Resco Backup for Pocket PC (v1.20)

• Overview
• Quick Tour
• Screenshots

10 steps to master backup

First Contact

This screen opens when you launch Resco Backup for the first time.

You can customize the backup — setup where the data will be stored, which method will be used etc.

For the time being we recommend to leave the predefined settings and simply click "Done". The project is setup to backup the complete device (Messages, PIM, Registry, Databases and the whole file system).

Basic Screen

Besides the two big buttons BACKUP and RESTORE, the screen informs you about the completion status of the last backup and about the nearest scheduled backup.

First Backup

Let's start and press the big BACKUP button. First backup will take a while.

At the end you will get a summary with the option to preview full details. If anything went wrong, the details list would start with red items containing brief error text.

Tap any row and you'll get additional explanation about that item.

The result of the backup is called a backup set. Depending on your preferences you can have multiple backup sets.

After Backup

Main screen changed: The green icon says the backup was completed successfully. If you tap the status icon, you get additional explanation. This is useful when you see the error icon.

Press Backup again. Unlike the first backup, this one will be much faster as it updates only modified files. (We call this incremental backup or Update.)

Other Tools

New Backup - creates a new backup set. You can have as many backup sets as you wish.

Update - brings the last backup set up-to-date. When you tap Backup button, you do actually Update.

Verify - checks if the last backup is up-to-date. It compares byte-by-byte your device content vs. data stored in backup.

Backup Sets - lets you manage your backup sets.

Setup - use to customize the backup, i.e. select files you want to store, set encryption or compression.

Schedule - allows you to setup backups performed regularly in your absence.

Verify

Select Verify to check the backup set. The figure shows two differences. (!= means not equal. Note that in case of registry items the differences are normal.)

OK indicates that files are equal.

Tap any row to get additional info about that file.

Verify provides:

1. Error checking
2. Info about the files that are not up-to-date.
3. Targeted update: Select Menu->Update to backup all different items.

Restore

While Backup saves your files, Restore does the opposite - it returns the PDA to the state saved in the past.

To see the Restore in action return to the main screen and press Restore. Then choose a backup set and select
Menu->Restore.

Restore II

The next screen allows you to select the restore type:

Full Restore should be used after hard reset. Remember this rule, it can save you from future problems.

Partial Restore allows selection of just those files you want.

Partial Restore

Here is the screen after you tap Select Files… button:

You can select or deselect any file from the backup set you want or don't want to restore.

Messages / PIM data / Registry / System Databases must be restored as a whole.

Once you press Restore button, all selected files will be restored.

Verify & Restore

This is another cool Restore feature:
Select Menu->Verify in the first Restore screen to compare your device vs. selected backup set.

Best of all is that you can restore just the differences. It is faster, it is safer and it allows you to resume an interrupted restore.

Some people would like to do more and to decide which of the different files will be restored. Well, it can be done, but you need to use the more complex Diff tool.

Do you want more?

Then switch to the Advanced Mode. You can use backup projects (anybody interested in saving just contacts?) or the tools such as Diff.

And, of course, we did not talk about the scheduling. It's no big deal to setup regular backup to say every midnight.