Files Carbonite Will Not Backup
Submitted by Tom on Wed, 08/22/2007 - 20:47.
I've mentioned Carbonite online backup quite a bit (and it is great!), but got frustrated when I could not find out exactly which files it would backup and which files it would not. A quick email to the rapid response support team at Carbonite set the record straight. For those wanting to know, here are the files and directories that are excluded.
"The following folders are excluded from Carbonite backups:
"%WINDIR%\*",
"%TEMP%\*",
"%TMP%\*",
"\Recycler\*",
"\Recycle Bin\*",
"\System Volume Information\*",
"\MSOCache\*",
"\I386\*",
"\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\*", // skipped because most of this is system configuration stuff
"\Documents and Settings\*\Cookies\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Local Settings\History\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Local Settings\Temp*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\NetHood\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\PrintHood\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\History\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\NTUSER.DAT",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*\Cache\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Opera\Opera\profile\cache*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Microsoft\CryptnetUrlCache\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Yahoo! Desktop Search\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Google\Google Desktop\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Microsoft Help\*",
"\Documents and Settings\*\Application Data\Carbonite\*",
"\Program Files\Carbonite\Carbonite Backup\*",
"\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Clipart\*",The following file types are excluded from Carbonite backups:
.bak;.log;.cab;.cf1;.chm;.com;.cpl;.dll;.dmp;.drv;.evt;.exe;.inf;.ico;.iso;.jar;.lex;.lib;.msi;.msm;
.mst;.ocx;.otf;.pnf;.pf;.prn;.reg;.rll;.swf;.sys;.ttf;.tmp;.vxd;.chq;.chw;.hlp;.hxi;.hxq;
.hxr;.hxs;.abf;.afm;.bdf;.dfont;.eot;.fnt;.fon;.lwfn;.otf;.pfa;.pfb;.pfm;.suit;.ttc;.ttf;.ani;.ann;
.bmk;.cnt;.cpl;.cur;.dev;.drv;.dvd;.ffa;.ffl;.ffo;.ffx;.ftg;.fts;.gid;.grp;.idx;.img;
.ini;.ins;.ipf;.isp;.its;.kbd;.kext;.key;.msc;.msp;.nt;.plist;.pol;.pref;.prf;.pwl;.reg;
.scf;.scr;.sdb;.swp;.sys;.theme;.vga;.vgd;.vxd;.fxp;.jse;.obs;.prg;.rox;.shb;
.tms;.vbe;.wpk;.$$$;.$db;.113;.abk;.bac;.bck;.bcm;.bdb;.bkf;.bkp;.old;.rdb;
.win;.PCH;.SBR;.PDB;.OBJ;.BSC;.ILK;.NCB;.IDB;.v2i;.ost;.lnk;.vhd;.vmc;.vmdk;.vmsd;.vmx;.vmsn;system/;dtSearch*;Intermediate *;VMWare*;Virtual PC*;Virtual Machine*
Additionally, music and video files are excluded during free trial subscriptions of Carbonite.
Files that end in "_" or "~" don't get "Back this up" option in context menu. It means it's a compressed system file. It can be renamed (from the command line) to an extension w/out the "_" (underscore)or the "~"(tilde) and then you will get the backup option."
Make sure that the files you want to be backed up are not included in the above exclusions. Of special note is SQL database backup files are *.BAK by default. Change the file extension to get them included in the backup.
David: thanks for stopping by and thanks for the tip. However, one of the things that users should consider is that if they are relying on Carbonite to backup a file with these extensions, AND the file names themselves are dynamically created like scheduled SQL Server backup files, then this means the user must manually select the file each time one is created, which is not practical. With SQL Server backup files, a user can simply change the backup file extension, but that is not the case with other applications' backup files. Users of Carbonite should be aware that it is not always set and forget. Simply setting the directory to backup does not mean all the files will be sent to Carbonite servers.
I think it would be a good feature if the users could have just a little more control of what is excluded by default and what is not - make it an advanced feature - and that should solve it.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for this very helpful information. I have been reading about the online backup industry for a while now. Online backup is maturing and slowly getting the attention of the general consumer. One website worth mentioning is the backup review site:
http://www.BackupReview.info
This very informative site, not only posts up to date news and articles from the industry, but also lists about 400 online backup companies and ranks the top 25 on a monthly basis and features a CEO Spotlight page, where senior management people from the industry are interviewed.
Carbonite is storing ~35GB for me (4.95/mo.) but I’m limited to my internal drives. I can’t backup my USB drives. Cést la vié.
Just went through and completed (incomplete) a restore. While comparing some restored folders I discovered BIG GAPS in file listings.
I knew one has to right click and select “back this up” to enable exe, dll and others to be backed up. What I didn’t know is how many file types are excluded. I read that file names with underscores and folders named i386 were excluded. Wow, I happen to love using underscores in file names. Finally I found the complete list of file exclusions right here!
You will learn that Carbonite’s exclusions will make it impractical for any user doing serious work who has multi gigabytes of data. Imagin going folder by folder, file by file through thousands of files until one has found them all?!
I learned it is impossible to inventory/compare thousands of files to insure one is not missing something important.
I discovered how SLOW explorer runs when accessing the Carbonite Backup Drive. Mine crashed three out of five attempts. I NEVER was able to view the recovery log. My system would not display it. 2.4GHZ w/2GB RAM and sis 651 32MB video card.
It is my opinion that the online backup industry is in its infancy with lots of business models testing the waters. Consider Carbonites liberal definition of the term ‘unlimited’. http://www.nickstarr.com/2006/06/29/carbonite-when-unlimited-is-limited/
Thanks for this post Tom. I'll have to do some more research. Check out Life Hacker and Backup Review.
I am an application developer, and the main purpose of online backup for me is to back up my source code files.
One of my source code file types is .prg, which is excluded from Carbonite's backup, making it absolutely useless to me :(
Carbonite not allowing an override to these default exclusions is a huge short-sighted oversight. Furthermore, making users believe that setting a directory for backup means the files in the directory ARE backed up, without "shouting from the rooftops" that there are files not included is CRAZY.
Very disappointed.
I've checked my backup. Files with an underscore in the filename were backed up e.g. PCD25 025_1.jpg
A file with an underscore as the last character in the extension will not be backed up e.g. new document.tx_
Tom: Carbonite's CEO here. Your readers should know that you can easily override our default exclusions by just right clicking on any file or folder and selecting "back this up." The exclusions keep non-technical users from restoring everything to a new computer and messing it up.
David Friend, CEO
Carbonite.com