Backing up your Files

This section covers the minimum requirements for backing up a group of files. Later sections will cover how to compress and/or encrypt file backups. Cobian Backup lets you create backup tasks which can be configured to include a certain group of files and/or folders. These backup tasks can be set to run at a specified time and day.

To begin creating a backup task, perform the following step:
Step 1. Click: to create a new backup task.

This activates the The Properties for: window as follows.

The menu on the left lets you activate the different screens, and set all parameters required for the backup procedure.

Figure 2: The Properties for: screen displaying the newly created 'myBackup' file name

2.1 Option Descriptions

Task Name: Select a name for the task. Use a name that identifies the nature of the backup. For example, if the backup is going to contain video files, you could name it Video Backup.

Disabled: Leave the Disabled check box unchecked. Warning: If you check this option, it will prevent the task from running.

Include Subdirectories: If this option is checked, then any folders contained inside the folder you selected will be included. This is an efficient method for backing up a large number of files. For example: If you select the My Documents folder and check this option, then all files and folders in My Documents will be included in the backup.

Create separated backups using timestamps: This option means that when the backup is completed, the time and date will be part of the folder name that contains the backup. This is a good idea because it means that you will easily be able to identify when the backup was performed.

Use file attribute logic: This option is only relevant when you choose to perform an incremental or differential backup (see below). File attributes contain information about the file.

Cobian Backup checks this information to determine whether there has been a change in the source file from the last time a backup was performed. If you then run an incremental or differential backup, the file will be updated. Note: You will only be able to run a full or 'dummy backup' if you uncheck this option (the dummy backup option is explained below).

2.2 Backup Type Descriptions

Full: Every single file in the source location will be copied to your backup directory. If you check the Create separated backups using timestamp option, you will have several copies of the same source (identified by the time and date of the backup in the folder title). Otherwise, Cobian Backup will overwrite the previous version (if any).

Incremental: The program will check if the source files have been changed since the last backup was performed. If there is no need to copy the file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. The 'Use file attributes logic' option needs to be checked in order to perform this backup.

Archive Bit: This is information about the file size, creation and modification date. It lets Cobian Backup determine whether the file has been modified by you since the last backup.

Differential: The program will check if the source has been changed from the last full backup. If there is no need to copy that file, it will be skipped, saving backup time. If you have run a full backup before on the same set of files, then you can continue backing it up, using the Differential method.

Dummy task: You can use this option to get your computer to run or shut down programs at certain times. This is a more advanced option which is not really relevant to our basic backup procedure.

2.3 How to Create a Backup File

To begin creating a backup file, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Click the File icon in the left pane of the Properties for: screen to select the files to be backed up:

Figure 3: The Properties for: screen displaying Source and Destination panes

Step 2. Select the files you want to back up. (In the example above, the My Documents folder is selected.)

Step 3. Click: in the Source pane to activate the following menu:

Figure 4: The Source pane - Add button menu

Step 4. Select Files to back up individual files and Directory if you want to back up an entire directory. To specify which file or directory to include choose Manually and type in the file path or directory for your backup.

Note: You can add as many files or directories as you like. If you wish to back up files currently on your FTP server, choose the FTP site option (you will need to have the appropriate server login details).

When you have selected the files and/or folders, they will appear in the Source area. As you can see in the example, My Documents is displayed there, meaning this folder is now included in the backup.

The Destination pane specifies where the backup will be stored.

Step 5. Click: in the Destination pane to activate the following menu:

Figure 5: The Destination pane - Add button menu

Step 6. Select: Directory to open a browser window where you select the destination folder for your backup.

Note: If you want to create several versions of the backup file, you may specify several folders here. If you checked the Manually option, you must type in the full path to the folder where you want to keep the backup. To use a remote Internet server to store your archive, select the FTP site option (you will need to have the appropriate server login details).

The screen should now resemble the example above example with file(s) and/or folder(s) in the source area and folder(s) in the destination area. However, don't click OK just yet! You still need to set a schedule for your backup.

2.4 How to Schedule Your Backup Task

In order for your automatic backup to work, you need to fill in the Schedule section. This section lets you specify when you want the backup to be performed.

To set the schedule options, perform the following steps:

Step 1. Select Schedule from the left-hand menu, to activate the following pane:

Figure 6: The Properties for myBackup displaying the Schedule type pane

The Schedule type options are listed in the drop-down menu, and described below:

Once: The backup will be done once only at the date and time specified in the Date/Time area.

Daily: The backup will be done every day at the time specified in the Date/Time area.

Weekly: The backup will be done on the days of the week selected. In the example above, the backup will be done on Fridays. You may select other days also. The backup will be done on all days selected at the time specified in the Date/Time area.

Monthly: The backup will be done on the days typed into the days of the month box at the time specified in the Date/Time area.

Yearly: The backup will be done on the days typed into the days of the month box, during the month specified, and at the time specified in the Date/Time area.

Timer: The backup will be done repeatedly at intervals specified in the Timer text box in the Date/Time area.

Manually: You will have to run the backup yourself from the main program window.

Step 2. Click the OK button.

Once you have decided on a backup schedule, you have completed the final step. The backup will now run on the folders specified according to the schedule you have chosen.

Figure 7: The Properties for myBackup displaying the Schedule type pane