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    Using Backup4all - FAQ 7

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    Jun 11, 2020


    We strive to keep our articles as accurate as possible. If you notice any inconsistencies or outdated info please let us know.
    This section contains answers for frequent questions regarding the registration process of Backup4all.

    On this page:

    How to split the backup by the number of files

    Follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all and go to Backup Properties (Ctrl+P).
    2. On the Compression page, in the Split section, under Split by file number type, select Custom files and folder number
    3. Set the maximum number of files in each zip.
    4. Press Save.
    5. Press Backup (F6) button.

    How to restore a backup from a local hard drive to another computer

    Follow these steps to restore a backup from a local hard drive:
    1. Install Backup4all on the new computer.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalog (.bkc file) from the backup destination. The backup job will be recreated in Backup4all.
    3. When asked if you want to change the backup destination, please make sure you indicate the correct location of the backup catalog and backup files.
    4. Press Restore.
    5. Select the location for restore or use the original location.
    6. Press Finish.

    How to restore a backup from a removable drive to another computer

    Follow these steps to restore a backup from a removable drive:
    1. Install Backup4all on the new computer.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalog (.bkc file) from the backup destination. The backup job will be recreated in Backup4all.
    3. When asked if you want to change the backup destination, please make sure you indicate the correct location of the backup catalog and backup files.
    4. Press Restore.
    5. Select the location for restore or use the original location.
    6. Press Finish.

    How to lock the destination to an external drive

    In case you have an external USB drive you can lock the destination to a particular drive.
    This method is useful when your Windows OS assigned another drive letter to your backup destination drive.
    Using the lock option from Backup4all, the backup application will use the device ID to identify the destination drive.
    Steps to follow:
    1. Connect your destination drive
    2. Open Backup4all
    3. Go to Backup Properties -> External hard drive page
    4. Select the current destination drive letter.
    5. Check the Lock the destination to this external hard drive option
    6. Press Save

    How to restore the backup on another computer

    When you have a backup created on a computer and want to restore it on a second computer, please follow these steps:
    1. Install Backup4all on the second computer.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalog (.bkc file) from the backup destination. The backup job will be recreated in Backup4all.
    3. When asked if you want to change the backup destination, please make sure you indicate the correct location of the backup catalog and backup files.
    4. Press Restore.
    5. Select the location for restore or use the original location.
    6. Press Finish.

    How to speed up the backup to a slow removable media

    For removable drives, the local temporary folder is not used by default.
    The zip file can be created right on the removable drive. If the removable drive is a slow one, it is recommended to use the local temporary folder to create the zip file. After that, the zip is moved to removable drive destination.
    Please follow these steps to perform the changes:
    1. Open Backup4all
    2. Go to Backup Properties -> Compression page
    3. Check the Always use temporary folder to create zip files option.
    4. Press Save.

    How to set the computer to Shut down after backup

    Follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all, go to Backup Properties (Ctrl+P) -> Advanced
    2. In the Run action after backup section, check Run program or action
    3. Select <Shut down> from the list.
    4. Press Save.
    If you run a backup tag, please set the action in the last backup job from that tag.

    How to restore a backup from a CD/DVD/Blu-ray to another computer

    Follow these steps to restore a backup from a CD/DVD/Blu-ray:
    1. Install Backup4all on the new computer.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalog (.bkc file) from the backup destination. The backup job will be recreated in Backup4all.
    3. When asked if you want to change the backup destination, please make sure you indicate the correct location of the backup catalog and backup files.
    4. Press Restore.
    5. Select the location for restore or use the original location.
    6. Press Finish.

    How to automatically delete older backup versions

    If you limit the number of backup versions to 7, when the 8th backup is performed, the limitation is applied.
    The number of backups that will be deleted depends on the backup type you used: Full, Differential or Incremental.
    Steps to follow:
    1. Open Backup4all
    2. Go to Backup Properties -> Type ->Storage
    3. Select Yes, limit number of backups option
    4. Set the limit value
    5. For Full and Differential backup types, uncheck the Merge backups option.
    6. Press Save.

    How to restore a backup from an external hard drive to another computer

    Follow these steps to restore a backup from an external hard drive:
    1. Install Backup4all on the new computer.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalog (.bkc file) from the backup destination. The backup job will be recreated in Backup4all.
    3. When asked if you want to change the backup destination, please make sure you indicate the correct location of the backup catalog and backup files.
    4. Press Restore.
    5. Select the location for restore or use the original location.
    6. Press Finish.

    How to restore a backup after Windows installation

    After you install Windows please follow these steps to restore one or multiple backups:
    1. Download Backup4all from our website and install it.
    2. Open in Backup4all the backup catalogs (.bkc files) from the backup destination. That will recreate the backup jobs in the left side backup list of Backup4all.
    3. Select the backup job you want to restore and press the Restore button.

    How to set the computer to wake up for the next backup

    Please follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all, go to Backup Properties -> Scheduler -> Add
    2. Press Set password and type your Windows login password.
    3. Go to When page and set the start time and the running frequency.
    4. At the bottom of this page, select the Wake the computer to run this task option.
    5. Press OK.

    How to stop the backup and continue it next time

    The backup can be canceled or stopped by pressing the specific button from application's toolbar. The difference is: when pressing Cancel button, the backup is aborted immediately and the current backup will be lost.
    When pressing the Stop button, the current file is processed, the backup catalog is closed and saved. After that the backup is stopped. The stopping process could take few moments, according to the size of the current file processed.
    The advantage of stopping a backup (instead of canceling it) is that you can continue it next time. When you run the backup next time, only the remaining files will be backed up.

    How to avoid UAC message every time when using Backup4all

    When starting Backup4all, under Windows 7 or Vista, the User Account Control (UAC) asks you to allow Backup4All to run. That message appears because Backup4all has the Windows Scheduler feature which needs administrator-level permissions to run.
    You can read more about UAC on the Microsoft website here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/What-is-User-Account-Control
    To change the UAC settings, please follow these steps:
    1. Go to Start menu -> Control Panel -> Action Center.
    2. In the right side, select Change User Account Control settings option.
    3. Move the indicator to a lower position.
    4. Press OK.
    5. A restart will be necessarily for the changes to take effect.

    How to configure Backup4all to run a daily differential and weekly full backup

    First, you need to create the backup job and after that you will add two scheduled tasks which will perform the necessarily backups in the specified days and hours.
    Please follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all and select File -> New (Ctrl+N).
    2. Select a destination for the backup. Click Next.
    3. On the What do you want to backup page, add your source files and folders. Click Next twice.
    4. On the How do you want to backup page, choose Differential backup type. Click Next twice.
    5. On the Personalize your backup job page, enter a name for the backup in the Backup name field. Press Advanced mode button.
    6. In the Scheduler page, press Add.
    7. Select "Run whether the user is logged on or not"" and press Set password and type your Windows login password. Press Next
    8. In the new window, press Add. Set a start time and select "Daily". Press OK, then press Next and Finish.
    9. Press again Add on the Scheduler page.
    10. Select "Run whether the user is logged on or not"" and press Set password and type your Windows login password. Press Next
    11. In the new window, press Add. Set a start time and select "Weekly". Press OK, then press Next
    12. On What page, please select the backup type Full. Press Finish to close.
    13. Press Save.

    How to make the backup faster

    All people prefer a fast backup. That is why we include some tips to speed up the backup execution and make it faster.
    1. If you do not want to backup open files (or locked files) go to Backup Properties -> Advanced and un-check "Backup open files" option.
    2. If you have plenty of free RAM, go to Backup Properties -> Advanced and check "Store temporary catalog data in memory" option. (Please note this option is not recommended for very large backups as your RAM memory could get full)
    3. If you do not want test after backup, you can disable it. Go to Backup Properties -> Advanced and un-check "Test after backup" option.
    4. If you are zipping the files, and have plenty of space in destination, set the compression level to minimum. Go to Backup Properties -> Compression and set zip compression level to "Zip without compression (Fastest)".
    5. Keep a small number of versions in backup catalog. This will make the catalog handling faster. Go to Backup Properties -> Type and choose "Yes, limit number of backups" and set the counter to a small number. Check the "Merge backups" option only if you are doing incremental backups and need to keep as many file versions as possible.
    6. Use a local folder with plenty of free space for the Temporary folder. To do that, go to File -> Options -> Application Folder and select a location for Temporary folder.

    How to get each file zipped individually?

    Zipping each file individually is possible with Backup4all. The folder structure will be preserved so you will be able to easily restore a single file from the backup using Backup4all or another zip utility without restoring a large zip archive.
    Please follow these steps to get each file zipped individually in a separate zip archive:
    1. Open Backup4all and select File -> New (Ctrl+N).
    2. In the Where do you want to save the backup? section, select a backup destination.
    3. On the What do you want to backup page, add the backup sources. Press Next.
    4. On the Filter the backup sources page, you can set include/exclude filters for backup sources. Then press Next.
    5. On the How do you want to backup page, select the Mirror backup type and also check the Zip the files option. Then press Next.
    6. On the When do you want to backup page, you can set the backup job to automatically run on the specified time and days. Press Next.
    7. On the Personalize your backup job page, enter a name for the backup in the Backup name field.
    8. Press Save and run.

    How to restore the files as they were on a specified date

    Using Backup4all, you can restore the backed up files as they were on a specified date.
    To do that, please follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all
    2. Press Restore (F7) button.
    3. Select the location where to restore the files
    4. Select Choose/filter files and restore any version option. Press Next twice.
    5. On the To what date do you want to restore page, in the Restore as of section, select the date you want to restore the files to.
    6. Press Apply
    7. Press Finish.

    How to add sources to an existing backup job?

    To add new files and folders to an existing backup job, please follow these steps:
    1. Open Backup4all
    2. Go to Backup Properties (Ctrl+P) -> Sources
    3. Press Add folder/Add file button.
    4. Select the files/folders you want to add and press OK
    5. Press Save
    Please note you cannot add new source files/folders to a predefined backup job created with a backup plugin.

    How to fix Backup4all interface not opening?

    Please follow these steps:
    1. Close Backup4all.exe process from Task Manager.
    2. Rename the Layout.ini file from: C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Softland\Backup4all 8\
    3. Open again Backup4all.