Data backup, disaster recovery and data migration solutions specialist Paragon Software Group (PSG) announced the release of Backup & Recovery 14 Home, a backup and recovery tool for Windows PC users running Windows 8.1, Windows 2000 or something in between.
The latest edition comes with a host of enhanced features, including complete Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (uEFI) support, backup and recovery of BitLocker encrypted partitions for protecting PC users’ data from loss and unauthorized access, and the Paragon Virtual Hard Drive (pVHD) format for faster and more reliable backup.
A 64-bit Windows OS system configured to the uEFI boot mode can be adjusted to start up on another hard disk during the copy or restore process. Furthermore, this is accomplished directly under Windows. The Linux-based recovery environment also supports systems configured to the uEFI boot mode.
The virtual hard drive format is optimized for storing backups of virtual and physical machines and is more efficient in handling incremental chains, data de-duplication and synchronization.
The company said pVHD allows backups to be up to four times smaller than the original objects and offers easy to use support for any virtual containers.
Windows 8’s Storage Spaces feature makes it possible to manage large storage pools and provides an expandable virtual container of defined data size, allowing users to add as many physical drives as they want until the defined virtual disk’s limit is reached. This means storage devices can be added to a system without having to set up and manage them individually.
“Backup & Recovery 14 simplifies the most important part of data management-regular backups and bare metal recovery. Mobile users taking advantage of BitLocker will enjoy the ability to image their laptops and have protection against both data loss and unauthorized data access,” Konstantin Komarov, CEO of PSG, said in a statement. “And the improved image file format provides a stress-free backup experience – incremental backups run 10 times faster when storing to external media like USB 3.0.”
Paragon’s Recovery Media Builder, an alternative to Boot Media Builder, helps prepare a Linux or WinPE-based bootable environment on a USB thumb drive or in an ISO file (previous versions only supported the creation of WinPE images on USB drives).
Unlike Boot Media Builder, it doesn’t require the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) or Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK), although it can only be used under Windows 7 or higher.