Wirefly.com has partnered with software designer Spare Backup, Inc. and available exclusively at Wirefly.com, this innovative storage solution safeguards cell phone and computer data against loss, damage or theft and eliminates the need to manually transfer content between devices.
The Wirefly Mobile Backup PC Backup uses "smart backup technology" to detect whether or not you're using your computer. If you are, it backs up your files slowly, conserving resources for your use; if not, it harnesses all the power and connectivity available to back you up as quickly as possible, either way it should not significantly slow your computer.
Right after the installation you should go through the Wizard and modify the Presets and to manually include or exclude any additional files. Your computer will to the start the first backup after the idle time or on the schedule you have selected.
The first time you start a backup, a full system scan is performed based on the Presets and the manually include or exclude additional files settings. Any files found that match these settings are backed up and then added to the Monitored Files List.
Scheduled Backups
When the built-in scheduler is enabled, the program will perform backups based on the time and days of the week that have been selected. All scheduled backups perform a full system scan based on the Presets and the manually include or exclude additional files settings. The default setting for the feature is set to disable.
Manual Backups
All manually started backups are immediate and perform a full system scan based on the Presets and the manually include or exclude additional files settings.
The PC Backup program maintains a list of all files that are prepared for backup, along with the backup history of each one. So if your computer has power failure, crashes or loses connectivity, it will mark any remaining files and upload them during the next backup.
Whenever you like! Right click the PC Backup Icon by your clock, pick Backup Now!
PC Backup is designed to run backups when your computer has been idle for more than 5 minutes or based on the schedule you have selected.
You may choose where your files are backed up, either online or offline. When you backup online, your files are stored remotely on our secure data servers. When you backup offline, your files can be stored to a CD/DVD, local Hard Disk or Network Drive
The recovery is usually completed in less than 5 minutes but will continue until finished.
During a Recover All - PC Backup will recover all the backed up files and place them back on your hard disk drive (usually to C:), recreating the original file path and folders.
When recovering individual files - PC Backup places these in the Spare Recover folder onto the desktop for your convenience
Your account comes with 2GB of free storage, which is usually enough for most computer users. If you store pictures, videos or music files you may need to purchase an enhanced storage package to accommodate all of your needs. You may upgrade your account by selecting the Add Additional Storage link on the main left navigation or at the top (right) of nearly every page on the site.
You can add supported mobile devices and computers in the Storage section by selecting the Add Devices panel under the Storage Tab. Using the Add Device button you can add a Phone, desktop, or laptop computer by selecting the button below the appropriate icon. To complete the device registration you will need to download and install the specific software to the new device. Using the Edit Devices button you can edit the devices listed in the storage panel. Using the Remove Devices button enables you to delete any unwanted devices.
On the Storage section all button to view all files available. Select the Confirm Sync button. This will synchronize all the data between PCs.
There are no bandwidth / data transfer restrictions. For Phones without unlimited data service plans we recommend you use Wi-Fi, as you may incur additional charges from your wireless service provider for large amounts of data transfers.
The PC Backup software does not backup windows specific settings such as font sizes, screen resolution, wallpaper settings or theme preferences.
Spare Backup, Wirefly Mobile Backup's PC Backup partner does backup all items found on your desktop by default which does include items like shortcuts, files and folders.
Spare Backup does allow you to manually include files and folders to be included in the backup which are not part of the program on the default presets.
Financial data files from 2004 or later versions of Peachtree, Sage, Quicken®, QuickBooks®, Microsoft Money, Turbo Tax® and Tax Cut® are backed up by default.
Spare Backup, Wirefly Mobile Backup's PC Backup partner, does not backup program executable files by default due to licensing restrictions of these applications. Spare Backup is designed to backup the end user's data files and not the software applications. For example, we do not backup your Microsoft Word program, but we do backup your Microsoft Word documents by default.
You cannot directly modify your files on the server. Files that are stored on our servers only allow two user operations; save (recover) and delete.
Yes, you must maintain your Internet or network connection until the PC backup process is complete.
A large file (PDF, movie, music, etc) can take some time to backup. The program will appear as though it is not moving through the list of files, this is normal. Once the file has been backed up, the program will move on to the next file to be transferred to the Data Center.
The amount of time it takes to complete the Initial Backup will depend on a variety of factors; the amount of memory within your computer, the processor speed of your computer, your Internet upload connection speed, and the amount of data to be backed up. Spare Backup will work to accomplish this by scaling back on the memory and computer resources automatically so as not to impact your productivity and this Initial backup may take a few days. Once your computer's data is backed up completely, subsequent backups will be relatively brief as only new or changed files are backed up.
A typical consumer DSL (128 Kbps — kilobits per second) will be able to send approximately 1 GB (Gigabyte) of data every 23 hours.
Most cable Internet providers limit the speed at which you can upload data. Most providers offer 384 Kbps, (Kbps = 1000 bits per second). Example, backing up a 1 GB file will take a little over 5 hours, a 5 GB file will take a little over 1 day, a 10 GB file will take a about 2.5 days, a 25 GB file will take almost 6 days, and a 50 GB file will take around 11 days and 18 hours.
Fiber Optic and some Cable providers do offer higher upload speeds. Contact your provider for additional information.
2 GB of data backup is provided free, you may add additional storage based upon your needs. The Wirefly Mobile Backup solution has various storage thresholds so you can locate the most cost effective solution for your storage needs.
File Status Backup Indicators (dots) are a helpful feature of the PC Backup software. When a file is found for backup during the scan it is flagged with a YellowFile Status Indicator (dot), once this file has been backed up the indicator color changes to Green. If the file is then modified, the indicator changes to Yellow, which indicates the file needs to back up. If a file fails to be backed up, it will be marked in Red.
Yes, open data files that are in use are backed up.
Your backups are stored at a Tier 3 Data Center for your protection.
"What is a Tier 3 Data Center?"
A Data Center that meets the standard that is defined in TIA-942 is considered a Tier 3 Data Center. This includes items like multiple active power and cooling distribution paths, redundant components (N+1), UPS and generator, cable and hardware layout, all for the purpose of reducing downtime in the event of a disruption. In comparison to a Tier 1 or 2 Data Centers, the Tier 3 Data Center is superior as the Tier 1 and 2 do not meet the above requirements. The redundancies built into a Tier 3 Data Center further expand and enhance on the availability and security of your data.
"Why is this important to me?"
Your data is safe!
To recover files to a different PC go to the Wirefly Mobile Backup Portal (http://wirefly.com/backup) and select the Storage section. In the My Devices panel select Add/Remove Device. You can then synchronize the files between PC's by installing the On-line client; you can recover files to the newly registered computer.
Only you do! Once your files are backed up, the only way to unlock your Wirefly Mobile Backup storage and recover your files is with all three parts of your account identification: Email - Password - Key code. And no one but you knows all three parts because we do not store your Key.
Our products are designed to avoid costly IT infrastructure investments. All you need is your home/office computer, operating at the system requirements and a Broadband/dedicated Internet connection.
Most files and file types are selected for you by the Presets. These are detected during your initial scan. If you need to add new files or folders that are not automatically detected by PC Backup for backup, follow these steps.
To Include Files:Automatic Upload Speed - Allows the PC Backup program to dynamically adjust the speed of the backup based on computer usage.
Choose Your Upload Speed - Adjustable slider used to select the speed at which the PC Backup program uploads the data onto the Internet, selectable range from 256Kbps, 512Kbps, and 1,024 Kbps to the Maximum upload speed available on your network connection. By adjusting the slider one can adjust the interaction the program has with Internet upload usage.
Custom Upload Speed - Manually enter a backup speed, which the program is to use.
To adjust the Backup Speed, perform the following:
During a backup the program uses a list (Presets) of over 290+ known computer application data file types and folders to select which files from your computer to backup. By default, all the file types and folders in the list are enabled and any file or folder matching the list will be selected during the backup process. The file types (grouped into categories), and folders can be enabled or disabled from being selected for backup.
To change the Presets, perform the following:
Auto Pause is a feature that allows the program to pause itself, after a period of no user activity, when it detects mouse or keyboard activity. The design of this feature is to return the computer resources it is currently using (free them up) so they are available for the immediate needs of the application being called on by the mouse or keyboard activity. By default this feature is enabled.
To enable or disable Auto Pause backups, perform the following:
When Idle Time Backup is enabled, every minute the program will check to see if your computer is idle, if it is idle it checks to see if a backup has been run in the last hour. If no backups have been performed in the past hour, one will start; if it has backed up in the last hour a backup will not start and the program will check again in 1 minute. The default setting for the feature is set to enable.
When Idle Time Backup starts, it looks to see if it has any files to backup by checking the Monitored Files List to see if any new or known files have changed since the last backup. If it finds any in the list it will back them up. In this backup state no full system scan is performed.
If more than 24 hours have passed since the last backup or Presets have been modified since the last full scan, the program will perform a full system scan and will backup any new or modified files matching the Presets and the manually include or exclude additional files settings.
Every minute the program will check to see if your computer is idle, if so, it then checks to see if a backup has been run in the last hour. If no backups have been performed in the past hour, it will scan and select files that have changed since the last backup and then performs a backup of these selected files, ensuring that the most recent data from your computer is always being backed up to our secure servers. If it has backed up in the last hour a backup will not start and the program will check again in 1 minute. By default this feature is enabled.
To enable or disable Idle Time Backup, perform the following:
To schedule a backup, perform the following:
You may view Reports and Capacity in the Reports and Storage Capacity box.
Total space available and used is displayed on the Account Storage Capacity indicator at the top of nearly every web page.
Wirefly Mobile Backup partnered with Spare Backup, Inc. to products are designed anto be unobtrusive, easy-to-use PC backup product. To see if this nearly-invisible product is backing up successfully, look for the light blue Spare Backup icon in your system tray (bottom right hand corner of your computer's desktop, near the clock). It will turn dark blue when uploading files to storage and green when recovering them.
You can view detail Reports of your backups from within the Spare Backup program. Built into the Spare Backup program is an on-demand reporting function that displays reports broken down by the Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Last 30 days and All Files backed up. The reports list the files that have been backed up broken down by Name, Size, Last Backup and Status.
Select Storage from the Side Bar. You may view your files by Category or Folders. If you know the name of the file or file type, you may run a search from search box
You can manually add a file(s) and/or folder(s) to be backed up using Windows Explorer by performing the following:
You can manually remove a file(s) and/or folder(s) from being backed up using Windows Explorer by performing the following:
Most online e-mail services have an option to save e-mail text files onto your computer. Add this folder to the Manually Include for Backup files to include them.
To recover a single file or files using the program, perform the following:
To recover all your data using the product software, perform the following:
To install using Netscape or Firefox:
After filling out the enrollment screen at the Wirefly Mobile Backup website (http://wirefly.com/backup), perform the following:
After installation is complete you will arrive at the Spare Backup Home menu.
To install PC Backup using Internet Explorer(IE):
After filling out the enrollment screen at the Wirefly Mobile Backup website (http://wirefly.com/backup):
After installation is complete you will arrive at the Spare Backup Home menu.
To see if the PC Backup software can run on your computer, please compare the following Minimum System Requirements when displaying your computer's System Properties Information.
Minimum System Requirements:
To view your computer's System Properties Information, perform the following:
This FAQ applies only to Windows XP. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, you already have the needed updates for PC Backup.
Windows updates are critical on your computer to ensure you have the most recent software updates on your computer, ensure you are protected against virus and malicious software that could damage your computer, plus ensure that software runs correctly.
Unfortunately, the default settings for Windows Updates are not sufficient to ensure your computer software runs smoothly.
The PC Backup software utilizes Microsoft .net Framework 3.0 to allow the best customer experience and user interface. To ensure your computer is compatible with Spare Backup and fully up to date, we have created an easy tutorial on how to run your Windows Updates correctly.
To run Windows Update, perform the following:
To uninstall the program, perform one of the following:
For Windows XP:
For Vista or Windows 7:
To download and reinstall the software, perform the following:
While in the Storage section enter the devices panel. Select the Edit Devices button. This action will bring up the devices edit pop-up menu. You can change any required data for the selected device and then click save to modify the information.
To delete a device select Remove Device, a dialog box will appear. Choose the device you want to delete and select the delete button. Once a device is deleted it the action can not be reversed. If you decide to add that device to your account the appropriate software would need to be re-installed.
In the Storage section select the PC Sync panel. From here you may synchronize the files stored on your PC devices. Select the files you want to sync and the applicable devices then hit the confirm sync button.
In the Storage section select the Manage Files Tab. You can choose the Select All or Deselect All button, or individually choose to save a file based on the display of all file categories or select a specific file type in order to narrow down the process.
Open the Storage section and select Manage My Account. In this section you can change your e-mail address, password, update your credit and personal information. After you have completed the updates to you account select the Update My Account button.
On the top right hand side of the Storage section select the Add Additional Storage button, and follow the instructions for upgrading your storage amount.
On the Manage Files page enter the name of the file desired in the Search Files box. If you do not recall the name of the file you can select the appropriate file Category and manually look through similar file types to access the specific file(s) requested.
Select Storage from the Side Bar. You may view your files by Category or Folders. If you know the name of the file or file type, you may run a search from search box
Wirefly Mobile Backup is designed for backup and recovery of files, and deleting files defeats the purpose of an archived backup of your data. To delete file(s) from your online backup account, open the Wirefly Mobile Backup web site (http://wirefly.com/backup) and select the Storage section. In this section enter the Manage Files area. Choose the device that contains the files you wish to delete then select the Delete Device button under the device you wish to delete. When you have completed selecting the files for deletion select the Confirm Here button, the files will be deleted from your storage account.
Enter the Storage section of the portal and select Manage My Account. At the bottom of the page is the Cancel My Account link. Select the link and the Cancel Account pop-up is displayed. Check the box entitled I want to cancel my account now, enter your password, and then type in the code displayed to confirm.
If you cancel, your stored files are automatically deleted after 30 days.
Yes, 64-bit Operating Systems are supported. A 64-bit Operating System is generally used on computers that can take advantage of the 64-bit address space, registers and data paths built into their processors.
PCs and Laptops with Intel Core Duo processors that are booted directly from a Microsoft Windows Vista or Microsoft Windows XP Operating Systems are supported.
Yes, you do need Administrator rights on your computer to add software and to begin a service, both of which happen when Spare Backup installs the PC Backup software. If you don't have these rights and want to use PC Backup, contact the person responsible for your computer's administration for help.
Program Compatibility Mode is a function of Windows that allows for programs written for earlier versions of Windows to run under the latest release of Windows. Example: an older program written for Windows 2000 that is running poorly or not at all under Windows XP can be run under Program Compatibility Mode, set to Windows 2000, to simulate the earlier version of Windows.
The PC Backup software is supported on the following Microsoft Windows Operating Systems:
Microsoft Windows Vista:All Versions
Microsoft Windows XP:All Versions
Microsoft Windows 7:All Versions
Listed below are the preset file extensions and folders by category used by the PC Bakup software. When backing up using the Online option, the following extensions and folders are set to be backed up as default except as noted below.
| Documents | Acrobat Reader | |
| Corel WordPerfect | .wpd, .wpf | |
| Text Documents | All files found in this folder are backed up | |
| My Documents folder | ||
| Graphic Design | Adobe Illustrator CS | .ai, .eps |
| Adobe Photoshop | .psb, psd | |
| Finance | Peachtree | .ptb, .ptdb |
| Sage | .skf, .ski, .sko, .skp, .soa | |
| Intuit QuickBooks | .qba, .qbw, .qbb | |
| Intuit Quicken | .idx, qdf, .qdi, .qdt, .qel, .qif, .qph, .qsd | |
| Intuit Turbo Tax | .tax | |
| Microsoft Money | .mny, .mbf | |
| Internet | Internet | .css, .dtd, .htm, .html, .js, .xml, .xslt |
| My Favorites folder | All files found in this folder are backed up | |
| Music | My Music folder | All files found in this folder are backed up |
| Music | .mp3, .au, .asf, .aiff, .wav., .mp4 | |
| Microsoft Outlook Express | .dbx, .msg, .wab | |
| Outlook folder (2003+) | All files found in this folder are backed up | |
| Digital Images | My Pictures | All files found in this folder are backed up |
| My Video | All files found in this folder are backed up | |
| Pictures | .bmp, .gif, .jpeg, .jpg, .png, .tif, .tiff, .bmpf, .cur, .exif, .ico, .img, .xbm | |
| Microsoft Office | Microsoft Word | .doc, .docm, .docx, .dot, .dotm, .dotx |
| Microsoft Power Point | .potm, .potx, .ppam, .pps, .ppsm, .ppsx, .ppt, .pptm, .pptx, .sidm, .sidx, .thmx | |
| Microsoft Publisher | .bdr, .pub | |
| Microsoft Project | .mpd, .mpp, .mpt | |
| Microsoft Visio | .dw4, .vdx, visio4, .vsd, .vsl, .vss, .vst, .vtx | |
| Microsoft Info Path | .xml, .xsn | |
| Microsoft Access | .accdb, .accde, .accdr, .accdt, .mdb, .mde, .mdn, .mdv, .mdw | |
| Microsoft Excel | .xla, .xlam, .xls, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .xlt, .xltm, .xltx, .xlw | |
| Microsoft OneNote | .one | |
| Microsoft Excel | .xla, .xlam, .xls, .xlsb, .xlsm, .xlsx, .xlt, .xltm, .xltx, .xlw | |
| Misc. | Manually Included files | All files found in the manually included list are backed up. |
| Desktop Files | All files found in the manually included list are backed up. |
Our servers are compliant with N+1 electrical power redundancy specifications. N+1 requires 2 power sources for each archive server and a 72 hour emergency generator to provide electricity in case of a catastrophic loss of local power.
We use redundant RAID 5 Servers to provide fail-safe data backup. RAID 5 servers are comprised of 4 linked, high capacity hard drives. Rather than writing to only one disk which could fail, RAID 5 Servers write to three disks concurrently. Should one disk fail, the spare disk immediately picks up where the other left off, ensuring continuity of data.
Ensure that the software program that uses these files is on the new computer. For example, did you back up a Microsoft Office 2007 files off your old computer but you don't have Microsoft Office 2007 software on the new computer yet? If so, re-install the software on the new computer to view the files.
In addition, Microsoft Office 2007 has new features and functionality, and has changed the file types associated with Office. For example, Microsoft Word 2007 Documents are now labeled as .docx instead of .doc.
If your new computer uses Microsoft Office XP or 2003, there is a Compatibility Pack available from Microsoft that will allow older version of Microsoft Office (XP and 2003) to view and edit the new Microsoft Office 2007 files. Please use this link to download the Compatibility Pack to enable your computer to view and edit the newer version of Microsoft Office files: Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats
The popup window message stating that a Network Resource is Unavailable is an indication that the PC Backup software installation is not functioning correctly.
In order to stop the reoccurring Network Resource is Unavailable message, the installation of PC Backup will need to be removed.
This issue is caused by the realignment of the Spare Backup software modules during an installation or upgrade and occurs only on computers running the Microsoft Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Operating System.
Reboot the computer to finish the installation or upgrade. After the reboot your computer and Spare Backup will function normally. A future pending release of Spare Backup will address this issue.
When creating a Network Mapped Drive the Reconnect at Login setting must be selected.