Active Backup Expert 2.11 - User Guide and FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions - Active Backup Expert

1. Q: What is a "Mask"? How can I use it?
   A: "Mask" (or pattern, or wildcard) is a file template. It can contain the '?' character, replacing any character, and '*' character, replacing any number (including 0) of characters.
   Unlike some other backup utilities, within Active Backup Expert you can select all files matching a wildcard, by one move. It is not only an interface improvement. When you create a new file, which matches a mask, it will be added to all following backups without any intervention of user.
   
   
2. Q: My backup is broken. What can I do?
   Q: Unfortunately, this version of Active Backup Expert has not the backup recovery feature. However, as Active Backup Expert backups are fully ZIP-compatible, you can use any ZIP recovery utility to try to restore files from the broken backup.
   
   
3. Q: When I try to open my file, I get the error message "Open error. Can't edit this file" What is wrong?
   A: The file editing feature of Active Backup Expert is powered by default system editor. Active Backup Expert calls the default editor, registered for the file extension of the selected file. This message appears in case you not installed any App for this file extension.
   
   
4. Q: When I add a new mask to my ABE project I can't find needed filter in the filters combo. What can I do?
   A: First try to find the needed filter in the registry by clicking the "Filter Organizer->Registry" button in the Select mask window. If the filter has not been registered in the system registry, you can simply fill in the Custom mask field and possible save this filter for later use by clicking the Save As Filter button.
   
   
5. Q:How can I create Active Backup Expert backups automatically?
   A:The Professional edition of the ABE supports the automated backups creation via user interface. However within the Standard edition you can use the ABE Command-line support to create automated backups with any Automation utility, such as our Active Task Manager or Windows Task Scheduler. Open your favorite automation utility and add a task to start ABE executable abe.exe with the following command-line arguments:
   
   /b "ABE project for auto-backup"
   
   where ABE project for auto-backup is the name of ABE project you wish to start automatically. See you automation utility documentation to learn how to set a schedule for this task.
   
   
6. Q: Does ABE support my tape device?
   A: No, ABE doesn't support tape devices at all.
   
   
7. Q: Can the Active Backup Expert back up to CD?
   A: The ABE can write backups to compact discs in two ways:
   
   (1) Since v.1.80 the ABE supports the internal capability to write CDs provided by MS Windows XP ™(IMAPI). You don't need any preparation or third-party software to do this way. Please note that IMAPI takes additional 11+Mb of CD space to close each writing session, so be prepared that each writing of a backup by this manner will take additional space of the CD.
   
   (2) If you have some kind of packet-writing software (like Nero InCD or Roxio DirectCD) installed, and your CDs are formatted under UDF (Universal Disk Format), the ABE considers your CD Recorder as a floppy drive, and works with it in the same way. As a rule a CD-drive manufacturer ships a packet-writing software on the CD-RW setup disk. Please see your CDRW documentation for details.
   
   
8. Q: Does the ABE support the creation of backups on my CD-R (CD-RW, ZIP, JAZ)?
   A: To check out if the ABE supports your device, please search for it at Windows Hardware Compatibility List
   
   Of course we can't test the ABE with all known models of the devices. However as there was no tested devices which the ABE couldn't work with, it must work with yours one as well. Just make a simple experiment: try to copy any file to your device by using the Windows Explorer. If you can, the ABE can as well. If you can't copy files or your device isn't presented as a drive in MyComputer folder consult the device manufacturer documentation to learn what drivers you need to install.
   
   
9. Q: How can I span my backups through several disks?
   A: The ABE spans large backups across removable disks automatically. You don't have to do any adjustment for it. Just select your removable device at the Storage Folder field (Project Properties->Folders).
   
   Spanned (aka split) backups are completely transparent for you. You work with them as if it were a solid backup in terms of creating and restoring.