IDrive
is an automated online backup application. Hence, the 'My Documents'
and 'Desktop' folders are backed up by default, with the scheduled time
set to 'off-peak hours'. For Windows Vista, the default Backup set
includes the 'Desktop', 'Documents', 'Pictures', 'Videos' and 'Music'
folders.
If these settings are not altered, the application commences the
backup of the default Backup set, once the scheduled backup time is
reached.
However, you can change the above settings. On login, a screen is
displayed as below, from where you can edit the Backup set and schedule
parameters. |
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To set the time, date and frequency for the scheduled backup job, click the 'Edit Schedule Parameters' button.
To edit your Backup set, click the 'Edit my Backup set' button. This
takes you to the main screen of the Classic interface. Here, go to the
'Backup' tab and under 'My Selection', select or deselect the
files/folders that you wish to backup, using the check boxes provided.
Also,
you can find out the upload/download speed and the time that it will
take to backup/restore 1 GB of data at this rate, by clicking the
'Bandwidth test' button.
Click the 'Close' button at the top right corner to go to the main application screen. |
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You can delete data from the Backup set in the following ways:
- Right-click the file/folder/drive on the 'Contents of my Backup set'
list and choose the 'Remove' option from the menu.
- Select the file/folder/drive on the 'Contents of my Backup set' list and press the 'Delete' key on your computer keyboard.
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The 'Automatic Selection' feature lists your most commonly used
application data such as 'Microsoft Outlook', 'Microsoft Outlook
Express', 'My Documents' and 'My Favorites' folders among others.
You can select/deselect the application types, based on your backup need.
To use this option, from the menu bar, go to File > Automatic Selection.
A screen is displayed, as shown below: |
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| The selected files/folders can be seen under the 'Contents of my Backup set' panel, as shown below. |
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The files/folders marked in red under 'My Selection' are excluded from backup.
To include them in the Backup set, from the menu bar, go to Tools > Preferences > Exclude files and folders tab.
Next, deselect the desired files/folders from the check boxes provided. |
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Select the desired files/folders/drives (under 'My Selection') and
click the 'Backup Now' button to start the backup process in the
interactive mode.
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Select the required files/folders/drives for backup and click the
'Schedule Backup' button to perform the scheduled backup at the desired
date/time. A screen is displayed, as shown below:
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The Scheduler screen has the following options:
The options available to set date, time and frequency of backup are:
Weekday: Schedule backup on any day(s) of the week.
Monthly: Schedule the backup on any day of the month on a particular day and time.
Start the backup immediately: Take an immediate backup of your files/folders.
No Backup Schedule: Delete the scheduled backup job.
This option allows you to receive email notifications on the status of the scheduled backup jobs.
For this, select the 'Notify always' or 'Notify on failure' option and enter the email address in the 'Mail to' field.
You can set multiple email addresses using the + button and receive log details of the scheduled backup job along with the email notification by selecting the Send log extract option.
You may opt to not receive any notification by selecting the 'Do not notify' option.
Auto-Pause:
Selecting this option makes intelligent guesses on pausing and resuming backup to enable optimum desktop appearances during user activity.
Desktop Notification: This option allows you to receive notifications on your desktop regarding the status of scheduled backup jobs. For this, select the option Show desktop notification on the completion of scheduled backup.
Start the missed scheduled backup when the computer is turned on: This option allows the application to resume the scheduled backup automatically whenever your computer is switched on.
Cut-off Time: This option stops the scheduled backup at the specific time, set by you. The backup is resumed at the next scheduled time from the point it was stopped. This ensures that the scheduled backups are not executed when the normal computer operations are going-on. |
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Yes. From the Tool bar, go to Preferences and click the General tab. Under Advanced scheduling options, select the 'Alert me if the scheduled backup fails' option to receive a desktop alert, in case your backup has not taken place. By default, it is set to seven days. |
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The
Bandwidth Throttle feature helps optimize the bandwidth consumption so
that your backups can take place uninterrupted and without hindrance to
other applications. You can set separate bandwidths for the backups when the system is in use and when it is not.
Bandwidth Throttle (when system is not in use): This option lets you set the bandwidth to be used by your system for backups, when it is not in use. By default, it is set to 100%.
Note: The percentage set for Bandwidth Throttle is applicable for both scheduled and interactive backups.
Bandwidth Throttle (when system is in use): Select the 'Auto-Pause' option from the check box to use this option.
Auto-Pause option makes intelligent guesses on pausing and resuming backup to enable optimum desktop appearances during user activity.
This option lets you set the bandwidth to be used by your system for
backups, when it is in use. This allows other applications to run
without hindrance. By default, it is set to 25%.
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On
clicking the 'Bandwidth test' feature, you can find out the
upload/download speed and the time that it will take to backup/restore
1 GB of data to your IDrive account, at this rate. |
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Yes, you can backup Mapped/USB/External Drives. The contents to be
backed up must be a part of the Backup set and available at the time of
backup.
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Backing up data from the Mapped drive(s) is no different from backing up data from the local disk(s).
For those who wish to backup Mapped drive contents in the system Log-Off mode, follow the steps below:
- Select the files/folders to be backed up from the Mapped drive,
available under the 'Backup' tab pane view of the application’s main
screen.
- Next, from the menu bar, go to Tools > Mapped Drive Setup. The following Mapped Drive Setup screen is displayed.
- Enter the Username/Password for the Mapped drive that you have selected.
- Click the 'Save' button to save the settings.
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Yes, IDrive performs schedule backups in the Log-Off mode (even for Mapped drives). |
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For Windows XP, Windows 2003 server and Windows Vista machines, the above issue should not arise.
However, for other Windows OS, the IDrive agent might lock your Outlook
email client to perform a successful backup. To resolve the issue,
close your MS Outlook email client before initiating the operation. |
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IDrive application is capable of backing up open files for supported platforms including Windows XP, Windows 2003 servers and Windows Vista and is enabled by default.
So even if your Microsoft Outlook application is open, the IDrive application does a reliable backup of associated data. Similarly, your Quickbooks/Quicken and other possible open files are backed up as well.
To disable the feature, goto the application menu bar, Tools > Preferences and de-select the 'Enable Open file Backup (available only for Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista)' option.
Note: The Open file Backup feature does not support backup of open files in the mapped/network drives. |
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To
disable the Open file Backup feature (available only for Windows XP,
Windows 2003 and Windows Vista), from the menu bar, go to Tools > Preferences and deselect the option ‘Enable Open file Backup (available only for Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows Vista)’. |
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To
add a file/folder directly from Windows Explorer, browse to the
required folder using Windows Explorer. Right-click the file/folder and
then choose IDrive > Add to Backup set.
The selected files/folders are added to the existing Backup set and are
backed up when you perform the next Interactive or Scheduled backup.
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From
Windows Explorer, browse to the required file/folder, right-click on
it, select the IDrive option and click 'Backup this file Now / Backup
this folder now'.
IDrive will immediately start a back up of the selected files/folders to your IDrive account.
Alternately, from 'My Selection' under the Backup tab, select the
files/folders to be backed up and then click the 'Backup Now' button. |
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On the IDrive Classic interface, from the menu bar, go to Tools and select the 'Open IDrive Explorer' option.
This opens the IDrive Explorer interface, using which you can perform
all restore related operations with a typical Windows Explorer-like
interface. |
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There
is no need to restart your computer after IDrive has been installed.
However, to use IDrive Explorer, restart the computer after
installation, when prompted. |
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You
can edit the frequency and the scheduler settings for any of the
backups you have scheduled by clicking the 'Manage all the scheduled
jobs' option from the IDrive tray menu, as shown below |
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The frequency and the options pertaining to the desired scheduled
backup job can be changed using the 'Manage all the scheduled jobs'
screen, as shown below:
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You can do this in the following ways:
1. Highlight any entry and click on the 'Edit' button.
2. Double-click on any entry in the list.
You can edit the backup options in the same manner, as you would while scheduling a backup job.
An unwanted scheduled backup entry can be deleted in the following ways:
1. Highlight any entry and click the 'Delete' button.
2. Highlight any entry in the list, click on the file and then the 'Delete' icon.
3. Highlight any entry in the list and press the 'Delete' key on the keyboard.
You can also stop the scheduled backup under progress. (It will show
the status as 'In Progress' in the Status column).
To stop the scheduled backup, you can perform any of the following:
1. Click the 'Stop Transfer' button on the tool bar.
2. Go to Tools > Stop Transfer.
Note:
1. You can not create multiple Backup sets.
However, you can change the scheduled settings of the different user
accounts.
2. The user who has logged in can not change the default Backup set of other users. |
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Yes, the scheduled backup that was in progress would automatically continue once you restart the computer. |
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Yes.
The scheduled backup will commence as soon as you restart the computer,
even if it is after the scheduled time. However, this is applicable
only if you have selected the 'Start the missed scheduled backup when
the computer is turned on' option from the Advanced options in the Scheduler screen.
However, if you have not selected the option, then the scheduled
backup will commence only if you restart the computer within 30 minutes
of the scheduled time.
In case you restart the computer after 30 minutes of the scheduled
time, the scheduled backup will commence at the next frequency (as per
the date and time that was set earlier). |
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Restore Related Questions
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IDrive
application maintains the history of changes made to all the backed up
files. The recent 30 versions of a file are stored and maintained on
the IDrive servers. You can select any of these 30 versions and restore
to local computer as and when required. |
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You can view the versions of each file stored in your account in the following ways:
1) Click the Restore tab, right-click on the required file and select the 'View History' option from the list.
2) Click the Restore tab, and then on the desired file and select the 'History' icon from the tool bar.
3) On the 'Restore' tab view, double-click the required file. |
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To
restore the latest version of any file, click the 'Restore' tab.
A list of files with their latest versions is displayed. Select
the required files and click the 'Restore' button.
After selecting the files, choose the restore destination on your local computer. |
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To
delete a particular file/folder from your IDrive account, go to the
'Restore' tab. Next, select the file/folder to be deleted and click the
'Delete' icon on the toolbar. |
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The Sync feature lets you match the contents in your IDrive account with that on your local computer.
This is a useful option if you have removed data from your computer, and wish to do the same automatically from your account.
To use this feature, select the
folder(s)/drive(s) in your account that you want to sync and click the 'Sync' icon. A list of files
not present on your local computer, but still available in
your IDrive account are listed.
On clicking the Sync button, these files are removed from your account.
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This will sync files between your desktop and your IDrive account with a lag of 30-days. In other words, if data is deleted from your desktop that has already been backed up previously, the corresponding data on your IDrive account would be deleted after 30-days. This helps in keeping your account size at optimal levels.
Note: Since this may result in automatic deletion of data from your IDrive account, use/set this option carefully.
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To restore data backed up to your IDrive account to the local machine, follow the steps below:
1) Download and install the IDrive Application.
2) Login to the Classic interface with your Username and Password. If
you had set a private encryption key while logging into the application
for the first time, then provide the same.
3) Go to the 'Restore' tab, select the files/folders to be restored. Select the desired location, when prompted.
Alternately, you can restore the files/folders using drag-n-drop or
copy-n-paste options available with the IDrive Explorer interface. To
use the Explorer interface, install the IDrive Explorer plug-in (from
Tools in the Menu bar). |
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Yes.
All the data backed up till the selected date and time is displayed. You can select and restore any file/folder to your local machine.
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