My trade requires me to have a fully-functioning remote office from headquarters. Unfortunately, home offices do not come with an IT department. As an editor, I am subjected to more potential malware than the average home-office worker. My email receives an ungodly amount of spam and I am frequently researching on the Web, which increases my risk of visiting not-so-nice Web sites infected with, yes, more malware.

This year was particularly trying for me as I was infected not once, but twice. I took all the normal precautions, I backed up my files online using Carbonite and tried to prevent becoming infected by installing Norton’s 360 anti-malware protection. The first infection revealed the weaknesses in my defense. Norton was unable to provide “360” protection and Carbonite’s restore feature required me to move the subscription from one computer to a new computer, not to mention the hours the restore would take. The additional challenge was that I had previously backed up my desktop to Carbonite, and as a result, there was confusion as to what account the desktop had a right to restore from. Needless to say, it was just a royal pain in the neck.

So, after struggling a week without the laptop and all my critical files and convenience of my client-based email system, I took future precautions from becoming infected once again. I disabled my preview feature for email, and picked up the practice of never opening questionable email again. Even if it means a poorly-structured subject line from an inexperienced PR newbie was subject to deletion.

A month later it happened again. Another week without my working files. Determined to minimize the impact of future infections, I built a castle-like defense system with multiple layers of backup.

My laptop is still backed up to Carbonite in the event of complete hard drive failure, I have critical files duplicated on a Seagate hard drive (although the intuitiveness of the software interface leaves much to be desired), I ditched Norton 360, replaced it with our company’s antivirus protection, Trend Micro, which is on its way out the door as well, and GoodSync.

Easy to access help features.

GoodSync has brought unbelievable convenience and piece of mind. The software interface in extremely user-friendly backed up with an easy-to-use manual. The designers of the software clearly had the end-user in mind. Having GoodSync synced up between my laptop and my desktop has freed me from USB-based storage devices -- my Seagate drive is collecting dust and I don’t think I could readily put my finger on my flash drives.

GoodSync analyzes your files before synchronization.

I use GoodSync to not only back up my work documents, but also all of our family photos and music. Email is a bit of a challenge, but I blame Microsoft Outlook for that issue. The software functions regardless of operating systems -- the laptop is Vista and the desktop is XP.

I now have the piece of mind that comes from knowing my files are safely secured. In the event of a massive failure, all of my critical files are backed up remotely with Carbonite. And, if my laptop gets infected again, I can just pivot in my chair, and turn on the desktop to access all my files.

In a matter of seconds, you can sync between desktop and laptop and access a file from either device.

I give GoodSync a five-star rating on usability, reliability, and convenience!

Now, why can’t I find good, reliable malware protection with excellent customer service? And, when is someone going to improve email clients again?

Testing environment

Software Version: GoodSync Synchronizer, v7.9

Operating systems: Vista and XP

Network: Peer-to-peer wireless