Reviewer 1: Yes, it was a typical install with no issues. The only problem I had was that the key issued to me for this program did not work. I was able to download a trial copy and use that for testing purposes.

Reviewer 2: Yes. NikSaver took less than one minute to download on a fast cable connection. The program uses the standard Windows installation procedure; it allowed me to put the program and its icons in the locations of my choice. The 30-day evaluation period is fully-functional. I used it for several days, then used copy-and-paste to enter the registration codes. I was able to check for and download updates from a button under the help menu.

Reviewer 3: No. While it was a small 2.0 download and a quick installation using a standard-type installation wizard, attempting to register the product was a nightmare—and one which was never resolved.


Good Points?

Reviewer 1: On first launch, NikSaver scans for installed software and matches it with its master list of configuration file locations already stored. So, out-of-the-box, it is ready to use to back up the settings of the most common programs. After a major system crash that necessitates reinstallation of the operating system, reinstalling all programs and redoing all the setups and customizations that we tend to do with any software or computer, this program can save countless hours in reinstalling and reconfiguring software. It does not reinstall the actual software, but it does save all the custom settings that can be easily restored once the software is reinstalled.

Reviewer 2: When it is first run, NikSaver scans for installed program and compares these against the programs in its "Programs Base." If it finds one that it knows about, it will automatically search for the configurations, settings, and other personalized data and save it all in a folder for that program. In addition to the items such as the Desktop, Quick Launch bar, built-in Windows programs and System software settings, there are over 200 other software programs and games in the Program Base. NikSaver stores this information in a folder called Computer Configuration which it creates in the "My Documents" directory. To make it easy to see, it puts a NikSaver icon beside that directory. The default location of that directory can be changed. To move settings from one computer to another, that folder can be saved on a flash drive, used with a second computer. NikSaver is quite simple to use, with a clear interface and fairly obvious choices. The Help file is well-designed, with screen-shots of the program to illustrate each step. On the Web site are tutorials that take the new user through the main stages of backing up and restoring program settings and configurations and registering the program. The EULA (End Users License Agreement) is included in the Help file, something I have not often seen. This is a good idea, and I hope that other developers will start to use this approach. NikSaver is licensed to the user, and not to the computer. This is an excellent idea, as it is common for someone to have a computer at home, a laptop and a computer at work. I would like to see this type license to become the standard for all programs.

Reviewer 3: The idea behind NikSaver is a good one because, unless one does disk imaging as his or her backup plan, standard backups will fail to capture all of the hidden settings and configurations not only for the operating system but as importantly, the installed programs. Thus, in theory, NikSaver would provide a simple way to avoid having to manually reinstall all of the above in the event of a system crash or hard drive failure. And while the program has an attractive and relatively intuitive GUI (Graphic User Interface), the GUI and the “idea” is all that has any value.


Weak Points?

Reviewer 1: Since it is unlikely that NikSaver will have all settings preconfigured, it has the ability to add one’s own to its database; but, this process was difficult and required a significant expertise and knowledge of file systems in order to get the right storage locations plugged into the program. I consider myself to be very computer literate, but this program really gave me a headache, when I tried to use their “Add Programs Wizard” to add some of the programs I have installed on my computer to the list in NikSaver. The Wizard was asking for information I found very difficult, if not impossible, to locate. I believe it would take going to each programs Web site to attempt to determine where it stores its configuration settings, information that is not readily available. Every program stores its configuration data a little differently and locating the often hidden files can be a difficult task. I could not find any reference to the “add program wizard” in Help. Using the “Add Program Wizard” is farm from an intuitive process. The wizard asks for additional information such as program name, the user’s name and email address (as “author” of this addition), the program’s Web site address and the program’s icon file. Adding the correct configuration file is equally difficult since typically one will not know which file extension represents the configuration file. I was not able to add a single program using this Wizard.

Reviewer 2. Several programs on my computer that are in the Program Base were not successfully saved. I tried both methods that are provided by the developers to report these difficulties. One is to submit a report directly from the Web site, but there was no way to include my email address, so they could not advise me if the problem could be fixed, or even to notify me that they had received my feedback. The other method was to send an email message to the person who developed the script. This is accomplished from a link in the program itself. However, as many of the scripts are authored by volunteers or interested users, there is no guarantee that they will respond. In my case that is what happened. There is a Users Forum, but it does not have many members and is not particularly active. At the time that I am submitting this report, the most recent post is more than three weeks old. I notice that some questions have not yet been answered. So lack of support for NikSaver is a very important weakness. The program supports changing its “skins” (the visual appearance of it screens). In addition to the ones which come with the program installation, download of additional skins are offered. I could not find the download site, but I used the link included in the Help file. Unfortunately, I got the “404 – Site not found” error message. This further increases my unease with the impression that NikSaver may not be very actively supported or kept up-to-date,

Reviewer 3: There are serious flaws and weaknesses in this program. To begin, registering this program poses an unnecessary difficulty in that the registration number is extremely long and cannot be copied or pasted into the registration box but must be typed in. Not only is this tedious and a waste of time but more importantly is a prescription for making errors. In fact, as careful as I thought I was being, it took me three tries before I apparently entered it correctly. Adding to this difficulty is the fact that the box in which the registration number must be entered is not long enough to hold all of the number visibly so that the entered numbers cannot be double-checked and corrected before hitting the key to submit the number for registration. Once registered and after using approximately 30 days (the trial period coincidentally), I opened the program to find that it was asking me if I wanted to try or buy the program and if I had already purchased it to enter my registration number. Apparently it had disappeared! When I reentered my number I received a popup that my registration number was invalid. There was no obvious support contact that I could find (more on this below) so I proceeded to the forum that is available. Unfortunately, every time I attempted to register and then log in I would be asked to again register before logging in. Maybe this is why there are no members in the forum and why it has not had any postings for the past several months, and then only by the developer. As a result, my testing of this program was limited to slightly over thirty days rather than the normal 90 to 120 days during which I normally test a program. Based on that limited testing, however, there were several problems: (1) It detected programs that not only did not exist on my computer but never existed on my computer; (2) It detected programs as being on my computer that had been removed more than a year previously (and I do a thorough manual removal which includes drivers and Registry entries); (3) It did not detect some programs that were on the list of supported programs such as Opera 9.5; (4) While programs can be added manually that are not automatically supported, there is no browsing feature for adding Registry entries which means one must comb through the Registry manually to add these entries—which, even for a professional can be a time consuming and inexact process; (5) When attempting to “Save All Files,” the progress bar would seem to get stuck and the only way I could find to ”unstick” it was to start all over. Sometimes it would stick and other times proceed properly. As for support, I simply could find none. There is no FAQ section, the Help file is at best disorganized and scattered, the forum has no members and only 24 postings—all it would seem by the developer, and as for technical support, clicking on the link to contact support navigates to a new Web site called FogBogz asking for a login. I had no idea what FogBoz is and did not care to gamble the safety of my computer on some unknown and suspicious site. There is a 30-day free trial but be aware that it is crippled ware and not fully functional. This software program, while still relatively young in its development, has not been regularly updated from what I could see and is not yet ready for the big time, and at $34.95 one would suppose that it should be. By the way, on the Web site it states that the program’s efficiency has been confirmed by hundreds of users.” Note that it said hundreds, not thousands. There may be more revealed in this statement that the developer realized.


Other Comments?

Reviewer 1: This is a great tool for “geeks” but not for the average user. This is a great idea in concept and possibly a good thing to have if it is usable out of the box; however, that is unlikely that it will be. Its usefulness would depend on NikSaver generating a much larger list of commonly installed software and their configuration settings default profile locations that could access on their Web site if needed.

Reviewer 2: The concept of NikSaver is interesting, but it is not yet well enough developed for me to recommend it wholeheartedly, particularly at its present price. When I am setting up my computer from scratch, I try to improve my settings, rather than use the ones I had before. If I want to have the same setup as I had previously, I will use a disk image. On the other hand, if I wanted to move such settings as those that are important for gamers, this program might be useful. I do not really see its use for basic Windows settings, or for most of the programs which I normally use.

Reviewer 3: The user can backup settings to a folder, but there is no .zip functionality built in and no way to burn the backup to a CD or DVD. If the hard drive fails, one must wonder how the settings backed up with NikSaver could be restored since the backup was stored on the hard drive. I realize the backup could be placed on an external drive or possibly even a thumb drive, but why wouldn’t the backup simply be made with a disc image which would not only back up all that NikSaver will do but the entire hard drive as well?


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: It is unlikely that I will take the time to actually dig out all the configuration file locations needed to backup the literally hundreds of programs settings that I have installed on this computer. Rather than use this program, I have a monthly “full mirror” backup of all three of my systems. I can format or replace a drive and restore it to fully functional within an hour on any machine and experience very little data loss; thus, I find NikSaver unnecessary on my computer.

Reviewer 2: No.

Reviewer 3: No.