In trying to simplify the backup process, the Clickfree Hard drive has been designed to take the guesswork out of doing it manually by just automating. There's literally no need to click anything to create a backup which is why the product is called Clickfree.
If you're someone who's lost even a few photos or important documents in a hard drive crash — the sort of stuff that is either priceless or irreplaceable — then you likely already know the importance of backing up data. In this case, the Clickfree drives don't need formatting or any software installation.
They do, however, need to install software drivers on the PC so that they're recognized, which means you won't be able to immediately back up once it's plugged in. But once you get it going, it looks for all common file types (over 400 in total) stored on your computer, prioritizing email, financial data, photos, music, videos, word processing documents and much more. You also have the option of adding or removing file types as well.
Each time the drive is plugged in, it counts down from 24 seconds and then starts copying. It looks for any new files or updated ones, meaning that if you edited and saved anything that had already been backed up, the Clickfree drive would ensure it replaces the older one.
The built-in software allows you to preview all the backed up files organized by category and type. If your computer crashed and all files had to be wiped out, you could restore them as they were (at least from when you last backed up) or copy them onto a different PC.
The drives will work with Macs as well, but the software won't, unless it's the 250GB, 320GB or 500GB drives. But the big thing to keep in mind about Clickfree drives is that you still have to remember to backup. While the software does the work, it's up to you to stick to a schedule to backup your stuff.
Clickfree's drives come in multiple capacities: 120GB, 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 1TB. Prices range from as low as $89.99 to as high as $249.99.