BitSilo by MollieSoft - Frequently Asked Questions
	- Updated March 9, 2023 for Version 1.3.4.0.

What is BitSilo?
	- BitSilo creates timestamped backups for files and directories you specify.
	- Create multiple backup sets, each containing a different set of files or directories to be backed up.
	- Create a full backup to save all the specified files; create an incremental backup to save only those files that have changed since the last backup.
	- Exclude files from the backup using any part of the file folder or file name.
	- Each backup set can be run manually at any time, or automatically on a daily/weekly/monthly schedule; optionally wake the computer from sleep to run a scheduled full/incremental backup.
	- Search for and restore files from any backup using a flexible query language to find files.
	- Backup files can be stored in a BitSilo "Silo" format (recommended), or in a normal folder, or as a zip file (but zip size is limited to about 1.8 GB).  The silo format is extremely efficient and has no size limitations.
	- Automatic cleanup of old backups with flexible rules governing which recent backups to keep.
	- Backup Journal shows the complete past results (files backed up and any errors) for all backup runs.  See files being backed up in real time for the current run.
	- Verify (compare) files in any backup against the original source files, either automatically after each run, or at any later time.
	- Removable (USB) drives containing backup archives (or files/folders to back up) are recognized by volume serial number, not by the drive letter (which can vary).
	- Secure storage of logon credentials for network folders if desired.

How do I install BitSilo?
	- Go to www.molliesoft.com/BitSilo to download the install package.  You will need administrator privileges on your machine to perform the install.

What operating systems will run BitSilo?
	- BitSilo runs on Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.
	- BitSilo requires the .NET Framework version 4.6.1 to run.  This should normally already be present; if the BitSilo installation process detects it is not installed, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49982 and install it.

How do I run BitSilo?
	- The install process will place a shortcut to BitSilo in your Startup folder, so it will start when you log on to your computer.
	- BitSilo should always be running so that it can run schedules and automatically back up files for you; just minimize it to the system tray instead of closing BitSilo.
	- The install process also places a separate shortcut to BitSilo on your desktop, so that you can start BitSilo manually.

I clicked the "Minimize" button (on the upper right of BitSilo); where did it go?  
	- When minimized, the BitSilo icon will appear in the System Tray (normally at the bottom right of the desktop).  (If you do not see it there, click the small up-arrow in the tray marked "Show hidden icons".)  Just double-click the tray icon to show BitSilo in a normal window again.  Note that Windows lets you customize the System Tray to make the BitSilo icon stay in the visible portion of the tray if desired.  You can also use the BitSilo desktop shortcut to make BitSilo appear on the screen again.

What will happen to BitSilo when the trial period expires?
	- After the 60-day trial period, BitSilo will start but only allow you to purchase a license if desired.  Without a license, BitSilo will no longer run as before.  A license entitles you to run BitSilo permanently on a single computer.

If I upgrade to the next version of BitSilo, will my permanent license still be valid?
	- Yes.  A permanent license for BitSilo is a license forever; you can safely upgrade to any new version and your license will still be valid.
	- Even if you only have a trial license, you can upgrade BitSilo to a new version without affecting the expiration date of your license.

How can I learn more about how BitSilo works?
	- This FAQ is the main source of information about BitSilo.
	- While running BitSilo, tooltips are available on most controls, including the column headings of most lists.  Hover the mouse on these areas to see the tooltips.
	- Some windows, such as Search Files, have a separate help area which can be made visible by checking the "Show help" box on that window.
	- Please email support@molliesoft.com with any questions that the documentation does not address.

Backup Sets and Backup Runs

What is the difference between a backup set and a backup run?
	- A backup set describes some files and directories you want to back up, along with a destination folder for the backups.
	- A backup run is the result of a full or incremental backup performed for a specific backup set.  Each backup run is timestamped according to its start time.  When we refer to a "backup", this is just a shorter term for a "backup run".
	- An archive consists of a single full backup run, along with all incremental backup runs that are associated with that full backup run.  The storage format for an archive can be a normal folder, a Silo (an efficient BitSilo storage format), or a zip file.

How do I tell BitSilo which files to back up (include)?
	- Add a backup set, using the Add New button above the "Backup sets" list in the main window; if you only want one backup set, you can just use the default backup set (with the name "MyBackupSet") which is added automatically for a new installation.
	- Add files and/or directories to the backup set using the Add File and Add Folder buttons above the "Included files and folders" list, or just type a file/folder name in the text box and press the Add Path button.  You can remove a file or folder from this list using the Remove button.  These are the files and folders that will be backed up into an archive when you run the backup set.
	- When you add a folder, all subfolders of this folder will also be backed up by default.  If you do NOT wish subfolders to be included in the backup, uncheck the "Subfolders" checkbox in the list.
	- You can even add files or folders from another computer or from a USB drive.  If an included file is missing or unavailable (e.g. because it is on a drive not currently mounted, or on a computer currently asleep), the "Included files and folders" list will show this line in light red.  Once the drive is mounted, press the Refresh button on the main window to update the file status in this list.
	- If the drive containing these files/folders is not available during a backup run, you will be prompted to mount the drive.  If the drive is mounted but the file/folder is not found, an error will be reported in the Backup Journal for this backup run.  You can prevent the backup run from requesting that you mount the drive of an unavailable backup item by unchecking the "Prompt to mount" column in the "Included files and folders" list.

How do I tell BitSilo which files to NOT back up (exclude)?
	- If you have added a folder that contains some files you do not wish to be included in the backup run, you can specify exclusion strings or an exclusion filter expression.  Press the Edit button in the "Excluded files and folders" area.  In the Edit dialog, enter exclusion strings, one per line, that you wish to exclude.  For example, if a folder you want to back up contains the file:
		 C:\MyFiles\tempFiles\somefile.tmp
and if the exclusion strings include the line:
		.tmp
then this file will not be included in the backup.  You can enter as many exclusion strings as you wish for each backup set.  Similarly if you have included the folder
		C:\MyFiles
but the exclusion strings include the line:
		tempFiles
then no file in the folder C:\MyFiles\tempFiles will be included in the backup.
	- You can also use a file exclusion filter expression to exclude files from the backup.  Enter the filter expression using the same Edit dialog used for exclusion strings. For example, the expression:
		[$FileSize > $MB.150] or [$FileLastWriteTime < $now - $Days.7]
will exclude files greater than 150MB in size, and also exclude files modified more than 1 week ago.
	-  See the section below on "Excluding files from a backup" for more details.
	
How do I create a backup run?
	- Once you have a backup set and have included some files or folders, you can run a full backup manually using the green Full Backup button on the main window.
	- After you have run a full backup, you can run an incremental backup manually using the brown Incremental Backup button on the main window.  This will backup only those files that have been changed since the last full (or incremental) backup.  (If there is no preceding full backup, requesting an incremental backup will just create a full backup.)
	- You can schedule full or incremental backups to be run automatically by creating one or more backup schedules for the backup set.

How do I restore a file from a backup?
	- Use the Search Files View to search for the file or files in your backup runs.
	- Search for files using the simple search controls, or write your own search query.
	- Select one or more files from the results, then click the Restore or Restore To... button.
	- See the section below on Search Files View for more details of this process.
	- You can also restore files from Verify Files View or from Archive Explorer View.

How can I check that my files have really been backed up correctly?
	- Use the Verify Files View to verify the contents of any backup run.  This will check the bits of the source file against the bits stored for it in the archive.
	- See the section below on Verify Files View for more details.
	- Edit the backup set and check the box "Verify files after each backup run".  This will verify all files immediately after any backup run has completed; you can see the verification results in the history log, or using the Verify Files View.

Running BitSilo Commands

What are commands?
	- Commands in BitSilo are tasks that involve backup runs, and may take a while.
	- The possible command types are:
•	Full Backup - Run a full backup for a backup set.
•	Incremental Backup - Run an incremental backup for a backup set.
•	Cleanup - Run cleanup manually for a backup set.

The following operations are other long-running tasks involving backup runs, but are not considered commands.  They can be run for a backup set even if a command is already running.
•	Restore Files - Restore specified files from one or more completed backup runs; run from the Search Files View, Archive Explorer View or Verify Files View using the Restore and Restore To... buttons on the view.
•	Verify Files - Verify specified files from one or more completed backup runs; run from the Verify Files View using the Verify buttons.

How do I run a command?
	- You can run commands manually by using the corresponding buttons on the main window, including Full/Incremental Backup, and Cleanup.
	- Only one command for a specific backup set can run at a time, but you can run commands for several backup sets simultaneously.  While a command is running for a backup set, the buttons used to run commands manually for that backup set are disabled, and automatically scheduled commands for the backup set will not be started until the current command is ended.  When a command for a backup set is running, the Stop button in the main window is enabled (red) allowing you to terminate the command.  Similarly, the Stop All button can be used to terminate all running commands.
	- The commands "Full Backup" and "Incremental Backup" can be scheduled to run automatically, by adding an enabled schedule associated with an enabled backup set.
	- The Edit dialog of a backup set has a setting that runs "Cleanup" after each (full or incremental) backup if desired.  This is used in conjunction with a cleanup rule (see the question on cleanup rules below).
	- The Edit dialog also has a setting to "Verify files after each backup run".  Check this if you want to run Verify Files after each completed backup run.

How do I know if a command is running?
	- If a command is running for the currently selected backup set, most buttons on the main window are disabled, except for the Stop button (shown in red).  Click Stop to terminate the command if desired.
	- During a running backup command, the associated backup set is shown with a green background in the backup sets list of the main window.  Any currently active backup runs are shown in green in the Backup Journal.

How do I schedule backups to run automatically?
	- Use the Add button above the Backup schedules list (bottom left of main window) to add a new schedule to a backup set.
	- You can add as many schedules as you wish to each backup set.  Remove a schedule from a backup set using the Remove button next to the Add button.
	- Each schedule has a time of day when it will run, and a frequency that can be Daily, Weekly, Monthly or One-Time.  Daily runs at the specified time every day; Weekly runs at the specified time for the selected days of the week; Monthly runs at the specified time for the selected days of the month, One-Time runs at the specified time and date, then the one-time schedule is just removed since it will never run again. Note that a monthly schedule with day 31 selected will just be skipped for a month with less than 31 days.
	- The schedule also specifies whether the backup should be full or incremental.
	- For example, to run a full backup at 8 a.m., and an incremental backup at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. every day, add 3 daily schedules with respective "Start At" times of 08:00, 14:00, and 18:00  (BitSilo uses a 24-hour clock).  Set the first schedule to "Full backup - all files" and the other two schedules to "Incremental backup - new/changed files".
	- Each daily/weekly/monthly schedule can repeat within any scheduled day.  You can specify a "repeat interval" between 5 minutes and 24 hours.  You can enable or disable the repeat information using the "repeat enabled" check box (if repeat is disabled, the scheduled backup will just run at the specified start time).  You can specify a "repeat until" time of day.  To summarize: a schedule runs at its start time on any scheduled day, then if repeat is enabled, will repeat at every "repeat interval" thereafter (adding successive repeat intervals to the start time), until the "repeat until" time of day is past.
	- A schedule will not run unless it is enabled and the backup set is enabled.
	- If your computer happens to be asleep when the schedule should be run, you can make it wake up to run the schedule by checking "Wake computer at start time" for that schedule. Note: the ability to wake up Windows on a timer is usually dependent on a BIOS setting, which is typically enabled for desktops and disabled for laptops.  In the BIOS, look for Power Management. In here, ensure S3 is enabled. There should be an option called “Resume by alarm”, or “Wake-up on RTC”.
	- If there is at least one enabled schedule for some enabled backup set, the next scheduled backup time will be displayed at the top left of the main window.  You can also see a list of future scheduled runs (for about two months in the future) in the Backup Journal.
	- A scheduled backup will run automatically even if BitSilo has been minimized and is only visible in the System Tray.
	- To prevent a backup from running automatically, just disable all its schedules or remove them.  You can still run the backup manually if desired.  You can also disable the associated backup set, which will prevent any of its enabled schedules from running.
	- For any schedule, you can check "Ask to run at start time" if you want to be prompted when it is time for the schedule to run the backup.  When it is time for the schedule to run you will see the "Run Scheduled Backup" dialog:

As you can see, you can just run the scheduled backup immediately, skip it entirely, or reschedule it with a delay.  If you reschedule using "Ask me again" or "Just run it", a new One-Time schedule for the specified future time will be created and will be visible in the schedules list for this backup set.  This schedule can be freely edited or removed, just as for any other schedule.  If you selected "Ask me again", the new One-Time schedule will have "Ask to run at start time" checked and you will see the dialog again when the schedule expires; if you selected "Just run it", the new schedule will not have this checked, and the scheduled backup will run with no intervening dialog at the expiration time.
	- Note: while you are editing a backup set, its scheduled backups will not run.  An appropriate warning is shown at the bottom of the backup set Edit dialog and the "Edit Excluded Files and Folders" dialog in this case.

I have lots of backup sets and schedules for each.  How can I tell when automatic backups will be run?
	- The next scheduled backup is always shown at the top left of the main window, including the backup set name, the type of backup (full or incremental), when it will be run, and whether the computer will wake to run the backup.
	- The Backup Journal, in addition to listing past backup runs, can show all the future scheduled backup runs for all your backup sets (up to two months in the future).  Check the "Show scheduled future runs" box at the top of the Backup Journal; a list will appear at the right showing all future run times, the associated backup set, whether it is full or incremental, etc.  You can sort this list by any column by clicking on the column headers to see the data in a different order.
	- Whenever the next scheduled backup time changes, an entry is added to the history log containing the next scheduled time and the associated backup set.

I'm running out of disk space!  How many backups does BitSilo keep?
	- For each backup set, you can tell BitSilo how many of the newest backups to keep using a "cleanup rule".
	- The cleanup rule runs after any automatic or manual backup, if cleanups are enabled.  You select the cleanup rule using the backup set Edit dialog; you enable/disable the rule using the checkbox "Apply cleanup rule after each backup run" in this dialog.  The selected cleanup rule can also be run on demand using the Cleanup button on the main window.
	- Cleanup always removes entire archives (a full backup run plus all its associated incremental backup runs) to avoid creating "orphaned" incremental backup runs (with no associated full backup run).
	- You can also remove individual backup runs on demand using the manual "Remove" button at the top of the Backup Journal View.  This allows you to remove an incremental backup run or a full backup run; if you remove a full backup run, all of its incremental backup runs will also be removed.

What is a "cleanup rule"?
	- A cleanup rule is a way to remove old archives automatically so that you do not run out of available disk space during backup runs.  Once removed, the archive is gone permanently.  You specify the cleanup rule using the Edit dialog for a backup set.
	- By default, a backup set has the rule "Keep all archives", which will never remove old archives.  (Remember, an "archive" is a full backup set plus its associated incremental backups, so these are always removed together.)
	- The rule "Keep N archives with latest creation dates" will keep the last N archives (folders, silos, or zips) for the backup set, and remove any archive with an earlier timestamp than these.
	- The rule "Keep archives created less than N days ago" will keep all archives created after this time, and remove any archive created prior to this time.
	-The rule "Limit total space for archives to N KB/MB/GB" will keep the archives with the latest creation dates that fit within this total space limit, and remove the other archives.
	- You can enable or disable the automatic cleanup using the checkbox "Apply cleanup rule after each backup run" on the Edit dialog.  You can still run cleanup using the Cleanup button on the main window, however.
	- If you have a particular backup archive you want to keep, you can lock the corresponding full backup run; this will tell the cleanup rules to always ignore this run.  A locked backup run will never be removed by the cleanup rules.  Lock a full backup run by checking the box next to it in the recent backup runs list on the main window of BitSilo.

Drive Recognition

How does BitSilo know if the backup drive of a backup set is currently mounted (available)?
	- The simplistic answer would be: just look for the right drive letter!  However, this is too simple in the case of removable drives.
	- By default, Windows will just use the first available drive letter for removable USB drives when they are mounted.  Thus, a particular drive might be assigned to G: at one time, then H: the next time if the drive letter G: is already taken by another drive.  Windows Disk Manager does allow you to make the assigned drive letter permanent for a particular removable drive, but this may not be practical if you deal with a large number (> 26) of removable drives on a regular basis.
	- To ensure that the correct backup drive is mounted, BitSilo identifies a backup drive by volume serial number, or by volume label if there is no volume serial number.
	- If the backup drive is removable and it is not available at the time of a backup run, by default BitSilo will prompt to mount the backup drive.  If you want the backup run to just fail silently, uncheck "Prompt to Mount" in the backup set Edit dialog.

How does BitSilo know if the drive containing a backup item (files or folders you want to back up) is currently available?
	- BitSilo uses the same drive recognition rules used for backup drives to identify the drives containing backup items.  If a backup item resides on a removable USB drive, BitSilo will always look for the backup item on the correct drive even if Windows has changed the drive letter since the drive was last mounted. 
	- Just as for backup drives, if the drive containing a backup item is removable, and it is not available at the time of a backup run, by default BitSilo will prompt to mount the drive containing the backup item file/folder.  If you want the backup run to just fail silently when the drive is unavailable, uncheck "Prompt to mount" for the backup item in the "Included files and folders" list on the main window.  If "Prompt to mount" is checked, and some backup item drive is unavailable, you will be asked if you wish to continue the backup run with the remaining available items.

What drives are used by BitSilo?
	- Whenever you assign a backup folder to a backup set, or add a backup item to a backup set, BitSilo will add the drive containing it to the Drives list.
	- Press the Drives button on the main window to show the Drives dialog:

This dialog shows you all the drives BitSilo has encountered, whether as a backup drive or the drive of some backup item.
	- When adding/editing a disk, you can specify whether it is removable.  You can also specify a friendly name to use for the disk if desired (by default BitSilo will use the volume label).
	- When adding/editing a network share, you can specify whether to use the appropriate network credentials to access the network share and a friendly share name if desired.
	- Add Mapped Drive allows you to add a network share that has been mapped to a drive letter via the "net use" command, or a folder that has been mapped to a drive letter via the "subst" command.  Note: drives added with subst are assumed by Windows to be always mounted, whereas drives added with net use need not be always mounted.
	- The drive usage counts include backup sets that are using the drive as the backup drive, as well as any backup sets having backup items that reside on the drive.
	- If no backup set is using the drive (either for the backup folder or for some backup item), you can remove it from the list.  If any backup set still refers to it (either as backup drive or some backup item drive), you cannot remove it; the resulting error message will tell you which backup set is using the drive.
	- A Drive that is not currently available (mounted) is shown with a red background.
	- In general use the Refresh button (available on various dialogs or on the main window) to determine which drives are currently mounted.

Backup Journal

How can I see what is happening during a backup run?
	- Open Backup Journal using the button at the top of the main window.
	- Backup Journal displays a list of all backup runs for all backup sets, with the most recent runs at the top by default.  A green background indicates the run is in progress.
	- The backup run list displays the date/time the run was started, the elapsed time of the run (if it is completed), the backup set owning the backup run, whether the run was full or incremental, the number of files backed up in the run, the total (uncompressed) size of the files, the number of errors encountered, and the backup folder containing the archive.
	- As files are added to the archive, each file will be added to the bottom list, which shows the file name and path, the file size, and the last write time of each file.
	- Once the backup run is over, this information will continue to be shown whenever you open the Backup Journal.  Click on any backup run to see the set of files that were archived during the run.
	- Note: for convenience, the main window also shows a list of backup runs for the selected backup set, in the small list at the lower right of main entitled "Recent backup runs".

How can I navigate within the Backup Journal while a run is in progress?
	- Uncheck the Live checkbox at the top of the Backup Journal.  This will stop the journal from updating for each file that is saved in the run; when you are done, recheck Live and the display will once again be current.
	
How can I see what backup runs will be run automatically (scheduled) in the future?
	- Check the box "Show scheduled future runs" at the top of the Backup Journal.  This will display a list of future runs for all backup sets, at the right of the backup run list.  (The future runs list shows runs for about two months in the future.)  You can sort this list by clicking on its column headers; for example, sort by backup set name to see which runs are scheduled for a particular backup set.

What happens if an error happens during a backup run, and a file cannot be archived?
	- The backup run list in the Backup Journal shows the number of errors encountered during each backup run (usually zero).  If there are errors, click on the line of this backup run; a list of errors will appear at the bottom of the Backup Journal, with the file name, file path, and the error that occurred.  Errors might include conditions like: the source file was not found; the source file was locked and could not be accessed, etc.

How can I quickly find the source file being backed up?
	- When a file is selected in the files list of Backup Journal, use the Find Source File button to open a Windows Explorer and automatically navigate to the source file (if it exists).

Which backup set does a run in Backup Journal belong to?
	- The backup set is listed in the backup runs grid at the top of the view.
	- You can quickly navigate to the backup set (in the main window) by using the Find Backup Set button above the files list for any backup run.

How do I remove (delete) a backup run from disk?
	- You can use cleanup rules as described in the Running BitSIlo Commands section above, or you can delete the backup run manually using the Remove button in the Backup Journal.  When you remove a backup run, its files are deleted from disk, and it will no longer be shown in BitSilo.  Note: if you remove an incremental backup run for a Zip/Silo, the bits for the associated files will not be deleted from the Zip/Silo although the incremental run is not longer accessible.  If you delete a full backup run, all associated incremental backup runs will also be deleted.

Verify Files View

How can I verify that the files in a backup run are accurate copies of my source files?
	- Open the Verify Files View using the Verify Files button at the top of the main window, which allows you to verify the bits of each archived file against the bits of the original source file.  The command buttons on this view let you select and verify individual files of a backup run, all files of a backup run, or all backup runs of a backup set.
	- You can automatically verify all files of a backup run immediately after the backup run is finished.  Click the "Edit" button above the "Backup sets" list in the main window then check the box "Verify files after each backup run" in the resulting dialog.  Now when any scheduled or manual backup run is performed for this backup set, the archive will be checked immediately after the run to make sure the stored file bits agree with the source file bits.  If the Verify Files View is visible during the backup run, you will see the progress of file verifications as they occur.
	- You can verify an individual file, backup run, or backup set using the "Verify Selected" button above the appropriate list.  This will verify the currently selected file, backup run, or all backup runs in the backup set.
	- To select multiple files, backup runs, or backup sets to be verified, click the "Selection mode" button above the appropriate list.  A new "Select" checkbox column will appear at the left of the list.  You can check individual items using these checkboxes; then the "Verify Selected" button above the list will run Verify Files for only these items.  Click the "Select all" checkbox above the list to check all items in the list; you can then uncheck individual items to exclude them from the verify operation.
	- If a file within a backup run has been verified at some point, the line containing this file in the "Archives files" list at the bottom of the Verify Files View will have a green background.  If all the files within a backup run have been verified, the line containing this backup run in the "Backup runs" list will have a green background.  If all the backup runs within a backup set have been verified, the line containing this backup set in the "Backup Runs" list will have a green background.  This will update in real time, so that you will see the relevant file line, backup run line, or backup set line turn green as verifications are completed.
	- The last result from a file verification request will be remembered by BitSilo, so that if you close and reopen the Verify Files View (or restart BitSilo), all files, backup runs, and backup sets that have been verified in the past will still appear as verified.

	- Here are the possible results you may see when you run Verify Files:
•	Source changed - the source file bits differ from the stored bits for the file within the archive.  This can happen if the source file was modified after the backup run occurred.
•	Source missing - the source file is no longer present on disk.  This can happen if the source file was deleted or renamed after the backup run occurred.
•	Source unavailable - the source file is on a drive (or network share) that is not currently mounted.  Mount the drive or network share, and retry the Verify Files operation.
•	Archive missing - the entire archive (folder/silo/zip) is not present on disk.  This should only occur if the archive was deleted using Windows Explorer instead of BitSilo.  To delete an individual archive cleanly, just use the "Remove" button in Backup Journal View.
•	Archive unavailable - the archive is on a drive (or network share) that is not currently mounted.  Mount the drive or network share, and retry the Verify Files operation.
•	No archive file - the archive is present on disk, but the requested file is not in the archive.  This should only occur if the file within the archive was manually deleted by a user, e.g. for a folder or zip archive (not recommended).

	- If the backup folder of the current backup set (i.e. the one highlighted in the "Backup sets" list) is not currently mounted, you will see the message "(Backup folder unavailable)" in red at the right, above the "Backup runs" list.  You can mount this disk (or wake the computer containing the network share), then click the "Refresh" button at the top of the view to make sure it is mounted; once mounted, this message should go away and you can proceed with the verify operation.
	- As Verify Files operations are performed, you will see relevant status and progress messages in the area at the bottom of the Verify Files view.  Summary information for the operation will also appear in the History Log, but with less detail (to avoid filling the history log with verification results).

Search Files View

I have several backup sets, each with many backup runs containing thousands of files; how can I find a backup copy of one of my files and then restore if from the archive?
	- Open the Search Files View using the Search Files button at the top of the main window, which allows you to search for archived files and restore them.
	- Before you restore a file, you first have to find an appropriate archived copy of the file.  Just type some search terms (separated by spaces), in the "File path" text field, then press the Enter key or the green Search button at the top of the view.  Note: "path" in this context means the full path of the file, i.e. its folder plus its file name.  This will find all files (in any archive) whose file name or folder contains all of the search terms, and display matches in the file list at the bottom of Search Files View.  If you wish to search for a term that contains spaces, just surround the search term by double-quotation marks, e.g. "my file.txt".
	- Searching in this way produces a list of files matching the search terms, no matter which backup set or archive the file resides in (unless you further qualify the search as discussed later).
	- For example, type "book collection" in the File path text field (without the quotation marks) to search for archived files whose path contains both "book" and "collection".  Press the Enter key, or the green Search button, to display all such archived files in the file list below.  This will find any file that contains both of these terms somewhere in the file path, for example:
		c:\MyStuff\books\mycollection.doc.
		c:\MyOtherStuff\mybookcollection.txt
etc.
	- To search for files that contain the terms "book" OR "collection", click the Match Any checkbox, then press Search.  All files that contain in their path EITHER "book" or "collection" will be displayed; of course there may be many more matches than before, when you were searching for "book" AND "collection".
	- Normally, case (capitalization) is not considered when determining if a term occurs in the file path, so files containing "book" or "Book" or "BOOK" will match the term "book".  To search in a case-sensitive manner instead, you can check the "Match case" checkbox.
	- If you check the "Latest files only" checkbox, the search will list only the latest archived version (across all backup sets and backup runs) of any file found (that is, the file with this path (name and folder) that was archived last, regardless of the actual "last write time" of the file).  If this is not checked, all versions of the file in any archive will be listed.
	- Normally, you will see all the matching files (up to 1,000,000 matches).  If you only want to see a smaller number of matches for each search, you can change the setting "Max search results" in the BitSilo Settings dialog to a smaller number.  The status area at the bottom of Search Files View always tells you how many files were found, or if an error was encountered.

What properties can I search for in addition to terms in the file path?
	- You can search for files with a specific range of last write times (= last modified time of the file when it was archived) using the "File last write time" from/to controls; click the checkbox in either date/time box to enable it, then select a date from the drop-down calendar and enter a time of day.  If you select only a "from" date/time, you are searching for files with a subsequent "last write" date/time; if you select only a "to" date/time, you are searching for files with a previous "last write" date/time.  If you select both "to" and "from" date/times, you are searching for files with last modified times between the "to" and "from" date/time entries.
	- Similarly, you can search for files with a specific range of archived date/times (the time the file was archived using BitSilo) using the "File archived time" from/to controls.
	- You can search for files of a certain size using the "File size" controls.  Pick a unit to use for the size (B = bytes, KB = kilobytes, MB = megabytes, GB=gigabytes), then type a "from" size, a "to" size, or both in the corresponding number boxes.
	- You can limit the search to files in specific backup sets or backup runs using the other controls in the "Simple search" area.  Click the "Backup set" checkbox, then select any backup set in the drop-down list at its right; this restricts the search to only files in that backup set.  Click the "Backup type" checkbox, then select a type of "Full" or "Incremental"; this restricts the search to only files in a full or incremental backup run.  Click the "Archive files" checkbox, then select one or more timestamped archives in the list below the checkbox; this restricts the search to only files in one of these archives.  Here, an "archive" timestamp means the timestamp of the full backup inside it; remember an archive always contains exactly one full backup, and one or more incremental backups.

OK, I've searched for a file and found some backup copies; how can I restore this file from an archive?
	- Once you have completed a search and found some files, the file list in Search Files View shows the time the file was archived, the file last write time, and the file size.  Highlight any file in the list, then press the "Restore" button above the list to restore the file to its original location.  (You will be asked for permission to overwrite any file that already exists in that location.)  Press the "Restore to..." button to restore the file to some location other than its original location.
	- Use the Selection Mode checkbox above the file list to show a Select column at the left of the file list allowing you to select multiple files and restore them all at once.
	- You can sort any column in the file list by clicking the column header.  Click again to sort the column in the opposite direction.

How can I examine the original source file on disk, or examine the copy of the file in an archive, before I restore the file?
	- Use the Source File button above the file list to locate the original source file using Windows Explorer.
	- Use the Explore button above the file list to show the file in Archive Explorer.
	- Use the Backup Run button above the file list to display the backup run containing this file in the Backup Journal window.

What does the "Simple search" checkbox at the top mean?
	- It means you are building a search query using the field controls, instead of building a query by typing directly in the "Search query" text box.
	- When you use the field controls at the top of Search Files View to search for files, you are actually building a "Search query" expression, which is shown in the large text area above the files list in Search Files View.  If you change the "Simple search" controls above the Search query text area, then press the green Search button, you will see the resulting generated search query expression in this text area.  Every file in every archive is then evaluated against this search query, and files that satisfy the query appear in the file list below.
	- Building a query in this way (using the controls) is a "Simple search".  However, you can enter any legal search query in the "Search query" text area, then press the green Search button (or use the shortcut Control-Enter) to get the corresponding file results.  When you search in this more complex way, the check mark is removed from the "Simple search" checkbox to indicate you are using a "raw" or "free form" search expression instead of building it from the controls.  If you manually click the "Simple search" checkbox, the green Search button will again use the current settings of the field controls to build a query.

What is the language used by search queries?
	- Search queries are written in MFQL (MollieSoft File Query Language).
	- A basic query (called a statement) compares a file/archive variable with a constant.  (The value of a constant is independent of the file being considered.)
 Here are some examples:
•	[$FilePath has "American"] looks for files whose path contains the text "American".
•	[$FileLastWriteTime < $Now - $Days.2] looks for files with a modified date of more than 2 days ago.
•	[$FilePath endsWith ".txt"] looks for files whose path ends with .txt.
•	[$FileExtension = ".txt"] looks for files whose extension is .txt.
•	[$FileSize > $MB.10] looks for files whose size on disk is greater than 10 megabytes.
	- Basic queries are always surrounded by square brackets.
	- Basic queries can be combined using any combination of the logical operators 			AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses ( )
to form a complex query.  For example, the complex query
		[$FileLastWriteTime > $Now - $Days.2] 
			and not [$FilePath endsWith ".txt"]
looks for files whose last modified time is less than 2 days ago but whose name does not end with ".txt".
	- Note that when you use "Simple search" (build a query using the field controls) the basic queries are always combined using the AND operator.  However, if "Match ANY word" is checked, multiple text fields within the "File path" text box will be combined using the OR operator.
	- Search variables are of two types: text variables and arithmetic variables.  Text variables can only be compared with text values, and arithmetic variables can only be compared with arithmetic values.

	- Text variables can be compared with text constants using the operators:
		= ,  != ,   "has", "startsWith", "endsWith", "regexMatch".
•	The equal and not-equal operators test for equality and inequality.
•	The "has" operator tests whether the second operand is present in the text value of the first operand.
•	 "startsWith" tests whether the first operand begins with the second operand.
•	"endsWith" tests whether the first operand ends with the second operand.
•	"regexMatch" matches the first operand with a regular expression.

	- For example, say a file has the name "ATestFile.txt".  Then all these statements are true:
		[$FilePath has "TestFile"]
		[$FileName != "ATestFile"]		($FileName includes extension)
		[$FileExtension is ".txt"]
But these are false (note spaces within text constants are important):
		[$FilePath has "TestFile "]
		[$FilePath endsWith " .txt"]
Operator names are case-insensitive: "has" is the same as "Has", "startsWith" is the same as "startswith", "EndsWith" is the same as "endsWith".

	- Arithmetic variables can be compared with arithmetic expressions using the operators:	=,  !=,  <,   >.

	- Variable names are always case-insensitive.  Thus, the forms $filePath and $filepath are both valid and refer to the same variable.

	- The text variable names (text properties of files) used for search queries are:

•	$FileName - The name of the file, without the preceding folder name.
•	$FilePath - The full path of the source file, including the folder name.
•	$FileExtension - The file extension, with leading period, e.g. ".txt".
•	$FileFolder - The file folder without the file name.
•	$BackupSetName - The name of the backup set containing the file.
•	$BackupFolder - Backup (archive) folder for the backup set containing the file.
•	$BackupType - The type of backup containing the file, "Full" or "Incremental".
•	$ArchiveName - The specific archive name containing the file, e.g. :
"20210804_101224.silo" for a silo archive
"20210804_101224" for a folder archive
"20210804_101224.zip" for a zip file archive.

	- You can query the string length (number of characters) of any text variable by appending "#Length" to the variable name.  For example, the query
		 [$FileName#Length > 25]
searches for files whose name has more than 25 characters.

	- The arithmetic variable names (arithmetic properties of files) used for search queries are:

•	$FileLastWriteTime - The last date and time the file was modified, according to the archive.
•	$SourceFileLastWriteTime - The date/time the actual source file was last written to (modified).  Note: if the source file is unavailable, this will evaluate to 01/01/0001 12:00:00 am.
•	$FileArchivedTime - The date and time the file was added to the archive.
•	$FileSize - The size in bytes of a file, according to the archive; can be compared with a $KB, $MB or $GB value, or just the number of bytes.
•	$SourceFileSize - The size of the actual source file in bytes; can be compared with a $KB, $MB or $GB value, or just the number of bytes.  Note: if the source file is unavailable, this will evaluate to -1.

	- Some arithmetic variables are used as convenient expressions for arithmetic constants.  These have the form:
•	$Now - The current date/time.
•	$DateTime.YYYYMMDD - Where YYYY is the year, MM the month, DD the day.
•	$DateTime.YYYYMMDD_hhmmss - Where YYYY is the year, MM the month, DD the day, hh the hour (in 24 hour format), mm the minute, ss the second.
•	$Days.N - Where N is the number of days (N >= 1).
•	$Timespan.d.hhmmss - Where d is the number of days, hh the number of hours (0-23), mm the number of minutes(0-59), and ss the number of seconds (0-59).  Other possible forms for $Timespan are: $Timespan.hhmmss, $Timespan.mmss, or $Timespan.ss.
•	$KB.N - Where N is the number of kilobytes.
•	$MB.N - Where N is the number of megabytes.
•	$GB.N - Where N is the number of gigabytes.  Note $KB/MB/GB actually evaluate to the equivalent number of bytes.

For example:
•	$DateTime.20170823 - Represents midnight on August 23, 2017.
•	$Days.23 - Represents a time span of 23 days.  This can be added to or subtracted from a $DateTime value.
•	$KB.40000 - Represents 40000 kilobytes.
•	$MB.50 - Represents 50 megabytes.

	- Here are some examples of complex expressions:
•	Find files archived less than a week ago, whose size is greater than 10 MB:
		[$FileArchivedTime > $Now - $Days.7]
			 and [$FileSize > $MB.10]
•	Find files last modified in the last year, with file extension ".xls":
		[$FileLastWriteTIme > $Now - $Days.365] and [$FileExtension = ".xls"]
•	Find files archived in the last 12 hours, that are not larger than 10 KB, whose file name has more than 50 characters:
		 [$FileArchivedTime > $Now - $Timespan.120000]
			and not [$FileSize > $KB.10]
			and [$FileName#Length > 50]

It's hard to remember these variable and constant names!  Isn't there an easy way to add the correct form of a file variable or constant into the search query text area?
	- Yes.  Use the "Insert Search Term" button above the search text area to show the query helper menu.  Select a variable, operator or constant from the menu, and it will be added into the text box at the current cursor position.  Use this to form a bracketed statement (e.g. [$FilePath has "MyData"]), then connect your statements with the logical operators and/or/not to make complex queries.
	- You can also show the query helper menu by right-clicking in the search query text area.
	- You can also press the Help button at the top to show the Search Help window.  This provides a convenient summary of search query syntax.  Note: press Ctrl-F in the Search Help window to show the Find Bar and find specific text within the help document.

How can I use regular expressions in the search?
	- Warning!  Regular expressions are rather complicated and are intended for the "power user".  If you don't feel comfortable with them, just ignore this capability and use the plain text search operators "=", "!=", "has", "startsWith", "endsWith".
	- Example: to search for files whose name starts with 2 numeric digits, use the query [$FileName regexMatch "^\d\d"].
	- When building a search query, you can use the "regexMatch" operator with any text variable, such as $FileName or $FilePath.  This will perform the match using the Microsoft version of regular expressions, explained at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/base-types/regular-expression-language-quick-reference.  You may also like the "cheat sheet" available at https://download.microsoft.com/download/D/2/4/D240EBF6-A9BA-4E4F-A63F-AEB6DA0B921C/Regular%20expressions%20quick%20reference.docx 
for quick reference.
	- Here are some examples of regular expression syntax.  These snippets are also available using the "regex builder" button  above the Search query text box.
. 			- Match any single character
.* 			- Match any character zero or more times
.+ 			- Match any character one or more times
[abc]			- Match any character in the set 'abc'
[^abc] 		- Match any character NOT in the set 'abc'
[a-f] 			- Match any character in the range a to f
\d 			- Match any numeric character
? 			- Match preceding character zero or one times
* 			- Match preceding character zero or more times
+ 			- Match preceding character one or more times
\d{3} 			- Match three consecutive decimal digits
0[xX][0-9a-fA-F]+	- Match a hexadecimal number
[0-9]*\.*[0-9]+ 	- Match integers and decimals
^ 			- Match beginning of text
$ 			- Match end of text
You can select any of these entries from the regex builder dropdown menu, which will insert the selected expression into the search query text box at the cursor.  You can then modify the inserted expression as desired.

How can I save a query once I have built one I want to keep and reuse?  How do I reload it?
	- The "File Menu" button above the "Search query" text box shows a drop-down menu with a "Save As..." menu item, which brings up a "Save Search Query File" dialog.  This lets you save queries to disk as small text files in the queries directory
%localappdata%\BitSilo\Queries, with the extension ".qry".  Enter a valid file name for the query, then press OK.  (Note: "%localappdata%" is a Windows shortcut that resolves to the local application data directory for the current logged-on user.)
	- To reload a saved query, use the "File Menu" button again, and select the menu item "Load...".  This shows a "Load Search Query File" dialog allowing you to select any previously created .qry file from the queries directory.  Select a query from this dialog to show it in the "Search query" text box, then press the green Search button to actually run the query.
	- If you have saved a query to a file as above, you can rename it using the "File Menu - Rename" menu item.  Enter a new name for the query in the "Rename Query" dialog that appears, then press OK.
	- When you are typing in the "Search query" text area, you can use the keyboard shortcut Control-S to save a modified query.  This will either just save the query, or bring up the "Save as..." dialog as appropriate.
	- You can remove a query file using the "File Menu - Remove" menu item.  Predefined queries (see below) cannot be removed.

Why are some query names surrounded by angle brackets, e.g. <Files archived this week> in the "Query name" combo box?
	- There are several useful predefined queries provided in the "Query name" combo box that also serve to demonstrate query syntax. Angle brackets around the query name are used to distinguish predefined search queries from queries that you write.  These include:
•	<Files archived this week> - Search for files archived during the past week.
•	<Files modified this week> - Search for files modified during the past week.
•	<Large files> - Search for files with file size > 10 megabytes.
	- You can use these as written, or modify them to make your own queries.
	- Modified predefined queries cannot be saved as such; if you change a predefined query, select "Save As..." in the File Menu to save it to disk with a new name.
	- You can hide the predefined queries using the checkbox "Show sample queries" in the BitSilo Settings dialog.

Archive Explorer View

Can I just use Windows Explorer to see what is in an archive?
	- Yes and no.  If the archive uses Folder or Zip format you can open it using Windows Explorer, but Windows Explorer will not let you "drill down" into a Silo archive.  Also, if you have selected "Indexed directory names" for the archive directory format, the folders within the archive will just have numbers instead of their actual names.
	- Archive Explorer View provides a much better way to examine the files in an archive.  It provides a display similar to Windows Explorer, showing all the folders and files of an archive, regardless of the archive type and directory format.

Can I open more than one Archive Explorer at a time?
	- Yes. Use the "Archive Explorer" button in the Main window to open Archive Explorer for the currently selected backup set.  You can also use the button to select any open Archive Explorer, or close all the Archive Explorer windows.
	- Archive Explorer windows are identified in the button's dropdown list by backup set name.
	- If you minimize BitSilo, all the Archive Explorer windows will be hidden; if you restore BitSilo, they will again appear with their last position and size.
	- If you exit BitSilo with several Archive Explorer windows open, each will be restored when you restart BitSilo.

How do I navigate within Archive Explorer?
	- Archive Explorer is not limited to the backup runs of a single archive; you can use the dropdown lists at the top of Archive Explorer to navigate to a different backup set and archive.  However, you can only view one archive at a time in a single Archive Explorer window.
	- You can view an archive as a folder tree, or as a flat list of files.  Use the icon buttons  or  to switch from folder view to flat view, or from flat view back to folder view.
	- Folder view is similar to a Windows Explorer window.  Select any folder in the tree at the left to view its contents in the details panel at the right.  The details panel will show all files in the selected folder.
	- Flat view shows all files in the entire archive, identified by the backup run timestamp, file folder and file name.
	- In folder view, the full path of the currently selected file or folder is shown above the folder tree, in the form <backup run timestamp>/<source file path>.  You can type a path in this text area to navigate directly to a particular subfolder.  You will see a dropdown list of subfolders matching what you have typed so far.  Press the Enter key or use the Go button   to navigate to that folder.  (In flat view the Go button will just select the first file starting with the entered path.)
	- In folder view, use the Up button  to navigate one folder up in the tree (i.e. to the parent folder of the current folder).
	- As you navigate between folder view and flat view, Archive Explorer will always try to maintain the currently selected file or folder for you.  Thus, if you have a file selected in flat view, and switch back to folder view, the folder tree will navigate to the relevant folder and the file will be selected in the details panel.  Similarly if a file is selected in folder view, and you switch to flat view, the file will be selected in the flat view files list.
	- Archive Explorer will remember your recent locations as you navigate within an archive.  Use the  and  buttons to go forward or backward in this list, or select a recent location using the dropdown button .

How do I navigate to the actual source file?
	- Just double click any file in the details panel of folder view, or any file in flat view, to navigate to it using Windows Explorer.  If the drive containing the source file is not available (mounted) you will just hear an error beep.

Can I export what I see in Archive Explorer to Microsoft Excel?
	- Yes.  Use the Export button  to export the list of files you are currently viewing to Excel "comma-separated-values" format.  This creates a disk file (file extension .csv) with one line per file, where the fields are separated by commas.  You can import this text file into Excel or any other compatible program.
	- In folder view, only what is shown in the details panel will be exported; in flat view, the entire files list will be exported.
	- In search mode (either flat or folder view) you can export the contents of the search results list.

How can I find a particular file or files in Archive Explorer?
	- Archive Explorer lets you search for files in the current archive using 3 different search modes: text search, wildcard search, and regular expression search.  These modes are controlled with the "Wildcards" and "Regular expressions" checkboxes.  If neither is checked, text search is in effect; if Wildcards is checked, wildcard search is in effect; if Regular expressions is checked, you are using regular expressions.  Only one of these can be checked at a time.
	- Searching for files in Archive Explorer within very large archives is much faster than searching directly in Windows Explorer.
	- Regardless of which search mode is in effect, you search in the same way:  in either folder or flat view, just type in the "Search for files" text area, then press the "Search" button .  Archive Explorer will look for all files whose file name (not including the folder) contains this text (of course the rules for "contains" change based on whether you are in text search, wildcard search or regex search mode).  Searches are extremely efficient and will usually complete within a second or two regardless of the size of the archive.   As the results are found, they are appended to a special search list that replaces the normal files list.  In folder view, the search results replace the normal contents of the details panel; in flat view, the search results replace the existing files list.
	- In folder view, the search is restricted to files in the current folder and below; in flat view, the search covers all files in the current archive.
	- If you want the search to be case-sensitive (e.g. ".Txt" does not match "MyFile.txt"), click the "Match case" button  to toggle between case-sensitive and case-insensitive search modes.  The button will have a blue background when match case is "on".  Case-sensitivity applies to text, wildcard, and regular searches equally.
	- When you are done examining your search results, just press the "Cancel search" button  to return to normal viewing mode in Archive Explorer.  If you navigate in the folder tree to a different folder, or switch between folder and flat view, this will also cancel search mode.
	- In text search mode, you are just searching for file names containing the text you have typed.  No special characters are used or recognized, so e.g. searching for "*.txt" will never match anything since "*" will not actually occur in any file name.
	- In wildcard search mode, you are searching for file names using DOS wildcards, e.g. "*.txt" matches "MyFile.txt", "SomeOtherFile.txt", etc.  In general, the special character * matches any number of characters, the special character ? matches a single character, and any other character just matches itself.
	- See the discussion in "Search Files View" for a description of how to use regular expressions in Archive Explorer.

How can I navigate to a specific file within the files list?
	- Use fast keyboard search:   If you click on a line in the "File name" or "Folder" column of the files list, you can search for items by simply typing a sequence of characters to locate within the text of that column.  This will just move the current line in the list to the next matching entry.  You can also use press Alt, then one of the up/down arrow keys to find the next or previous matching entry.  The status line at the bottom of the view shows you the current search string.  Keyboard search in the files list is cancelled if no key has been pressed within 10 seconds, or if you press the escape key, or if you move to a different column.

How do I extract files from an archive?
	- There are several ways to do this in BitSilo.  In Search Files View, you can use the "Restore" and "Restore to" buttons to restore files to their original folder, or to a folder you specify.  Similarly, the same facility is available within Verify Files View.
	- In Archive Explorer View, click the checkbox "Show restore controls" to see the various ways to restore files.  As in Search Files or Verify Files. you can select and restore files to their original folder or to a different folder.  However, Archive Explorer View also allows you to restore an entire folder from a backup run.  That is, you can restore all files from a folder and all its subfolders, while maintaining the subfolder structure of the source files.
	- Restoring a folder only works when in folder view within Archive Explorer since you must first select a folder from the folder tree.  The buttons "Restore Folder" and "Restore Folder To..." will restore all files from the selected folder (and all its subfolders).  When using "Restore Folder To..." you must first specify the target folder to use in place of the original source folder.  Subfolders of the target folder (matching subfolders of the source folder) will be created as required during the restore process.
	- Check the box "Latest files only" in Archive Explorer to restore the latest version (within the current archive) of the files to be restored.

Excluding files from a backup

I want to backup an entire folder, but there are some parts of it I want to exclude.  How can I do that?
	- The "Included files and folders" for a backup set (on the main window) specify the files that will be included in the backup run.  However, you can also exclude some of these files.  The "Edit" button next to "Excluded files and folders:" on the main window lets you specify file exclusion rules for the backup set.
•	Check "Exclude files/folders containing text" and enter exclusion strings in the textbox, one per line.  If any part of the file path matches any of the exclusion strings, the file will not be included in the backup run.  Note upper/lower case is ignored for exclusion strings.
•	Check "Exclude files using a filter expression" and enter a filter expression in the textbox.  After applying the exclusion strings, any remaining files that match the exclusion filter expression for the backup set will also be excluded from the backup run.  This provides fine-grained control over which files will be backed up.
	- A file exclusion filter uses MFQL (as for Search Files View), but with some additional variables, such as $FileAttributes, $FileLastAccessTime, $FileCreationTime.  (These variables are not available when restoring files from a backup run since a backup does not save these properties of the file.)  Also, some variables used in Search Files View, such as $ArchiveType, $BackupType, $ArchiveName are not meaningful when excluding files from a backup.  Use the Help button on the "Edit Excluded Files and Folders" for a complete description of the MFQL syntax used for a file exclusion filter.
	- Use the "Test Filter Expression" button on the "Edit Excluded Files and Folders" dialog to see exactly which files would be excluded by the current file exclusion filter expression.

Splash Screen

What does the splash screen show?
	- BitSilo version information: 
	- Validation of all stored folder credentials at startup.
	- License validation step.
	- The elapsed time for initialization of the program.

The splash screen is annoying!  Can I turn it off?
	- MollieSoft is deeply sorry that you do not appreciate our beautiful splash screen.  However, to mollify the occasional customer with a distaste for splash screens, we have provided a check box in the "Settings" dialog that you can use to turn the splash screen off.  :>(

Folder Credentials

What are folder credentials?
	- BitSilo is able to access folders on a network share if the share is available.  Normally, Windows manages the credentials (user name and password) required to access a network share, and you will not need to enter these into BitSilo.
	- However, for some network shares, Windows may not permanently retain the required credentials.  In this case, you can save the credentials for the share in BitSilo (encrypted of course), and these will be used as required to gain access to folders on that share.  This will minimize any user interaction required during a backup.

What happens if a network share is not available, or my credentials are just incorrect?
	- Windows may take a while to figure this out.  For each credential you enter in the "Manage Folder Credentials" dialog, you can specify a timeout between 1 and 60 seconds, controlling when BitSilo will give up on this network share.  The default is 5 seconds; the longer the timeout for a share, the longer BitSilo will "hang" waiting for the share credentials to validate, so be careful when modifying this timeout value.

How do I enter credentials?  How are they used?
	- Use the "Network Credentials" dialog to enter and test credentials for any network share.  You can add, remove, edit, or test any credentials you enter.  Press the Add button to add credentials for a network path:
	- Enter a network path using leading "\\" just as in Windows.  Examples:
		\\192.168.1.10
		\\111.22.333.44\shared
		\\BobsComputer\Fileshare1
	- Enter the user name in the form <Domain or Machine>\<user>.  Examples:
		BobsComputer\RobertUser
		Desktop1\JohnDoe
		MarysComputer\Mary
	- Enter the password.  When you enter the password, the characters are replaced by masking characters for security.  The password is never visible in plain text on any screen of BitSilo, and is stored using strong encryption in the BitSilo config file, for security.
	- Enter a timeout value in seconds.
	- You can enter credentials for "overlapping" network paths.  For example, say you enter credentials for the network path "\\192.168.1.17" on your local network.  Say you also enter credentials for the network path "\\192.168.1.17\shared".  Then when credentials are required for a backup operation, the credentials with the longest match will always be used in preference to any with a shorter match.  That is, if a backup set has the backup folder "\\192.168.1.17\shared\MyFiles", the saved credentials for "\\192.168.1.17\shared" will be used instead of those for "\\192.168.1.17".
	- Credentials are only used if they are required (after program start).  That is, if a backup folder for a backup set is already available, no credentials will be used.  If not available, matching credentials will be used to try to make it available.

Miscellaneous

How do I navigate between BitSilo windows?
	- The main window has buttons allowing you to access Backup Journal, Search Files, Verify Files and the History Log.  Depending on space available, the secondary views have buttons at the top allowing you to navigate from the current view to other views.
	- There is only one window for each of the views; if the view is not currently open, navigating to the view will open it.
	- BitSilo will remember which views are open and when restarted, will recreate the same views for you, with their same size and position.

The computer running BitSilo has crashed!  How can I recover my archived files?
	- If you cannot run BitSilo because the computer on which it was installed is no longer operational, but your archive files were stored externally, you can still open these archives and extract files.
	- Install the free utility program SiloExplorer, available at
		http:\\www.molliesoft.com\BitSilo.
SiloExplorer allows you to open any BitSilo archive, even if created by BitSilo on a different computer, and extract files from it.
	- SiloExplorer can read BitSilo archives and extract files, but cannot itself create archives; only BitSilo can create archives.
	- If you have installed BitSilo on a new computer, you can import archives created on a different computer.  Copy the old folder, silo or zip archives into the backup folder of any backup set, then press the "Import Archives" button (above the "Recent backup runs" list at the bottom right on the main window) to show the "Import Archives" dialog.  Press the green "Import" button on the dialog to incoporate all backup runs in the selected archive into the current backup set.  Use the "Selection mode" checkbox to select and import several archives at once.
	- You can import archives into any backup set you wish, as above; however you should use a backup set that is meaningful for the imported archives.
	- After importing backup runs from an archive, you can search for and restore files, verify files, or view these backup runs in the Backup Journal; they have the same status as any backup run created by actually running a backup for the backup set.
	- Be aware that files in an imported backup run may have been located on drives no longer available on the new computer.  If you are restoring files, you may want to use the "Restore To" option instead of the "Restore" option to control where restored files will be located.

How much space is used by my backups?
	The backup sets list in the main window has a column entitled "Archive Space" showing the total space being used for archives of each backup set.

What happens if I run out of available disk space for backups?
	- You can specify an archive cleanup rule (using the Edit dialog) for each backup set that limits the total space used for archives of that particular backup set to a certain maximum size.  If this size is exceeded, backups will still run, but archives with the earliest creation dates will be deleted to make room.
	- For each backup set, you can also specify an absolute free space limit for the target backup drive.  If the amount of free space on the target drive falls below this limit, backups for this backup set cannot be run until more free space is created on the drive.  If the free space limit has been violated, the backup set will have a pink highlight in the backup sets list of the main window indicating no backups can run.  The free space limit and available free space on the backup (target) drive are also reported on this line.

Can I change where my backup files are stored?
	- Yes.  By default backup files for a new backup set are stored in the folder:
		%localappdata%\BitSilo\Backups
but you can change this to any folder you wish using the backup set Edit dialog.  If you have already created backup runs for this backup set, they will be moved when you change the backup folder.
	- The target drive for the backup runs can be any available writable path; so you can save backups to a folder on another computer as long as it is awake and the folder is shared and writable.  This can be specified by IP address or by computer name, e.g. "\\192.168.1.100\MyBackups", "\\MarysComputer\BackupFolder".
	- The target drive can be an external drive that may not be permanently mounted, e.g. a USB drive that you only plug in occasionally.  If the drive is not available when a backup run begins, BitSilo will prompt you to mount the target drive; once mounted, the backup run will proceed normally.  You can change this behavior by unchecking "Prompt to mount" in the backup set Edit dialog; then the backup run will fail with just a history log entry indicating the backup drive was not available.

How are backup files stored? In what format?
	- Backup files are stored in either a Silo file, zip file, or simply in a folder.  You can change the storage method for a backup set at any time in the backup set Edit dialog (this will only affect the format of future backup runs).  Each form has advantages and disadvantages.
	- A folder archive or zip file archive for a full backup run is named by its starting timestamp, in the form YYYYMMDD_hhmmss (e.g. 20170114_084200 for 8:42 a.m. on January 14, 2017).  Within this top level directory, each backup run (full or incremental) is stored as a subfolder with its starting timestamp.  So the folder structure is:
	    <full timestamp> - the top level archive folder
		<full timestamp> - files for the unique full backup run in this folder
		<incremental timestamp1> - files for a subsequent incremental run
		<incremental timestamp2> - files for a subsequent incremental run.
	- The Silo file archive format was introduced in BitSilo 1.2.3, and is the recommended format for backup sets.  Silos are designed to be extremely efficient when storing or retrieving files; files are compressed when stored in a Silo.  There is no size limit for a Silo, and no degradation of performance for large Silos (unlike Zip files).  You can also use the free program SiloExplorer from MollieSoft to view the contents of a Silo. The files are compressed and stored in sequence in a single ".silo" file, with some summary information appended at the end.  File directory names are always stored as "indexed directory names" for efficiency, so there is no "full directory names" option available for Silo archives.
	- Zip file archives created by BitSilo are limited to a total size of about 1.8 GB, due to certain Windows limitations.  If you reach this limit in a zip archive, BitSilo will refuse to run future backups, and will advise you to change the backup set type to folder or silo for future runs.
	- Zip file archives in BitSilo are also limited to a total file count of 65536.   If you reach this limit in a zip archive, BitSilo will refuse to run future backups and will advise you to change the backup set archive type to folder or silo, as above.
	- In any case, once you get near either the file size or file count limit for a Zip archive, processing will slow down due to the difficulty of handling such large archives; you will find that silo or folder archives are processed much more quickly for large backup sets.
	- Backup sets with archive type of folder or silo have no file count limit, and no size limit other than available disk space on the target drive.  For folder backups, if space occupied by backups is a consideration, you can simply compress the target folder of the backup set in Windows Explorer.  You do this by right-clicking the folder in Explorer, selecting "Properties", then "Advanced Attributes". For a nice description of NTFS folder compression, see e.g. https://windows.tips.net/T005671_Understanding_Compressed_Folders.html.
	- However, zip files do have the advantage of portability.  If you ever want to move or copy your archive to another drive or computer, a zip file can be moved in its compressed state; however, a compressed folder must first be uncompressed, then moved or copied, then re-compressed.  See the TechNet article https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc976801.aspx.
	- BitSilo allows you to swap a backup set freely between Silo, Zip or Folder archive types using the backup set Edit dialog.  You can even create a full backup run in a one archive type, then change the archive type, and create subsequent incremental backup runs in another archive type; the backup runs constituting a single conceptual archive can be in Silo, Zip or Folder format as desired.  Of course, once you create a backup run in a certain format, that's it; you cannot change the archive type of an existing backup run.
	- If you select the archive type of "Folder" for a backup set, and some source files have extremely long path names (e.g. nested deep within a complicated directory structure) you may encounter the path length limit in Windows, which is normally 260 characters total.  In folder format, BitSilo will attempt to copy this file with its long path name into a subfolder for the archive you are created.  This will result in a file path that exceeds 260 characters, and a file copy exception will occur (shown in the BitSilo history log and in the Backup Journal); the file will not be archived in this case.
	- To avoid this problem of long path names when using the Folder archive type, you can select the Archive directory format of "Indexed directory names" in the backup set Edit dialog, instead of the default format of "Full directory names".
	- When creating an archive using Indexed directory names, each source directory encountered is assigned a number (starting with zero); then the target file in the archive is stored using the number instead of its full directory path.  For example, the file
		"C:\MyFiles\someFile.txt" 
may be stored within the archive with relative path "0\someFile.txt", and the file
		"C:\MyFiles\SomeDirectory\anotherFile.txt"
will be stored with relative path "1\anotherFile.txt".  BitSilo keeps track of these directory numbers and translates them back to the actual directories for you, so that you will not be aware of this internal format.
	- For convenience, when using the Folder archive type with indexed names, BitSilo creates a file named DirectoryNumbers.txt at the top level of any indexed folder archive.  This is just a convenience to allow you to translate the directory numbers to the actual source directories if you access the archive files outside of BitSilo; inside BitSilo, these numbers are always translated automatically for you and you will be unaware that this format is being used.
	- Regarding long file names in a Folder archive: the bottom line is that if you encounter exceptions in the history log (or see errors in Backup Journal) that complain of a file path being too long to be copied, you should change your backup set to have the archive directory format "Indexed directory names" in the Edit dialog for the backup set.  You can freely swap a backup set between these directory formats; a full backup may have indexed format, whereas a subsequent incremental backup may have full format, etc.
	- When creating a folder backup using the archive directory format "Full directory names", BitSilo attempts to copy a source file to the archive folder using its original file name; however, the source file already has a drive specifier, e.g. "C:\MyFiles\someFile.txt".  BitSilo cannot preserve this name exactly as a relative path within an archive folder since a drive specifier can appear only at the beginning of a file path.  To avoid this issue, BitSilo encodes the file path using html encoding, and will store the above file as the relative path "C%3A%5C\MyFiles\someFile.txt" within the target archive folder.  When accessing archived files within BitSilo, you will not see this encoding.

Are archives compressed? 
	- Backup runs saved in a Silo or Zip file archive store files in a compressed format.
	- Backup runs saved in a Folder archive may be compressed if you have changed the target folder to "Compress contents to save disk space" in Windows Explorer, as discussed above.

Can I disable the little yellow tooltip pop-up windows that appear over controls?
	- Yes; just uncheck "Enable Tooltips" in the Settings dialog.

Can I disable the sounds played when a command starts and stops?
	- Yes; just uncheck "Enable Sounds" in the Settings dialog.

The text in BitSilo is too small for me to read comfortably; is there a way to make it bigger?
	- Yes; press the key combination Control+Numpad-PLUS to step the font size up, and Control+Numpad-MINUS to step it back down.  That is, hold down the Control key while pressing "+" or "-" on the numeric keypad.
	- There are four step sizes: small, medium, large, and extra large.  (These correspond to the Windows font point sizes 8.25, 9, 9.75, and 10.25 respectively.)
	- Of course, increasing the font size will make all the views and dialogs correspondingly larger, and decreasing it will make them smaller.
	- The new font size will be remembered whenever you re-open a view or dialog, or restart BitSilo.
	- You can also set the font size using the Settings dialog.  Select the appropriate font-size radio button (small, medium, large, extra large); the new font size will be applied once you press OK.

What is the History Log?
	- Every time BitSilo is started, a new History Log file is created in the directory 
		%localappdata%\BitSilo\Logs.
Just type the preceding into a Windows Explorer navigation bar to display the contents of this directory, or press the button "Explore Logs" on the History Log window.  The files are named using the format
		 BitSiloLog.YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log,
e.g. BitSiloLog.20170701_143932.log is the file created 2017/07/01 at 14:39.  These files contain diagnostic information relevant to the operation of BitSilo, and can be opened with Notepad.
	- To see what is being written to the History Log in real time, click the History Log button at the top of the main BitSilo window to open the History Log window.
	- At startup, the History Log will display the current BitSilo version and license information, which backup sets have been loaded, and any error encountered when attempting to use the folder credentials.
	- The History Log shows a record of each command executed.
	- The "Explore Logs" button at the top right of History Log will open a Windows Explorer, and navigate to the logs directory.
	- Note: If you turn ON the "word wrap" option at the top of the History Log, it may slow down significantly when displaying many lines.

What else is in %localappdata%\BitSilo?
	- This directory contains your license information.
	- The "Backups" subdirectory contains the actual archive files for each backup run (you can change this directory for any backup set individually, using the backup set Edit dialog).
	- The "Config2" subdirectory contains timestamped BitSilo.cfg files, which hold various BitSilo program settings and information about your backup sets.
	- The "Logs" subdirectory contains BitSilo log files (the current log file is what is shown in the History Log).
	- The "Queries" subdirectory contains saved queries you have created in Search Files View.
	- The "Filters" subdirectory contains saved filters you have created using the "Edit Excluded Files and Folders" dialog.
	- The "Summary" subdirectory contains information about the details of the settings and files relating to each individual backup run.
	- Never modify any file in %localappdata%\BitSilo or any subdirectory, or the results will be "unpredictable".

What happens if I minimize BitSilo?
	- When minimized, BitSilo is only visible as an icon in the System Tray area.  All existing views will also be minimized, and will be restored if you double-click the tray icon.  While minimized, any automatically scheduled backups will of course run at the time specified; you will see a pop-up notification in the system tray when the backup starts and ends (unless you have unchecked "Show tray notifications" in the Settings dialog).
	- If you close BitSilo while minimized (using "Exit" on the right-click menu available on the tray icon), BitSilo will remember that you prefer to start it minimized.

Where do I send comments or suggestions about BitSilo?
	- Email comments or suggestions to:
		support@molliesoft.com
	 or to
		molliesoft@comcast.net