Are there any special settings user should be aware of while running IBackup for Windows on a laptop? For example, Standby mode/ Idle modes.

I have deleted some unwanted files/folders from my IBackup account. However, the 'Quota used' does not change. How do I know the exact quota used?

You can view the transfer log file for the interactive backups/restores by selecting

Log -> Interactive Log -> 'View' from the Menu Bar.

To view the logs of scheduled backups/restores by selecting

Log -> Scheduled Backup/Restore Log -> 'View' from the Menu Bar.

Yes, IBackup for Windows uses Delta Blocking technology during data transfer. Delta blocking is an advanced logic that divides all files into equal sized blocks. When a file is detected for changes, the Checksum of each block of that file is compared against the Checksum for the same block of the same file. Any blocks that are found to be different are pulled out and transmitted. These delta blocks will also be compressed and encrypted before transmission.

What is the ideal solution for online backups of huge initial backup sizes, say 100 Gigabytes of data?

With growing needs for online backup with initial backup sizes in 100's of Gigabytes, IBackup now provides a way to do a faster initial backup via physical transfer of data to a temporary storage device shipped by IBackup to the user's location. IBackup typically uses snapserver 4500 for this purpose. Users would simply need to copy their data onto the snapserver and ship it back.

Once user's data is transferred from snapservers to IBackup's primary storage devices, users can continue incremental backups through the online backup process. This provides an efficient means to establish online backups for datasets with sizes 100GB and higher.

The snapservers are preconfigured with RAID 5 storage of up to 850GB and DHCP. If users have DHCP servers on their LAN, they simply would need to hook up one of the snapserver ports to their LAN and copy their data. If they do not, they will need to configure the snapserver networking details to suit their network. IBackup personnel would provide necessary authentication information to configure the snapserver. Users will need to make sure that appropriate packing material is used for proper handling of the device during shipment.

Is it possible to view the scheduled backup/restore jobs of all my IBackup accounts on my computer using IBackup for Windows?

Yes. You can view the scheduled backup/restore jobs in all your IBackup accounts by using the 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs' feature in IBackup for Windows. To access this feature, right-click on the 'IBackup for Windows Monitor tray icon' and select the 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs' option. In the 'Manage all the Scheduled jobs' screen that appears, you can view the entire list of scheduled backup/restore jobs of all your IBackup accounts on your computer.

My initial backup was done via a shipped hard disk. But when I tried to backup the same data with the application, it is backing up the same all over again. Why is this so?

When the initial backup is made via the shipped hard disk, the date and time stamps on the data backed up are usually the date and time of the copy event (backup made via shipped hard disk), and not the original date and time stamps of the data. So when you perform backup of the same data with IBackup for Windows for the first time, the application will perform incremental backups of 'all' the files, since the date and time stamps are different. However, the only incremental task performed by the application will be an update of the date and time stamps of that backed up data.

How can I regulate my Internet bandwidth usage for IBackup?

Bandwidth throttle is an option that allows you to set the percentage of Internet bandwidth used by 'IBackup for Windows' application. This provision is useful if you are using multiple internet-based applications as this will help in affectively dividing the Internet bandwidth between the applications. This in turn will help in maintaining the efficiency of other applications. By default, the 'Bandwidth throttle' will be set to maximum.

To set the 'Internet bandwidth,' go to the Tools menu > select Preferences > In the General tab of Preferences window > select the check box provided for 'Enable Bandwidth Throttling' and adjust the 'scroll bar.'

Alternatively, it can be done during interactive and scheduled backup process using the 'Enable Bandwidth Throttling' option provided in the 'Backup Progress' dialog.

Is it possible to manage my Default Backup set and schedule backup jobs via the IBackup web interface?

Yes. You can manage your Default Backup set, schedule backup jobs and view detailed logs from the IBackup web interface, using any web browser.

For this, login to your IBackup account via the web and click the 'Manage Backup set' icon.

This takes you to the 'Backup Manager' page from where you can edit the contents of your Default Backup set, by selecting/deselecting the files/folders, using the check boxes provided.

You can also view the logs of the interactive and scheduled backup jobs performed by the IBackup for Windows application. To know more, click here.

You can easily backup single file/folder at a time by dragging the file/folder from your computer side and dropping it on the folder or in the IBackup root.

To backup multiple files/folders following are the steps:

1. Select the files/folder you want to backup from your computer by checking the checkboxes provided against them in the left pane representing contents of your computer.
2. Select the destination folder by clicking on a folder on the right pane, which represents your IBackup contents.
3. Click on the 'Backup Now' button to transfer your selected files/folders from your computer to your online backup account.

Follow the link to view a Tour of IBackup for Windows. This tour will demonstrate how to schedule your unattended backups.

Incremental backup is a default feature, IBackup for Windows transfers only the modified portions while backing up an already backed up file.

If you select the E-mail notification option, you will get E-mail intimation about the status of your unattended scheduled backups.

This option can be set to enable the links to previous Snapshots of your files stored in your IBackup account.

Snapshots will be helpful when you have accidentally deleted files stored in your account and want them to be restored back to your account.

To enable 'Show Snapshots',

1. Click on the 'Snapshots' icon available on the tool bar

Or

1. Tools -> Preferences

Mirroring of files helps you to mirror the source directory structure on 'My IBackup' side. In other words, it maintains 'absolute path' of the source file.

You can enable this option in Tools -> Preferences -> 'Enable mirroring for backup'
Or
Choose 'Mirror Path' option from the Tool bar

For example: If you select to backup a file c:\My Documents\docs\example.doc with mirroring option, then IBackup for Windows will maintain the same directory structure on your IBackup account as My IBackup/c/My Documents/docs/example.doc

If you backup the same file without mirroring option, then the file will be backed up with 'relative path' concept, so depending on the destination folder chosen, and depending on the source context, the file will be backed up. In the above case, if the destination folder is 'My IBackup', then the example.doc file will get backed up as 'My IBackup/example.doc'.

Mirror option hardwires the destination path to be the exact path of source. In other words, if your source data is in folder c:\My Documents\mydata on your IBackup side, you would have a folder created that would contain the backup data with same folder names with complete path.

So, if you backup data from two different computers, it is possible that if the paths and folder names are same on the two computers, the data could get mixed up at IBackup end.

To overcome this problem, you can use the 'Multiple PC backup' feature that helps you to backup data from multiple computers to a single IBackup account. Upon enabling of this feature, your data is backed up to a folder that retains the same name as that of your computer. All future backups from this computer will go to this folder unless you specify a different destination folder.

How do I backup data from multiple computers to a single IBackup account?

The 'Multiple PC backup' feature helps you backup data from multiple computers to a single IBackup account. It prevents data overlap in case you have files/folders with similar names, stored on multiple machines.

With earlier versions of IBackup for Windows, I was able to specify a destination folder within the 'My IBackup' folder. It seems I cannot do this with latest version. How do I specify a destination folder for backups?

Most recent versions of IBackup for Windows default to 'Mirror Path' option which mirrors the exact source path onto the 'My IBackup' side. This has been made default since this is the option majority of users prefer as it reduces complexity and prevents overlapping of data under some conditions.

However, if you would like to have a choice of destination directory, please ensure that you have selected the 'Relative path' option in the main window of IBackup for Windows. Also, you can select this option by unchecking the 'Mirror Path' option in the File> Preference menu.

Is there a one button backup option?

Yes, if you have already created Backup sets, simply right click on the tray icon and choose 'Backup Now' option. This will start immediate execution of the backup for the Backup set selected.

How do I switch the time stamp of the files/ folders present on the 'My IBackup' view to a particular time-zone setting?

To change the time stamp of the files/ folders present on the 'My IBackup' view to a particular time-zone setting, please click on

Tools -> 'Change Time Zone' option

Select the required time-zone that you would like to display for your files/ folders.

Does IBackup for Windows offer both encryption on transmission?

Yes. IBackup for Windows offers 128-bit SSL encryption during transmission.

You can search for files or folders using IBackup for Windows by simply clicking on the 'Search' icon on the 'My IBackup' pane of the application main screen. Just enter the required search terms (like file name or part of the file name) to search for the files or folders in your IBackup account. This feature is a handy one when you have a lot of data stored in your IBackup account.

For Windows 2000/NT/XP based servers, choose to install as 'NT Service', while installing IBackup For Windows. IBWin service is started automatically when the application is installed and also every time the computer is rebooted. This link will take you to a detailed page on how to backup your server.

While backing up C drive, be selective in the files that are to be backed up. It is likely that your entire hard drive may be much larger than the storage space you have purchased. You can save your storage space by avoiding backing up programs (such as MS office that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) that can be reinstalled from a purchased CD.

Please try to focus more on backing up folders like your "My Documents" folder and other important data files like accounting, income tax, contact management etc..

IBackup for Windows (Version 5.5.0 and higher) will retain the date and time of the files being backed up by default on your remote online backup account.

Ideally, you should have multiple IBackup accounts, or use Sub-Accounts to execute backups on each individual computer.

It is possible to do backups from multiple computers into a single IBackup account. But you must make sure that there is no intermingling of data. Here are the suggested steps:

• Create top level folders, say computerA and computerB.
• Using IBackup for Windows, and with mode set to 'relative path' (please note
  default is 'mirror path', so you have to change the mode to 'relative path').
• Use destination folder as respective top level folders created as above

IBackup for Windows 8.0.7 and higher supports the feature of 'global exclusion of custom files/folders' from the backups. This will help you to exclude certain files/folders from being backed up into your IBackup account.

A) Exclude files/folders based on partial name:

You may either use the entire file/folder name or partial name or partial name with wildcard characters. 'Exclude files/folders based on partial name' option allows you to exclude the selected files/folders at the time of backup.

Example / Note: A wildcard character is a keyboard character such as an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?) that is used to represent one or more characters when you are excluding the file(s)/folder(s).

If you are looking for excluding a file that starts with 'test' but cannot remember the rest of the file name, type the following:

test*

Use the question mark as a substitute for a single character in a name. For example, if you type test?.doc, you will exclude the file testy.doc or test1.doc but not testimony.doc.

B) Exclude folders based on full path name:

For instance, to exclude a folder 'My Pictures' in the 'My Documents' directory from being backed up, please follow the steps below:

1. Login into your account via IBackup for Windows.
2. Click on 'Tools' -> 'Preferences'->'Exclude Files/Folders'->'Exclude folders based on full path name'.
3. Click on the 'Insert' button and browse to select the folder to be excluded in the 'Exclude folders based on full path name'. (In this case select the 'My Document\My Pictures' directory) as shown in the image below.

4. Once the 'My Pictures' folder appears in the 'Exclude folders based on full path name', click on the 'Save' button to update the exclude directory list.

5. Proceed with your backup operation. You would notice that if the 'My Documents' folder has been included in your backup then the ' \...\My Documents\My Pictures' folder would be automatically excluded during the backup operation.

What does IBackup for Windows do if the Internet connection is interrupted during a backup session?

IBackup for Windows will try to resume the backups from the file at which interruption occurred. If partial transfers had taken place prior to interruption, it will continue from that partial transfer point.

When will IBackup for Windows resume the session if it has missed one (ex: The computer has been abruptly turned off) or interrupted?

IBackup for Windows will perform scheduled backup jobs at the next transfer time, as per the scheduled time.

You can restore files that were backed up earlier using the Snapshots feature available with IBackup. Snapshots are point in time images of your data.

You will need to enable the 'Show Snapshots' view feature available with IBackup for Windows. To enable 'Show Snapshots', please go to 'Tools' -> 'Preferences' and check the option 'Show Snapshots view' under the 'General' tab. Alternatively, you can click on the 'Snapshots' icon present on the toolbar.

Once the Snapshot feature is enabled, you should be able to see Snapshot folders with names like nightly.0, nightly.1, etc, at the top level of your account.

Then, if you know the folder where the file existed, try to navigate to the file/folder starting from folder nightly.3. This could possibly contain the data that you backed up 4 days ago. If it does not, try nightly.4.

Once you find the right file, simply restore it. (IBackup does not have the concept of separate full and incremental backup files as incrementals are directly written on top of full backup).

Yes, you can restore files/folders from your IBackup account to their original destination on your local computer. To do this, please select the files/folders (that were transferred using the 'Mirror/Absolute' path), from your IBackup account. Then click on the 'Restore' button at the bottom of the main screen of the IBackup for Windows application. On the 'Where to Restore?' screen that appears, please click on the 'Restore to Original Destination' button. Click on 'Yes' when asked to confirm. Please note that the files/folders restored to their original location may be overwritten (if they already exist).

You can alternately use the Restore wizard to restore the files/folders to their original location. Choose 'Restore' either from the menu bar, Backup-Restore > Restore, or from the toolbar, Wizards > Restore. Select the files/folders (that were transferred using the 'Mirror/Absolute' path) from your IBackup account and then click on the 'Next' button. On the 'Where to Restore?' screen that appears, click on the 'Restore to Original Destination' button. Click on the 'Yes' button to continue the restore operation.

No. IBackup for Windows will not perform scheduled backups in standby mode on Windows XP.

When you place a Windows XP based computer on standby, any currently connected remote access connections are silently disconnected. You are not prompted to disconnect manually before the computer goes to standby mode. This applies to any remote access connections, including connections to Internet service providers (ISPs) and private networks. This behavior is by design of Windows XP.

You have to set the time tab pane to AM/PM format as the software uses this internally for scheduling future backups. The time tab pane can be set by going to Control Panel->Regional Options->Time.

Select the backup job with status 'Stopping' and click on 'Stop Completely' button to clear the status.

Can I schedule the restore of backed up data from IBackup account to my local machine?

Yes, you can schedule the restore of backed up data from your IBackup account.

Currently IBackup for Windows allows only one restore set named 'Restore ItemSet' for the operation.

Schedule a backup set at the desired time.

For the scheduled backup set, set the 'Frequency' to 'Weekdays (Mon-Fri)' in the drop down list in the scheduler wizard.

Can I use IBackup for Windows to schedule full and incremental backups on specific days? How do I see historical view of data?

IBackup does not have the conventional concept of full and incremental backups. Every backup is basically a full backup with incremental effect. Unlike the conventional concept of 'incremental backup' where only changed data is stored separately from full backup, with IBackup, during the backup, the changed data is written directly on to existing backup. In other words, you have 'full backup' results every time that helps in fast restores when needed.

IBackup uses advanced patching technology to determine the changed data at source and applies only modified blocks of the changed files on to the data at IBackup. So there is no efficiency lost due to IBackup's methodology of updating full backups directly every time.

To see historical view of data, please see Snapshots.

One of the two IBackup accounts I hold has expired. As I had scheduled backup/restore jobs in both the accounts, I would like to delete the scheduled jobs of the expired account and retain the jobs of the other account. Is there any way to delete the scheduled backup/restore jobs?

Yes, you can delete the scheduled backup/restore jobs by using the 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs' feature in IBackup for Windows. Right-click on the 'IBackup for Windows Monitor tray icon' and select the 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs' option. Select the scheduled backup/restore jobs from the list shown in the 'Manage all the Scheduled jobs' main screen. Then either click on the 'Delete' button or click on the File menu and click on the 'Delete' option to delete the selected jobs.

Can I view a centralized report of all the backups scheduled with IBackup for Windows?

Yes. You can view a centralized report of backups scheduled with IBackup for Windows by logging in to the browser-based application Web-Manager. After logging in, click on the 'Backup Status Report' link under the 'Account Maintenance' section. You can also get fine-grained information about a particular backup here.

By default, a report for the last seven days will be displayed. To view the complete backup report, click on the 'More' link provided at the bottom. Please note that this report will be available only if the user has set email notification for scheduled backups.

Users can also view a centralized scheduled backup report of all their Sub-Accounts also. Click on the 'Sub-Accounts/Workgroup' link under the 'Account Maintenance' section. In the page that lists all the Sub-Accounts, click on the 'View Sub-Accounts Report'. To view the report belonging to a particular Sub-Account, click on the 'View Backup Report' link corresponding to that Sub-Account.

Yes, you can backup open files using the Open file Backup feature available with IBackup for Windows version 9.4.7 or higher. Note that this feature is available only for Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2003 servers. The most common open files that can be backed up by using the Open file Backup feature are Outlook files (.pst), QuickBooks, Quicken, ACT, MS-Money, MS-Word, MS-Excel, MS-Access, MS FoxPro etc.

To use this feature, please select the option 'Enable Open file Backup' (available for Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2003) in the 'Preferences' screen of IBackup for Windows. Also, please ensure that the selected temporary location on the local computer for Open file Backup has sufficient free space to hold the open files during backup.

No, you cannot. Open file Backup feature requires at least one drive to be mounted on the New Technology File System (NTFS) file system partition. The user also has to ensure that the file system of at least one of the hard disk drives is NTFS. (NTFS is one of the file systems the Windows NT operating system uses for storing and retrieving files on a hard disk).

Yes, you can. However, it is highly recommended that you use the separate features available with IBackup for Windows for consistent backup of MS SQL Server and MS Exchange Server related files.

To disable the Open file Backup feature, please click on 'Tools' and then on the 'Preferences' option available on the menu bar of IBackup for Windows main screen. In the 'Preferences' screen that appears, uncheck the 'Enable Open file Backup (available for Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2003)' option.

No. The Open file Backup feature does not support backing up open files in a mapped/network drive(s).

The 'Sync' feature in IBackup for Windows lets you match the contents of 'My IBackup' exactly same as the contents of 'My Computer' for the selected folders on 'My IBackup' side. In other words the data residing on your local computer and your backed up data will be in sync.

This is a useful option if you have been backing up regularly, and now you have cleared up some data on your desktop and wish to clear the same on 'My IBackup' side as well and bring them in sync.

Please note that the 'Sync' functionality works only if the data has been transferred using the 'Mirror' option since it requires full path of the source maintained on destination side for proper syncing.

Once you choose the folders to sync on 'My IBackup' side and click on the 'Sync' icon, the application displays the list of files that are now not present on your computer, but are still available on 'My IBackup' side for the selected folders. These files will be deleted on 'My IBackup' side on confirmation. Later, the application will prompt for your decision on whether to actually sync the contents of 'My IBackup' with the most recent contents from 'My Computer' for the folders selected.

In other words, the 'Sync' operation is a 'one way sync' from 'My Computer' to 'My IBackup' for the folders selected on 'My IBackup'.

Also please note that filename prefixed with 'Enc.' or 'enc.' inside a folder selected for synchronization on 'My IBackup' side will be ignored during file synchronization.

No. The 'Sync' option is designed to work only with the default 'Mirror Path' option. The 'Sync' functionality works only if the data has been transferred using the 'Mirror' option since it requires full path of the source maintained on destination side for proper syncing.

Does IBackup for Windows support two-way sync?

IBackup for Windows supports two-way sync in a limited sense.

An interactive or scheduled backup can be considered as a one-way sync process. An interactive or scheduled restore can be considered as a reverse sync process.

The best way to implement this would be to setup one-way sync first. Once one way sync completes successfully, setup restore for reverse sync. It will be tricky to setup both at the same time since some variables including estimated time to complete one-way sync and the selection of files/folders for restore may not be known in advance.

If all the necessary variables are known, you can automate this entire process.

There is a peculiar situation with respect to firewalls such as Zonealarm, especially if they are not set to start automatically on reboot. If Zonealarm does not restart automatically on reboot, the necessary permissions provided by firewall to run IBackup for Windows may be lost, however, the firewall controls are still in place even if Zonealarm is not running, and does not let IBackup for Windows to run.

To resolve this, simply start Zonealarm if it is not running, and then attempt to start IBackup for Windows, and provide the required permissions, if it prompts.

 I am getting an error message containing 'Automation error class factory…' while trying to login.

This may happen if you have installed multiple versions of the IBackup for Windows application or installed the application in different locations. Please uninstall all the versions/installations of the application from your computer. Download the latest version of the application and install the same. If the issue persists, contact IBackup Technical Support.

 I am getting an error message containing 'ActiveX Component can't create object…' while trying to login.

This may happen if the application is not installed properly. Please uninstall the existing application from your computer. Download the latest version of the application and install the same. If the issue persists, contact IBackup Technical Support.

The backups are taking a long time to complete and there is 'Retrying …' message in my logs.

This may happen if some executable files of IBackup for Windows are not allowed through your firewall. Configure your firewall to allow all executables of IBackup for Windows to access the Internet. This issue may also occur if you are trying to backup open/locked files (eg. Outlook.pst). Please note that the 'Open file Backup' feature is available with IBackup for Windows version 9.4.7 or higher. 'This feature can be used to backup open/locked files and it is available for Windows Vista, XP and Windows 2003 users.

This may happen if some executable files of IBackup for Windows are not allowed through your firewall. Configure your firewall to allow all executables of IBackup for Windows to access the Internet.

If you want to run the scheduled backups even if the system is logged off, then you need to install the application in NT Service mode on your computer. During installation, please select the mode of installation as 'NT Service' when prompted.

This may happen if some executable files of IBackup for Windows are not allowed through your firewall. Configure your firewall to allow all executables of IBackup for Windows to access the Internet. If the issue persists, please contact IBackup Technical Support for assistance.

The date/time stamp display of files/folders on My Computer side is different from the date/time stamp display of files/folders on My IBackup side. How do I view the date/time stamps of files/folders on IBackup side in my preferred Time Zone?