FileBack PC 4.0 Preferences

FileBack PC 4.1
Fast & Flexible Backup Software for Microsoft Windows

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FileBack PC Preferences Window

The first thing to note about the Preferences window is the Instant Help window at the bottom. As you move your mouse pointer over the various options available on the Preferences screens, this area will provide a brief description of what they do. This allows you to get quick help without having to open the help documentation. Of course, if you need it, the full help is always available by pressing the F1 or Help key on your keyboard.

Startup & Shutdown Preferences

The Preferences on the "Startup & Shutdown" page are used to set the options of how FileBack PC behaves at system or application startup and shutdown.

FileBack PC Startup Options
- The Load FileBack PC at Windows Startup options control whether FileBack PC starts automatically when a user logs onto Windows. Only one of the two options may be selected.
- Hide the Splash Screen prevents the initial splash (logo) screen from appearing whenever FileBack PC is loaded.
- Hide the Main Window hides the main window, showing only the icon in the system notification area (near the clock).
- Restore All Network Connections instructs FileBack PC to restore the network connections used in all backup jobs. This is useful if other applications use the same connections, and for one reason or another Windows is not set to or is otherwise unable to restore the connections.
FileBack PC Shutdown Options
- Hide Main FileBack PC Window During Shutdown prevents the main FileBack PC window from being restored as it is closing, or as Windows is shutting down. If this option is turned off the window will always appear during shutdown.
- Window Close Box ("X") Exits FileBack PC changes the way the close box () on the main FileBack PC window behaves. If this option is turned on (checked), clicking this box will exit FileBack PC, preventing backups from occurring. If unchecked, clicking this box minimizes FileBack PC to the system notification area.
- Run Pending 'Auto-Backup on Change' Jobs at Shutdown: Because jobs with the Auto-Backup on Change trigger turned on are not started immediately after changes have been detected, it is possible to shutdown FileBack PC before those jobs have had a chance to run. With this option enabled these jobs will be run as part of the shutdown procedure.
- Long Backup at Shutdown Behavior: Windows limits the amount of time applications are given to complete their various activities while Windows is being shutdown. If you have one or more backup jobs set to run at shutdown and they take more than the prescribed time (which defaults to 20 seconds), an "End Task" window will appear and possibly force FileBack PC to exit before the backups have completed. To work around this limitation, FileBack PC has four shutdown modes:
  - Allow Wait / End Task Dialog is the normal behavior for Windows. Use this if your shutdown backups won't take longer than 20 seconds to complete. This is the only option which does not in some way affect other applications at shutdown.
  - Automatic Timeout uses the timeout value specified under Windows Application Forced Shutdown Timeout Delay to automatically end FileBack PC whether its backups have completed or not.
  - Redirect System Shutdown Request will cancel the request issued by Windows to shutdown, allowing FileBack PC as much time as it needs to complete the shutdown backups. Once these backups have completed, FileBack PC will then issue a new shutdown request.
  - Redirect System Shutdown as Restart is the same as above, except instead of shutting the PC down when the backup has completed, it restarts it instead.
- Windows Application Forced Shutdown Timeout Delay sets the amount of time that Windows gives all applications (not just FileBack PC) to complete their operations before being forced to shutdown. This timeout only applies if "Automatic Timeout" is selected as the shutdown behavior mode.

General Preferences

General Preferences determine behavior of many aspects of FileBack PC:

Wait to "Run at Timed Intervals" Jobs Until After Inactivity prevents backup jobs with the Run at Timed Intervals trigger set from running until the PC hasn't been used for one minute. PC activity is determined by movement of the mouse or activity at the keyboard.
Disable "Run at Timed Intervals" Jobs After Inactivity temporarily disables the Run at Timed Intervals trigger if the PC has not been used for more than 15 minutes. This prevents timed intervals jobs from running too frequently if the PC isn't being used.
Show Popup Tips in FileBack PC Window: Tips can be shown in the main FileBack PC window near the bottom. These tips show up with a yellow background and are used to show options which are not normally seen that can make your backup tasks easier.
Use a Wizard to Edit Backup Jobs selects the Backup Job Wizard as the default editor. If not checked, the Advanced Backup Job Editor is used instead. We recommend that you use the Wizard until you are familiar with the concepts behind FileBack PC, then switch to the Advanced Editor.
Prompt to Run New and Edited Backup Jobs asks each time a backup job is created or modified if it should be run.
Use Advanced Change Notification increases the number of folders monitored for changes on local drives (this feature does not work on network drives), reducing the number of folders that must be scanned when a file change has been detected. Note: Due to some design limitations in Windows folders being monitored for changes do not disappear when they are deleted. The next time the corresponding backup job is run, however, FileBack PC is able to hide them. If you delete a folder and it does not disappear, start the corresponding backup job(s) and FileBack PC will fix the display anomaly.
Look for and Update Jobs with Changed Drive Letters monitors your drives for change in drive letters, and if changes are found, will prompt to update your backup jobs accordingly.
Never Delete files in C:\ or the Windows folder prevents critical files from being deleted by Synchronization-mode backup jobs. We do not recommend synchronizing these folders, but if they are configured as part of a backup job, enabling this option will prevent any files in these locations from ever being deleted.
Enable Explorer Context Menu Integration for Folders / for Files turns on a "FileBack PC Tasks" menu command when right-clicking folders or files in Windows Explorer. This menu command makes it easier to create or restore backup jobs, use FileBack PC to Paste files on the clipboard, decode .FBCB files, and much more. We recommend enabling this option for Folders, but not for files.
Simulate Auto Insert Notification on Removable Drives will emulate the Auto-Insert Notification feature of Windows for drives that do not normally support it, such as floppy drives, by scanning the drives periodically for media changes. These notifications can also be broadcast to other applications on your PC to let them know of the change, if the support this feature.
Use Windows Sounds for Dialog Boxes: Popup windows in FileBack PC do not normally trigger the normal Windows sounds for dialog boxes, but turning on this option will enable these sounds.
Print Event Log in Color: Whenever any text from the log is printed, turning this option on will print this information in color, according to the color selected on the Log page of the Preferences window.
Old Backup Revision Naming Scheme: FileBack PC supports keeping multiple versions of backup files. To differentiate these older versions from the newest version of each file, the older files are renamed according to the naming scheme selected here. Choose the naming scheme that works best for your particular situation.

Tip: Each revision naming scheme has different advantages. Including .FBBackup as part of a backup name makes it easy to exclude these files from another backup being made of your backup data. Including _FB01 after a filename makes sure that all older versions of the file are displayed together with the newest version when viewed from windows Explorer. Leaving the original extension in place makes sure you can open the file in its associate application just by double-clicking it.

When Schedules Have Been Missed determines how FileBack PC handles a backup job schedule or event schedule that has been missed due to FileBack PC being shutdown at the time, or busy working on another task.

Log Preferences

Log preferences are used to determine what is displayed in the log, and how to display it.

Log Display Options allow customization of which events are displayed, and what color to use when displaying them.
- Display Mode selects which of the available display modes: Minimal, Standard, or Maximum is to be customized. The meaning of these three modes is completely up to you.
- Display the following events provides a way to customize which of the various types of log events are displayed whenever the selected display mode is used. In addition, by clicking on the name of an event type (rather than the checkbox) and clicking the Set Event Display Color button, you can change the color used for that type of event.
- Use Backup Job Colors causes FileBack PC to ignore the event type colors and only uses the color codes assigned to each backup job (set in the Advanced Backup Job Editor) when displaying the log.
Maximum Log Entries controls how much information from the log is available at one time.
- Display Up To limits how many entries are shown on the Status / Log page of the main window. Keep in mind that displaying large numbers of log entries slows down FileBack PC, and increase the amount of system memory used.
- Up to (#) Days Old sets a limit on how far back in history FileBack PC will go when populating the Status / Log list. Changing his value only limits how much information is displayed on screen, and does not limit how much information is stored on disk. By increasing this value, you can add additional information to the displayed log so long as it does not reach the limit set with the Display Up To option.
- Keeping (#) on disk sets the limit on how far back in history FileBack PC keeps it slogs on disk in the logs folder, usually C:\Program Files\FileBack PC\logs. Decreasing this number will deleted log information from disk and it cannot be retrieved after clicking OK.
Log Filter Criteria sets a temporary filter on which entries from the log are displayed. You can limit the display using several different filters:
- Associated with Backup Jobs limits the log to display information associated with the selected backup jobs. Many log entries are generic and are not associated with any particular job; to display these entries turn on the (No Backup Job Association) option.
- Show Entries Containing Words allows the log to be filtered by a text phrase. The standard * and ? wildcards can be used.
- Added Since and Added Before set date limits on which log entries are displayed.
Log Date Display Format provides a way to customize the way dates are displayed anywhere FileBack PC shows entries from the log. You can manually type in a date format using Y, M, D, and H, N, S, or select a predefined date format from the drop-down list. Be sure to scroll down through the list of available formatting codes to find the code you want.

Tip: If you do not include a Y, M, or D in the log date format, the date will automatically be added in the History window on the Backup Jobs page of the main window to make it easier to differentiate what day the logged events took place.

Toolbar Preferences

Interface Preferences

Connections Preferences

The Connections Preferences page allows customization of options related to different network connections, such as mapping network drives, product updates and announcements, or remote administration.

Network Options control the way that mapped network connections are handled by FileBack PC.
- Substitute Network Connections When Necessary will cause FileBack PC to look for other network drives which may provide access to the same data as a connection that is about to be made. If you run out of available drive letters, this is one way to reduce the drive letter usage.
- The Display the Network Errors Dialog Box option tells FileBack PC to display a popup window whenever there are errors making or using a network connection. Most users prefer this option turned off, but in situations where a network backup is critical, this may help.
FileBack PC Product Updates & Announcements connect to the FileBack PC server to check for and optionally install newer versions of FileBack PC, and to check for product announcements that may be of interest to you.
- Set Product Update Options brings up a configuration window that allows the automatic update feature to be customized.
- Show Product Announcements of (level) or Higher Importance causes FileBack PC to check periodically with the Maximum Output Software's FileBack PC server for announcements related to FileBack PC. We recommend setting this option to "Normal" to be alerted to important news regarding FileBack PC.
- Check for announcements every (time value) controls how often FileBack PC will check for announcements. The minimum interval is 1 hour, the maximum is 99 days.
- Privacy Info contains a copy of Maximum Output Software's information privacy policy. We do not record personally identifiable information when checking for product updates and announcements.
Default Internet Connection tells FileBack PC how to connect to the Internet so that it may check for product updates, product announcements, and send outgoing email.
Remote Administration (Enterprise and Administrator editions only) allows this copy of FileBack PC to be controlled remotely by the Administrator edition.
- Remote Administration Mode controls whether or not FileBack PC can be controlled remotely, and how often to prompt the user for permission for a remote user to control it. If this option is disabled, the Remote Administration Password will need to be entered before it can be changed.
- The Remote Administration Password sets the password used to access and control FileBack PC remotely. Once a password has been entered, it must be Locked to engage it, and any further changes require the password again to Unlock the remote administration options.

Tip: The remote administration password cannot be changed or reset if it has been forgotten. Do not forget it once it has been set.

Advanced Preferences

Advanced preferences control performance of FileBack PC by manipulating advanced options. Please do not adjust these options unless you understand the implication of doing so.

Performance Options control how FileBack PC interacts with other applications, and how the backup engine interacts with the visual portion of FileBack PC.
- Backup File Copy Buffer Size determines how much memory is used as a buffer during file copy operations. This option had a large effect on the performance of FileBack PC 3.x, but due to optimizations done in version 4.0, it only affects the performance of backups when the Limit Data Transfer Rate option is set. We recommend leaving this option at its default setting of 128KB.
- Backup / User Interface Performance controls the balance between a responsive visual interface and backup performance. To allow FileBack PC to respond better to mouse clicks and other events of this type, move the slider closer to the right. To allow better backup performance, move the slider to the left.
- Inter-application Performance sets FileBack PC's priority with respect to other applications. Setting to Run when Other Applications Are Idle makes sure that FileBack PC does not interfere with normal computer operation at the expense of slower backups. If backup performance is more important than other applications performance, choose Run at higher priority. Otherwise, select Run at same priority as other applications.
Advanced Preferences control some advanced options of Windows itself, which may affect other software running on your computer. Some of these options can potentially cause system instability in certain environments. Be sure you have a current backup of your system configuration (registry) before making changes to these options.
- Improve performance by disabling "Last Access" update on NTFS folders makes file operations throughout Windows faster by preventing the Last Access date of folders from being updated each time a file inside the folder is accessed, or the folder is scanned. The normal behavior of updating this date slows down folder scans. If you do not need the Last Access date of folders, you can turn this feature off to improve performance by turning on this option.
- Improve performance by setting Windows to use "Large System Cache" turns on the Large System Cache option of Windows. Please see Microsoft's web site for additional information.
- Improve performance by setting "IOPageLockLimit" to 8MB changes the size of the IOPageLockLimit buffer to 8MB, thereby improving performance of file operations. Please see Microsoft's web site for additional information.