Backup

As daily life becomes more digitized, with the use of online music services, digital cameras, and email correspondence, backing up your personal data becomes increasingly important. Be it due to hardware failure, an accident or damage by viruses or hacker attacks: Your private documents should be backed up regularly. The G DATA software takes over this task for you and protects your important documents and files without you having to worry about it all the time.

New task

backup new job icon In order to assign a new backup job, please click on the New Job button.

File backup

backup filebackup icon This is a backup of certain files and folders selected by you in an archive file.

In the directory view, simply select which files and folders you want to save. It is usually advisable to save private files when backing up files and not to back up installed programme files. In the directory tree you can open and select directories by clicking on the plus symbols. Each directory or file that you tick is used by the software for the backup. If not all files and folders in a directory are used for the backup, you will find a grey tick at this directory.

Storage location selection

Here you can specify the destination, i.e. the place where the G DATA software is to create the backup copy of the files and folders or hard disks and partitions. This can be a CD or DVD-ROM drive, another hard disk, a USB stick or other removable media.

Archive name: Here you can give the archive file to be created a meaningful name, e.g. Week Backup, Own files, MP3 backup or similar.
New folder: If you want to create a new folder for the backup, select the desired location in the directory view and then click on the New folder button.
Create cloud archive: While there is no automated option for a cloud backup, you can of course save the backup files you have created in a cloud of your choice.

You should make sure that your backup data is encrypted, especially when backing up to the cloud. In the Options under "New backup job" you can switch the encryption of the data on or off.

Please ensure that the backup is not made on the same hard disk as the original data. If this disk is defective, the original data as well as the backup will be lost. It is best to keep a backup in a place that is physically separate from the original files, e.g. in another room on a USB hard disk or on a burnt disk..

Backing up and restoring

As soon as a backup job has been created via the "New task" function (see above), you can edit it directly via the following icons:

Restore: Hiermit spielen Sie die im Backup archivierten Daten wieder zurück auf Ihr System. Wie die Wiederherstellung abläuft, wird Ihnen im Kapitel Backup Wiederherstellen erläutert.
Backup: Hiermit starten Sie den Backup-Vorgang für den definierten Backup-Auftrag sofort und außer der Reihe, unabhängig von einem vordefinierten Zeitplan für dieses Backup.
Settings: Hiermit können Sie für den jeweiligen Backup-Auftrag die Einstellungen verändern, die Sie beim erstmaligen Erstellen dieses Backup-Auftrags unter "Neuer Backup-Auftrag" vergeben haben.
Logs: Hier erhalten Sie eine Übersicht über alle Vorgänge, die über diesen Backup-Auftrag erfolgten. Sie finden hier Einträge über erfolgte manuelle oder zeitgesteuerte Backup-Vorgänge, Informationen zu eventuellen Wiederherstellungen und gegebenenfalls Fehlermeldungen, z.B. wenn das Zielverzeichnis nicht mehr genügend Speicherplatz für das durchzuführende Backup hatte.
Delete: By clicking this you can delete a backup job.

Schedule

Here you can determine on the one hand the frequency at which your selected data should be backed up, and on the other hand, you can determine what type of backup is to be carried out. Basically, there is the full backup, in which all selected data is completely backed up, but you also have the option of using partial backups to save only the changes made since the last backup.

If you select "Manual", the backup will not be carried out automatically, but must be specifically started by you via the programme interface. Under "Daily", you can use the information under Weekdays to determine, for example, that your computer should backup only on weekdays or only every other day or specifically on weekends when it is not used for work. In addition, you can define weekly and monthly backups.

Do not run in battery mode: To prevent a backup process on a notebook from being suddenly interrupted because the notebook battery is empty, you can specify that backups only take place when the notebook is connected to the mains.

In the section Delete older archives you can determine how the G DATA software handles existing backups. The G DATA software archives your data in a single file with the file extension .ARC. Existing backups, existing backups, which are not overwritten, increase the security of your data. even if the current archive is damaged, an older archive is available, so not all files are lost. Generally, however, archives require a lot of space on data carriers so you should therefore ensure that not too many archive files accumulate.

Perform partial backups: Partial backups are used to make a data backup faster. Instead of using all data for a backup the partial backup builds on an existing full backup and only backs up the data that has changed or been newly created since the last full backup. This way, a complete backup of your data is also available to you. The backup process itself is considerably faster.

Differential/Incremental: With the differential backup, all data that has been changed or added since the last complete backup is saved. This means that the last full backup is always used again. This saves time and storage space compared to a new full backup. The incremental backup goes one step further and saves the files that have changed from one partial backup to the next between two partial backups. The disadvantage of this is that several archives are required when restoring the data.

Options

In the options area you can change general backup options. As a rule, you do not need to make any changes here, as the G DATA standard options cover most applications.

General archive options

In the general archive options you have the following setting options:

Limit the file size of the archives: If you save archives on CD, DVD-ROM or other recordable media, it is important that the G DATA software limits the size of the archive files. Here you have a selection of standard sizes, which allow you to save the archive data later on CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs. The archive is split when the maximum size specified here, the archive is split and the backup information is distributed over two or more archive files.
Create multi session CD / DVD: If you select this option, you create backup CDs or backup DVDs that can be written to multiple times. However, the previously saved content is not deleted, but only supplemented with the new content.
Delete temporary archives: This option should generally remain switched on. Temporary archives require a lot of space on your hard drive and are actually no longer needed after their temporary use.
Copy recovery programme files: If you activate this function, a programme is installed in addition to the archive data at the location of your data backup, with which you can restore your data even without the G DATA software installed. To do this, start the programme AVKBackup or AVKBackup.exe from the CD/DVD-ROM.

The recovery programme is only copied to CD/DVD-ROM. This is not the case with backup copies on removable media (USB stick, external hard disk).

If you have installed the G DATA software on the computer on which the restore is to take place, please do not carry out the restore with the restore programme on the CD/DVD-ROM, instead use the function Backup_Archive.

Check files for viruses before archiving: If the anti-virus module is installed, you can check your data for viruses before they are saved in the backup archive.
Check archive after creation: This function is used to check the archive again for completeness and and error-free after it has been created.
Encrypt archive: If you want to protect your archived files from unauthorised access, you can provide them with a password. The data can then only be restored with this password. You should remember the password or write it down in a safe place. Without this password, your archive data cannot be restored. Your backups are encrypted using the 3DES encryption method.
Integrity test with differential backup: This function is used to check a partial backup for completeness and error-free after it has been created.
Integrity test when restoring from hard drive: This function is used to check the correct retrieval of data after a restore. The directory for temporary files is the storage location for data that the G DATA software writes to your hard disk temporarily. If there is not enough space on your standard partition, you can change the partition and the temporary storage location for these files here.
Use Windows Shadow Copy: If this option is deactivated, no image of the system partition can be created during operation.

User data

In order to be able to carry out time-controlled backups at all, you must tick the entry Execute job and enter the access data for your Windows user account. This information is necessary so that the backup can be carried out time-controlled even if you are not logged in as a user.

Compression

In the Compression area, you can specify whether your archives should be heavily or lightly compressed.

Good compression: The data is strongly compressed for the backup. This saves storage space during the backup, but the backup itself takes longer.
Balanced compression: The backup is not compressed as much, but is executed faster.
Fast execution: There is no compression of the data, but the backup runs quickly.

Exclude files

Generally, the G DATA software backs up files based on their file format. On your computer system you will find corresponding file formats in areas of your computer system that are managed automatically and are not relevant for a backup, because the respective files were only files have only been stored temporarily (e.g. to speed up the page display from the Internet). So that the G DATA software does not archive these files unnecessarily, you can exclude them by setting the respective check mark.

Temporary directory with files: If this option is selected, the temporary folders and the sub folders and files in them are not included in the backup.
Temporary Internet directories with files: If this option is selected, the folders for the storage of Internet pages and the sub folders and files located there are not included in the data backup.
Thumbs.db: If this option is selected, the thumbs.db files automatically created by Windows Explorer are not included in the backup. These files are used, for example, to manage the thumbnails for slideshows and are automatically generated from the original images.
Temporary files (file attribute): If this option is selected, files with the "temporary" system-assigned file attribute are not included in the data backup.
System files (file attribute): If this option is selected, files with the "system" file attribute are not included in the data backup.
Exclude file types: With this function you can define file endings yourself that are not included in your backup. Proceed as follows: Under File type (e.g. .txt), enter the file extension or file name, that you want to exclude. Now click on *OK. Repeat the procedure for all other file types and file names, you wish to exclude, e.g. picasa.ini, *.ini, *bak etc. You can use the asterisk symbol and the question mark as placeholders.

The question mark symbol (?) is a proxy for individual characters.

The asterisk symbol (*) is a proxy for whole strings.

For example, to check all files with the file extension .exe, enter *.exe. To check files of different spreadsheet formats (e.g. *.xlr, *.xls), simply enter *.xl? To check files of different type with an initially identical file name, enter text*.*, for example.

Reset to default settings

By clicking on these buttons, you apply the settings that have been defined as the default settings for the G DATA software. Therefore, if you have accidentally set the wrong settings when creating backups and do not know how to fix them, you can simply click the Reset to default settings button for repairing the settings.

Restore Backup

Here you can restore your original files after a data loss on the basis of the backed-up data. Click on the Restore button. A dialogue window appears in which all saved backup operations for the respective backup job are listed.

Now you have the option of specifying which form of restoration you want:

Restore complete backup: All files and folders that have been backed up via this backup will be restored.
Restore selected partitions/files only: A directory view of your backup appears here, in which you can select which files, folders or partitions you want to restore and which you do not. In the directory tree you can click on the plus symbols to open and select directories whose contents are then displayed in the file view. Any directory or file that you tick will be restored from the backup. If not all files in a directory are checked, there is a grey tick at this directory.

Finally, you can specify whether the files should be restored to their original directories or not. If the files are to be saved in a different location, you can select a folder under "New Folder" in which they are to be stored. Under Password, enter the access password if you had password-protected your backup.

When restoring files to the original directories, you have the following options to selectively restore only changed files:

Always overwrite: In this setting, the files from the backup are always seen as more important than the data, in the original directory. If you tick this box, any data still present will be completely overwritten by the data in the archive.
If the size has changed: With this setting, existing data in the original directory will only be overwritten, if the original file has been changed. Files that are unchanged in size are skipped. This way, the recovery of the data may be faster.
if the time "Modified on" in the archive is more recent: Files in the original directory are always replaced by copies from the archive if they are newer than the data in the archive. Here, too, the restoration of the data can be faster, as it may not be necessary to restore all files, but only the changed data.
If the time "Changed on" has changed: Here, data in the original directory is always replaced if something has changed on the modification date compared to the archived files.

Finally, click on the Complete button to carry out the restoration according to your specifications.

Actions

In this area you can, among other things, carry out actions for the care and maintenance of your data backups.

The following tools are available for this purpose:

Burn archive to CD/DVD afterwards
Import archives
Create boot medium

Burning the archive to CD/DVD retroactively

You can also burn backup files to CD or DVD at a later date. To do this, simply search for a project in the dialogue window that appears which you would like to burn and then click on Next.

Now select the drive on which you want to burn the data backup. The following options are available here:

Check data after burning: If you tick this box, the burned data will be checked again after the burning process. This takes a little longer than burning without checking, but is generally recommended.
Copy recovery programme files: If you activate this function, a programme is installed in addition to the archive data at the location of your data backup, with which you can restore your data even without the G DATA software installed. To do this, start the programme AVKBackup or AVKBackup.exe from the CD/DVD-ROM.

Click on the Burn button to start the burning process. After the burning process, the backup CD/DVD will be will be ejected automatically.

Import archive

To restore archives and backups that are not on a drive managed by the G DATA software, please use the Import Archives function. A dialogue window then opens in which you can select the desired archive files with the extension .ARC on a CD, DVD or in the network. When you have found the desired archive please mark it with a tick and then click on the OK button. An info window now informs you that the archive has been successfully imported. If you want to use this archive to restore data simply go to the Restore section of the G DATA software, select the desired backup and start the restore.

Archive files created by the G DATA software have the file extension .ARC.

Create boot medium

In order to be able to restore backups even without G DATA software installed, you can create a CD/DVD or a USB stick containing special software with which you can restore data. To restore backups in this way, start the boot medium and select the programme AVKBackup or AVKBackup.exe. Now you can select the desired backups and start the restoration.

DThe boot medium serves a dual purpose in the G DATA software. You can use it to perform backup restores and use BootScan to check your computer for viruses before starting Windows.