To create a new backup job, click on the New Backup Wizard toolbar button (
). For each backup job you must specify at least its name, source files and a valid storage destination (first three steps of this wizard), the rest of the options not being mandatory.
These are the steps you must perform in the New Backup Wizard:
| 1) | General - Enter the name of the backup in the Name field, select a group or define a new one and choose the predefined backup type (or leave None to create a new backup). Click Next to go to the following step. |
| 2) | Sources - Select the files and folders you want to backup (sources of the backup) and click Next |
| 3) | Destination - Select a destination for the backup (where the source files will be stored) and click Next. You can choose as destination your local hard drive (Local), a network computer (LAN) or an FTP destination (FTP). |
| 4) | Type - Select the type of the backup (full, incremental, differential or mirror), set backup type and ZIP compression related options and press Next. |
| 5) | Filters - Filter the source files indicating what files and folders to be included or excluded from the backup. |
| 6) | Advanced - Set advanced options for the Backup, Actions, Sounds and Emails sections (like comparison criteria, automatic test, actions before or after the backup, sounds, email notifications etc.) and click Next. |
| 7) | Scheduler - Schedule the backup job for unattended backup executions. |
Backup4all provides extended information about the backup, which can be consulted before the backup execution. You can switch between views by pressing the following buttons from the application toolbar:
Explore - shows the source files and folders for the backup job
Statistics - shows statistics about the latest backup and the next backup job
Summary - shows configuration information about the backup
The wizard creates an ".ini" file in the IniFiles folder (usually in C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Softland\Backup4all 3\) with the same name as the backup job. In addition, a backup catalog file (".bkc") is created both in the destination and locally in the BkcFiles folder (same directory where the IniFiles folder is created).
Manually modifying ".bkc" or ".ini" files may result in corrupted backup jobs and the impossibility of restoring the data you backed up. A backup job is automatically created when double clicking on a ".bkc" file. You can also recreate the backup job by opening a ".bkc" or ".ini" file from the File->Open Backup menu.
Once the backup job is created, it will be displayed on the left side of the application's main window. On the right, you will see the content of the backup job (files and folders), depending on the chosen view.