Stomp Inc. - Backup MyPC
Review by Omega on 05.20.2002

Product provided by: Stomp Inc.
Retail Price: $79.00

Introduction
Stomp Inc. has been in existance for several years, and boasts a wide range of product genres. Ranging from software, to organizational accessories, the products aim to streamline common tasks. Backup MyPC wasn't a completely original creation of Stomp Inc., but rather they went to the masters of backup software, Veritas. Powered by the successful Veritas engine, Backup MyPC already has a major advantage over newcomers to the software market.

First Impressions
Backup MyPC comes in a vibrantly colored box proudly displaying a PC Magazine Editors' Choice award on the front. The rear features some mindless banter about how wonderful the product is, some screenshots, and a brief feature overview. With this in mind, as well as the side pannels displaying minimum system requirements and more features, it's quite obvious the box was designed with store-based consumers in mind (as is most packaging), its professional appearance will nicely accent any tropy rack of software boxes. While downloading the product from the web site may save $10, bear in mind that selling used software from a burned CD is significantly more difficult than when it includes the original CD, box, and manual.

The manual is quite large, compared to that included with much software. While some companies may opt to cut costs by including only an HTML or PDF manual, that wouldn't prove very useful when the only copy of Acrobat Reader is on a backup, which needs to be restored. The manual is quite thorough. It includes not only the typical table of contents, but a very inclusive index. Step-by-step instructions and walk-throughs, along with screenshots simplify the process of installation, backing up, and restoring data for even basic users. While the troubleshooting section clearly can't cover every scenerio possible to cause problems, its range of potential causes of problems, and solutions is quite impressive, covering hardware conflicts, and software issues, among other things. Complimenting the troubleshooting secion are frequently asked questions (FAQs) along with answers. These seem to address issues such as program features and compatability more than potential problems, but can be helpful nonetheless. Contact information is also provided for further technical support, should it be necessary. Unfortunately, a toll-free number isn't provided for telephone support, so a long-distance fee will apply, unless of course area code 949 is a local call.

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