Carbonite Warning: Are you SURE it’s backed up?

First off, let me say that I love Carbonite and have it installed on both of our computers. It’s a great way to really have a “set it and forget it” offsite backup. I’m a big believer in having redundant backup processes, so Carbonite as my “stored elsewhere” backup is a great comfort to me.

However, recently I was the victim of a very complex virus attack. Despite having every precaution in place, I caught an insidious virus that basically copied all of my important files (including a .doc file of passwords, my Roboform data folder, all of my photos, etc) and placed them in a separate user account where they were accessed remotely.

Excuse my language, but this past month has been hell on Earth for me computing-wise. Nearly 400 passwords needed to be changed (imagine doing THAT for a two weeks straight) and I still don’t know the extent to what was stolen.

Whew! Anyway, back to Carbonite. I wasn’t too concerned at first when my computer was basically haunted by this virus, would freeze up and shut down on it’s own. My theory was, “Hey, I have Carbonite so all of my files are safe!”

Well, ALMOST all of them were.

Remember how I called Carbonite a “set it and forget it” process? Not exactly….as much as I love Carbonite and religiously make sure it’s updated and working for me, I was not aware of a very important piece of fine print regarding file types that Carbonite will and more importantly, WON’T backup by default unless you specifically tell it to.

See, I was under the impression, as I think many people are, that if you select a folder for backup, then all of the sub-folders and files are automatically selected as well.

That actually is the case, UNLESS you have files of different file types (extensions) which Carbonite does NOT automatically backup. Among these, to my great surprise, VIDEO FILES!

How many of you have video files mixed into your Pictures sub-directory in your Documents and Settings folder? Probably many of you. I would imagine that most people who have a digital camera with a video mode have probably dozens or even hundreds of these files on their computers.

The kicker is….Carbonite doesn’t automatically back them up, even if they are in a “backed up” folder. It just skips over them. So you may THINK your video files are backed up along with your regular photos, but they aren’t…unless you tell Carbonite specifically to do so.

Luckily, I caught this before there was a major disaster. But how many people still don’t have their file types setup to include video files? Probably most. So here’s how to tell Carbonite to back up video files:

1. Go into a folder on your computer where video files are located.

2. Right-click on a video file and select, “Properties” and then select the “Carbonite” tab. Then select, “Back up files of this type within folders selected for backup”.

3. Then, make sure your upper-most level folders that have video files are selected for backup. By default, Documents and Settings in Windows is backed up, but if you are storing files elsewhere on your main drive, be sure to select a top-level folder to make sure everything below it is being backed up.

4. Check your folders and make sure there is an orange dot next to your video files. If you’re really in a panic over this, right-click on the video files individually and selected “back up this file as soon as possible” to push it up in queue.

Think you have Carbonite figured out now? Guess what? There’s more….I have two more SUPER IMPORTANT things you probably don’t know about Carbonite that I need to tell you in my next post so be sure to stay tuned for it. They both highlight two MORE exclusions that most Carbonite users don’t know about that could make or break your backup.

Come back in the next day or so for more….and pass this on because so many people use Carbonite and love it, but I think you can only truly trust your backup system when you know it inside and out.

P.S. For a “heads up” on my next Carbonite warning post, why not follow me on Twitter?
http://www.twitter.com/jenknox