Windows Backup or WinZip?

[CertifiedTHX]

I'm getting ready to start backing up a number of large files to DVD, to free up hard disk space. I use Nero 6.6, and I burn files using the original date and time.

However, I recently discovered that Nero takes the modified date and applies it to the created date on the backup. Maintaining the created date is important to me, so I'm going to have to use Windows Backup or WinZip first. Both preserve dates and times. Then I'll burn the backup set or ZIP file to DVD.

Here's where I'm uncertain: WinZip uses an established format. I will always be able to extract files from the backup, no matter what version of WinZip is in use through the years. Windows Backup is my preferred solution, but its functionality has changed as it's evolved, and a backup set created with the current version may not be compatible with a future version.

But, ZIP isn't the most stable archiver. It can be corrupted, especially if over 2 GB. I don't know what can damage Windows Backup sets, but they've always seemed more reliable to me.

Any thoughts?

--THX

[Jay G.]

NTBackup has been depreciated by Microsoft and doesn't appear at all in Vista, although they have released a utility you can download to read .bkp files in Vista.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTBackup

Vista's replacement, the Backup and Restore Center, uses a more open format, VHD, but you can't select what files you want to back up; it's all or nothing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_and_Restore_Center

I've never heard of ZIP being an "unstable" archive format before. I don't think it's any more corruptible than any other format. If you're wary of the DEFLATE compression algorithm it uses, you could always just put the files in an uncompressed ZIP, so that the ZIP file is only acting as a container. Otherwise, there's lots of other archive formats, such as 7z, which is an open-source archive format.

Alternatively, you could look into a different CD burning program that maintains creation dates.

[Chrisedge]

I think you can change a setting in Nero to make it burn creation dates...

[Nazgul]

http://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html

SyncBack SE

[BartleyR7]

http://www.2brightsparks.com/downloads.html

SyncBack SE

Ditto for SyncBack SE. It's very easy to set-up, and you can even do some fancy profiling to approach incremental backups (like TimeMachine on the Mac, but without the fancy interface). I have it set-up with an external drive (they can be had for cheap these days). You can specify only the files/directories you want to back-up, how often, and what should happen in there is a conflict.

The full versions also allows you to ZIP things automatically. I'm not sure about the free version.