These days, it’s almost de rigueur to keep at least one backup online. It ensures one copy of your precious files and folders is stored in a remote physical location, away from your computer, so if your home is struck by some form of physical disaster such as fire or theft, you can at least breathe a sigh of relief at the fact your electronic documents are preserved intact.

It’s a cut-throat world out there in the cloud-based backup market, which translates into good news for consumers. Comodo’s cCloud online storage service comes with a free 10GB account, allowing you to dip your toes into the water before committing to a purchase, or – if you’re careful about which files you choose to protect – allowing you to back up online at no cost at all.

The online backup service can be accessed one of three ways: through your web browser, using Comodo’s excellent desktop backup program, Comodo Backup, or via this dedicated, lightweight client.

You’ll need an account – free or otherwise – before you can start to use the service, but Comodo cCloud Client asks you for your account details and gives you the opportunity to create your account before you begin. Once done, you have two ways in which to back up – or sync – your folders with your online storage.

The first is by right-clicking a file and choosing Sync to Comodo cCloud. This ensures the folder or file in question is monitored and updated as it changes.

The other option involves dragging the file or folder – or a snippet of text, web link or bookmark – to the Drop zone, a small semi-translucent window that can be positioned anywhere on the desktop. It hides after a short period of inactivity, but as soon as you drag a file or folder over its location it’ll re-appear, allowing you to back up the selected files and folders quickly.

Once backed up, you can access your files via the web or through Start > Computer where you’ll find your online drive is ready and waiting for you. You’ll find synced files and folders in their appropriate locations, while anything copied via the Dropzone appears under Dropped Files.

It’s an elegant, simple solution, geared more towards backup than file sharing, and is a little inflexible: if 10GB isn’t enough, you have to pay $7.99 a month or $79.95 a year for 100GB of storage, which may be much more than you need.

What's new in v3.0.8.84?

- Improvements in setup install and uninstall process;
- Occasional errors 112175 when uploading/downloading to/from cCloud;
- other minor fixes;