Backup Iguana is a simple PC backup program specifically designed for the corporate network environment. It provides a minimal number of very powerful features, a single-panel user interface, and requires no special knowledge of computer hardware, networks or special-purpose backup equipment.
You configure Backup Iguana to backup documents and important files on your computer on a folder by folder basis. The idea is to backup your documents to one of your network drives. You do this by building individual backup tasks. You provide Source Folder, Destination Folder, and File Mask for each folder you want to protect, and save this information as a list of Backup Tasks.
NOTE: Backup Iguana is a System Tray application. That means it's always running in the background even when you can't see the application form. Any time you wish to activate the application form just move your mouse over the Backup Iguana icon in your system tray (lower right-hand corner of your screen), click once, and a menu will popup. Select 'Configure Backup Iguana' from the menu and you'll be presented with the application form. Closing the application form will not stop Backup Iguana execution - it just hides the form until next time you need it. The only way you can actually terminate Backup Iguana is from the system tray.
Use this text box to specify the folder on your computer where you wish to backup your documents and files from. The source. If you can't remember where the folder is on your computer, or you are unsure of what to type in here, you can always click on the button on the right side of the text box, and browse your computer for folders to backup. It is best to use the browse button until you become comfortable with the application.
Use this text box to specify the folder where to backup your documents and files to. Corporate network users will normally have one or more network drive volumes readily available to select from. Again, if you can't remember how to type in the destination path then feel free to click on the button on the right side of the text box and browse for network drives and folders - just like you do with Microsoft File Explorer. When you've found a file on the network you like just click on the Apply button to indicate your choice. If you'd like, you can also create a new destination folder while browsing - maybe a folder with the word 'backup' somewhere in it.
The file mask is used to tell Backup Iguana what kind of files and documents to backup from the Source Folder. If you're familiar with Windows-style file masks, then you'll know that you can type in *.DOC for Word documents, or *.XLS for Excel documents, and so on. If this weird computer jargon seems strange to you, then feel free to click on the Wizard button and you'll be be guided through a short series of dialog panels that will build the file mask for you. If you want to provide multiple file masks for a given Source Folder, you will need to create multiple backup tasks.
The Update Backup Tasks frame contains three buttons: Add, Remove & Change. Backup Iguana will iterate through each line listed in the Backup Tasks listbox. Each line represents a unique backup task. You build each backup tasks one at a time by providing Source Folder, Destination Folder and File Mask information for each task - and then click on the Add button. If you need to update information for a given backup task, select (click) on the line in the Backup Tasks listbox and the parameters for the selected backup task will be displayed in the text boxes above: update what you need to then click on the Change button. If you want to remove a backup task, select the line from the Backup Tasks listbox and click on the Remove button.
This is a listbox which displays all of the backup tasks you have defined for Backup Iguana. Single-clicking on any backup task will copy the information from the listbox up to the text boxes above so you can review or edit information. If you right-click with your mouse over any of the lines shown in the Backup Tasks listbox, you will see a popup menu which will step you through restoring files from your backup folders. There's nothing special about the file restore procedure. If you understand where your backup files are kept, and feel comfortable using Windows File Explorer, you can copy backup files around anytime you wish. You don't need special software to access or restore backup files - Backup Iguana provides a simple dialog panel to help you as a courtesy feature.
| File | ||
| Backup Now | manually force a backup cycle now | |
| Return | make the application form invisible - but keep the application loaded | |
| Tools | ||
| Options | configure advanced settings | |
| Restore Files | initiates the built-in file restore dialog | |
| Help | ||
| Online Help | your here | |
| About | information about the version of Backup Iguana that you're running |
You can view/change the Advanced Settings by clicking on Tools, then Options.
Tells Backup Iguana to perform a backup cycle right after you've started your computer. This is the default.
Tells Backup Iguana to wake up at regular intervals to perform a backup cycle. The default is for this feature to be enabled and for the time interval to be 15 minutes. If a file is in use at the time any given backup cycle occurs, Backup Iguana will not backup the file - it will try again during the next backup cycle. When Backup Iguana performs backup cycles as a scheduled process, you will not see any indication that a backup is in process: it works quietly in the background for you.
Backup Iguana was designed for the average corporate citizen, a person who needs a simple no-nonsense approach to achieving basic data protection without the demands of learning yet another complex technology-driven knowledge set. Invest a minimal amount of time setting up the application, then forget about it.
Backup Iguana does not employ any special indexing, archiving, or compression algorithms. It just backs up files to a network file volume. If you should ever need any help in recovering or managing your backup folders no special tools, software or training is needed for support personnel. There is no need for special backup hardware or new peripheral devices. As such, please consider the total volume and level of complexity when designing your backup strategy.
Backup Iguana is an ideal laptop computer tool. It automatically detects when your designated backup network drive volume is available - and when it isn't it will just wait until later, rather than prompt you with endless dialog boxes and senseless error codes.
Because the data is never compressed or encrypted, you should refrain from backing up system files or software application files. Typically, these files can be reinstalled from a variety of sources at almost any time: it's your personal data that's harder to replace.
http://users.ethergate.com/taylorj/index.htm
