Frequently Asked Questions

IBackup for Mac is designed to protect you against any data catastrophe. Critical folders like Documents, Desktop, Music, Pictures and Videos are pre-selected for backup at a random after-hours backup schedule. Customization options include the provision to modify your Backup set, its schedules, reporting options and more.

All data transferred is encrypted using the industry standard 128-bit SSL (Secure Socket Layer) technology.

Key features include bandwidth throttle, data compression and incremental backups that ensure fast backups, mapped drive backup, point-in-time view of data and sync among others.

You can view and restore your data from the web.

Follow the steps listed below to install the application:

1. Download the application, double-click the ‘IBackupforMac.dmg’ and then ‘IBackupforMac.pkg’. The ‘Welcome to the IBackup for Mac Installer’ is displayed.

2. Click ‘Continue’ to proceed with the installation. The ‘Software License Agreement’ screen is displayed. Click ‘Agree’ to proceed.

3. Select the location to which you want to install the application using ‘Change Installation Location’ and click ‘Install’.

4. Enter the valid system password (administrator password) and click OK on the verification screen.

On successful installation, the ‘Installation Succeeded’ message is displayed.

Follow the steps given below to uninstall the application:

1. Go to File > New Finder Window > Applications > IBackup for Mac and double-click the IBackupUninstaller.app. The ‘Welcome to IBackup for Mac’ Uninstaller screen is displayed.

2. Click ‘Continue’ to proceed and ‘Yes’ in the subsequent window.

3. A screen is displayed for verification. Enter the valid system password (administrator password) and click OK. On successful uninstallation, the 'Successfully uninstalled IBackup for Mac' message is displayed.

Yes. IBackup for Mac is a universal binary and works on Power PC (PPC) and Intel Mac.

IBackup for Mac offers 128-bit SSL encryption during data transmission.

IBackup for Mac is an automated online backup application. To safeguard your critical data, the Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Library, Music, Movies and Pictures folders are selected for backup by default, with the scheduled time set to 'off-peak hours'. If these settings are not altered, the application commences the backup of the default Backup set, once the scheduled backup time is reached. However, you can change the settings.

On first login, a screen is displayed as below, from where you can edit the Backup set and schedule parameters.

IBackup for Mac deploys an intelligent incremental backup system where changes to contents of the Backup set are sent to the IBackup for Mac servers. You would always see the most recent copy of the data backed up to your account - which in turn determines the quota used. The daily Snapshots related storage (that stores your account status as of previous days) are not accounted for computing your ‘Quota Used’.

You have two options in case you have exceeded the allocated space in your account. The first is to upgrade your account. For this, login to your IBackup account with your Username and Password via the browser (at http://www.ibackup.com). Click 'Upgrade Account' to purchase more storage.

The second option is to reduce the storage in your account to bring it in line with your current quota. You can check your data by logging in through the browser at http://www.ibackup.com or via the IBackup for Mac application. Here, you have an option to delete files. Just select the files/folders that you want to delete and click the 'Delete' icon.

The default WebDAV client has the following limitations:

1. Inability to transfer large files.
2. Lack of SSL support to transfer files/folders between your IBackup account and local machine.

Incremental backup is a default feature. The IBackup for Mac application transfers only the modified portions of a file, thus conserving Internet bandwidth and ensuring quick backups.

Yes. You can drag-n-drop your files/folders to back them up.

Drag the desired data from the left pane of the application (My Files) or the Finder to your IBackup for Mac account (My IBackup). It is also possible to drag-n-drop files (including pictures, music and video) to your account, while they are in use.

How do I schedule backups on weekdays?

Set the frequency to Weekdays (Mon-Fri) in the scheduler, for the scheduled job that is being set up.

The status of your scheduled backups can be viewed using the IBackup Monitor status item on the system menu bar. Click 'View Log' to see the log files of the recent sessions.

IBackup for Mac does not have the conventional concept of full and incremental backup where the modified data is stored separately from full backup. With IBackup for Mac every backup is basically a full backup with an incremental effect.

IBackup for Mac overwrites the full backup with the modifications made to it during backup. In other words, you have full backup results each time. This helps in fast restores when needed.

Ensure that you have enabled the notification option from the scheduler, provided a valid email address and selected the 'Notify always' option.

It is possible that email notifications from IBackup for Mac might mistakenly be getting filtered out as Spam and reaching your Spam or Bulk mail folder.

For a confirmation on the backup jobs, you can also view the logs.

It is possible that you have set the frequency for scheduled backups as 'Weekdays'. Thus, data is not getting backed up on weekends. If the issue persists, contact IBackup for Mac Technical Support for assistance.

Yes. If you select the email notification option, you would receive emails on the status of your scheduled backup job.

On choosing the 'Notify always' option, you are notified on your backup status irrespective of its success or failure. In case you wish to receive this notification only on backup failure, choose the 'Notify on failure' option.

Yes, you can backup files/folders from the mapped/network/external drives. The contents to be backed up must be a part of the Backup set and available at the time of backup.

No. Your files will be backed up to the same destination in your IBackup for Mac account, provided the external network drive name is not changed.

Using the 'Multiple Mac Backup' feature, you can backup data from multiple computers to a single IBackup for Mac account. It prevents data overlap in case you have files/folders with similar names/file paths, stored on multiple machines.

On enabling this feature, your data is backed up to a folder with the same name as that of your computer. All future backups from this computer will be backed up to this folder.

You can exclude data from backup using the 'Exclude' Tab in the 'Preferences' window. To exclude files/folders, click the 'plus' icon and use the navigation window to select the files/folders that you wish to exclude.

By default, some files and folders including all hidden files and folders are excluded by the IBackup for Mac application. To backup the excluded items, clear the check boxes.

Files and folders excluded from backup will be highlighted in orange on the main application screen.

You can exclude files/folders in the following ways:

Exclude files/folders based on full/partial name
In the 'Exclude files/folders based on full/partial name' box on the 'Exclude' screen, enter the full or partial name of the file(s)/folder(s) or the extensions that you want to exclude from backup.

From IBackup for Mac application window
Select the file/folder under 'My Files' that you want to exclude. Right-click and select the 'Exclude files/folders' from the menu. The selected file/folder is added in the exclude list and is visible on the 'Exclude' screen.

By default, all hidden files and folders are excluded from backup by the IBackup for Mac application. To backup the same, clear the 'Exclude hidden files/folders' check box in the 'Preferences' window.

The IBackup for Mac application has not backed up some files inside the bundle/file package. Why?

This could be because the files are Mac OS X files or hidden or the file names contain special characters. We recommend that you compress (zip) the entire bundle/file package and try backup.

IBackup for Mac tries to resume backup from the file at which there was an interruption. If partial transfer has taken place prior to the interruption, the backup will resume from that point.

IBackup for Mac performs scheduled backup jobs at the next transfer time as per the schedule.

Yes. Your scheduled backups will take place even in the sleep mode if you select the ‘Wake up computer from sleep mode during scheduled job' option. To access this option, go to Preferences > General > Wake up computer from sleep mode during scheduled job.

No. If you select the, 'Wake up the computer from Sleep mode during scheduled job' option from Preferences, the scheduled backups will take place even if you do not provide your username and password on being prompted, when your system wakes up.

No. IBackup for Mac does not backup files that contain extended attributes i.e. resource fork data.

Yes. Using the 'Enable Cut-off time for scheduled backup' option you can stop the scheduled backup at the specific time. The backup is resumed at the next scheduled time from the point it was stopped. To enable it, go to Preferences > General tab and select the 'Enable Cut-off time for scheduled backup' check box.

Yes. IBackup for Mac has been tested to transfer files both ways (backup and restore) for sizes upto 6 GB.

Yes. Go to Preferences > General Tab > Show the progress for scheduled job (by default, this option is selected).

To hide the schedule backup progress window, clear the check box.

Yes, you can delete the scheduled backup jobs using the 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs' feature in IBackup for Mac.

Click the 'IBackup Monitor' icon (available on the system tray) and select 'Manage all the Scheduled Jobs'. Select the scheduled backup jobs from the list shown in the 'Manage all the Scheduled jobs' main screen and click 'Delete'.

You can locate files backed up to your IBackup for Mac account by entering the text in the 'Search' field on the 'My IBackup' pane of the main application window. Enter the search term (like the file name or a part of the file name) to locate files/folders.

Select the files/folders that you wish to delete from your IBackup for Mac account under 'My IBackup' and click the 'Delete' icon on the toolbar.

Yes. You can drag-n-drop your files/folders to restore them.

Drag the desired data from your IBackup for Mac account (My IBackup) to the left pane (My Files) or the Finder.

IBackup for Mac retains earlier copies via Snapshots technology. Snapshots are point-in-time images of the file at a particular time, every day. The current limit for Snapshots is set for 10 days. However, this may change without notice. This implies that in case you had a prior version that was backed up in the last 10 days, you should be able recover via Snapshots technology.

For details, see Snapshots related FAQs.

The Sync feature lets you remove files and folders in your IBackup for Mac account that have been deleted from your Mac.

To use this feature, select the folder(s)/drive(s) in your account that you want to sync and click the 'Sync' icon. A list of files not present on your Mac, but still available in your account are listed. On clicking 'Sync', they are removed from your account.

Yes. In order to sync files/folders inside the Multiple Mac folder, follow the below steps:

1. Ensure that 'Multiple Mac Backup' feature is enabled.

2. Locate the folder in your IBackup account with the same name as the Mac machine.

'Automatic Sync' enables you to sync files between your Mac and your IBackup for Mac account with a lag of 30-days (applicable only for scheduled backups). In other words, if data is deleted from your Mac that has already been backed up previously, the corresponding data in your account would be deleted after 30-days. This is useful in keeping your account size at optimal levels. As a precautionary measure, in case the files to be deleted are greater than 5% of the total account content, you would have to run a manual sync.*

To access this option, from the application menu, go to Preferences > General > Automatic Sync.

Note: This may result in automatic deletion of data from your IBackup for Mac account, use/set this option carefully.

*The percentage mention refers to files considered for deletion in your account as a percentage of total number of files. The purpose of this percentage-based control is to avoid large deletion of files in your account due to some unforeseen event on your Mac.

IBackup for Mac allows historical view of data by way of its Snapshots technology. They are useful in case you accidentally delete files stored in your account and want them to be restored to your local machine.

The available daily Snapshots have been set to 10 (This may change without notice). The additional storage requirements for Snapshots have no impact on your account quota usage.

Once you click the 'Snapshots' icon, you can see files stored in your IBackup for Mac account during the previous days under newly created directories with appropriate names. The backup directories have meaningful names with date, nightly.* or weekly.* extensions.

nightly.0 extension refers to the most recent Snapshot.
nightly.1 extension refers to the Snapshots that is a day older vis-à-vis the most recent Snapshots.
nightly.2 extension refers to the Snapshots that is two days older vis-à-vis the most recent Snapshots.
You can restore the files which you need from these directories just as you would for any file or directory.

Note: Click Snapshots icon to view the earlier versions of data and click again to hide the same.