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How to create a backup task

To create a backup task:

  1. Open the main application window.
  2. Select the Performance section.
  3. In the Backup and Restore block, click the Make backup button to start the backup creation wizard.

    The Backup Task Creation Wizard starts.

    The Wizard consists of a series of pages (steps), which you can navigate through by clicking the Next button. To go back, click on the name of the previous step at the top of the page. To stop the Wizard at any step, click the Cancel button.

    Let us review the steps of the Wizard in more detail.

In this section

Step 1. Select files and folders for backup

Step 2. Select a backup storage

Step 3. Configure a backup schedule

Step 4. Configure a backup storage

Wizard completion

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Step 1. Select files and folders for backup

In the Select folders step of the Wizard, you can specify folders and files you wish to back up. To do this, drag and drop the required folder to the Select folders window or choose the folder by clicking the Select a folder button that opens the Select a folder window. In the Select a folder window you can select a folder from the tree or enter the path to the folder in the text box manually.

Kaspersky application does not create backup copies of files located in the "Desktop" and "My Documents" folders if these folders are located on a network drive.

To add more folders, click the Add folder button at the upper-right corner of the page. To delete a folder from this page, hover over the folder you need and click the recycle bin button.

After the folder is added, you can select files that you want to back up. To view the list of files in a folder, double-click the folder you need. To include or exclude specific files from the backup copy, you can use check boxes next to the files. If you need to find a specific file in the list, use the Search option.

If you need to sort files by type in order to perform quick configuration, click Select file types and select any of the predefined categories: Audio, Images, Documents, Financial documents, Video, or Other file types.

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Step 2. Select a backup storage

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In the Select storage step of the Wizard, you can configure a backup storage or specify an existing one:

  • Cloud storages. Select the Dropbox option if you want to store backup copies in the Dropbox cloud storage. Note that the Dropbox cloud storage needs to be activated before use. When backing up data to Cloud storage, Kaspersky application does not create backup copies of data types that are restricted by Dropbox usage rules.
  • Network drives. If you prefer to store backup copies on a network drive, specify the relevant network drive by clicking the Add button.

  • Local and removable drives. If you prefer to store backup copies on a local or removable drive, select the relevant drive from the list.
  • I already have storage. If you already have a backup storage, specify it by clicking the Connect button.

To ensure data security, we recommend using the Cloud storage or creating backup storages on removable drives.

How to add a network drive as storage

To add a network drive:

  1. In the Network drives section of the Select storage window, click the Add button to open the Add network drive dialog and choose the desired network drive.
  2. Provide the necessary information for connecting to the network drive.
  3. Click Add.

How to add a local or removable drive as storage

To set a local or removable drive as a backup storage, select the drive from the list in the Local and removable drives section of the Select storage window.

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Step 3. Configure a backup schedule

In the Configure schedule step of the Wizard, you can specify the following settings:

  • Specify the name of the backup task.
  • Select the Run backup manually option if you wish to start the task manually.
  • Specify the backup task schedule if you want the backup task to start automatically.
    • Select the Run backup automatically option and set a time interval to run the task (for example, Every week), weekday, and the task run time.
    • Specify the username and password of your Windows account on this computer. The data of your Windows account is required to access files during the backup. If you are logged in to the operating system under a domain account, specify the username and password of your domain account to create the backup task.
    • Select the Run scheduled backup at computer startup if it was turned off at the specified time check box if you want to run a backup as soon as possible after the computer is turned on. For example, if the backup is scheduled to be performed every weekend and the computer was turned off, the backup is performed after the computer is turned on a weekday. If the check box is cleared, backup is performed according to schedule without retrying to run backup after a failed attempt.
    • Select the Run backup on connecting the removable drive check box if you want to run a backup when a removable drive is connected to your computer.

When working with backup tasks, please note the following:

  • If you create a scheduled backup task, you need to specify the data of your account on this computer.
  • If you create an on-demand backup task, you do not need to specify the data of your account on this computer.
  • If you change an on-demand task to a scheduled task, you need to specify the data of your account on this computer.

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Step 4. Configure a backup storage

In the Configure storage step of the Wizard, you can specify the file storage settings:

During each backup, the application checks whether the file has changed since the previous backup. If the file has changed, the application creates a new version of its backup copy in the storage. The previous version of the backup copy is also saved in the storage. You can restrict the number of versions of backup copies. To do this, select the Restrict the number of backups of one file, if the file was changed several times check box, and in the Number of latest copies of one file field specify the number of versions of backup copies of one file to be stored. A backup copy can have up to 999 versions.

Also, you can restrict the storage period for each version of the backup copy of a file. Older versions of backup copies of the file will be automatically deleted. The last saved version of the backup copy of the file will be stored indefinitely. To restrict the storage period, select the Delete old backups of a file after the specified time. The latest, i.e. the newest copy, will be stored indefinitely check box to specify the number of days or weeks that each file version of a backup copy should be stored. The maximum number of days or weeks is 999.

You can optionally specify a password that protects your backup copies from unauthorized access. To do this, click Set in the Password section and set the password.

The password will apply to all the backup copies in this storage. It cannot be changed later. If you forget your password, you won't be able to restore files from the backup copies in this storage.

The application will prompt you to enter a password in the following cases:

  • When you first create a backup storage on a local or removable drive (like a flash drive). When creating subsequent backup tasks to a local drive or this removable drive, the application will no longer ask you to enter a password. The password that you previously entered will be used.

    If you copy the local backup storage to a removable drive and connect this removable drive to another computer, the application will ask you to enter a password to copy or restore data from this storage.

  • When you connect a removable drive to your computer. The application checks the removable drive and asks you to enter a password if it detects a backup storage on this removable drive.

If your backup storage is located on the computer where Kaspersky application is corrupted or is not installed, you can use Kaspersky Restore Utility to restore files from backup copies. For that, you need to copy the utility to this storage by selecting the Copy Kaspersky Restore Utility to storage check box in the Kaspersky Restore Utility section.

After you configure a backup storage, click the Run button to start the backup task immediately, or click the Save and close button to run this task later manually or on schedule.

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Wizard completion

The process of configuring the backup storage may take some time. At this step, you will be sent to the Backup and Restore window were you can see the list of backup tasks.

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