up either)

Messaging (in pre-WM2003SE parlance, Pocket Inbox) settings (mailboxes set up) and all messages (these are stored in the WinCE databases and in the \Windows\Messaging directory in the file system; these aren't backed up either)

MSN and other accounts

Third-party backup applications like MightySync, MobSync and Intellisync don't help much either. The first two only helps in synchronizing (including backing up) other directories (and storage cards) and not only \My Documents; Intellisync only helps in extended PIM synchronization. Also, you can use for example the desktop-based Jeyo Mobile Companion to back up (and, then, restore) your SMS and MMS messages - but nothing else.

This all means third-party backup programs (or the one built into ActiveSync) are really needed if you want to completely restore your system without having to reinstall all your apps from scratch, make your settings changes again and set up your mail and other connectivity accounts manually. With a decent backup application restoring these parts of the system is a breeze.

(A comparison for (ex-)Palm users: in this respect, the Windows Mobile operating system is a bit weaker than Palm OS. With the latter, everything is stored in systems database files automatically backed up by Hotsync every time you synchronize your device. (Of course, I'm not saying Windows Mobile sucks. I wouldn’t be a MS user if I thought that way ;) ). The desktop PC-based ActiveSync can be made to do the same (which I'll explain soon), but it's not enabled by default and is no longer available with WM5 devices - one of the biggest problems with the WM5 platform.)

I've also elaborated on these question in my previous articles; please read One on one: final versions of Spb Backup and Sprite Backup 5 - the Definitive Comparison - Part I and the from there linked articles for a complete review. I also recommend the generic articles linked in the "Further information" section.

1.1 What backup applications are there? The three types of backup applications

Roughly, there are three kinds of backup applications:

third-party apps purchasable and installable separately (Sprite, Spb, Sunnysoft, ArtSSave, SKTools) - see Chapter 2

backup apps coming built into the Pocket PC (that is, in the ROM) - the subject of Chapter 3. Note that Microsoft itself doesn't ship any kind of a standard back-up utility with the Pocket PC / Windows Mobile operating system built into the ROM of the device, only the desktop-side (see group three) ActiveSync. This is why there is no standard (a backup utility that can be found on ALL Windows Mobile devices) backup utility on your Pocket PC, only a model-, series- or brand-specific one (if at all).

desktop-side backup applications without, in cases, (visible) Pocket PC-side components. That is, tools that require, for example, the Pocket PC being cradled and visible to ActiveSync (or, with more advanced tools like the desktop components of Sprite Backup, accessible through Internet, without the need for having an ActiveSync connection).

The advantages of the three groups are as follows:

the first, third-party group, offers a LOT of advanced functionality. They offer a LOT more than even the most advanced built-in tools or some desktop-based tools. Furthermore, the lack of being built-in into the ROM isn't really a problem with them: most of them are able to create self-restoring (.EXE) backups (the case with Sprite and Spb Backup) or, along with the non-EXE backup files, a separate, directly executable .EXE file on the card (the case with Sunnysoft Backup Manager and SKTools), which can be directly executed off a storage card after a hard reset. Only of of them, ArtSSave, doesn't offer this; you can, however, directly put its CAB installer file on the card and, along with CabInstl (it MUST be installed on a storage card), you can install it any time. The capability from being installed from a CAB file is true with all these applications should you prefer not using self-restoring backups.

The applications belonging to this group all allow for scheduled backups (you don't need to manually initiate the backup but can instruct the backup application to do an automatic backup say at night when the some-minute-long backup process doesn't disturb you) and a lot of other goodies. Of the other types of backups, scheduled backup capabilities are much rarer (except for iPAQ Backup).

the second group, that is, that of built-in applications, are always at hand, ready to restore your backups stored on, say, your storage cards - even after a hard reset. They, however, in general, except for iPAQ Backup, are far worse than most of third-party applications and, generally, are only shipped on pre-Windows Mobile 5 devices (with some exceptions: for example, the Dell Axim x50 WM5 upgrade and the x51 series has Data Backup built-in; so do Acer models. However, as far as other WM5 brands / models are concerned, Fujitsu-Siemens, HP Pocket PC's and HTC-manufactured Pocket PC Phone Edition devices don't have any kind of built-in backup applications.)

Note that another advantage of these two groups are the lack of need to run restore strictly on your desktop computer. When you use a backup application belonging to these two groups, the backup file will be created locally, which, then, can also be restored locally - that is, on the PDA, just starting either the produced self-installing EXE file or starting the built-in backup application and pointing it to the backup file.

This, however, doesn't mean you can't store your backup files on your desktop computer. You can copy them there any time - or, even automatically synchronize them to there so that you don't need to remember to manually copy them. If you make your backup application write your backup file(s) onto your memory cards (or built-in file store with pre-WM5 devices, if applicable), which is the preferable way of backing up your device (to avoid the consequences of a sudden RAM erase caused by battery depletion or a forced, manual hard reset caused by a misbehaving program, which may happen even under WM5), you can use the already-mentioned MobSync or MightySync to automatically keep these files synchronized on your desktop. One of the third-party backup applications, Sunnysoft Backup Manager, even has a desktop-side tool that does the automatic synchronization for you automatically, without your installing / configuring MobSync or MightySync .

Finally, applications (currently, there is only one application in this group: Sprite Backup) belonging to both the first and the third group, that is, applications that can make (initiate) backups on both the Pocket PC and the desktop, also allow for restoring the created backup file without using a desktop computer - that is, right on the PDA. That is, you can safely use their desktop-side tool to do the backup; you can be absolutely sure the backup file created on your Windows computer will be later restorable right on your PDA, without the need to access a desktop Windows.

This all means there is only one backup application that necessitates a Windows desktop computer for restoration: the built-in backup / restore module in ActiveSync. All the other solutions allow for restoring your backups right on your PDA.

The advantages of the latter are pretty clear: you can restore your backups anywhere, any time (for example, far away from any desktop computers). This is what ActiveSync backup lacks.

the third group let for (easily) store your backups on your desktop computer (or any other networked computer with even more advanced tools like the desktop backup agent or the share access features of Sprite Backup) without human interaction. (Note that you can do the same with automatic backup file synchronization with all the backup applications belonging to the first two categories if you, for example, use MobSync or MightySync to automatically transfer / synchronize these files to your desktop every time you cradle your device.)

1.2 What can we expect from backup applications?

Only the simplest backup applications offer manually-initiated-only backups (all the built-in backup applications except for iPAQ Backup). All the third-party applications support at least scheduling, the advantages of which have already been explained in section 1.1.

In Chapter 2 (third-party) applications, I'll elaborate more on the advanced features of these applications when I discuss the comparison chart. Please read that part to see what other, even more advanced features these applications have.

In the next chapter, I elaborate on the third-party applications available now; in the third, I review and compare applications coming with some (mostly older) Pocket PC models. Note that, as with most of my articles, most of the information and usage tips (as menu and fill-in example screenshots with short comments) are in the comparison chart. This is the only way of really reducing the size of the article. Without using a comparison chart-based approach, the article would be at least an order of magnitude larger and harder-to-read. Scrutinizing the comparison chart is essential - most of the information is in there.

Also, real comparisons and feature lists are done in the chart. In the following two chapters, I only elaborate on the most important information on each application that needs to be known and/or couldn't be included in the chart.

2. Current backup applications

What has changed since my previous two real articles & comparisons of Pocket PC backup solutions?

There have been a lot of changes in the last half a year, particularly when it comes to backing up Windows Mobile 5 (WM5) Pocket PC's, which has always been much more problematic than with previous operating systems when it comes to backing up Personal Information Manager (PIM) data, Messaging data (e-mails or, with Pocket PC Phone Edition devices, SMS and MMS messages) and generic WindowsCE system databases. (It's in these that WM5 has changed the most, compared to earlier operating systems.)

Spb Software House has released version 1.1.x and, then, shortly thereafter, 1.5.0 and 1.5.1 of (while I reviewed 1.0 in the first article) Spb Backup, their pretty good backup solution with welcome additions like HP ProtectTools compliance, customizable restoration, storage card backup and several bugfixes.

Sprite Software hasn't been lazy either: they have released version 5.1 of Sprite Backup 5, now, with HP ProtectTools compliance and, which is very important for anyone wanting to upgrade the ROM of his or her Pocket PC, the Device Upgrade mode, which was painfully missing from the first, 5.0 version.

Sunnysoft Backup Manager has also been updated and made fully WM5-compliant.

Last but not least, the, in my opinion, best all-in-one systems tool SKTools has also introduced a really decent backup/restore module, which has been fully WM5-compliant in the last, just-debuted 3.0 series.

2.1 Sunnysoft Backup Manager

(current, tested version: 3.767 build 09111 (internal file dates 09/19/2006))

It took quite a lot of time (as was, incidentally, the case with Sprite Software too) for Sunnysoft to come out with an, at last, WM5-compatible version of their Backup Manager available here.

As opposed to the version(s) tested in my previous roundups and tests, the new version(s) are now fully WM5-compliant; they didn't cause any problems in my thorough tests and proved to be fully reliable. (The same, of course, stands for pre-WM5 operating systems, which Sunnysoft Backup Manager has always been supporting without problems.)

The client itself is pretty capable - it is capable of everything, except for the device upgrade mode and password protected device backup, which only Sprite Backup is capable of (with the latter, without other hacks); also, HP iPAQ hx users should stay away from it if they have activated HP ProtectTools. Otherwise, it's pretty decent.

2.2 Spb Backup

(current, tested version: 1.5.1 build 2432)

Spb Software (apart from the much older Spb Clone), along with the S-K and opposed to Sprite Software and Sunnysoft folks, is a newcomer on the backup application scene. Fortunately, apart from the programs' not having as many extra capabilities as some of the other backup applications and has some major problems (see the next section), it has turned out to be comparatively good.

2.2.1 Quick tip: Backing up devices with system-level password set with Spb Backup

Unfortunately, Spb Backup is, in general, unable to backup devices that have a system-level password set. I've thoroughly tested this on all my Pocket PC's and found out the following: with an unofficial AKU3 pre-release ROM on my HTC Wizard, almost all scheduled backups were done even with enabled system-level protection. After flashing back the "official" 2.26 T-Mobile ROM to the Wizard, Spb Backup stopped making backups with the password active (this MAY mean it'll be, finally, compatible with all protected AKU3+ WM5 devices. For more information on what AKU's mean, please read this article). The situation was the same with all the other PDA's I've thoroughly tested this functionality on: the AKU2.3 HTC Universal, the A12 (AKU2.3) Dell Axim x51v and the WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720. It was unable to backup these devices most of the time (except probably two times the x51v).

However, there is a very simple and elegant solution to this problem (originally invented by AKAJohnDoe). All you have to do is setting up a notification to be "fired" just before the scheduled backup. For example, if you schedule your backup to be started at 12:30 in the night, also set up a recurring event to 12:30 (it may end at once - 12:30 - it doesn't need to take any time, even if letting more time wouldn't result in more notifications to be displayed either) as can be seen in here. (To do this, start Calendar and choose New (on pre-WM5 devices) or Menu / New Appointment (on WM5 devices) and fill in the fields as is shown above.) Also make sure that you choose one minute in the "Reminder" section so that, if you've kept a power timeout on the device at the default 2 minutes, it won't power off the Pocket PC before Spb Backup is fired off (which will be one minute after the notification is displayed - that is, while the PDA is still powered on).

To make this event fired up every day at the same time (not just once - in the above, I've only shown how an appointment should be created that is fired only once, at a given time minus one minute), click Occurs and select Edit pattern.... Click Next on the next dialog and, on the following, change "Weekly" to "Daily" by just clicking "Daily" in the top left corner. Then, just click Next and Finish on the next dialog. Now, the new appointment series will indeed be set up. A quick glance at the Today screen shows that the backup itself indeed starts one minute after the notification (again, the notification wakes up the device one minute BEFORE the set calendar event).

2.3 Sprite Backup

(current, tested version: 5.1.0 build 1447 and 3.1.4 Premium)

Sprite Backup has been the oldest and most widely known backup application for the Pocket PC. All non-WM5 iPAQ's, starting with later Pocket PC 2002 models (for example, the iPAQ 5450), had some kind of a "dumbed-down", but still pretty usable and reliable (as opposed to some other backup applications coming with non-iPAQ Pocket PC's, as we'll see in Chapter 3) Sprite backup-clone called iPAQ Backup.

Sprite Backup excels in almost every area, has unmatched capabilities (the device upgrade mode and desktop-side backup tools being the two most important ones). Furthermore, not counting in Spb Backup (which does need hacks to do this - see the above section), it's the only application to correctly backup / restore password-protected Pocket PC's.

Its only problem may be the higher price, the complete lack of any kind of trial versions and a slightly bigger archive size (slightly lower compression ratio) than with all the other alternate backup applications. It should, however, also be pointed out that it's the fastest application to both backup and restore a device; for example, it takes SKTools about two times the time to backup / restore the device. Spb Backup is also considerably slower. It won't be a problem with the latter two apps, however, if you make them back p your device in scheduled mode (for example, at night, when the time usage isn't important).

There are two main versions of Sprite Backup: the 3.x and the 5.x series. The former (current version: 3.1.4) is meant strictly for Pocket PC 2002, WM2003 and WM2003SE devices and the latter (current version: 5.1) for WM5 ones. The two versions are not compatible with each other - that is, you can't run version 5.1 on a, say, WM2003SE device and vice versa. You'll also need to purchase separate licenses for the two versions if you'd like to buy both; fortunately, the upgrade price is half the price of the regular price, which, taken into the overall quality and usability of the suite, is quite a bargain in my opinion.

2.3.1 Differences between the two current Sprite Backup versions (3.1.4 Premium and 5.1)

The WM5-specific version is a slightly dumbed-down version of the older, 3.x series. This means the 3.x series has some features the 5.x series no longer has:

the WM5 version doesn't have the (pretty bad!) PocketMon Today plug-in

the WM5 version doesn't have the Space Detective utility

Note that these two utilities (particularly PocketMon) aren't the best. That is, you don't miss much by not having them in the WM5 version.

The first, PocketMon, is a really basic (for example, it uses low-resolution icons on hi-res devices as can be seen in here) Today plug-in. It's much worse than, say, iLauncher, Spb Pocket Plus or the Today plug-in of Resco Explorer in that it's constantly consuming some CPU cycles; for example, between 0.4 and 2% (measured on a freshly hard reset PL720) through \Windows\mstli.exe on Pocket Loox 720's and some 2-5% through \Windows\shell32.exe on HP iPAQ 2210's. That is, it's the best to completely disable it if you use Sprite Backup on your pre-WM5 device!

The second, Space Detective, is a generic system meter tool, which also has a cleanup module, is far inferior to the solution offered by, say, SKTools, MemMaid and the other cleanup tools reviewed here (alternatives: MobilitySite, AximSite, PPC Magazine, FirstLoox, BrightHand)) because it only helps at deleting three different temporary directories and finding the largest files (as can be seen, it's not even compatible with landscape mode).

the 5.x series is no longer able to access network shares (to directly backup to there) as opposed to version 3.1.4 (example screenshots of the latter: 1 2) and

the 5.x series has no battery level triggering / monitoring features, unlike the 3.1.4 version (Incidentally, it's pretty similar to iPAQ Backup with the exception that you can select both backing up automatically and prompting). The lack of this utility (as opposed to the lack of network share support) isn't that important with WM5 - after all, we have persistent storage, which makes the need for battery level-triggered backing up pretty much meaningless

2.3.2 A quick tip: everything you need to know about the device upgrade mode

The unique and hugely useful upgrade mode of Sprite backup can seem a bit complicated at first: unlike what the application states, there are no online files but an .EXE file that locally creates a descriptor file, which, after the upgrade, must be provided to Sprite backup when it asks for it. The EXE file is a bit hard to find on the homepage as it's mentioned in the forum and the FAQ (WM5-specific; pre-WM5-specific), where it for example thoroughly elaborates on the POP3 problem also discussed here.

The direct downloads to the difference creator executables (again, please read the above links on how they should be used!) are here (WM5-specific) and here (pre-WM5-specific). Note that the latter download contains a PDF manual, the pre-made update files it links are no longer existing on the Sprite Web server.

IMPORTANT: while the device upgrade mode works great in most cases, you may run into severe problems if you only depend on it. This was the case of, for example, my trying to use it to restore between the Molski 2.26 and the bepe/KTamas AKU3.2 HTC Wizard ROM's (note that both of them are "custom" ROM's; in general, Sprite has no problems with restoring between "official" ROM's). No matter what direction (bepe to Molski or vice versa) I used or how many contacts / other apps I had on the original (restored) Pocket PC, after the restoration, Contacts would just exit right after starting. Needless to say, I had no POP3 mailboxes (deleted them all before backing up). That is, you should ALWAYS separately backup (synchronize to your desktop Outlook) your most important data / document files from \My Documents and PIM data (contacts etc) with ActiveSync just to be on the safe side; that is, to be absolutely sure you have something to restore if the update mode of Sprite Backup fails.

2.3.3 MOBILE BACKUP CARD by Filao

In addition to Compaq / HP (iPAQ Backup), some other IT companies have also licensed Sprite Backup; for example, Filao. They are known for am easy-to-use, fool-proof MMC (MultiMediaCard)-based solution, MOBILE BACKUP CARD. It’s able to backup both Palm OS and (Pocket PC 2002, WM2003 and WM2003SE; NOT compatible with WM5) Pocket PC devices. It’s unknown which version of Sprite Backup it contains. It’s highly improbable it contains the Premium (network-capable) version of Sprite as it’s strictly an SD / MMC-based, “local” solution.

It uses a 64 Mbyte MMC card, which means you can only create backup files up to 64 Mbytes. (This may also mean you can’t store more than one backup archives on the card, which is a big disadvantage compared to current, decent backup solutions, which all allow for storing any number of easily selectable backup files anywhere).

All in all, due to the high price, the lack of networking capabilities / WM5 compatibility and the low storage capacity (you'll most probably want to store more than one backup files to be able to revert to any of them) of this solution, I don't recommend it.

2.4 SKTools

(current, tested version: 3.0.62.0)

SKTools is a (comparatively) cheap, all-in-one, highly recommended systems manager application. Its backup module is the newest of the four and this, unfortunately, is clearly visible in, for example, the pretty bad selective restoration capabilities and the reduced protection compatibility (it's only able to back up pre-WM5 protected Pocket PC's, as I'll also elaborate on in the next section).

(A quick tip: Note that do NOT download the CAB versions of the tool from the homepage but get the install EXE instead. The CAB version is buggy on a lot of devices: it just won't start. The version installed by the desktop EXE installer doesn't do the same. Interestingly, the main executable file in the CAB files in the desktop EXE file are the same size as in the separately downloadable CAB file but their content is different.)

2.4.1 Scheduled backups on password-protected systems

Unfortunately, SKTools has problems with all password-protected WM5 devices in scheduled mode. The reason for this is that SKTools commits a reset before starting to back up WM5 devices, unlike with WM2003(SE). I haven't found a way to avoid resetting WM5 devices.

As far as WM2003(SE) devices are concerned, it has problems with the Dell Axim series (for example, the x30 and x50), while it works just great with some other series / models (for example, the HP iPAQ 2210 and the F-S Pocket Loox 720).

With the latter models, you can safely use its built-in scheduling capabilities; with the former series / models, you will need to turn to SKScheMa, a really great, unique scheduler application for the Pocket PC.

To use SKScheMa, download and install it. Then, create a (non-Unicode!) .lnk file with the following contents:

1#:SKTOOLS #BACKUP(\CF Card\Backup1.asb)

where change \CF Card\ to the name of the target directory / card for the backup file to be stored and Backup1.asb to the backup filename you'd like to use. (I've uploaded it to here to that you can easily find it.) Copy the file to anywhere in the file system on your PDA. You can give it a try (so that you can be absolutely sure it's working OK) right away - just click the link to start the backup process. After it has finished, check out whether SKTools has really created a backup file at the given destination (in this example, under \CF Card\Backup1.asb). Note that cravaus has mentioned the backup file must already be present in order to be backup to be executed. This may be the case on Dell Axim devices; on my iPAQ and Pocket Loox (when I forced SKTools to make backups via SKScheMa), this wasn't the case.

Now, start SKScheMa and select New in the bottom left corner. Click Command in the list and, then, click the ... button in the top right. A context menu will come up; select 'File' from it. Now, navigate to the directory you've copied the link file to (for example, \Windows\Start Menu\Programs) and click the lnk file. Now, click OK.

Now that you're back on the SKScheMa list dialog, select Run at time and set the exact time in the upper part of the screen; in this example, I've set it to 00:30. Now, click days (of week) in the list, click ... and choose the weekdays you'd like the backup to be executed. In this example, I've set up backing up every day.

Now, click OK; in the main dialog screen of SKScheMa, it'll be listed, along with the (next) execution time. Check here whether everything's OK.

After this, you can safely close SKScheMa and/or reset your Pocket PC; it'll wake up the device and start the back-up project.

(Thanks for AximSite forum member cravaus' tip!)

Note that the SKScheMa hack does NOT help with WM5 devices (I've thoroughly tested this too).

2.5 ArtSSave

(Current, tested version: 1.7)

Unfortunately, this highly useful and innovative backup application doesn't run under WM5 at all (it doesn't even let the user create the initial database file). Also note that, while the homepage of the app doesn't list WM2003SE as a compatible operating system, it is as can be seen in for example here and here.

In addition to the complete lack of WM5 support, the other major annoyance with this application is the Handheld PC-optimized GUI. This means there is no minimize button; you must use external OS features or task managers to minimize / kill the app. Also, the lack of any kind of a Cancel button during backup / restore is also a big pain in the back.

The biggest advantage of this application is the incremental, disk space-saving backup also letting for restoring any state present in the backup file. Incremental backup means that you can store even hundreds of states of your Pocket PC, all restorable, with lot less disk space usage than with traditional backup solutions, which only make a full snapshot of the current state of your PDA.

It has other, really excellent features also related to the incremental backups: it lets the user browse the changes between two states in the Advanced Restore tab. There, after you click a state, the results will be presented in a tree as can be seen in here. Some branches opened, you can even see what has been changed. In this screenshot, you can for example see that a new record has been added to the WinCE database "DB_notify_event"; in this , a new Registry entry added and another changed in the Registry. Note that, in order to see this, you must enable Advanced Tree view in Options / Advanced Restore Mode. If you don't do this, you will not be able to traverse the tree this way as can be seen in this screenshot (the same state but, now, without the Advanced Tree functionality). Another example of the latter case is here.

It allows for commenting both data files and states can be commented with multi-line comments as can be seen in here (state) and here (file). State comments are highly useful; for example, you can add a comment to a state like "Application XY added", "Mail account Z set up" etc. You'll, using this, will easily find out the state you want to switch back to.

Some other screenshots: backup in progress; a report of not finding any difference between the previous and the current state. Here's the Backup tab and the Options tab (note that it supports auto backup / battery level-initiated triggering; it's worth pointing out that if you enable anything (of the two choices) in here, it registers itself in the event queue for six different events. Otherwise, naturally, it won't register itself in there).

You may want to check out this title if you want to take advantage of the incremental backup mode (you, say, prefer to store all your backups on your storage cards (where the size of the backup files may be a concern)), need the difference reports to see what has been changed between two states and don't plan to upgrade to a WM5 device. (Hope the app will be upgraded to WM5 some day; I'm still awaiting answer from the developers on this matter.)

2.6 ActiveSync

(current, tested version: 4.5 beta2)

ActiveSync contains excellent support for backing up to / restoring from a desktop PC. Note that it's generally considered be slow (see for example the linked, ActiveSync-related articles) by many; in my opinion, that's no longer the case with current, fast, WM2003 / WM2003SE devices.

This is available in all ActiveSync versions and works with all pre-WM5 devices. This means you can back up your, say, WM2003SE device with ActiveSync even if you have the latest, 4.5 beta2 version. That is, don't believe people that say the opposite (some will do).

A shot of the main ActiveSync backup dialog

Please read this tutorial on using its features. I also recommend Chris De Herrera's ActiveSync Backup and Restore Guide.

2.7 Comparison chart

It can be found here. I recommend opening it in a separate browser window so that you can easily read the explanation in the following section and, at the same time, see the chart. Don't forget to click the in-line linked images to see the screenshots demonstrating a given feature.

2.7.1 Explanation for the chart / the tests

Trial version available? Restrictions?: as can be seen, most apps (except for Sprite Backup) has a trial version with (varying) restrictions.

Easy mode vs. advanced mode distinction?: non-advanced users that don't want to fiddle with advanced features (which can be pretty overwhelming for a newbie) may want to prefer easy mode. In here, I've listed whether the given application has separate "easy" and "advanced" modes to make the life of non-expert users easier, while still allowing Pocket PC gurus make most of the application.

WM5 HTC Wizard time / size benchmark tests group: in here, I've listed some comparable benchmark results. The time / compressed backup size tests have been done on the HTC Wizard (that is, a WM5 Phone Edition) device having about 13.95 Mbytes of files, hundreds of contacts and appointments, some e-mails and SMS messages. After restoring (I made sure I've only restored to freshly hard reset Pocket PC to avoid complications because of the applications' NOT cleaning up the file system / registry and, in cases, the WinCE databases but insert the restored records in them), I've thoroughly tested whether the PIM data is accessible and works OK (it has always been the PIM data that caused major problems to backup apps under WM5; this also applies to the older Sunnysoft Backup Manager versions I've tested previously).

As can be seen, Sprite Backup is the fastest, while the compressed size of its backup files is the largest (it must be using some kind of a fast, run-length encoding) and SKTools is the slowest but produces the most compressed backup files.

Note that two of the six backup(-capable) apps (ActiveSync and ArtSSave) don't support WM5; this is why I haven't tested them in this respect. They are reliable and dependable as far as WM2003(SE) backup/restore is concerned.

Differential backup method? : Yes/No and If yes, is it possible to restore a given state?: does the app support the something like that of ArtSSave?

Scheduled backups, general group: in here, I've elaborated on the scheduled (automatic, non-manual) backup capabilities of the applications. As can be seen, they all support scheduling (except for the desktop-based ActiveSync) and have no major problems (for example, they all keep the Pocket PC alive while the backup is running, even if it's configured to automatically switch off after a while in the standard Power applet) - except for the case of password-protected cases, which will be elaborated on in the next section.

Scheduled backups; compatibility with security features / tools group: in here, I've scrutinized the apps' ability to back up password-protected devices in scheduled mode.

The problem with this is as follows: when, say, at night the device awakes so that the backup process can start, the password / PIN entry dialog will "kick in" at once. Some of the applications are able to run independent of this (Sprite Backup and, under pre-WM5 operating systems, ArtSSave and SKTools); some don't (Sunnysoft, SKTools under WM5). The latter only start when you actually enter the PIN code manually - for example, in the morning.

Spb Pocket Plus is a different animal: it will run on password-protected devices but it's in very few cases that it can wake it up (in all OS versions). That is, you must use the notification hack I've elaborated in the Spb Backup section if you plan to back up password-protected devices in scheduled mode.

Note that you can enable / configure / disable the standard system lock / password tool test in Start / Settings / Personal / Password (in pre-WM5 and pre-AKU2 WM5) or Start / Settings / Personal / Lock (in AKU 2+ WM5). (Note that the "Password" applet has been renamed to "Lock" in the latest (AKU 2+) WM5 versions!) There is also an article on this, Password Protect Your Device, here.

I've made these tests on the WM5 Dell Axim x51v, the HTC Wizard (both the AKU2.3-based 2.26 and an unofficial AKU3.2 ROM), the WM2003SE Pocket Loox 720 and the WM2003 HP iPAQ 2210 to spot problems as surely as possible.

In addition to the standard system Lock / Password tool, I've also tested the compatibility with the HP ProtectTools. Compatibility with this tool (also known as Credant) has always caused a lot of problems (with, for example, the earliest Sprite Backup 5.x and Spb Backup versions / builds). I used the WM5-upgraded HP iPAQ hx4700 for this (it contains this tool built-in; paralel with the standard Password / Lock tool). Now, only Spb and Sprite Backup support it. In these tests, I've also thoroughly tested whether the tested backup application really backs up the device with HP ProtectTools enabled in scheduled mode (all the backup apps support scheduled mode) and whether the backup is restorable without the (protected) files being encrypted. Sunnysoft Backup Manager and SKTools are useless with HP ProtectTools being active: they just wouldn't start without human interaction (that is, logging in). It's worth noticing that Spb Backup has no problems with scheduled backups of HP devices protected with this tool, unlike with the standard Password applet. That is, if you have a HP hx series device and would like to use Spb Backup to back it up in scheduled mode, use HP ProtectTools instead of the standard Password to protect the device.

Desktop and networking support group: in here, I've elaborated on advanced features like auto-synchronization of (local, PDA-based) backups to the desktop (in this, the Sunnysoft application is the best) and desktop-based direct backup tools (in here, ActiveSync and Sprite Backup are the best).

I've also elaborated on questions like whether there are desktop-based backup file browser tool capable of selective restoring to both the PDA and the desktop (to extract files if there's no (suitable/compatible) PDA connected), similar to that of STGViewer and HPC Vault. Please read my ActiveSync backup article on using and the advantages of these.

Cross-restoration / device upgrade mode group: the device upgrade mode has always been probably the best, unique feature of Sprite Backup. It makes it possible to restore your backup made on a different ROM version of your device (or, in cases, even different device). As I've pointed out in my older articles, you can do the same manually too without explicit support, but it requires a Pocket PC guru to publish manually created ROM version difference scripts. There were very few of these script or people that are able to create scripts like these: I don't know of any of them except for my Pocket Loox 720 and iPAQ hx4700 upgrade restore scripts.

Other backup-related extra features / functionality group: here, I've elaborated on some other, miscellaneous features like file exclusion (you, for example, not necessarily want to back up lengthy MP3 or AVI files on your, say, storage cards), the ability to back up storage cards (which is also an often asked-for feature, even when it can be done very easily by hand as backing up a storage card is just a file system copy and doesn't involve backing up the "invisible" Registry / WinCE database) and backing up to the built-in memory (instead of cards). The latter can be very useful when you don't have a memory card around and want to just create an easy-to-restore snapshot of your device, which, then, you transfer to your desktop computer at once. Then, if your Pocket PC is hard reset, you can still transfer it back to your PDA and restore it in there.

Battery level triggered backup deserves special attention in here.

Battery level depletion, in most cases, is a long process and happens when a Pocket PC is not used for weeks. Backup applications that do check the battery level and, if it's sufficiently low, initiate an immediate backup, therefore, don't use constant battery level monitoring (with, say, a resident, always-running service) but instruct the operating system to invoke the battery level checker executable code every, say, hour (the case with Sprite and iPAQ Backup; with the Sunnysoft application, the battery level checking interval can be freely set between 30 and 180 minutes). These checks will happen all the time even when the device is switched off (suspended). As can be seen, it does provide sufficient protection against slow battery depletion (that is, when you forget to recharge your PDA for weeks).

With WM5, this (and only this!) is unnecessary as everything is stored in ROM and there is no point in making backups of it - a battery depletion won't erase ROM.

Odyssey Client compatibility: many have reported problems with the Odyssey wireless client shipped with the Dell Axim x50/x51 devices. In here, I've checked whether the given applications correctly back up/ restore my x51v and whether the Odyssey client is fully usable after the restoration. Fortunately, all WM5-compliant backup apps fared well in this respect.

Selections: Separate backup group: in here, I've elaborated on whether the given application is able to do separate backups in a given category. For example, within the PIM category, is it able to separately backup, say, the Appointments database only, or, will it only backup all PIM data (contacts, tasks, appointments) only as one entity. The other categories are the same: in the E-mails? category, I've checked whether it's able to backup separate e-mails, one by one (as is, for example, Sunnysoft Backup Manager) etc.

Finally, in Selection save/load / revert, I've scrutinized whether the applications are able to save / load or, at least, revert to the latest selection (that is, undo the latest changes as far as user selection is concerned). Only the Sunnysoft app has (limited) support for this (reverting to the latest one).

The Separate restore group elaborates on whether you have the same freedom at restore time as with the backup time in selecting the files, databases etc. For example, early Spb Backup versions didn't give the same freedom to users as later ones or competing products. Now, basically, you can select anything to restore.

NOTE that the article continues below, in a separate post (the forum engine cuts the messages at 64 kbytes; this is why I'm not able to post it in its entirety in just one post.)