Backups can be fun. Okay, no, we made that up: backing up your PC will always be dull, that's just one of the fundamentals of computing. Install Genie Backup Manager and you can at least get the whole process completed at the fastest possible speed, though. And there are a few surprising touches along the way.

Take the way you define a backup job, for instance. The Genie Backup Manager wizard provides sensible default options for everything, so you don't even have to type a backup name: just keep clicking Next and that's usually enough.

Selecting exactly what to back up is straightforward, too. Genie Backup Manager displays a tree of common features that you might want to save, like your Outlook or Outlook Express mailboxes and settings, your favourites, contacts, the Registry and more. Just check a box and they'll be added to the backup job.

The program makes it just as easy to save the contents of the My Photos or My Music folders. And Genie Backup Manager can also scan your folders for other images, audio or video files, letting you add the whole lot with another click. (Of course if this isn't enough then you can also specify individual files and folders to be backed up.)

There's a good choice of backup types, too: normal, incremental, mirror and differential. Your backup files can be compressed to save time, password-protected with up to 256-bit AES encryption, and be made self-restorable (executable files that restore their own data whether Genie Backup Manager is installed or not). The backup may be saved locally, to a network drive or using Genies own subscription-based online service, and a scheduler ensures your job runs automatically once it's been set up.

UPGRADE OFFER - upgrade to Genie Backup Manager Pro 8

Move to Genie Backup Manager Pro 8 and gain complete Vista compatibility, be able to save your backups to CD/ DVD, FTP, removable media (USB drives, floppy disks etc) and tape devices, as well as local or network hard drives and Genie's own online backup service. The new disaster recovery feature enables you to recover from a system disaster if you lose important work. The program can run the programs of your choice before and after backup. And right now Genie are throwing in their File Access Manager for free, a utility that helps you capture files that are open, even if they're changing during the backup. You're still only paying around $35 (approx £17), though! To order, head to https://secure.avangate.com/order/cart.php?PRODS=464533 &QTY=1&COUPON=00AE6C6C&CHK_CROSS

Hurry, this is a time-limited special upgrade offer.