What BackupMate does
Everything here is in the free download. Nothing is held back for a higher tier; plans differ only in how many PCs you can protect and whether support is included.
Backing up
Runs by itself
Installed as a Windows service, so backups run on schedule whether or not anyone is logged in. A PC that was switched off at backup time catches up when it comes back.
Schedules in plain words
Every day at a time, every few hours, or certain days of the week. The console says back what it will do. Cron expressions are there if you want them.
Pick folders by ticking them
Browse the PC's folders and tick what matters. One button adds Desktop, Documents and Downloads, including when they have been moved into OneDrive.
Open and locked files
Uses Windows' own snapshot service (VSS), so a file that is open in another program, such as a live accounts database, is still captured consistently.
Only what changed
After the first run, each backup sends only new and changed data. Identical content anywhere in the office is stored once, and everything is compressed.
Leave the junk out
Skip caches, build output and disk images with preset patterns. It can cut a backup to a fraction of its size.
One bad file does not stop the rest
If antivirus blocks a file, or one cannot be read, that file is skipped and reported by name. The other hundred thousand are still backed up.
You decide how far back
Keep so many hourly, daily, weekly and monthly backups. The console spells out what your numbers mean before you save them.
Getting files back
Pick a day, pick the files
Restore points are listed by date. Browse inside one and tick exactly what you want back, or take everything.
Find a file by name
Do not remember which folder it was in? Type part of the name, or a pattern such as *.xlsx, and tick it in the results. It searches the whole backup in seconds.
Restore where you choose
Back to where it was, or to another folder so you can compare before replacing anything. Files that are already there are kept unless you say otherwise, and only what is missing is written.
See how far it has got
A restore shows files and gigabytes done, the percentage and the time remaining, and carries on if you close the window.
When the PC itself is gone
If you choose to let the server hold the keys, an administrator can recover any machine's files from the server with no need for the broken PC: as a download, or written straight to a folder or drive for a large recovery. What that choice means.
Never locked behind a licence
Restore works on the free plan, during the trial, and after a paid licence has expired. Always.
Knowing it is working
Email alerts
When a backup fails, when a PC has not backed up for too long, and when it is healthy again. Uses your own mail account; a test button proves it works before you rely on it.
One page for every PC
The server's console lists each computer, when it last backed up, which version it runs and whether it is overdue.
History on every backup
Each PC shows its recent runs: what happened, how long it took, and the full reason when one failed. Intermittent problems show up here.
Errors written for people
"The server cannot be reached; this PC will try again by itself" rather than a number. And what to do about it, when there is something to do.
Keeping the backups safe
Encrypted on the PC
Files are encrypted with AES-256 before they are sent. By default the server holds only data it cannot read.
Only your PCs can connect
Each computer is issued its own certificate when you add it. Anything else on the network is refused, including for the stored backups themselves.
A recycle bin for the backups
Whatever a PC deletes or overwrites on the server is held for 30 days first. If malware on one machine tries to destroy the backups, an administrator puts them back.
Every sensitive action recorded
Who recovered whose files, who changed a setting, who retired a machine: written to the Windows Event Log with a name and a time.
Read the security page for the detail, including what BackupMate does not protect against.
What it is not
Better to know before you install than after.
Not a disk image tool
BackupMate backs up files and folders. It does not make a bootable image of a whole Windows installation, so rebuilding a dead PC means reinstalling Windows and your programs, then restoring your files.
Not an off-site copy
Your backups live on your server, in your office. A fire or theft that takes the server takes them too, unless you also copy the server's storage somewhere else. We recommend that you do.
Windows only
Both the server and the clients run on 64-bit Windows. There is no Mac or Linux client today.