Step 1 - Find the protection plan restore time


In addition to restoring an individual file or a group of files, the software can restore an entire archive at a given point in time. Generally, you only need to restore an entire archive in the case of moving files, accidental deletion, restoring a system after a disk change or crash, etc.


The process of restoring an entire archive begins with finding the restore point for the archive you want to restore. Refer to Finding a Plan's Archive Restore Point.


Select the restore point you want to restore and the Explore and Restore buttons in the lower-right portion of the screen become active. Click Restore, and a Point-in-Time Restore dialog box appears.



Step 2 - Choose how to restore


There are three basic questions to answer when restoring a Files and Folders protection plan:


  • What location, or folder, should I choose to restore my files?
  • Should I replace existing files?
  • Should I remove extra files from the restore location?



Restore Location:


  • Original location - Your files can be restored to their original folder from which they were archived. This is the default operation. If the folder which contained the files at the time the files were archived no longer exists the software will create the folder.


  • Alternate location - You can restore your files to an alternate folder, that is, a folder different from the one(s) from which you archived the files. This option will preserve the folder structure of the archived data. That is, all folders and subfolders that existed when the protection plan archived the data will appear in the alternate folder you choose.


To restore to an alternate folder, click the Restore files to drop-down feature and click Alternate Location. When this action is done, the text next to Alternate location becomes active and is displayed as a blue link.


When the link Click here to select an alternate folder is clicked, a dialog window opens where you can choose a folder to restore the files.



Restore Options:


There are four options to choose from when replacing the files.


  • Choose Missing files if you do not want the restore operation to copy over files that are already in the restore location. This option only restores files that are not present in the folder where you have chosen to restore the files. You might choose this option to only copy files you believe are missing from a folder. If you have chosen to restore the archive to an alternate folder, then it is possible that all files will be restored since the alternate folder may not contain any of the files in the archive.


  • Choose Missing files and files that have changed if you want the restore operation to restore files that no longer exist in the folder (missing) and files that that have a different Last Modified Time than those in the restore point. You might choose this option to replace a file on your hard disk with a different version from the restore point. If you have chosen to restore to an alternate folder, then it is possible that all files will be restored since the alternate folder might not contain any of the files in the archive.


  • Choose Missing files and replace existing files if you want the restore operation to restore files that no longer exist in the folder (missing) and to replace all files in the restore location regardless of whether the archived files are newer or older. You might choose this option if you are rebuilding a particular area of your hard disk.


  • Choose Missing files, files that have changed, and remove extras if you want the restore operation to restore files that no longer exist in the folder (missing) and files that have a different Last Modified Time than those in the restore point, and remove all files and folders from the restore location that do not exist in the restore point. You might choose this option to replace a file on your hard disk with a different version from the restore point and remove any files that were created since this restore time. If you have chosen to restore to an alternate folder, then it is possible that all files will be restored since the alternate folder might not contain any of the files in the archive.


After choosing the options, click Restore, and the software will begin to restore the files. After the restore is complete you can view the log file for the restore by clicking View Log. A record of the restore will also appear in the results page under the corresponding protection plan name. You can view the record of the restore by clicking the History action. In the Action column, will be the word Restore and the date and time of the restore.