Win 7 has its own utility for backups and recovery that is easy to use and much quicker backing up. Type Backup and Restore in the Start box and use that for backing up and making a Repair disk. Save the backups and the system image on the external hard drive. More info about Backup & Restore in Windows Help. Info on DataSafe HERE.

I'm currently having the same problem Rhys. After three attempts of starting from scratch I cannot get Dell DataSafe Local Backup Premium 9.4.47 (on my Inspiron M101z) to recognise the existing Full System Backup on my 1.5TB WD Elements drive, and provides the same error message each time "A full system backup from another computer is already present on this drive in the System Recovery Folder. Only one computer backup is allowed per backup drive." If Dell Datasafe is not able to provide an incremental backup the software is not only not useful, it is a massive waste of time. (300GB takes a long time to backup once, let alone three times, hence the fundamental need for an incremental process!!)

The really disappointing thing is that there seems to be absolutely no support for this software. I'm chalking this one up as a loss and will take it as a lesson to steer clear of Dell branded software.

MARKGT --  Hi.  Took me quite a while and lots of patience to resolve this issue, but I finally got in touch with the software developer and after exchanging information and files on the hidden hard drive backup/restore "S" drive, I received some software that fixed the problem.  Contact me at <ADMIN NOTE: Email id removed per privacy policy> and I'll try to steer you in the right direction.  And yes, dell backup does take an extremely long time to run the first time through -- and thus the very good reason for incremental full system backups because subsequent backups take significantly less time.  Rhys

MARKGT

Just received what appears to be an extensive update of Dell DataSafe Local Backup (to version 9.4.60 for the Premium Edition).  Have not run it yet, but hope it includes all the fixes for not only my system but for yours as well.  Otherwise, the contact at SoftThinks Technologies Support (dell local datasafe backup software developer) is Randy Donner at <ADMIN NOTE: Email id and Phone No removed per privacy policy>.  He was extremely helpful to me and worked with their tech division to fix my issues and get the sofware fully functional on my Dell Computer.  Hope this all helps.  Good luck and don't give up.

Rhys

Is it possible for Dell DataSafe Development or Support to post the fix and/or a patch download?  It has been quite aggravating paying money to get this software only to find out I get Unhandled Exception error every time I try to do a Full System backup.  In addition I cannot even create Recovery Discs.  I'm not sure if it is because I'm using DVD+R but there is no Help info to indicate if I should be using DVD+RW discs.  I am on 9.4.60 of the Local version and it is as if there is no real support for this software.  I feel we are all Beta testing but having to pay for the privilege of working out the major bugs.

pcognett,

Recordable media required for this process is either a DVD or Blu-ray disc. CD or DVR -RW are not allowed.  

Here are some Datasafe Local Backup FAQ's.

Do you have the Full Premium version of this software?

Full System Backup

Use has the option to either Backup now or Edit
Plan of backup.

• Edit Plan provides user the flexibility to change backup frequency and file
  exclusions.
• Backup now immediately initiates the application based on predefined
  settings.

NOTE:
This feature is only available on the Premium version
of the software.

.

NOTE:
Full System Backup to Blu-Ray Discs are not
supported by Dell™ DataSafe™ Local Backup. The backup will fail if user attempts
backup using Blu-Ray. Full System backups can be performed to an external hard
drive or user defined partition.

Thanks for the note DELL-Jesse L.

A couple of points:

1. I do have the Full Premium version
2. I am using DVD-R discs for the Recovery discs which is a choice in the software and it never recognizes the media (there are numerous other chat boards supporting the same behavior that I am seeing ... search for Dell DataSafe and Unhandled exceptions.
3. Your FAQ link points to version 2.0 not the 9.4.x version 

PCognett:  Had very similar problems in the past using this backup software.  I wish I could send you the email address and phone number for the technical support person at SoftThinks Technology (the Dell Data Safe Backup software developer), but when I have tried to do so in the past as a post on this site, this information gets blocked and deleted for privacy reasons.  Anyway, and hopefully this information does not get deleted from this post (and there is no reason why it should as such is public information on google), try typing the following search into google and then contact the appropriate individual referenced in my search (softthinks technology support randy donner).  If this gets blocked, post another message here (I get them to my email because of my interest in this subject), and we will try to figure out a way for me to get you the information you need to contact those in the know who can actually help you, including providing you with a fix if such is necessary (which is precisely what they did for me over a period of several days working on my particular problem with full system backups to my external hard drive).  Good luck.

 rhyshobart: Thanks for the note.  I did see the redacted posting you referenced.  I have tried shooting an email direct to info@softthinks.com and support@softthinks.com to the attention of Randy.  I hope I get a response.  It's a bit disturbing that Dell is unable to provide quality support for this software that they sold me if they OEM from another vendor like Softthink Tech.  Dell sold it and Dell should honor support for it but at this point going direct to the developers seems like my best shot.  Much appreciated.

PCognett:  I understand your frustration.  SoftThinks really helped me a lot and solved my problems getting the Premium edition of Dell Backup to work with my external hard drive (Seagate 1.5 TB).  Direct email for Randy is (hope this gets through to you before it is redacted)  <ADMIN NOTE: Email id removed per privacy policy>    Good luck.

pcognett,

I have shot an email to the engineers to get some answers. I agree; there are many people having issues with Datasafe.

Thanks Jesse.  I will continue to monitor this until resolved.  I'd even offer to work directly with the Engineer since two of the three main functions of the software (Creating Recovery DVD's and Full Backup to external Hard drive) don't work for me.

Okay, it's 8 months later. Any update on this? I purchased the Premium Edition yesterday because the drive in my XPS 9100 is failing. I initiated a Full System Backup to an external drive and it has been showing 1% Complete for 18 hours now. The Dell technician I spoke to yesterday said this is normal and it will jump right to 100% when finished. I have a total of 356GB used on my C:. It can't take 18 hours to back that up!! Additionally, I see nothing being written to my external drive and the amount of used space stays the same.

I am running 9.4.47. Is there a working version of this software? I really want to get the full backup so I can restore it on the new drive that Dell delivered as part of my warranty.

Thanks.