Last year we took a look at a few useful programs from SmarThumb, these programs are small and made to be installed on a USB Drive and taken with you as a portable suite of different types of software. They've recently released Vista compatible versions of their more popular tools and have me to check them out and give my impressions.

One thing interesting about working with companies is that I sometimes get to actually help in the development of products, especially software like this. When I first received it I found a couple bugs and of course reported them and asked to be advised on how to proceed. So of course I got on IM with the developer and we spent a few hours bouncing back and forth and trying out different versions of the software to make sure it's 100% compatible with Vista. I'm not going to go into boring details about all that, but with my help new versions of the software were released that now function as they should. I'm sure I won't get credit or anything but that doesn't really matter, it was fun to do, and just knowing that I was part of the process is kinda cool...

So, read on to check out the four new versions of the SmarThumb Software, myBackup, myEncoder, myShredder and myZip. This review will be done a bit differently than others, in that each page will be devoted to one of the programs...

SmarThumb Software Review

Author: Kristofer Brozio

Sponsor: SmarThumb

Overview and myBackup Software:

Once you download and install the software you're all set, if your computer is set to Autorun then the SmarThumb LaunchPad will start when you insert your USB drive, if not you'll have to manually launch it. The first thing you'll do is enter your name when first launching, then the graphic interface in the shape of a USB drive will launch.

Besides launching the software installed, there is also a configuration menu as well where you can input your personal information that gets saved as a text file called 'Lost&Found', so if you loose your drive someone might return it to you. (see the first picture above)

From the configuration menu you can also make it so an application launches automatically when you insert your thumb drive, you can adjust the ordering of your program icons, and on the last tab you can change the languages, launch the backup software and check the requirements to use SmarThumb software.

my.backup

Portable data backup software for your USB drive

Save your work files to prevent accidental loss of data. While you work on your computer, back-up the file into your USB Storage device either manually or automatically.

Functions:

-Backup your data from anywhere in your hardisk.

-Select to backup full or differential backup.

-Restore your backup back to orginal source or other location.

-Restore your backup to other pc.

Benefits:

-Make a backup of your work to prevent any data loss or accidentally delete of file(s) / folder(s).

-Set automatic backup schedule.

Languages:

-English

System Requirements:

-Support Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista.

-USB Storage device which support USB 2.0 with minimum storage 5MB

Code: ST400090

Price : USD $29.90

File Size: 4,270KB

Version: 5.0.1.0

The myBackup software is just what it sounds like, backup software so you can backup important things you need to. It's easy to use, and does have a few configuration options.

You have the choice of full backup or differential backups, and you can choose the frequency of backups or set date and time backups as well or do them manually.

There is a choice option as to where to back things up at but when I tried it did not allow me to pick anywhere else other than the USB drive I was using with the SmarThumb software, so I'm not sure how that works exactly...