How do I connect the Y-cable to the computer?
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- Connect the USB DATA AND POWER cable to a USB port on your computer.
- If your computer does not recognize the portable drive, you may
need to provide additional power by connecting the "Additional USB
Power" to a second USB port on your computer.
- Your computer will detect your new device and assign it a new drive letter.
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How do I install IDrive Portable on my computer?
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The IDrive Portable software is pre-loaded when you purchase the IDrive Portable drive.
To install the application, just run the IDrivePSetup.exe file from your IDrive Portable USB drive. Specify the destination on your local computer to which you want to install the application. |
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Will the IDrive Portable application work on any external drive?
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Yes. While we recommend the use of the IDrive Portable drive, the IDrive Portable software is compatible with other external drives.
Just download the software to the external drive directly connected to your computer and run the setup to install on your local computer. |
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How do I upgrade to the latest version of the application?
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| Download the application at www.idrive.com/portable/download.htm and copy the setup to the IDrive Portable USB drive (purchased earlier). Double-click to run and install the updated setup on your computer. |
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What is the 'Enable IDrive Online' option?
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The 'Enable IDrive Online' option lets you sign up and set up backup
to an IDrive online backup account, which has a similar look and
feel. You have the option to import the Backup set from IDrive
Portable. It takes only two clicks* to setup your online backup once
you install.
* This assuming you accept the defaults. 'Enable IDrive Online' option is visible only if you have never installed IDrive Online Backup on your PC.
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When I install the IDrive Portable application for the first time on my local computer, I see a screen with three buttons - 'Edit my Backup set', 'Edit Schedule Parameters' and "Backup Now". What are their functions?
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IDrive Portable is designed to protect your critical data with minimal intervention.
It provides a 'Backup Now' one-click option immediately on install to backup most commonly backed up data including 'Documents', 'Pictures' and 'Videos' and also set a random after hours schedule for daily backup.
You can customize the data content to be backed up with 'Edit my Backup set' and Schedule with 'Edit Schedule parameters'.
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How do I backup my data?
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You can backup data in the following ways:
- Select the file/folder that has to be backed up. The same are visible under 'Contents of my Backup set' pane.
- Click the 'Backup now' button to take an immediate backup or the 'Schedule Backup' button to set the backup for a later date and time.
Alternately, from Windows Explorer, right-click the file/folder that you want to backup and click the 'Add to Backup set' or 'Backup Now' option from the menu. |
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How do I schedule a backup?
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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.
The Scheduler screen has the following options:
Day, Time and Frequency of backup
The options available to set day, 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.
Email Notification
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.
To receive the logs of the scheduled backup job along with the email notification, select the 'Send log extract' option. You may opt to not receive any notification by selecting the 'Do not notify' option.
Minor Tweaks
- Start the missed scheduled backup when the computer is turned on: This option allows the application to resume the scheduled backup automatically if your computer restarts within 30 minutes of the scheduled time.
- Show desktop notification on completion of the scheduled backup job: 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'.
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Is it possible to backup from multiple computers?
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Yes. Install the IDrive Portable application on multiple computers in the same
way that you would for a single computer.
- First Computer: Attach the external drive to your PC via USB; install the setup that is pre-loaded/downloaded onto the drive, to the local computer. Customize the settings (Backup set, schedule) if needed. Execute backups.
- Second Computer: Same as 1.
The application is smart enough to separate out the data from multiple
computers and organize them in specific folders, based on system
name, by default.
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What is the 'Enable Encryption' option and its advantages over normal backups?
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On selecting the 'Enable Encryption' option, all files are stored with the highly secure 256-bit AES encryption on your Portable drive. This ensures that only you can retrieve it, by providing the encryption password. In case you misplace or lose your Portable drive, no one can access the data on it.
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Can I recover the encryption password in case I forget it?
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No. The encryption password can not be recovered as it is known only to you. You can only clear it and set a new one for future backups. On clearing the password, all the encrypted data stored on your Portable drive is deleted and can not be recovered.
To clear the Encryption password, go to Tools > Preferences > 'Erase Encryption password and Encrypted data' option. After clearing the encryption password, you can re-enable the encryption using the 'Enable Encryption' toolbar icon with a new Encryption password of your choice. |
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What is the Versioning feature?
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IDrive Portable retains and allows you to restore previous versions of all files backed up to your external drive. It applies to both encrypted and non-encrypted backups. By default, 10 versions are maintained. This limit can be modified as desired.
Inside the 'IDrivePortable' folder (within the external drive), another folder with your computer name is created. The latest version of your backed up file is kept here, in the same folder hierarchy, as on the local machine. The earlier versions are stored in similar fashion, with a '+' prefixed to the folder (with system name).
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How do I reduce the number of versions to increase the available space on my external drive?
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To do so, follow the steps below:
1. Reduce the number of versions of the files maintained on your portable drive. For this, go to Preferences > General Tab > Versioning and change the number of file versions that you wish to maintain on your portable drive.
2. Click 'Start' under the 'Reindex IDrive Portable and remove additional versions'.
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How do I restore a particular version of my file?
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| You can locate a file using the 'Search' option, and view its earlier copies, or go to the 'Restore' tab, where the file versions are displayed. Right-click or double-click the file to view its History and restore the desired version. |
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What is the sync feature?
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The sync feature bring the data in the portable drive to be the same as the local computer, for the selected files and folders. This is useful in case you have removed data from your local computer and wish to do the same from the USB drive.
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What is the Automatic Selection feature?
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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/clear the selection of the application types, based on your backup needs.
To use this option, from the menu bar, go to File > Automatic Selection.
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Can I backup Mapped / USB / External drives?
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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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Does IDrive Portable perform schedule backup jobs in the Log-Off mode?
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| Yes, IDrive performs schedule backups in the Log-Off mode (even for Mapped drives). |
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How do I backup my Mapped drives?
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Backing up data from the Mapped drive(s) is no different from backing up data from the local drive(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 Settings' button to save the settings.
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Will my data get backed up if my system is in the Hibernate mode?
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| Yes. In case your external drive is plugged into your computer, the scheduled backups will take place even in the Hibernate mode. |
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Can I backup my open / locked files?
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IDrive Portable application is capable of backing up open files for
supported platforms including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 server and Windows 2003 servers. It is enabled by default.
Even if your Microsoft Outlook application is open, the IDrive
Portable 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, go to the application menu bar, Tools >
Preferences and deselect the 'Enable Open file Backup (available only
for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 server and Windows 2003 servers)' option.
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How do I search and restore the data from my external drive?
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On the application toolbar, click 'Search' or enter the part/full file name in the 'Search Files to restore' field and click the 'Search' icon on the main screen. All the files matching the search criteria are displayed.
From the search result, select the desired file to restore it.
You can also restore your data in the following manner:
Via the application
Select the file/folder that you want to restore and click the 'Restore' button.
From Windows Explorer
You can access and view your backed up data and copy-n-paste or drag-n-drop to the desired location on the local machine.
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Is there a way to receive an alert in case my scheduled backup fails?
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| Yes. From the application 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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I have added/ removed some files from my external drive using Windows Explorer. Will these changes automatically reflect in the application?
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No. For the changes to reflect in the application, you need to use the reindex option. It is available under IDrive Portable > Tools > Preferences > 'Enhance application performance'.
This will bring the changes made via Windows Explorer to be in sync with the application.
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