Abakt

Abakt is a small Windows application designed specifically for helping you back up and restore your data. The tool offers support for file management operations as well, so you can apply different filters, and archive, copy, move, or delete files.

User interface

The layout is not particularly intuitive but you can check out the built-in help manual for finding out additional information about each dedicated parameter.
The tool gives you the possibility to tweak the entire process by following four built-in steps, namely Source, Filters, Actions, and Finalize.

Adding files and setting up filters

Abakt gives you the possibility to add folders in the working environment using the browse button, so you cannot rely on the drag-and-drop support. You can make the application include all subfolders.
What’s more, you can view the files that are stored within the selected folder or subfolder, check out additional details about each file (e.g. name, size, attributes, date when it was modified), as well as apply filters by excluding or including items. Additionally, you can make the program include the selected files in the backup but without compressing them.

Editing and creating filter sets

Abakt allows you to generate a filter set by providing details about the name, choosing the desired action (exclude, include, no compression), and configuring the conditions. Conditions are user-defined rules that allow you to create a mask (with support for wildcards) and specify the size, date, age (in days), and attributes.

Triggering actions

You are allowed to create archives (ZIP or 7-ZIP), or copy, move, or delete files. If you opt for archiving data, the tool lets you choose between different backup modes: full, differential, incremental, or others.
When it comes to creating ZIP archives, you can make the utility replace the existing backup with the same filename, add new files and update the existing ones, or update the files stored within the archive without adding new ones. Plus, you may choose the compression mode and split the archive.
If you want to perform file management operations, you can overwrite the existing files, and send the deleted items to the Recycle Bin. You can pick the saving directory and choose between different preset file naming rules.

History, archive tests, and other handy features

You can remove backups older than a user-defined number of days, keep a minimum and maximum number of backups, generate a plain text file containing a list of files successfully operated, remove directories that were emptied as a result of copying/moving/deleting actions, use command-line parameters, and test a newly created ZIP archive for errors.

Bottom line

All in all, Abakt proves to be a powerful piece of software that comes packed with plenty of configuration settings, and is suitable especially for advanced users.