I need some recommendations for backup software.

I already use Drive Image to backup my WinXP OS, That's not the sort of backup software I'm looking for.

I have a large collection of photos, videos, and apps I've collected over the years. I have two identical 500GB hard drives. One of them is for my collection and the other is strictly used to backup the other.

Right now I just use windows explorer to copy files and folders from hard drive A to hard drive B. This is a huge pain as it overwrites files that already exist instead of just adding the ones it doesn't. This is so time comsuming that I othen put it off.

There must be a better way, Am I living in the dark ages here?

Well Windows XP Pro (i'm not 100% sure with Home) comes with ntbackup by default.

If you goto Start -> Run -> ntbackup
See if it loads. You can setup scheduels to backup from one hard drive to the other...probably the easiest way for you right at the moment.

Thank you GaRHaR for the suggestion. I gave the native windows ntbackup program a chance. I did not like it at all. It saves all of your files and folders into a single compressed archive. It also tries to transmit info over the Internet. I do however appreciate the reply, yours was the only one I got.

I googled for backup software that met my needs. I must of installed and tried a dozen different apps before running across "Handy Backup"

I would highly recommend this software to anyone. It gives you the option of incrementally/fully backing your data up as single/mulpitle encrypted/non-encrypted compressed/non-compressed archives or as files and folders.

You can copy or restore your data of course. It also has a neat feature called synchronize. So anything you do to your source Directory is mirrored to your destination directory.

It has a very friendly UI with very powerful features.

My only complaint is that it is not freeware but does come with a 30 day trial.

Dude-- that thing does everything ! You can back-up to CD/DVD,JAZ,ZIP,HDD,even Floppy. You can also back up to a web-based FTP server,or another computer on your LAN.
You can label the files with timestamps, encrypt them, set them to a schedule, or do them manually. You can keep all the backup files or delete the oldest automatically. The only thing it does NOT back up is the operating system itself... but you can backup My Documents/Pictures/Music/The Registry

I'm buying a copy. Very nice find

Dont know if this is one of the ones you tried or not, but this is what ive been using:
Get WinBackup for FREE
Its a free version of a commercial product that works well, and may do what you want. The only thing i really dont like about it, is that like some others, it backs up in a proprietary format.

On Handy Backup be sure you're getting the legal version, since handybackup.com and handybackup.net are 2 different companies - there's a thread (rather old but still applies) on Google groups about this - Google Groups: alt.comp.shareware
That free Winbackup is quite limited, better try freeware alternatives like Cobian Backup (lots of features) and Syncback.

Backup4all ( Backup software - Backup4all ) is worth taking a look at too, even if it's shareware.

This is what all corperate grade backup software.

If you're looking to just automatically copy files to one drive - best to try and setup a Schedueled task...Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Task Scheduler

Give that a try...might be soemthign you're after.