• Why should I backup my files offsite?
• How do I sign up?
• How do I see how much actual storage I am using?
• Why does my actual storage differ from what it shows in the My Secure Backup program?
• How do I perform a Backup Cleanup?
• Can I get an email when my backup completes?

Why should I backup my files offsite?

Most everyone understands the need for backups. People will purchase external hard drives to attach to their computer and backup their data thinking they have all of their files backed up. Most of the time, they are correct. However, people do not always think about the unforeseen disaster such as fire or theft, flooding or power surges. In these circumstances, data stored on your primary system as well as data stored on your backup drive could be lost or damaged. If a fire occurs when you are not home, where is your backup drive? Attached to the computer you were backing up? What happens when a fire starts and you lose everything? What about theft? How important is your data to you?

How do I sign up?

Sign up on the signup page. Once you sign up, you will receive an email that your account is now active. It will also indicate the initial prorated price for the rest of that month.

How do I see how much actual storage I am using?

Once you have an account, you can login to the backup report page. This will allow you to see your current usage. You can also see your past usage, history and invoices.

Why does my actual storage differ from what it shows in the My Secure Backup program?

This is a very large area of confusion. Most likely the setting in the backup program for previous versions is higher than normal. The default is to keep previous versions of any files that are backed up. In case you delete them, or change something, you can get an older version back. However when you do this, you are charged for storing additional data for keeping previous versions. (Please see the User Manual for further instruction). Here is what the default options would look like:


If you'd like to turn off storing previous versions completely, you can setup it up like this:


A suggested option to keep some previous versions in case you do delete a file that you need, would be to keep only 1 copy around (see screen shot below). This will keep previous versions around for 30 days. You can also clean-up previous versions, this is a manual process.


There is another setting under Backup Options that specifies Remove locally deleted files from my remote backup. You will want to ensure that this is checked; otherwise a manual Backup Cleanup will be needed frequently. This option still honors your previous versions settings.

How do I perform a Backup Cleanup?

In the drop-down menu, you will need to pick Online Disk (or Bucket in older versions), then Backup Cleanup. This will check all of your backup files on your computer, and the offsite location. It will then prompt you to remove the files it found. If you want to see the files before you delete them, just check the box indicating Preview files and directories to clean up.

Can I get an email when my backup completes?

Yes. Just go into your backup report page and change your settings. You can request to be emailed each time a backup finishes.