How to use Backup Platinum

How to use Backup Platinum

Specify What to Backup
At this step you specify files and folders you want to backup.

You can include as many files and folders as you need to a single backup item. If you want to exclude a file or a subfolder, remove the checkmark from it. You can also specify include/exclude masks using the "Filter Settings" button.

Adding Drives and Folders. Click the "Add..." button and choose the "Folders" option. In the "Browse for folders" dialog, select one or several drives or folders that you want to add to the backup set – for this, place checkmarks near desired drives or folders, and click "OK". Repeat this procedure if you want to select more folders. The list of selected folders will be added to the backup set. For each folder, you will see its size.

Adding Files. Click the "Add..." button and choose the "Files" option. In the "Open" dialog, select one or several files and click "Open". Repeat this procedure if you want to select more files. The list of selected files will be added to the backup set. For each file, you will see its size.

Adding Registry Keys. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Registry Key" option. In the "Select Registry Key" dialog, choose required key and click "OK". Repeat this procedure if you want to select more keys. If you restore the registry key from the backup copy, then its current value will be replaced by the saved one.

Adding special data types. The program can backup the following data types.

Backup Platinum can save "My Documents" folder of the currently logged in user. Click the "Add..." button and select the "My Documents" option. Each time you will make a backup, the program will define what files in "My Documents" folder have been changed or added and backup them.
 * My Documents

Backup Platinum can save your emails and account settings for Outlook Express. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Outlook Express Files" option. During backup, the program will define what data in your Outlook Express profile has been changed and backup it. If you restore the profile, then your current emails and account settings will be replaced by the saved ones. Note that in Windows Vista, there is Windows Mail instead of Outlook Express. Backup Platinum can save your emails and account settings for Windows Mail. For this, you should also select the "Outlook Express Files" option.
 * Outlook Express Files

Backup Platinum can save your emails and account settings for Microsoft Outlook. Click the "Add..." button and select the "MS Outlook Files" option. During backup, the program will define what data in your Outlook profile has been changed and backup it. If you restore the profile, then your current emails and account settings will be replaced by the saved ones.
 * MS Outlook Files

Backup Platinum can save your emails and account settings for Mozilla Thunderbird. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Thunderbird Profiles" option. During backup, the program will define what data in your Thunderbird profile has been changed and backup it. If you restore the profile, then your current emails and account settings will be replaced by the saved ones.
 * Thunderbird Profiles

Backup Platinum can save your Address Book. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Windows Address Book" option. Note that after restoring, your current Address Book will be replaced by the saved one.
 * Windows Address Book

Backup Platinum can save your Favorites from Internet Explorer. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Explorer Favorites" option. After restoring, the saved URLs will be appended to the list of your current Favorites.
 * Explorer Favorites

Backup Platinum can save the history of visited URLs in Internet Explorer. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Explorer History" option. The program will restore the history by appending the saved links to your current Explorer history.
 * Explorer History

Backup Platinum can save your ICQ chats history. The program supports all versions of ICQ. Click the "Add..." button and select the "ICQ Files" option. Note that after restoring, your current history will be replaced by the saved history.
 * ICQ Files

Backup Platinum can save modem connection settings. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Modem Settings" option. Note that after restoring, your current modem connection settings will be replaced by the restored ones, so all current settings will be lost.
 * Modem Settings

Backup Platinum can save your profile settings, plugins, themes and other data for Mozilla Firefox. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Firefox Profiles" option. During backup, the program will define what data in your Firefox profile has been changed and backup it. If you restore the profile, then all settings and other data stored in your profile will be updated.
 * Firefox Profiles

Backup Platinum can save your MSN chats history. Click the "Add..." button and select the "MSN Files" option. Note that after restoring, your current history will be replaced by the saved history. This function works only with MSN Messenger 7.0 and later.
 * MSN Files

Backup Platinum can save your current Windows settings which include fonts, mouse, console, appearance, desktop and Internet Explorer settings. Fonts Saves all fonts currently installed on your system. After restoring, the program updates font files. At this, any new fonts added after the last backup operation will not be lost. Mouse Saves all current mouse parameters specified in the Control Panel. After restoring, your current parameters will be updated. Console Saves console settings for your system and for individual programs and applications (for instance, you can save console settings for Far Manager). After restoring, current console settings will be updated. Appearance Saves your current color scheme and cursors set. After restoring, your current color scheme and cursors set will be replaced by the saved ones. To enable the restored settings, you need to log off and then log in again. Desktop Saves all files, folders and shortcuts stored on your desktop. After restoring, you will see both current and saved data on the desktop. IE Settings Saves the "Internet Options..." settings available from the "Tools" menu in Internet Explorer. After restoring, the settings will be updated. To enable the restored settings, you need to restart Internet Explorer. Click the "Add..." button and select the "Windows Settings" option. During backup, the program will define what settings have been changed and backup them. If you want to exclude some of Windows settings from the backup set (for example, "Mouse" or "Desktop"), you should remove the checkmark near that type of settings.
 * Windows Settings

To remove Folders or Files select a folder or a file in the backup set and click the "Remove" button. You can use this method only for root folders or files. If you want to exclude a subfolder or a file inside a folder, remove the checkmark from it.

Checkmarks. Black checkmarks near files and folders indicate that they are included in the backup set. Grey checkmark near a folder shows that some files or subfolders in this folder are excluded.

Filter Settings. Click the "Filter Settings" button to specify masks for files to be processed and masks for files to be ignored during backup.

Backup Platinum will process only files that match at least one of include masks, but do not match any of exclude masks. By default, *.* is used as include mask and no exclude masks are specified. This means that all files selected for the item will be included. Note: If you specify several masks, you should separate them by commas or semicolons. Apply these masks to folders as well as to files. Use this option to apply specified masks to folders as well as to files. If this option is not selected, masks are applied only to files.

Skip read-only files. The program will ignore all read-only files and folders.

Skip hidden files. The program will ignore all hidden files.

Skip system files. The program will ignore all system files. Skip empty folders. Check this option if some folders in your backup set are empty or contain only excluded files. Backup Platinum will ignore such folders, and corresponding backup copies of those folders will not be created in destination.

(There are several ways to exclude files from the backup set. You can remove checkmarks near files to exclude them, or use Include/Exclude masks, or specify item properties such as "Skip read-only files", "Skip system files", "Skip files created before" etc.)

Skip files created before. The program will skip all files and folders created earlier than the date specified here.

Skip files modified before. The program will skip all files and folders last modified earlier than the date specified here.

Specify Where to Backup
At this step you select the destination folder where backup copies of your files will be stored. You can choose to backup to a local drive, LAN, FTP server, or a CD-R/W, DVD-R/W, DVD+R/W, BD-R/RE device. Note that all external drives connected via USB should be specified as local drives by choosing the "Local drive/LAN" option.

Local drive/LAN Click the "Browse for folder" button. In the "Browse For Folder" dialog select a folder or create a new one. If the selected folder can be accessed only under some specific user account, you can check the "Authenticate" option and specify username and password.

Alternative destination You can specify alternative destination for your backup data. It can be used if something goes wrong with the main destination folder, for example, if the network connection is lost. You can also use both destinations to store backup data in two different places.

Click the "Specify alternative destination..." button. Now you should specify how to use the alternative destination.

Don't backup to alternative destination. Your data will be backed up only to the main destination. Backup to both destinations. First, your data will be backed up to the main destination, and then the same backup will be made to the alternative destination. Backup to alternative if the main is unavailable. Your data will be backed up to the main destination. But in case of error, or if it is impossible to use the main destination, the same backup will be made to the alternative destination.

Then you should specify the alternative destination folder just as you selected the main folder. You can choose to backup to a local drive, LAN, FTP server, or a CD-R/W, DVD-R/W, DVD+R/W, BD-R/RE device.

FTP Select the "FTP" option if you want to backup your files to a remote FTP server. Host. Here you can specify an FTP server name, or select the name from the list. If you select a server name you used before, the program automatically places server data in the corresponding fields (except password). Port. Enter FTP port number. Default port number is 21. User. Enter your FTP username. Password. Enter your FTP password.

Security. Here you can select what connection (secure or unsecure) to use to access an FTP server. By default the program uses an unsecure connection. If an FTP server requires a secure connection, you can choose one of two mechanisms that initiate the security: implicit or explicit security.

Tip. You can think of implicit security as "always on" and explicit security as "turn on".
 * Unsecure Connection: Choose this option to use an unsecure connection.
 * Connect Using Implicit SSL: Implicit (passive) security automatically initiates a SSL connection as soon as the program connects to an FTP server. In this case, the FTP server defines a specific port (by default 990) to be used for secure connections.
 * Connect Using Explicit SSL: Explicit (active) security means that the program issues a specific command to the FTP server after establishing a connection to establish the SSL link. The default FTP server port is used.

Passive mode. In passive mode, FTP data connection is established by your computer. This may be necessary if firewalls do not allow establishing connection from outside. By default, this option is turned on. Folder. To choose a remote directory where to backup your data, click the "Select FTP folder" button. The "Select FTP folder" dialog will appear. Upon establishing FTP connection, the list of remote directories is displayed in the upper window of the dialog. Select a directory by clicking on it, then click the "Select" button. If you want to create a new directory, click the "New folder..." button. The bottom view of the window shows FTP session log messages.

Proxy. Click this button to choose your proxy settings. Proxy server settings dialog will be displayed. It allows you to configure your FTP and SOCKS proxy. By default no proxy are used.

CD/DVD/Blu-Ray Select the "CD/DVD/Blu-Ray" option, if you want to backup onto CD, DVD or BD (Blu-Ray disc) media. Device. Choose your CD-R/W, DVD-R/W, DVD+R/W or BD-R/RE device. Folder. Type the name of a folder where to backup your data. Note that the path to this folder should not contain any components ("component\component\...") with the names longer than 64 characters, as well as any of the following characters: * ? : ;. Volume label. Here you can specify a label for CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disc. Burn speed. Choose the speed that will be used to burn CD/DVD/Blu-Ray discs. Erase disc. Choose this option to erase a CD-RW/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/BD-RE(BD-RW) disc before writing on it.

You can either use blank (brand-new) CD-R/W, DVD-R/W, DVD+R/W, BD-R/RE disc, or you should erase discs, if they were previously formatted with a 3rd party program like DirectCD.

Close drive tray after backup. When the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray burning process is finished, CD drive tray opens. If you check this option, CD drive tray will be automatically closed after backup.

For large backups with size exceeding free space available on a single disc, the program uses spanning: it will split the backup into several parts and place them on several discs.

Specify Storage Options
At this step you can specify various storage options. You should select one of the storage methods. The following options are available.

Store each file as is. All files will be backed up "as is", i.e. without compression and encryption.

ZIP each file. Each file will be compressed to a separate ZIP archive.

You can specify a password to create standard password-protected ZIP files. Note that Blowfish encryption is not used in this case, but you will be able to extract data using any ZIP client.

Encrypt each file with blowfish. Each file will be stored separately and your data will be protected using strong 128-bit Blowfish encryption. This encryption is stronger than standard ZIP password protection, however only Backup Platinum can restore files encrypted this way.

ZIP and encrypt each file. This is a combination of two previous options. Each file will be compressed to a separate ZIP archive and then encrypted with Blowfish.

Put all files into a single ZIP archive. A single ZIP file with all your data will be created. If you backup onto CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disc and the copy of your files occupies several discs, then a single ZIP file will be created for each span.

You can specify a password to create standard password-protected ZIP file. Note that Blowfish encryption is not used in this case, but you will be able to extract data using any ZIP client.

Create self-extracting ZIP. The archive will be made as a self-extracting executable file named like archive_name.zip.exe. You will not need Backup Platinum or any additional software to unpack this archive.

Protect with password. Check this option if you wish to protect your archive with a password. Enter and confirm your password in the corresponding fields.

Put all files into a single encrypted ZIP archive. This is similar to the previous option, but in addition the data is encrypted with Blowfish. As a result, you will have a single file with compressed and encrypted data. If you backup onto CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disc and the copy of your files occupies several discs, then a single file will be created for each span.

If you want to perform incremental backup adding only new and changed files every time, it is not recommended to use last two options, because it is impossible to insert new data to an old ZIP archive. So in this case, the backup will be fully rebuilt every time.

Advanced ZIP Options Click the "Advanced ZIP Options..." button to specify advanced ZIP options. This button is active only if you choose to create ZIP archives.

Compression quality. Choose compression quality for your data. The higher is the compression quality, the more time will be required to process the data, but the resulting ZIP file will be smaller.

ZIP archive name. Here you can specify the name for your ZIP archive, if you chose compression into a single ZIP file. Note that single ZIP archive name is not changed automatically after you have changed the item name. Also, the specified name is not used when backing up on a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disc.

Split into volumes. Stores backup data as a ZIP archive consisting of several volumes of specified size.

Timestamp Settings Store versions in subfolders using timestamps. Check this option if you want the program to store different versions of backup data in different subfolders of the destination folder. To adjust timestamp format settings, click the "Timestamp Settings..." button.

Timestamp accuracy up to. Here you specify amount of time that should pass between versions. For example, if you choose accuracy up to day and run backup two times a day, the second copy will be saved over the first one. However, if you run it again the next day, that copy will be placed in a new subfolder.

Timestamp format. Here you can choose a timestamp format for names of subfolders with backup copies.

Select one of the following options which define what to do with old backup copies.

Keep all versions (do not delete old backups). Select this if you want to keep all backups. Keep only last...versions. Choose the number of versions to keep. When a new version is created, the oldest can be deleted to keep total number of versions up to specified value. Keep old versions for a period of... Set time period during which old backups will be kept.

Scheduling
At this step you can schedule the backup operation so that Backup Platinum would perform it automatically at a specified time. Run item at a specified time. Check this option to enable scheduling.

If an item is not scheduled, you can execute it manually at any convenient time. To do this, select the item in the Items View and click the "Backup" button on the toolbar.

Note: The program will perform scheduled operations only when Backup Platinum agent is running. If you use Backup Platinum in service mode, the agent is running all the time. If you use application mode, you need to be logged in to run the agent. In this case, you might want to enable the "Run missed schedules" option. First run at. Here you specify date and time when the backup operation should be performed. If you want to repeat the backup regularly, here you specify date and time of the first run.

Repeat. Check this option if you want to repeat the backup regularly. You will also need to specify how to repeat the operation. The following options are available.


 * Every day. The program will perform the backup every day at the time specified for the first backup.
 * On week days. The program will perform the backup on specified days of the week at the time specified for the first backup. You can select as many days of the week as you need.
 * On month days. The program will perform the backup on specified days of the month at the time specified for the first backup. You can select as many days of the month as you need.
 * Custom period. You can specify any time period between backup operations.

Note: If you schedule the backup of current item onto CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disc, you can insert a disc to CD/DVD/BD writing device beforehand at any convenient time, and the program will do all the rest for you automatically. You don't need to wait until the time specified for scheduled operation to insert a disc. Run missed schedules. Use this option if you switch off your computer and can miss a scheduled backup. If you enable this option, the program will detect if the item was not processed on time and execute it as soon as possible.

Run item on logon. Select this option if you wish to run this item on logon.

Run item on logoff. Select this option if you wish to run this item on logoff.

Run on modification. If you check this option, the program will automatically backup current item when any of the original files/folders is changed. Note: this option is not applicable to network files/folders and special data types (My Documents, Outlook Express Files, MS Outlook Files, Thunderbird Profiles, Windows Address Book, Explorer Favorites, Explorer History, ICQ Files, Modem Settings, Firefox Profiles, MSN Files, Windows Settings).

Ready To Create Item
The last window of New Item Wizard shows a brief resume with the basic parameters of the new item. You can change most of these parameters later in the "Item Properties" dialog. To open it, select the item in Items View and click the "Edit Item" button on the toolbar.

Now click the "Finish" button. The newly created item will appear in the Items View. All included files will appear in the Files View. You can click the "Refresh" button to refresh their statuses.