During and After a Backup
What Happens During a Backup Session
When a backup session first begins, you will see a number of tasks being reported such as validating account, opening session, etc. It will then begin the scanning process. When a backup session is in progress, here's what you can expect to see:
- start time, elapsed time and the time remaining
- configured finish action
- the total number of files to be backed up and their original size
- how many of those files have been backed up and how many remain to be backed up
- the specific file (by name) being transferred along with a progress bar
Tip - you can still use your Mac while BackJack is performing a backup session. You can also Stop or Pause a backup session at any time.
Backing Up Open Files
BackJack is capable of backing up open files; however, depending on the status of the open file (at the specific time that BackJack is attempting to compress/encrypt/send the file) it may fail. If this occurs, BackJack will report this to you in the confirmation email. It will also be posted in the Log file for review.
What Happens After a Backup Session is Complete
When a backup session is complete (provided that you haven't selected 'do nothing' as the finish action) BackJack will present a countdown window indicating that:
- the backup session is complete
- it's going to proceed with the finish action you selected in 15 seconds (ie. Quit BackJack)
You can do nothing and let the finish action occur, you can click on the Cancel button (if you don't want the finish action to occur) or finally you can click on the 'Do it Now' button to advance the finish action.
If you opted to receive the automated confirmation emails at the end of each completed backup session, then you will receive an email summarizing:
- the Account and Username
- the time the backup started and finished
- the items successfully backed up (including full path names)
- any problems that were encountered during the session
- the number of files backed up during the session along with original/native file sizes
- total files backed up to date along with your total original/native file sizes to date
Tip - Please make it an important part of your routine to check these emails. For added convenience, the emails will contain the word (error) in the subject field if problems were encountered with your backup session.
When You Remove Items from your Backup Set
If you remove/delete items from your backup set (that were previously being backed up), BackJack will permanently remove these items during the next backup session. You will be presented with a warning message and will also need to enter your User password prior to being able to successfully remove these items.
When You Remove Items from your Hard Drive (that were previously being backed up)
If you remove/delete items from your hard drive (that were previously being backed up), BackJack will keep these files for 30 days, after which time they will be permanently removed from our servers. These files will be marked with a strikethrough in the Restore window. BackJack will display a red question mark beside the deleted item (in the 'items to back up' field) indicating that the item can no longer be found and will alert you to the fact that it's going to be deleted via the confirmation email. If you don't want an item to be deleted from our servers (ie. an item that has a strikethrough) then simply recover it back to your local hard drive.
No Files Backed Up
If you receive an email indicating "No files were backed up during this session, it simply means that none of the files (that you have configured for upload) have changed since the previous session (hence, nothing to back up). You would not see this message after an initial backup session (only during incremental backup sessions). If you know with complete certainty that data has changed and should have been backed up, then you may have moved the items from their original backup location and BackJack was unable to locate them to back them up. If a file/folder can no longer be found on the hard drive via its original location, BackJack will display a red question mark (?) alerting you to reconfigure the item.
Encryption Passphrase Test Required
If you receive this message at the end of a backup session, you must proceed with testing your Encryption Passphrase. This is necessary so that you can be certain, in the event of disaster, you are able to retrieve your files from our servers. This test is required only once for each User that you activated under your free account. At the point you have performed the test successfully, this message will no longer appear.
Once you click on 'Test Now' you will be taken into BackJack's Preferences window where you can select 'Test Encryption'. This will allow you to enter the original Encryption Passphrase to test its accuracy. If you do not know the Encryption Passphrase, contact us for further direction (this will necessitate creating a new User and re-uploading).
Note: this message only appears once you are a client (not with a free account).
