Failsafe Backups

When Password Safe exits normally, you are prompted if there are unsaved changes to the database. However, if you log off your Windows session, shutdown or restart your PC, then Password Safe may not have the opportunity to prompt you (the exact behaviour depends on the type of shutdown and the version of Windows).

In this case, Password Safe will attempt to make a "Failsafe Backup" (file extension 'fbak'). This will be created in the same directory as the currently open database. The current database and its "regular" backups will not be touched.

When the original database is opened again, Password Safe will check for the existence of any Failsafe Backup file and, if found, will display a dialog similar to that below.

The first row is the specified database followed by general information about it (the same as shown in the Properties dialog from the File menu). This is followed by the Failsafe Backup file(s). If they can be opened with the same passphrase as the currently open database, then their properties are also displayed. If they have a different passphrase or are not a valid database, then a 'No' is displayed in the Passphrase column and no properties are displayed.

Your choices are as follows:

• Continue

  Clicking on this causes Password Safe to ignore all Failsafe backup files and continue with the currently selected database.

• Select

  The selected Failsafe Backup file will be opened instead of the currently selected database.

• Delete

  This will delete the selected Failsafe Backup file. If Windows supports a Recycle Bin on this media (usually only local disks), it will be moved there. If not, it will be permanently deleted.

• Exit

  If this is the first database opened on the startup of Password Safe, Password Safe will exit. If not, the new open will be cancelled and the existing opened database, if any, will remain open.

• Help

  Displays this Help topic.

Suggestions:

• If you are unable to choose, continue with the current database and use the database Compare function from the File menu to show the exact differences between the current and the Failsafe backup(s).
• If you do open a Failsafe Backup and have decided that it is the version you wish to keep, you should save it as a normal database. When you do, consider renaming the original first or save the Failsafe Backup with a completely new name.
• Once you are satisfied that you have recovered the correct database, either the original or a Failsafe Backup, you should delete any old Failsafe Backups so that you will not be prompted to decide at a later date. Note: If you use this dialog to delete these files, they will be sent to the Recycle Bin, if your version of Windows supports it on the media containing them.

Note: There is nothing that ANY application can do to save information if the PC is just switched off, loses power or the processor, the hard disk or any other component fails. As with all data important to you, you should backup your data to another media regularly. This could be to USB pen drives, external hard disks, network drives, CDs or DVDs etc. These backups should be stored somewhere safe.