rsync-style backup for Windows.

My work laptop has Windows as its OS. Backing up files from local disk to removable media has been surprisingly difficult.

ntbackup.exe on XP tries to put all files into a single file on the removable media, and apparently it has a 4 GB file size limit. Useless. It actually asked me to change tapes!

All the rsync builds I've worked with are limited, flawed, or have Linux-like requirements that I simply do not care to attempt in Windows.

Someone at MS noticed this vacuum, and built something to fill it: SyncToy. It is just about perfect for such a utility on this platform. Now I can finally back my laptop to a USB drive.

UPDATE:

In Windows 7, the Backup and Restore Control Panel creates the backup as a series of zip files.

F:\mylaptop\Backup Set 2010-03-02 181457\Backup Files 2010-03-02 181457>dir
 Volume in drive F is BRUISER
 Volume Serial Number is 1A1A-1E1E

 Directory of F:\mylaptop\Backup Set 2010-03-02 181457\Backup Files 2010-03-02 181457

03/02/2010  06:18 PM    <dir>          .
03/02/2010  06:18 PM    <dir>          ..
03/02/2010  06:18 PM       184,773,087 Backup files 2.zip
03/02/2010  06:19 PM        55,641,178 Backup files 3.zip
03/02/2010  06:21 PM       137,063,197 Backup files 4.zip
               3 File(s)    377,477,462 bytes
               2 Dir(s)   8,098,111,488 bytes free

While this is nice for saving space, I cannot browse the files in Explorer. Browsing the files from within the Backup and Restore Control Panel is possible, but this is not as direct as opening an Explorer windoe.

I will continue to experiment with the Windows 7 built-in backup tool, but SyncToy has the simple straightforwardness that I am looking for.