R-Drive Image is a backup software product of R-Tools Technology Inc., a software company based in Canada. The company develops software tools compatible with Windows, macOS, or Linux for individual and enterprise use. 

R-Drive Image is one of its most popular products, alongside others like R-Wipe & Clean for privacy and security and R-Studio for data recovery. You can use R-Drive Image primarily to create disk image files for backup, disk cloning, or other duplication purposes.

As a company that commits to “setting new standards in the software development industry,” we’ve got high hopes for R-Drive Image.

Plans & pricing

Although thirty-day trial periods are available, R-Drive Image is a premium product without any free version. It’s also Windows-only, although some of R-Drive’s other products – like R-Wipe & Clean and R-Studio – are available for Mac.

R-Drive Image costs $45 and includes basic options, like drive and file backup, disk copying, boot disk creation, partition management and a scheduler.

The Corporate licence costs $189 and works with one PC or server, and that licence can be transferred to another system if the first one is decommissioned. It’s a lifetime licence and adds features like support for VDI virtual disks.

Technician costs $299 per license per PC and unlocks unlimited data transfer and custom rotation schemes – and this version of the app can be used to manage as many PCs as required as long as the app isn’t installed on more PCs than you have purchased licences. It’s a great deal if you want to manage many PCs or laptops in a business.

The Commercial plan costs $499 per license per PC and, as its name suggests, allows administrators to backup, restore, and deploy multiple machines in commercial settings.

The OEM kit plan costs $399 per license per PC. As its name suggests, this version only comes with a fully assembled computer. You can’t download it directly from R-TT.

Features

You can create images of entire hard drives, individual partitions, and individual files. In the process, you may choose to compress the size of the images to save storage space and, consequentially, costs. You can also lock image files with passwords to provide extra protection and ensure no unauthorized person can access them.

This software also lets you scan image files for errors and alert you immediately to anyone it detects. If you're using Corporate, Technician, or Commercial licenses, you can create image files in the VMDK file format adopted by virtual machines.

You can restore and navigate images, copy disks, create system recovery media and use extensive scheduling and scripting options to personalize your backups, how often they run, and how your computer behaves before, during and after the process.

Users can check images for integrity and accuracy, mount disks, and create batch backups for larger jobs.

With the ability to send backups to Dropbox folders, Google Drive destinations or Microsoft OneDrive, cloud options are present here, too.

Your backups can be created in R-Drive’s proprietary format, as a differential copy straight to another folder, or in VDI, VHD, VHDX or VMDK formats. There are varying compression speeds, the option to split your backup into smaller files, and use password protection with encryption.

Email notifications can be programmed, and this software lets you perform common disk management operations thanks to its flexible Partition Manager. You can create, wipe, delete or resize partitions at any time. 

Duplication implies when you want to copy the whole contents of a PC to another, often when you get a new PC and want to transfer all files from the older one to the new one. In such a case, simply create a hard drive image of the old one and restore it on the new one, and you can continue using your PC like you never ever changed it.

After creating an image of a hard drive, partition, or specific files, R-Drive Image lets you restore them at any time. You can restore to their original drives, new drives, partitions, and even free hard drive space. For example, you can restore the hard drive images from one drive onto another drive in case the former one has been damaged and is no longer suitable to use.

If you're using the Corporate, Technical, or Commercial license, you can restore images in the VMDK format, which is significantly faster than other file formats the app supports, including NTFS, FAT, and HFS.

This software lets you perform common disk management operations thanks to its flexible Partition Manager. You can create, wipe, delete or resize partitions at any time. You can also use this feature to wipe entire hard drives before disposing or transferring them to avoid sensitive data leaks.

You can set automatic schedules for R-Drive Image to back up your computer regardless of if you're present or not. This feature helps users to maintain frequent backups without much manual input. To always remain in the loop, you can set the program to send you automatic emails for any backup task that completes or fails.

Interface & use

The R-Drive Image interface may look a little dated, but it’s still one of the clearest we’ve seen from any backup app.

Key tasks are represented on the home screen with huge icons that make it very easy for even novice users to know what to do, and if you click those buttons you’ll get a straightforward dialog that instructs you to select what you want to backup and where you want those files or disks to go.

Destinations, cloud options and backup image formats are all easy to tweak. You’re kept away from advanced settings unless you head into the specific options menu – and even then it’s very easy to set password protection, notifications and more.

We tested our latest slate of backup apps with a 42GB document folder, a 2.5GB spreadsheet folder, a 162GB folder of media and an 82GB file that mixes all of those file types. We backed them up to three different SSDs to weed out any inconsistency.

This is one area where R-Drive Image failed to perform, with mediocre results in all four categories.

Its best result came with our folder of media files, where it averaged over fifteen minutes – but rivals from EaseUS and Macrium were twice as quick. It took over 26 minutes to back up our document folder, while some apps only took three or four minutes. And when tasked with backing up our folder of mixed files, it took nearly an hour.

It’s not the slowest backup app we’ve tested in this latest slate of reviews, but it’s not particularly impressive.

Support

The official R-Drive Image website has a lot of support resources. You can visit the FAQ page to find solutions to frequently encountered problems or the Knowledge Base, which contains comprehensive tutorials and user guides for the platform. There’s also an official forum where users interact and exchange tips and problem solutions.

Users who want further support can also contact R-TT's support team by email or telephone. Email support is available 24/7 but phone support is limited to 9 AM to 6 PM on Monday to Friday except on public holidays.

Competition

Apps like EaseUS ToDo Backup and Macrium Reflect have beat R-Drive in speed, but there’s not much to choose between R-Drive Image and its rivals regarding features. And depending on which version you buy, R-Drive could easily become more affordable.

Verdict

R-Drive is packed with features and is very easy to use, and several versions are affordable too. Combine that with its extensive support offering and there’s lots to like, especially for people in businesses who may need quick help if anything goes wrong.

When many rival apps relegate support to a single web form and perhaps a knowledge base or forum, that’s heartening.

R-Drive’s biggest negative is its mediocre pace, but it’s not a dealbreaker when other apps are slower. Just be aware that you can find much faster backup elsewhere.

EaseUS Todo Backup  is one of the most significant worldwide names in data management, PC utilities and backup software. It has been around since 2004 and now serves millions of worldwide customers from its HQ in China.

2009 saw the launch of EaseUS Todo Backup, and it’s since become one of the firm’s most popular products.

There’s a free version available, and if you want to splash the cash, you can buy the Home, Enterprise and Technician editions for individual, business and enterprise use, respectively.This has grown to amass tens of thousands of users globally. 

EaseUS Todo Backup: Plans and pricing

We’re always keen to see a free version of a backup tool, but it’s worth bearing in mind that EaseUS Todo Backup Free has some restrictions.

For starters, it’s deliberately made slower than the paid versions. While you can use the free version for basic backups of files, disks, operating systems, and app data, you miss out on advanced features, and you can only use 250GB of cloud storage space.

That means the free version is only suitable for home and professional use if you have basic requirements and lots of free time.

ToDo Backup Home costs $40 for an annual licence or $60 for a perpetual licence with no upgrades. A lifetime upgrade costs $80, which is the best long-term option for home or SMB users who only need to back up one device. Bundles are also available for around $100 and include ToDo Backup, Partition Master Pro, and Data Recovery Wizard – a great deal.

For any business owner who needs more backup versatility and power, though, there’s a definite step up in features if you opt for one of the ToDo Backup Business packages – like faster backups and support for Windows Server.

Workstation Edition costs $49 per user for one year, Server Edition includes Windows Server backup and PXE network boot tools for $199 per year per server, and Advanced Server adds SQL Server and Exchange backup and recovery for $299. For anyone with more advanced business needs, head here.

Technician packages start at $999 for people who need to manage loads of devices, with a lifetime license costing $2499. That’s a mammoth price, but it’ll be worth it if you handle dozens of PCs or laptops across an SMB or enterprise.

EaseUS ToDo Backup also has a Mac version, which has been updated for compatibility with macOS 14 Sonoma and costs $40. It’s largely an equivalent of ToDo Backup Home in terms of features, without the high-end additions you can expect with Server or Technician.

EaseUS Todo Backup: Features

EaseUS ToDo Backup has options for file, disk, OS or app data backups, and it also has a module to back up Outlook, Chrome or save game data – handy if you want to preserve data from specific applications.

You can send files to specific local drives, the EaseUS cloud servers, network locations or a secure, encrypted partition on your PC, too, so there’s plenty of scope for customization here.

Users can pick from different speed levels and maximum transfer speeds, and backups can be split, encrypted or password-protected. There are also options for custom commands – ideal for wrapping backups in with other automated PC tasks and scheduling your backups.

You’re also able to schedule backups based on other PC events, like if you connect a specific USB device or boot your PC, and the Smart Backup option is particularly impressive as it can detect if files have changed and start new backups accordingly,

Elsewhere, EaseUS offers disk, system and partition cloning, full system transfer, image-checking, the option to create boot disks and a PreOS Manager. And if you want to recover full backups or files from your backups, you can browse to the file and navigate easily.

Opt for Workstation edition or beyond and you don’t get security zone backup, presumably because you should have your own cybersecurity protection by that point. If you deploy the Workstation or Server versions, you can back up to tape and use faster backups.

People using those versions can export or import backup plans and create complex backup plans, which makes managing multiple machines easier, and Command Line options are available at this level. Advanced Server and Technician users get Exchange backups and extra server options too.

Users on the various business plans also get email notifications, file exclusion, automatic backup checking, partition management, MBR fixing tools and offsite copying.

It’s an excellent range of features, although we recommend at least the Workstation option if you’re in a business and want to take backups seriously.

EaseUS Todo Backup: Interface and use

No matter your version, the interface is decent – attractive and clean. Click the New Backup button and you’re guided through every option, with the backup source and destination settings particularly clear.

It can be a little tricky to spot the New Backup button, which isn’t particularly large. On other apps, this is quite often the largest button or feature in the app – but that’s a tiny criticism.

Start a backup and you benefit from a clear, attractive screen that details its progress, including the estimated time remaining.

And impressively, there probably won’t be much time remaining at all – because EaseUS ToDo Backup is extremely fast.

We tested our latest slate of backup apps with a 42GB document folder, a 2.5GB spreadsheet folder, a 162GB folder of media and an 82GB file that mixes all of those file types. We backed them up to three different SSDs to weed out any inconsistency.

In Document testing, EaseUS averaged just 3 minutes and 36 seconds, and it averaged just 5 minutes and 56 seconds with our mixed media folder. Both averages were the fastest in our latest round of app testing. Its Spreadsheet result of 2 minutes 12 seconds and media pace of 7 minutes 18 seconds were similarly impressive – the second and third-best results out of nearly twenty apps.

On the Mac side, the Apple version of EaseUS ToDo Backup fits smoothly into Sonoma, and its speeds tallied with the Windows version.

EaseUS Todo Backup: Support

EaseUS offers direct customer support through email and live chat. The official website also has detailed user guides and documentation to help you navigate through Todo Backup.

Users who have purchased the Advanced Server or Technician products can access priority support.

However, many users complain that the support is inadequate due to slow response times and language barriers.

EaseUS Todo Backup: The competition

There’s no shortage of alternatives to a platform like Todo Backup. One noteworthy competitor is Acronis Cyber Protect, which provides backup tools and endpoint security in one bundle (for a similar price), giving it an advantage over Todo, which offers only data backup/recovery.

EaseUS Todo Backup: Final verdict

That said, there’s loads to like about EaseUS ToDo Backup. It’s packed with backup features that should sate SMBs and enterprises, especially if you pay for the Server or Technician options, and it’s pretty easy to navigate.

And if you’re a home user or sole trader or need more basic backups for office workstations, it has great products there, too. There’s no shortage of speed here, either: on balance, this is the fastest backup app we’ve tested.

The interface could use a little tweaking, and those Server and Technician options do get pricey, but there’s no denying that EaseUS ToDo Backup is a fast, effective option for home and business backup.

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Western Union has been around for a long time with origins that date back to the mid-1800s and has developed its range of money transfer options over the years to move with the times. While it’s still got plenty of the old-style infrastructure that made it appealing to many people in days gone by, the latest incarnation of Western Union is bang-up-to-date.

• Want to try Western Union? Check out the website here

With more of us needing to move and monitor our money on the go then the Western Union app is going to be of particular interest. At the same time, you can still make good use of its desktop website to do the same thing if you're not bothered about mobile convenience. Topping out the lasting appeal of Western Union is its many physical locations around the world too, which for many makes it a go-to solution no matter where they happen to be.

Similar products worthy of investigation include WorldRemit, Venmo, PayPal and Zelle.

Pricing

There’s a useful tool on the Western Union website called the Price Estimator, which is, as it sounds, a practical way of finding out how much a transfer will cost you. Enter a destination for the money, the amount and currency. 

You can then choose from online, in-store or mobile app as your chosen means of transfer. The different options adjust their settings depending on which country is chosen, allowing recipients to pick the money up at Western Union branches or get it straight to their bank account. 

We tried an example sending $500 to Jamaica and got quoted a fee of $7 for debit card, $21.50 for credit card, $5 for a bank account option and $9 for an in-store payment. The transfer, we were told, would take minutes and could also be picked up at a Western Union location. 

We also tried the bank account option, and this offered a $2.99 transfer fee and the arrival of funds would take up to 1 business day. In other words, there are numerous variables involved in working out individual costs, although the estimator tool is great for helping navigate those costs.

Features

Flexibility is the key feature with Western Union offering an array of ways to transfer money, albeit for wildly varying fees depending the means of moving the funds and location you’re sending cash to. You can do everything online if needed, sending money directly to bank accounts using the Western Union app. 

Cash pickup is also an option favored by many, while increasing numbers of users are opting to use the mobile wallet feature that is available in selected countries. Using the Western Union app comes with added functionality and convenience features too, such as one-touch fingerprint login, instant access to contacts that you regularly send money to, as well as being able to dynamically track your transfers.

Performance

With a company as big as Western Union it is reasonable to expect the money transfer service to work quickly and efficiently, although there is often more expense involved compared to others in the market. The online experience via web browser is fine, but it's the app where Western Union currently excels, with a slick mobile experience offering plenty of tools to ensure swift and seamless transfers.

Ease of use

When you use Western Union you do at least have the benefit of a huge company, with countless physical outlets around the globe. Add to that the extensive range of currencies it can handle, in excess of 125 and you’ve got a service that’s quick and convenient. The other bonus is the raft of different methods for sending money, from online and using the app through to bank accounts, mobile wallets and those worldwide outlets.

Support

With something the size of the Western Union operation you’d be right to expect a rock-solid support structure. Therefore, the array of help options available are numerous. If its basic information and frequently asked questions you’re after then the Western Union help center makes an obvious first point of call. 

However, it’s also possible to chat with a representative, email Western Union with a query and, naturally, call them on the phone if you'd prefer to speak to someone in person. There’s even a mailing address for postal enquires and correspondence. It’s also possible to track the status of transfers, which is often the first thing many of us want to do if we’re concerned about the whereabouts of our funds. The app comes into its own for this sort of thing.

Final verdict

Western Union is a very large global concern, which means that it can help you with money transfer tasks pretty much wherever you are and whatever currency you want to move. There’s also the flexibility of being able to transfer money both domestically and internationally. 

There are some downsides however, with one key issue being that pricing can be rather bewildering, with the Price Estimator being a useful tool on the Western Union website to gauge costs. As with any money transfer tool, you’ll also need to keep an eye on your security settings, but having the benefit of speedy transfers as well as being able to let someone pick up physical cash at the other end might appeal to many. 

Western Union’s main benefit is that it can let you get money to pretty much anywhere. There are other money transfer services that maintain lower overheads though. In that respect, if you’re sending cash to a fairly common destination then the best advice would be to see what the competition is offering alongside Western Union.

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