What is a preset? Creating a new preset
Preset is a set of files containing the following information:
| • | What files and folders are to backup. |
| • | What parameters should be used to pack files (for example, compression level). |
| • | Where the archive should be copied to. |
| • | What kinds of media are to be used to store the archive (CD, FTP, LAN...). |
| • | When the obsolete archives should be deleted. |
| • | What other tasks should accompany the process (for example, external programs). |
All this information is needed to customize backup creation processes. Luckily, you don't have to set up all these settings every time - most of them are already set to default values that work well in most cases.
You can create unlimited number of presets for different purposes. For example:
| • | My Documents. This preset can be used to store your private documents. |
| • | My Project. If you are a programmer or a web-designer, you probably want to back up your work as often as possible to be able to undo undesirable changes at any moment. |
| • | Configuration files and registry. Here you can store configuration files for your programs and Windows Registry. If Windows happens to crash, you will be able to quickly restore most of your settings. |
| • | Pictures and music. If you have a source of photos [Digital camera] or music [Web] you probably store these new files in your hard disk until you have enough of them to write a complete CD. If you don't want to lose them because of your system's crash, you can create temporary backups of them time after time and write them to a CD-RW. |
If you back up one and the same set of files with different settings to different media, it is recommended to specify the media name in the preset name to prevent confusion, for example:
Customer database (to HDD)
Customer database (to FTP)
If you are going to have a lot of presets, it is recommended to give them reasonable names containing their group name at the beginning. For example, if the whole family uses OCB, you can use such names:
Dad_Documents
Dad_Email
Dad_Photos
General_Internet_Favorites
General_Settings
General_Windows Registry
Mom_Books
Mom_Documents
Son_Documents
Son_Images
Son_Schoolwork
If you use alphabetic sorting (default), each user will be able to easily find his/her own set of presets. Moreover, OCB allows to attach small images to every preset, so it's possible to use, for instance, a dog image for dad's presets, a cat image for mom's presets and a fish image for son's presets while common presets can have an icon showing a computer.
Now that you have decided what files to backup, you can create a preset. Click right mouse button on Preset Table (the top list in the main window). In the pop-up menu select "Add new".
SEE ALSO:
How do I set up a simple preset to test OCB?
What files do I need to back up and how often?
Preset configuration - saving and loading default settings.
Preset configuration - General tab.
Preset configuration - Actions tab.