We are happy to announce that Comodo BackUp 3.0 build 130 has been released to the public.
This update contains some improvements and some fixed issues.
IMPROVEMENTS
synchronized backups
Synchronized backups work both ways now, so any change performed on source will be reflected into destination and the other way around. Synchronization is completely automatic and it doesn’t create any unnecessary files.
explicit logging
For incremental and differential backups you can now see which items are changed, new or deleted. Log also includes information about where the backup is created and which backup is used as base for incremental/differential.
online drive
We made some speed improvements for transferring files and we fixed some browsing issues for other programs that access online storage drive.
languages
Thanks to our translators we added Korean language and improved existing translations.
FIXED ISSUES
profiles and scheduled incremental/differential backups
editing scheduled backups and profiles
backup to ISO
email notifications and backup to email
diagnostics with server 2008 R2
mount issues
other minor GUI bugs reported by users
KNOWN ISSUES:
If errors are encountered during update, a repair operation has to be performed after the restart required by the installation process.
Partition backups that contain 2 or more items should be mounted from Manage TAB instead of Restore Step 2.
Mounting a backup performed with 2.2 version or earlier might take some time depending on the backup size.
Registry and System backups performed with 2.2 and previous versions for files that are locked might be corrupted. To avoid crashing the operating system these backups should not be restored after restart, especially if these file are used by the operating system.
Backup or Manage interfaces loading time may be longer, depending on the stored information.
If IE9 BETA is installed, some GUI pages may flicker on resize.
Some issues if running Comodo BackUp under limited account
BUG REPORTS
Please use Bug Reports Thread to report your bugs. Our moderators collect these bugs and submit them to the devs.
Another notch up towards one of the very best free or paid-for (peace-of-mind) app’s IMHO. However, I’m still not getting the logic of being able to choose a Differential (or Incremental) backup type and then have the option to “Make new backup”. And, it seems to me, there is even less logic to have the resulting automatic backup name include “dif” or “inc” when, a new base image is actually created - that could get very confusing. If one wants a new base, why not simply start with the “Full” backup type (as most folk would)?
Am I still missing something here?
What would be logical to me would be to have the ability to choose Diff/Inc backup type and then (via the Make new backup option) add some additional source to a base image, e.g. say one has a single partition base image, but one would wish to add an additional partition to that base. That might be useful, but, as things stand, the Diff/Inc type + Make new backup option serves little purpose as far as I can see. To make things even more confusing “Make new backup” is the default option (in the drop-down menu) when “Choose existing backup” would be a more sensible default (I believe).
[Does this mean that an Devonian is agreeing with an Cornish man!
[/quote]
Indeed it would, but am I the only one baffled by the Dif/Inc + Make new backup pairing?
Dif/Inc’s - too difficult for me. I use only full backups on selected folders daily and an full disk backup weekly.
You know what they say, “Devon born, Devon bred, strong of arm, thick of 'ed”
The “Choose existing backup” option allows user to choose a specific base to for incremental/differential backups.
The “Make new” option creates a new base if one doesn’t already exist in destination file.
The “Make new” option is default because it doesn’t require any other action from user.
For both options, if base doesn’t exist when backup is scheduled, a full backup will be created.
Emanual, Sorry to be such a pain, but one more try at an understanding:
Re your comment 1: am getting that, no problem.
Re comment 4: The key word here is clearly “scheduled” - although I’ve not tested it, I can see that this would be useful IF I’ve created a scheduled profile and, for what ever reason, the base image has been removed or is corrupted. That is very neat (although, the backup image should not be saved with a dif or inc file-name element, which, as I previously commented, would become very confusing).
Re 2: I still don’t get it - If comment 4 scenario kicks in automatically, why would I need a manual option to “Make new” aligned with Diff or Inc backup type? What backup scenario (or backup problem) exactly do you have in mind?
Finally re 3: To my mind the alternative action is to simply choose “Full” backup!
Again, I have to say “what am I missing here?”. Comodo logic still escapes me.
This is not a manual option, this is default option that doesn’t require any other action from user.
If user wants to specify a specific backup base for incremental/differential, then he must use “Choose existing backup”
The backup will be incremental/differential if a base already exists in the destination file, otherwise it will be full.
You can use this option when scheduling a backup, for example, to define that the job should be incremental/differential.
A full backup will be created only when a base doesn’t exist.
Thanks Emanuel for your last response & patience regarding my inability to “get” the Make New (dif/inc) Backup option. (Difficult to make an abbreviated quote so I’ve altered the post Subject!)
I’ve tried to put my logic aside and have run a few ad hoc (without notes) “Make New” BUs. While build 96 threw up errors, build 130 does make BUs from the Diff/Inc + Make New BU selection. I note also that the Dif/Inc + Make New BU selection overwrites any previous Dif/Inc BU on the same Base if default naming is not changed. (I might have found a bug re automatic file naming, but I’ll leave that for now).
I do believe I am nearing an understanding at last. However, size of the Dif/Inc backup .cbu files is not what I expected (they have been larger than the Base image) so I will run another sequence of tests, taking note this times, and report after the weekend.
It doesn’t overwrite, it just appends data to the base. Full backup and all the incrementals can be stored in the same .cbu file. And you can restore any of them. You can choose which snapshot to restore in Restore step 2.
By default the last snapshot is selected.
Ah ha! I never did get round to asking about that CBU Help Tip: “The full backup and incremental/differential backups for a same source, can be stored in the same destination backup file in .cbu format”. Now I have the answer. I shall check that out dreckly. Thank you.
I would like to offer the suggestion though that this CBU action is worthy of more than a “Tip” as my immediate reaction is that it is pretty fundamental to the way CBU works: could a fuller explanation of this facet of CBU be given in a future update of CBU Help to help mere mortals like myself fully appreciate how “clever” this program is.
I finally acknowledge that CBU 3 Diff/Inc modes work (am running a 2nd clean install of build 130 now). But CBU Help doesn’t tell half of it - running in Advanced mode is mind-blowing - phew! Keeping track of what is happening is not too easy (so thanks for offering an Easy mode - could be useful for keeping brain cells intact).
Because the Help guide doesn’t do justice to CBU 3’s Diff/Inc capabilities and fail-safes, I’ve had to run multiple trial BUs to get an inkling, but, even though I started taking notes, I got a bit lost. I came across a few apparent foibles, but can’t tell whether they are CBU or Delabole bugs - I’ll have to do some re-runs. However, I would report an apparent bug with auto file naming: I’ve been using a small data partition “Q” for my trial runs and the auto file naming adds “Q” to the file name, but also leaves “C” in the name, e.g. I get a BU file “Partition_QC_full_part.cbu”.
Also, given that the auto naming starts with “Partition_” do we really need the ending “_part.” It has thrown me a number of times when viewing files in Explorer because “part” implies a file/image BU has not completed or stalled.
Results of a few quick differential BU tests to external USB drive. Steps:
Q partition Full BU (a primary data partition), but created custom file name.
Step 1: Diff + Make New - selected Q. Step 2: selected “CBU Test” destination folder (on external USB drive) & gave the diff’ BU file a custom name. Full BU created, but it kept my custom “dif” file name. (I’d like to be able to give custom name and diff still work, plus I would suggest CBU should add “full” to any fail-safe full BU rather than retain the original dif/inc file name.)
Step 1: Diff + Make New - selected Q. Step 2: selected “CBU Test” folder and allowed auto generated BU file name. Diff BU created = OK
Step 1: Diff + Use existing. Step 2: selected “CBU Test” folder and allowed default BU file name. Diff BU created = OK
Step 1: as per 4. Step 2: selected “CBU Test” folder and changed to custom file name. Diff BU created = OK
I also managed to to get CBU to close down along the way by choosing Diff + Make New, selecting Q part’ and then changing Make New option to Use Existing. I received Windows message about Check for Solutions or Close the Program. Bit bored by then and I didn’t take notes about these instances, but recall that, on the 3rd attempt CBU didn’t close and gave me a CBU message “error” without closing. I’ll try and replicate this again in a while.
I also, optimistically, tried to add another partition (a USB memory stick) in a differential BU on Q. Wasn’t having any of it (as I expected really), but on this occassion, CBU kindly advised me to select only one partition. A few more of these advisory messages would be a boon. One I would really like to see (when running in manual mode) would be "Cannot create a diff/inc image - would you like to create a full BU with the following name … *******. Of course, in Scheduled BU mode, this would be irrelevant and then auto creation of new BU file name which didn’t include dif or inc would be a very big plus.
I’m liking CBU v3 very much, but there’s a steep learning/confidence curve.
