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Backup and Restore - Automatically Create and Restore Data Backups by Storing Compressed Copies (Including Encrypted) Locally, on a Network or on the Internet.

This section discusses the Backup and Restore functionality of the Protector module.

The Backup and Restore functionality of the Protector module is used to create backups of files and folders. Most people usually do not consider protecting their information from loss until they actually lose a piece of valuable data. In some cases, data may be recoverable, but in others it may be impossible. Data recovery is not necessarily an easy or complete process, and sometime it may also be quite costly, if possible at all. For this reason, it is very important that computer users protect their information from loss. The best way to protect one's information is to make a copy of it - this is called a back up. One can do this manually by simply copying the important data onto a second drive, machine or even on several local and offsite locations. Thus, if an exceptional event occurs, e.g. power surge due to lightening which destroys all the local machines; there will still be a copy of the data on some of the offsite backups. In most cases it is sufficient to have a copy of the data on a second machine or hard drive, however the more backups available in different locations, the better. It is also good practice to compress the backed-up data, especially if it is large or it has a complicated directory structure. The Act On File protector module does all of these actions automatically in the background while the user is working, relieving them from this task. The Backup and Restore functionality creates a backup by compressing the protected files and folders whenever a pre-registered backup trigger event occurs. The Backup and Restore functionality compresses the data in an appointed backup container (an archive), and if requested, uploads the backup container to the internet. The events triggering a backup procedure are: a manual request by the user, file or folder change, or the elapsing of a particular time in the day, week or month. A single file or folder can be subject of multiple backup conditions, storing the file or folder in different backup container for each condition. A backup container can be the target container for many files or folders set to be backed up with their respective conditions. A Backup container can be located on the local machine, local network drive or on an FTP server. A file or folder registered for backing-up, together with its backup settings and properties, is called a Backup Task.

To restore the backup files and folders, one uses the "Restore" entry from the context menu of the Backup Tasks View in the Backup and Restore functionality window. Alternatively the Open Archive and the Decompress Archives functionalities of the Compressor module can be also used to open the backup container and extract the required files and folders. Using the "Locate" -> "In Container" menu entry from the context menu of the Backup Tasks View, one can easily navigate to the item in the backup container which will be opened and selected using the Open Archive functionality of the Compressor module.

The Backup and Restore functionality maintains a log file of all actions and errors as they happen. The Backup and Restore functionality is paused while the Backup and Restore functionality window is visible. The Backup and Restore functionality helps users to keep their important documents up-to-date on one or more separate locations so that they never lose their information. Note that all backup conditions are stored on a per user basis and thus backup instructions for other users that are not currently logged on are not processed. In addition, the backup process always runs with non-elevated user credentials.

Capture: Backup and Restore

Operation

Backup Files and Folders
To Backup files and folders, you have to add them to the Backup Tasks View. Since the Items are backed-up by the Compressor module (directed by the Protector module), they are redirected to the Compress Files and Folders functionality, which in this case acts as a window owned and controlled by the Backup and Restore functionality. Once the items are backed-up and all required settings are entered, the module displays the Backup Tasks in the Backup Tasks View. Every file or folder selected in the Compress Files and Folders functionality, together with its backup settings and properties assigned during the backup process, becomes an individual new Backup Task. Every backup task maintains its own set of properties which can be edited. Manual backup is performed via the context menu of the Backup Tasks View. Automatic backup occurs automatically whenever the backup event condition for the particular task occurs. All automatic backups are paused while the Backup and Restore window is visible.

Restore Files and Folders
To Restore files and folders select the backup task and select the "Restore" entry from the Backup Tasks View context menu. Alternatively, simply decompress the backup container or the particular item(s) which are required from it. To decompress an entire archive (backup container) you can use the Decompress Archives functionality or the Open Archive functionality to decompress the whole archive or a particular item from it. Using the context menu in the Backup Tasks View allows you to locate each particular protected item in Windows Explorer and in the backup container.

Controls

Backup Tasks View

The Backup Tasks View is used to display, add, remove, select and edit backup tasks and invoke the context menu commands on the backup tasks. In addition to the add and remove buttons, you can use the standard clipboard, drag and drop and keyboard operations. However new backup tasks are always added via the Compress Files functionality of the Compressor module.

Selected Backup Task Context Menu

Backup and Restore Tasks View Context Menu

These commands perform actions on the Backup Task on which the context menu was invoked.

Locate

Locate the selected item: (1) In Container - open the backup container using the Open Archive functionality and locate and select the backup item in it; (2) In File System - Open the Windows Explorer and locate and select the backup target item in it.

Add Tasks

Open the Compress Files functionality window to create new backup items. Show/Hide help for the Add Backup Tasks.

Capture: Create Backup Tasks

This is the Compress Files functionality of the Compressor module. In this instance, it works on behalf of the Protector module and is controlled by it. For more details on compressing items with this functionality, please review the Compress Files functionality.

Capture: Select Backup Action Trigger and FTP Upload

Backup and Restore Select Action Trigger and FTP Upload

Use this dialog to set the backup trigger event for the newly created Backup Tasks, and the FTP upload settings for the container.

Schedule

Enter the backup task execution condition.

Manually, user backup item from the Backup and Restore window

Any subsequent backup will be made by the user using the "Backup Now" entry from the Backup Tasks View context menu or recreating the backup task.

Automatically backup these items at a recurring time slot

Assign the selected time to each newly created backup task. The backup tasks will be automatically executed at the requested time.

Period

Select the time period: Daily, Weekly or Monthly.

On day

Select the day of the week or the day of the month according to the selected period.

At time

Select the time when the backup is to be executed.

Automatically backup any of these items when it changes

Any change made to the target file or target folder content will cause the backup task to execute. This will be preceded by a user-selected delay.

Delays - from immediate (no delay) to 120 minutes

Select the delay that must be applied after the last change of the protected item before the backup task is executed. Shorter delays lead to more system resources being allocated for the backup operation, possibly causing a loss of system performance. This is especially true for very large files.

Automatic FTP Upload

Enter FTP data if the backup container needs to be uploaded to a FTP server automatically after a backup operation.

ftp://

Enter the FTP address to which the backup container should be uploaded. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Username

Enter the FTP username to be used to upload the backup container. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Password

Enter the FTP password to be used to upload the backup container. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Lock Parent On Move

Set this checkbox to move the underlying owner window synchronously with the movement of this window.

On Top

Sets and clears the Always On Top flag on the window. This checkbox adds or removes the window from the group of Top-most windows.

Create a backup task for every selected item, using the selected schedule and backup container properties.

Cancel

Cancel the creation of the backup tasks. The backup container was changed in the first part of the process and will remain in its latest state.

Hide the help for the Add Backup Tasks.

Remove

Delete the selected backup task. The backup data remains intact at the respective backup containers.

Backup Now

Manually backup the target item. Update the backup container with a fresh copy of the target backup item.

Restore

Decompress the selected backup item at an appointed location..

Copy

Copy the backup target item to the clipboard.

Paste As Task(s)

Paste the selected files and folders. This will initiate the creation of new backup tasks or edit the existing ones.

Open

Execute Shell Operation "Open" on the target backup item.

Edit

Execute Shell Operation "Edit" on the target backup item.

Explore

Execute Shell Operation "Explore" on the target backup item.

Refresh

Refresh the view.

Selected Backup Task Controls

Backup and Restore Selected Task Controls

These controls are populated with the properties of the backup task which is selected in the Backup Tasks View. The backup task properties are assigned to it when creating it. Later, they can be viewed and modified using these controls. To view backup task properties, simply select the backup task in question. To modify backup task properties, first select the task in the Backup Tasks View, then modify the properties of the task as required and save the modifications using the save button.

Include Files/Folders

Select the features of the required behavior.

Hidden

When this checkbox is clear, the module will ignore hidden files and folders and will not add them to the backup container (archive). Set this checkbox to alternate this behavior.

System

When this checkbox is clear, the module will ignore system files and folders and will not add them to the backup container (archive). Set this checkbox to alternate this behavior.

Only Archived Attributed

Set this checkbox to ignore files and folders which have their archived attribute cleared. Clear this checkbox to alternate this behavior.

Reset Archive Attribute

Set this checkbox to request the module to clear the archived attribute of any file and folder added to the backup container. Clear this checkbox to alternate this behavior.

Empty Folders

When this checkbox is clear, the module will not add empty folders to the backup container. An empty folder is a folder without any data in it, i.e. without any non-empty file to be added to the backup container from within the folder.

Empty Files

When this checkbox is clear, the module will not add empty files to the backup container. Set this checkbox to alternate this behavior.

Encryption

Select the required encryption type.

None

Add the files without any encryption.

Basic Zip

Encrypt the files being added to the backup container with a basic zip encryption algorithm.

AES 128 bit

Encrypt the files being added to the backup container with a 128 bit key AES (Advanced Encryption Standard aka Rijndael) encryption algorithm.

AES 192 bit

Encrypt the files being added to the backup container with a 192 bit key AES (Advanced Encryption Standard aka Rijndael) encryption algorithm.

AES 256 bit

Encrypt the files being added to the backup container with a 256 bit key AES (Advanced Encryption Standard aka Rijndael) encryption algorithm.

Password

Enter the password to encrypt the data when using encryption. Passwords are stored in an encrypted format by the operating system, under the current user account file. Not all operating and file systems are able to maintain encrypted files in this manner. For such systems, the password will not be stored; instead a password dialog will be displayed whenever the password is required.

Confirm [Password]

Enter the password again to confirm it when using encryption and the password is not readably displayed.

Show Password

Toggle this checkbox to make the password readable or not.

Important - Password Strength and Good Practices

In order to keep your data protected, it is important to use strong passwords. That said, you should be able to remember the password easily, or at least record a reference that helps you (and only you) remember it. Never record the password in plain text. A password is considered relatively strong if it has all of the following characteristics:

has at least 8 different characters;
has upper case characters;
has lower case characters;
has at least 3 alphabetic characters (A, ..., Z);
has at least 2 numeric characters (0, ..., 9);
has at least 2 non alphanumeric characters (@, +, !, etc.).

Additionally, it must not contain sequential strings (e.g. "ABC...", "345..", "qwert...", "ZYX...", etc.) and obvious character substitutions (e.g. replacing "i" with "1").

Algorithm

Select the algorithm to be used to compress the data.

zip

This is the standard deflate (zip compatible) algorithm.

bzip2

This is the bzip2 algorithm.

store

This algorithm stores the data with no compression. This is suitable for random or random appearing data where data cannot be compressed efficiently.

[best]

This method tries all other methods and uses the best compression for each particular file.

Use Full Path for Archived Items

Set this checkbox to add the full path excluding the drive letter for each file added to the backup container. When this checkbox is cleared no path, i.e. no folders, are added to the backup container, although the files in the selected folders are added. In this case there is a risk of file overwriting in the backup container when files with identical names from different folders are added.

Schedule

Enter the backup task execution condition.

Manually, user backup item from the Backup and Restore window

Any subsequent backup will be made by the user using the "Backup Now" entry from the Backup Tasks View context menu or recreating the backup task.

Automatically backup these items at a recurring time slot

Assign the selected time to each newly created backup task. The backup tasks will be automatically executed at the requested time.

Period

Select the time period: Daily, Weekly or Monthly.

On day

Select the day of the week or the day of the month according to the selected period.

At time

Select the time when the backup is to be executed.

Automatically backup any of these items when it changes

Any change made to the target file or target folder content will cause the backup task to execute. This will be preceded by a user-selected delay.

Delays - from immediate (no delay) to 120 minutes

Save

Click this button to save any changes of the displayed properties. This button applies to both backup task and backup container properties which are currently displayed and changed.

Backup Containers View

The Backup Containers View is used to display, remove and edit backup containers, and add and remove backup tasks. Backup containers are added implicitly when a backup task is created. Backup containers are ordinary archives assigned to contain the archived backup copy of the target item of a backup task. Backup containers are managed using the Backup Containers View context menu.

Backup Container View Context Menu

Backup and Restore Containers View Context Menu

These commands perform actions on the Backup Container on which the context menu was invoked.

Edit

Open the backup container with the Open Archive functionality.

Locate

Locate the backup container in Windows Explorer.

Copy

Copy the backup container to the clipboard.

Paste As Task(s)

Paste the selected files and folders. This will initiate the creation of new backup tasks or edit the existing ones associated with the selected backup container.

Upload

Upload the selected backup container to the FTP server associated with it.

Delete

Delete the selected backup container and all backup tasks associated with it. The backup container will be moved to the Recycle Bin.

List Tasks

List all backup tasks associated with the selected backup container.

Refresh

Refresh the view.

Selected Backup Container Controls

Backup and Restore Selected Container Controls

These controls are populated with the properties of the backup container which is selected in the Backup Containers View. The backup container properties are assigned to it when appointed. To modify backup container properties, first select the container in the Backup Containers View, then modify the properties of the container as required and save the modifications using the save button.

Automatic FTP Upload

Enter FTP data if the backup container needs to be uploaded to a FTP server automatically after a backup operation.

ftp://

Enter the FTP address to which the backup container should be uploaded. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Username

Enter the FTP username to be used to upload the backup container. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Password

Enter the FTP password to be used to upload the backup container. Leave empty if no FTP upload is to be used.

Save

Click this button to save any changes. This button applies to both backup task and backup container properties which are currently displayed and changed.

Log View

Every action either performed by the user or automatically by the module is recorded in a log file, along with the outcome. The log file is displayed in the Log View. The Log is managed via the Log View Context menu.

Log View Context Menu

These commands perform actions on the log.

Locate Task

Find and select the backup task to which the log entry refers in the Backup Tasks View, if it still exists.

Locate Container

Find and select the backup container to which the log entry refers in the Backup Containers View, if it still exists.

Copy Text

Copy the selected log entries to the clipboard as text.

Save As File

Save the log file (the entire file) as an html document. The current view, including column order and entry order, is replicated in the html document.

Clear All

Empty the log file. Once emptied the log data cannot be restored.

Invert Selection

Swap the selection of the currently selected and unselected log entries.

Window Controls