Timeline Home 10 is the latest edition of the highly focused yet easy-to-use PC backup application from long standing developers, Genie9.
With a clear focus on making Windows backups straightforward, reliable and effective, Genie Timeline becomes an effective solution for anyone seeking to get important data backed-up from their PC to locally attached external drives, NAS devices or mapped network drives with the minimal of fuss involved. Other notable features within Timeline 10 include a useful backup set search tool for faster file recovery, an easy to configure backup set wizard, the ability to optimise backups with file filters and compression plus the ability to specify customisable historic versioning for maximising protection against both malware and ransomware.
Whilst it is true to say that Timeline 10 might not be the most featureful backup application on sale right now, it does remain a solid option which makes the core tasks of backing-up and recovering data both straightforward and reliable. Time to install the latest version of Timeline for myself (currently Timeline Home version 10) and see how well it performs – vamos.
Key Features
New & Enhanced Features:
- Set & Forget Functionality: Strong backup automation tools make Timeline Home 10 a true “set & forget” solution.
- Easy to use application: Easily get a backup set configured and running with very little effort thanks to useful default settings.
- Smart File Selection: The “Smart Selection” tool makes including pre-selected areas of a PC (e.g. all photos / videos) both quick and easy.
- Refreshed Interface & Reporting: An easy to navigate user interface with detailed and improved performance insights available.
- Full Windows Support: Full support for all modern versions of Windows up to and including Windows 11.
Already Proven Features:
- Strong Scheduling Features: Easily setup automatic schedules for backing up with no further user intervention required.
- Customisable Historic File Versioning: Enhance data protection and resilience against cyber threats with customisable historic versioning support.
- Powerful Restore Functionality: Easily recover items thanks to Windows Explorer integration, search tools plus use of the timeline version recovery tools.
- No Backup Zone: Easily exclude items from being backed-up by storing them in the special pre-configured “no backup zone” folder.
- Email Reporting: Simply provide a set of SMTP credentials to take advantage of built-in email-based backup reporting.
- Event-Based Scheduling: Set backups to run automatically upon external drives being plugged-in amongst other events.
- Limited Cloud Storage Support: Timeline 10 does not provide any direct / built-in support for utilising popular 3rd party cloud storage services.
- Single Backup Set: Supports adding and utilising only a single backup set.
- No Encryption Support: Timeline Home 10 does not provide any encryption support (AES 256-bit encryption is available in Genie Backup Manager).
Licensing & Pricing:
- One-Time Purchase: From just $39.95 for a single perpetual licence.
- Multi Device Discounts: 2-licence pack available from $59.95 & 5x licences at $99.95.
- Free Trial Version: A limited free trial edition of Genie Timeline 10 Home is also available.
Genie Timeline Usability
In this section of my review, I will be sharing my hands-on experience with the latest edition of Genie Timeline. I will guide you through the download and installation process as I experienced it myself before moving on to explore the application’s many backup and restore-related features and then testing how they perform in the real world.
This process begins at the official Genie Timeline website where a free trial of the software is available for download (and no account nor personal details are required to start trying this software out which makes for a great start).
Installing Timeline 10 Home
Installing Timeline Home 10 begins at the official Genie website where a limited free version of the software can be downloaded for evaluation purposes or the full version purchased.
Once downloaded and set running, the installer itself makes really easy the work of getting the desktop application installed with very little user intervention required. A process which lasted only a few seconds in my own experience and (as can be seen above) one which allows for configuring the initial backup set straight after the full installation is complete.
NB – Remember, Genie offers a free trial version of Timeline Home 10 should you wish to try this software out for yourself.
Backing up within Timeline 10 Home
Once installed, configuring the initial backup set within Timeline is really easy. This begins by simply clicking next on the wizard which is seen straight after the installation process and then first selecting the destination drive upon which to store any backed-up data.
In my own example I will be utilising an external hard drive for storing my backups upon, but Genie Timeline also supports making use of network, shared and locally attached NAS devices as well as removable media including USB flash and external hard disk drives. With the storage location now specified, we next get to see the file selection screen from where we can specify what is to be included in this new backup set.
The “Smart Selection” screen (see above) makes very easy and straightforward the task of selecting any important pre-defined areas of the device (e.g. all photos, videos, emails, web browser bookmarks etc.) with just a few clicks required in doing so. Simply check the boxes next to the genre of data or type of file that is to be included and the Smart Selection screen will ensure all relevant files in are automatically included in the backup set.
Should it be required that other areas of the device are to be included in the set (those not specified in the Smart Selection page) or a more complex backup strategy be implemented then the second tab on the file selection page (labelled “My Computer”) will allow for manually selecting individual files and folders.
Finally, Timeline 10 also makes it easy to automatically filter out certain file types form the backup set when required to do so. As can be seen above, for example, filtering the backup of selected file types involves simply entering the file extension (e.g. “.ISO”) and all such files will then be automatically excluded (a great way of ensuring available space on the destination storage device is maximised).
NB – Genie Timeline 10 also allows for backup compression to be enabled during the setup process. This feature will also help to save additional space on the destination storage device at the expense of a (usually only slightly) slower backup.
At this point the main work involved with setting up the new backup set will be complete and the initial backup will start running straight away. By this point in the process, we will also have been redirected to the main Timeline application homepage from where we can see the progress of the new backup which is currently being run.
The backup running mode (smart or turbo modes are available for optimising performance) can also be configured from this homepage view as well as some other settings which can help to fine tune the running of the backup set and will be seen later on in this review.
With the initial backup set now run, we can via the “Settings” link further configure this new backup set. Initially I will be adding a schedule for automatically running the backup set alongside turning on historic versioning support to maximise the protection against dangers including ransomware and malware that this backup will provide.
As can be seen above, the first section of this additional settings page is for the historic file versioning details to be set. We can choose to allow the Timeline software to automatically manage these settings for us or, alternatively, specify custom historic versioning based upon the overall size of the backup set or a fixed number of days for which versions of any changed files are to be kept.
NB – Genie currently (as of time of writing) appears to provide little information on how the “Genie Auto Purge” function actually works. For this reason, I would suggest utilising the manual historic file version retention settings if a clearly defined historic versioning setup is important.
Moving on and we also see two other tabs in this advanced backup setting page, one for turning on email notifications (requiring user specified SMTP credentials) and the other for specifying the backup to run on an automatic schedule.
As can be seen above, Genie do (again) offer a default scheduling option (Genie IntelliCDP) alongside the option to specify the backup set be run at a fixed interval between 30 minutes and once every 24 hours.
Restoring within Timeline 10 Home
Having now finished the configuration of the initial backup set, I will next be looking at the process of restoring data from within the Genie Timeline 10 software. This starts off with one feature I really like about Genie Timeline, this being the backup search box found atop the main application homepage from where we can easily search for any files we might want to recover.
As can be seen above, we can simply type in the name (or part thereof) of the file to be recovered and the Timeline software will search the backup set listing all available options. Simply selecting any files to be restored, the restore location to save them to and then clicking on the “Restore” button will start this recovery process running.
Moving on and, when performing more in-depth restore operations, we can also make use of the “Advanced Restore” tool which is found within the Timeline desktop application itself.
As can be seen above, this more advanced restore tool allows for easily transversing the backed-up file tree and selecting individual files and folders to be restored from within it. Once selected, we can also (optionally) select a previous version of the backup to be recovered from by simply using the timeline bar (just above the file selection tool) which facilitates browsing through all available previous dates.
With all files selected and any previous versions specified, the recovery tool allows for the selection of the same (default) or a different location for saving the recovered items to plus the ability to easily handle any issues which might arise when encountering existing files (e.g. such existing files can be replaced or renamed).
Moving on and one final way of restoring files from within Genie Timeline is via the timeline tool which is integrated into the Windows Explorer utility. Similar to the timeline control seen in the “Advanced Restore” options earlier on, this timeline bar allows for easily browsing through the changing contents of folders by simply scrolling through the timeline of available historic versions before selecting items to be recovered.
As can be seen above, once the correct version is established and the necessary files identified, restoring is as simple as right clicking on the file and choosing one of the two restore options (original location or different location) to start the process running.
NB – The timeline integration into the Windows file explorer tool can be enabled or disabled via the preferences menu within the main Timeline application should this be required.
Genie Timeline 10 Security
Whilst Genie Timeline 10 Home does make backing up important data both simple and straightforward, it is lacking in some of the security features which might be found in other Windows backup solutions. One of the most notable security related omissions from Timeline 10 is that applying strong zero-knowledge encryption to any backed-up data is not available from within the software itself.
With the above omission in mind, Timeline 10 Home becomes more suited to home, personal and non-commercial backup users who do not have any issues with the sensitivity of the data being backed-up. Should higher levels of data security and strong zero-knowledge encryption be an issue, then it is worth considering the upgraded Genie Backup Manager Home which does include full built-in support for utilising strong AES 256-bit encryption.
Click Here to find out more about Genie Backup Manager Home and its advanced encryption and security related features over and above those found in Genie Timeline 10 Home.
Software Support from Genie
Genie provides a useful wiki-based help and support portal which is available by clicking on the question mark symbol found within the Timeline 10 software itself. This wiki provides both the software documentation and licencing information for Timeline as well as useful “how to” documents on performing many of the commonly utilised functions of the software.
Alongside this support portal, the technical support team at Genie can also be reached via a web-based ticketing system which can be accessed via the main Genie9 website.
Genie Timeline 10 Pricing
Genie Timeline 10 Home is vurrently priced as follows:
- Single Licence: $39.95
- 2x Licence Pack: $59.95
- 5x Licence Pack: $99.95
The upgraded Genie Backup Manager Home (which includes support for full AES 256-bit encryption amongst various other upgraded features) is currently priced as is follows:
- Single Licence: $49.95
- 2x Licence Pack: $115
- 5x Licence Pack: $179.95
NB – Free trials of both Timeline 10 Home and Backup Manager Home are available via the official Genie website.
Genie Timeline 10 FAQs
No, Genie Timeline 10 is a premium backup software title which is priced from $39.95 for a single perpetual licence. Free evaluation versions for both Genie Timeline 10 Home and the upgraded Genie Backup Manager can be found via the official Genie9 website.
Yes, Genie Timeline 10 is fully compatible with all modern versions of Windows between XP and the latest Windows 11.
Genie Timeline 10 is a Windows-based backup tool which makes the backing up and restoring of data both quick and straightforward for the typical, non-commercial PC user. It features an innovative “timeline” bar which makes searching for and recovering any backed-up files really easy, a simple but effective automatic scheduling solution and also makes selecting the correct files for backup really easy thanks to the useful Smart Selection tool.
No, Genie Timeline 10 does not feature any built-in support for encrypting backups. Should such functionality be important then it is recommended to also look at Genie’s upgraded alternative, Genie Backup Manager, which does include support for applying strong AES 256-bit encryption.
No, Timeline 10 does not include any disk imaging functionality and supports making only file-level backups.
Genie Timeline 10 Alternatives
Here I will be looking at some good alternatives to Genie Timeline 10. This will be comprised of similar backup software solutions which provide a clear focus on making simple, straightforward and reliable the backing-up of a typical Windows PC.
Remember, any ratings and opinions given below reflect my own personal views and should be treated only as a guide. When purchasing any form of PC backup software, always be sure to carefully check the details of the offering out and try and to make use of any free trials, whenever possible, to help ensure the solution is correct before committing to a purchase.
1) ASCOMP Backup Maker
ASCOMP BackUp Maker really is an excellent Windows PC backup solution. It is a backup solution providing not only a very robust set of backup-related features and configuration options, but one which is also really easy to use and completely free for non-commercial users making it an ideal alternative to Genie Timeline 10.
Like Timeline, BackUp Maker is a file-level focused tool which means it backs up individual files and folders as opposed to producing disk image-based backups (which neither Backup Maker nor Timeline currently support). It is also similar to Timeline 10 in that it offers good automatic scheduling options plus the ability for users to specify their own historic versioning settings based upon both the number of files (or days) to retain.
Where ASCOMP BackUp Maker really excels is in offering various premium features in what is (for non-commercial users at least) a completely free to use backup solution. This includes the ability to protect backups with strong, zero-knowledge AES 256-bit encryption, backing-up to popular (pre-mapped) cloud storage services including Google Drive and Dropbox plus the ability to run backups automatically when selected target drives are plugged into the PC.
Some other notable features of BackUp Maker include:
- Backup Wizard: A really easy to use backup wizard makes configuring BackUp Maker straightforward for all typical PC users.
- Multiple Backup Sets: Support for the configuration and management of multiple individual backup sets ensures BackUp maker is ideal for anyone managing a more complex backup Stratergy.
- Good Storage Options: Support for multiple storage destinations is available including CDs/DVDs, FTP, WebDAV, NAS devices, external USB storage plus any mapped cloud services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.
- Simple & easy to use
- Cloud storage support
- AES 256-bit encryption
- Automatic scheduling
- Historic file versioning
- 100% Free (personal)
- From $39.90 (Business)
- No disk imaging
2) Nero BackItUp
Nero BackItUp is a straightforward and easy to use backup application providing a great set of features and delivering a good standard of data protection functionality for the typical Windows PC user.
In a similar fashion to Genie Timeline, Nero BackItUp is a streamlined backup application which is clearly focused on the core task of providing a file-level backup of any data on a Windows PC. This core backup functionality includes user-specified historic versioning, good scheduling support, the ability to utilise continuous (always on) backups plus support for saving backed-up data to both locally attached disks and mainstream cloud providers including pCloud and OneDrive.
Nero BackItUp is also notable for having a very user-friendly interface and, in much the same way that Genie Timeline does, makes it easy for users to include entire (pre-defined) areas of their device in the backup set (e.g. all photos) as well as also providing the ability to manually select individual files and folders. It is also important to note that BackItUp also supports enforcing strong AES 256-bit encryption making it potentially a much more secure option, especially so if cloud storage services are being utilised.
Other notable features of Nero BackItUp include:
- Easy to use Interface: The Nero BackItUp desktop application is well designed, looks good and makes finding what you require from within it a stress-free experience.
- Good Cloud Support: Integrated support for pCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive and ownCloud amongst others helps to enhance the data protection on offer.
- Continuous Data Protection: Make use of more traditional scheduling services alongside support for utilising continuous (always-on) backups.
- Strong Data Protection: Easily protect any backed-up data thanks to built-in support for highly secure AES 256-bit encryption.
- Easy to use software
- Cloud backups
- Automatic scheduling
- Real-time backups
- AES 256-bit encryption
- Historic file versioning
- From $47.95 per PC
- No disk imaging
Priced at a very reasonable and one-off cost of just $47.95 for a single perpetual licence, Nero BackItUp is a very competitively priced backup solution. A 7-day free trial version is also available via the official Nero website.
3) O&O FileBackup
O&O FileBackup is a lightweight, easy-to-use and cost-effective backup solution. It is a backup solution which makes the task of taking regular file-level backups and protecting the valuable data stored upon a Windows PC both simple and automatic.
In much the same way as Genie Timeline, O&O FileBackup is also a lightweight version of a fully functional sibling (in this case the highly rated O&O DiskImage), a version more focused on providing ease of use and simplicity during the backup process. This approach sees FileBackup offering a guided wizard for helping to get an initial backup set configured and also makes easy the selection of any items to be included in the backup set and a storage location to used.
Like Timeline, this is a tool also favouring simplicity and ease-of-use over providing many advanced backup features. This means it is also lacking support for making encrypted or disk image-based backups, multiple backup sets nor does it provide any built-in cloud storage support. FileBackup does however offer good scheduling support up to and including automatically running backups whenever a target USB storage device is plugged-in to a PC for those who like to manage their backups in such a way.
Other useful features of O&O FileBackup include:
- No Installation Software: O&O FileBackup does not require installation meaning getting backups in place is as straightforward and fuss free as is possible.
- Easy File Selection: Easily select files for inclusion in a backup set as well as easily filter out those which are to be excluded based on file types or those residing in OneDrive (sync) folders.
- Automatic Scheduling: Automate the running of backups on a fixed schedule or set backups running when specific USB devices are plugged-in to the device.
- Very easy to use
- Auto-run backups
- Automatic scheduling
- Historic file versioning
- From $29.95 per PC
- 5x Licence @ $39.95
- No disk imaging
- No encryption support
- No cloud backups
O&O FileBackup is available from just $29.95 for a single PC or just $39.95 for a 5-pack licence providing even better value for money. More information on the FileBackup software as well as the free trial edition can be found via the official O&O Software website.
Genie Timeline Review Summary
The Genie Timeline software range continues to provide a solid base for backing up a Windows PC and keeping important data safe with minimal initial configuration required. Both Installation of the software itself and the set-up of the initial backup set was stress-free during my own time testing it out and the default settings for which the software provides do a good job of protecting the PC right out of the box.
Recovering of data is a particular strength of Timeline thanks not only to the timeline feature itself which makes browsing multiple historic versions of any backed-up items easy, but also thanks to the prominent backup search box which makes finding the correct files easy to accomplish. The lack of any built-in support for popular cloud storage services, multiple backup sets nor the ability to apply strong encryption will, unfortunately, still mean this software is unsuitable for some (although Genie does provide these features in their upgraded Backup Manager line for anyone who might be interested).
All-in-all, Genie Timeline 10 Home remains a good choice for anyone seeking a simple, easy-to-use and reliable method for backing up a Windows PC to locally attached media or NAS devices at a reasonable cost and without any ongoing subscriptions.
