Full backup is the starting point for all other backups, and contains all the data in the folders and files that are selected to be backed up. Because the full backup stores all files and folders, frequent full backups result in faster and simpler restore operations. This backup type is slow on large volumes of data, so it is recommended to be done periodically (each Week/Month) and in between to use other backup types like Incremental or Differential. The advantage is that you only need the result of one backup execution to make a full restore.
Type
Clear archive bit
If checked, the application will remove the Archive flag of the files that were added to the backup. By default Backup4all uses the current comparison criteria and the information from catalog file to detect if a file was modified or not since the last backup, which is more accurate than using only the Archive bit (as other backup programs do). However, if you want to backup files based only on the Archive bit attribute, you can change the comparison criteria from the Advanced->Backup window.
Limit maximum number of stored backups to
At each backup execution, a new backup number is created. In time backup numbers can grow. This option will ensure that the maximum number of stored backups will not exceed the specified number. The system will delete some of the older backup numbers, keeping the recent ones and ensuring backup integrity. The minimum number of backups you can store is 1.
Merge stored backups to maintain the maximum limit
This option is enabled when the first option is set. This option is important when you do not want to lose intermediate backups. The system first tries to delete older backup numbers. If this is not possible (because it will damage backup integrity) then the system will merge several backup numbers into one. Merging backup numbers is time consuming, because the zip files for the merged backup number are recreated.
These two options will not be taken into consideration if you make your backups on removable media.
Merging is not necessary when you have only backup numbers of type full or differential. The application uses an algorithm to minimize the number of backups that have to be merged. The algorithm works with mixed types of backups (full, incremental, differential) too.
Zip settings
Encryption
This feature provides an easy way to encrypt the zip files that are created. Files in zip can be extracted with third party zip managers if the user enters the same password as in the Encryption Settings window. Note that when using AES encryption, some older zip managers don't recognize this type of encryption.
Advanced
This button will open a new window where you can set the zip compression level, customized zip file names and zip file splitting policy. Read more on Zip Advanced Settings