Ocasionally I post about personal productivity tools. I used web-based back-up system Mozy for months and find it fantastic.
Mozy is a web-based service, accompanied by desktop software, that back-ups selected directories on your hard drive. Up to two gigabytes of storage is free; unlimited storage costs about $55/year. Every few hours (you can specify this), Mozy automatically backs up to a remote server any files that have changed. It even backs-up open files, including Word documents and Outlook (PST) files. I started using it after reading very positive reviews in both the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.
For the majority of people who do not regularly back-up home PC(s), Mozy is an excellent solution. Previously, I regularly backed-up to an external USB or hard drive using software called SmartSync. That is excellent software, but it requires regularly remembering to take action. With Mozy, once you install and configure it, the back-up is automatic. Plus the back-up is offsite, which means your data is safe even if your house were to burn down. I’m a belt and suspenders man when it comes to my data, so I still do sync files to external media, but much less frequently. So Mozy saves me time and gives me peace of mind.