Handy Backup Free is a cut-down and rather old version of the commercial Handy Backup tools, which is still capable of running basic backups.

Create a backup job, for instance, and you're able to add selected files and folders. There's support for running full or incremental backups. Your data can be saved to local or network drives. And a simple scheduler will allow the program to run unattended, whenever you like.

While this all works well enough, there are snags here. The program isn't designed to back up or restore system files, for instance, so it can't help if Windows won't start: there's no bootable environment to access your last backup.

And it's a little alarming that, in 2012, the authors claim that one of the advantages of upgrading to a commercial Handy Backup edition is that you'll have "full compatibility with Windows 7 and Vista".

Still, it is a simple backup tool, generally very easy to use. And if you need more power, there are commercial editions which support more backup types, can run image backups, support Amazon S3 and other online backup destinations, understand how to back up many applications, and more. Prices start at $39 and the Handy Backup site has the details.