Profile Properties - Backup Options

Here you can specify various options for Backup copy mode.

Options
Create backup folder at destination
Generations of backups to be created
Compress files

Options

Don't back up unless at least one source file possesses the 'Archive' attribute

This option causes a backup to be made only if a file with the 'Archive' attribute is found in one of the source folders.

Create differential backup on the basis of complete backup

This option causes a comparison to be performed between the source folder and a complete backup in the destination folder. All files in the source folder which have changed or been added as compared to the complete backup are copied to the new backup folder. This option will not work properly unless the backup folder is empty.
The placeholder for date and time can be used specifing the path to the complete backup. Every placeholder has to be enclosed with the percent sign (#) so that it is correctly interpreted. Examples: "C:\FullBackup\Week%ww%", "C:\FullBackup\%yyyy%%mm%"

Create hardlinks

This option causes hardlinks to be created of all the files of the complete backup in the backup folder that have not changed in the source folder. The advantage of this is that every copy operation enables you to obtain another complete backup of the source folder without having to recopy the same files of the full backup. Creating hardlinks is not possible unless the full backup and the backup folder are located in the same NTFS partition.

Copy log file to backup folder

This option causes the log of the copy operation to be copied to the backup folder.

Create backup folder at destination

This option causes a new backup folder to be created in the destination directory into which the files/folders are copied. You can also specify the sequence for creating a backup folder if you activate the Create source folder in destination folder folder option for the source and destination folders.

Name of Backup Folder

The name of the backup folder is determined via the Format expression field. The following placeholders can be used in the name:

Placeholders	Description
%P%	Profile name
%S%	Last folder name of source path
%KW%	German calendar week according to DIN 1355
Format characters	Date and Time
Environment variables	Windows variables

If you want to use normal text, it has to be inserted in double quotes so that it isn't incorrectly interpreted as a placeholder for date and time.

Formatting examples:

Format expression	Result
"%P%" (yy_mm_dd hh_nn_ss)	PROFILE NAME (01_12_24 16_10_08)
{yy-mm-dd hh-nn-ss} "%P%"	{01-12-24 16-10-08} profile name
"Backup of %p% on" yyyy-mm-dd "at" hh_nn_ss	Backup of PROFILE NAME on 2001-11-12 at 10_15_00
"Backup" dddd	Backup Monday
"Backup %KW%.week" dd.mm.yyyy	Backup 32.week 08.08.2005

Generations of backups to be created

This option enables the number of backups to be limited. You have the option of specifying the maximum number of backups or a period in days. When starting a copy operation, old backups to be deleted are determined via their create date.

Note: Make sure that the specified destination folder is only used for data backed up using this profile otherwise other data may be deleted.

When deleting old backups, transfer old items to the new backup

This option enables the entire file/folder contents to be transferred to the new backup folder when the old backup is deleted. The advantage of this is that not all items have to be recopied from the source folder to the new backup folder when doing a full backup. This option has no effect when backing up to a ZIP file.

Compress files

This option causes the files to be backed up into a single ZIP file. Maximum size of a ZIP file: 4 GB. Backing up empty folders into a ZIP file isn't possible.

File name:

The name of the ZIP folder is determined via the Format expression field. Note the remarks concerning Name of Backup Folder above.

Compression

This option enables you to specify the compression to be used for the files being backed up. The following settings are possible:

None
Fast
Normal (default setting)
Maximum

The higher the compression, the longer it takes for the ZIP file to be created. The None option causes items to be zipped without being compressed.

Compression method

The following settings are possible:

Deflate (info)
Deflate64 (info)
BWT (info)
LZMA (info)

Deflate is the default compression method of the general ZIP format supported by many other programs. In comparison to Deflate, Deflate64 and BWT enable a higher degree of compression to be achieved, however they aren't supported by all programs.

File path

This option enables you to specify how the path of a file is stored in the ZIP file. The following options are available:

Save entire path (example: Data\Word\Info.doc)
Save path without source portion (example: Word\Info.doc)
Save file name only (example: Info.doc)

In the above examples, the source folder "C:\Data" is used and the file "C:\Data\Word\Info.doc" backed up.

Note: In the 3rd option Save file name only, paths have no effect in the filters for folders and files.

Split ZIP file into more than one archive

This option enables you to specify that the ZIP file be automatically split into several archives with a specific file size.

Encrypt ZIP file

This option enables you to password-protect the ZIP file against unauthorized access. The following encryption methods are available:

Standard Zip 2.0 (info)
AES 256-bit (info)

Using the AES encryption method is advisable as it provides a much higher degree of security than conventional Zip 2.0 encryption.

Delete existing ZIP file

This option enables an existing ZIP file of the same name to be deleted prior to backup.

Save file permissions

This option causes the file permissions to be saved in the ZIP file.

Backup the files from all source folders into one single zip file

This option enables to compress the files of all source folders into one single zip file.

Use this folder for creating the temporary ZIP file

This option enables you to specify that a ZIP file is to first be created in a specific folder and then moved to the destination folder. This option has to be activated so that the items in existing ZIP files can be updated. The folder should be located on a local hard drive with sufficient free disk space for performance reasons.

If you don't use this option, the ZIP file is created directly in the destination folder. This may lead to substantial performance loss on network drives and error messages when using storage media like CDs or DVDs.

You can specify this option for all profiles in the general options (see Profile Properties – Options – General): Creating a Temporary ZIP File