Target directory

Use the button on the right end of the field to select the drive and directory where your backup should be stored. The selected path appears in the text field.
 

The backup target can be a removable medium, network drive, hard drive, etc.. The backup can then be automatically copied or moved to tape, CD, DVD or BluRay. Do not use the main directory, but instead create a subdirectory for each backup.

A direct backup to a disc medium is only possible with a UDF burner software (such as PacketCD, DirectCD, InCD, Instant-Burn) because only then the disc drive offers writing access just like any other drive with its drive letter.

In Windows Vista and later, you can use a UDF  formatted DVD-RAM as a backup target without the need for additional software.

Archive Format/Backup Filename Extension

Windows recognizes files by their extension and will know, that D01BACK.ZDB is a backup file from Z-DBackup, because the extension .ZDB was registered for Z-DBackup at its installation. The backup file with extension .ZDB is created in the ZIP-Container format, containing a few adjustments for the needs of a backup.  If you prefer to use the .zip extension or want to create a chronological backup , you can change this setting here.

Files created with Z-DBackup with the extension .ZIP are compatible with the standard ZIP format , which can be used with PKZIP 8.0, SecureZIP 8.0, WinZip 9.0, WinRAR and 7zip, and many more. You can thus quickly, directly and securely access the backup files even without Z-DBackup.

Password and Encryption

The encryption feature of Z-DBackup offers you a possibility to protect confidential documents in your backups from unauthorized access. The backup file is encrypted with a user-defined password. The professional version of Z-DBackup offers two different encryption methods for backup files which you can select with the selection button.

The password can be between one and 32 characters long. Allowed characters are: 0-9, a-z, A-Z and the symbols !%/&()?.-;+:@*<># (no spaces). The password is case-sensitive; lowercase and uppercase letters are different.

 Generally, longer passwords (with eight or more characters) are more secure than shorter passwords, and passwords with letters and numbers are more secure than those which only consist of letters.

  Write down your password carefully! Without the password, you will not be able to access or restore your backups.
 

Shutdown computer

Use this option if you want the computer to be shut down automatically after backup.

 Automatic Backup Verification (Professional Version only)

This is a 1:1 comparison of the original data with the backup data. All files are compared.

 With larger backups, it may happen that files are changed by a user or the system while the backup is still running. In this case, Z-DBackup would mark the backup as faulty.

  Extended NTFS file information and NTFS permissions are not verified. Please regularly check the completeness and correctness of the backups!
 

Performs an integrity check of the created backup archive to ensure that it's internal structure is correct so that it can be restored.

Print Log File

Activate this option if the log file for the backup should be printed out automatically after backup.

 E-Mail Notification

Z-DBackup can send e-mails to a user-defined e-mail address. This option is especially useful for system administrators who want to use Z-DBackup on remote servers and still be notified about all backup results. The mail contains the time, date and backup log file. You can configure the sender and recipient data in the program settings – e-mail settings .
 

Link with another backup set

If you want several backup sets to start directly after one another (as one job) e.g. to copy data from two different drives or partitions, you can link backup sets with this option. This link is a forward link, i.e. A link from the current backup set will point to the backup set selected here. The backup set you select here will be started automatically after the current backup set has finished its backup task.

You can only link one backup set with one other backup set directly, but you could link the second backup set to a third one and thus concatenate as many backup-sets as you have.

Example:
You have 4 Backup Sets: Backup Set 1 to Backup Set 4

You link Backup Set 4 with Backup Set 2 (in the Settings of Backup Set 4).

The link can be imagined like this:    Backup Set 4 --> Backup Set 2

Now, when Backup Set 4 gets started, Backup Set 2 will start automatically after Backup Set 4 has finished.

You then link Backup Set 2 with Backup Set 3 (in the Settings of Backup Set 2)

 The links between the 3 backup sets can be imagined like this:    Backup Set 4 --> Backup Set 2 --> Backup Set 3

Now, when Backup Set 4 gets started, Backup Set 2 will start after Backup Set 4 hast finished and Backup Set 3 will start after Backup Set 2 hast finished.
Also, whenever Backup Set 2 gets started, Backup Set 3 will start automatically after Backup Set 2 has finished.
 

The shutdown option is disabled for linked backup sets because only the last backup set of one link chain can shut down the computer.

  In the freeware version it is not possible to batch-process linked backup sets, i.e. only the called backup set is processed!

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