SiloExplorer by MollieSoft - Frequently Asked Questions
	- Updated December 24, 2021 for Version 1.1.5.0.

What is SiloExplorer?
	- SiloExplorer can open any archive created by BitSilo (folder, zip or silo archive), and allows you to find and extract archived files.
	- SiloExplorer cannot be used to create a BitSilo archive, only to open existing archives.  Only BitSilo can create BitSilo archives.
	- SiloExplorer is needed when the original computer containing BitSilo is no longer operational.  You do not need a new copy of BitSilo just to open old archives and extract files.
	- SiloExplorer is only useful as an adjunct program to BitSilo; read the BitSilo FAQ to help you understand SiloExplorer.
	- SiloExplorer is free!

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

What operating systems will run SiloExplorer?
	- SiloExplorer runs on Windows 8.1 or Windows 10.
	- SiloExplorer requires the .NET Framework version 4.6.1 to run.  This should normally already be present; if the SiloExplorer 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 SiloExplorer?
	- The install process places a shortcut to SiloExplorer on your desktop.
	- Unlike BitSilo, there is typically no need for SiloExplorer to run whenever you start your computer, since it does not utilize schedules but simply extracts files on demand.

How can I learn more about how SiloExplorer works?
	- This FAQ is the main source of information about SiloExplorer.
	- Read the BitSilo FAQ first to understand BitSilo, since SiloExplorer is only useful as an adjunct to BitSilo.
	- While running SiloExplorer, tooltips are available on most controls, including the column headings of most lists.  Hover the mouse on these areas to see the tooltips.
	- Please email support@molliesoft.com with any questions that the documentation does not address.

Why do I need SiloExplorer?

I can see the files in my archives just fine using Windows Explorer, so why do I need SiloExplorer?
	- If you created your BitSilo archives in folder format, you certainly can use Windows Explorer to examine the files in an archive and copy (extract) them to another location.
	- If you have created your archives in zip format, you certainly can use any zip program (like 7-zip) to examine and extract files in the archive.
	- However, there are some problems!
	- First, you may have selected "Indexed directory names" as an option when the archive was created.  In this case, the files are stored in the folder or zip under a subfolder with just an index number, not the original folder name, so it will be hard to figure out what directory an archived file is really in.
	- Second, if you selected the archive type "Silo archive" when the archive was created, files are stored in a proprietary .silo format; Windows Explorer cannot "drill down" into a .silo file to show you its contents.
	- SiloExplorer solves both these problems.  If you open an indexed zip/folder archive in SiloExplorer, the folder paths of each source file will be resolved and clearly readable; also, SiloExplorer understands the format of .silo files, and can "drill down" into a .silo archive to show you all file and folder names of source files within the archive.

BitSilo already allows me to open any archive and extract files from it, so why do I need SiloExplorer?
	- If the computer on which BitSilo is installed has crashed, you can no longer run BitSilo on that computer to access the archives it has created.
	- SiloExplorer is a standalone free program you can install on any computer.  You can use SiloExplorer to access any BitSilo archive (regardless of which computer created the archive), then extract files from this archive.

Can I purchase a new copy of BitSilo, install it on a new computer, and use it to open archives from a crashed computer?
	- No.  Archives created on another computer will contain files whose original source location may no longer be valid (since they lived on the defunct computer).
	- Also, the backup sets used may no longer exist in the new copy of BitSilo.
	- Such "foreign" archives can only be opened using SiloExplorer, and then only to find and extract files.

How do I restore (extract) files using SiloExplorer?

How do I open an archive?
	- Use the buttons "Load Silo Archive", "Load Folder Archive", or "Load Zip Archive" at the top of SiloExplorer to open the desired archive.  You can also just type the path to the archive and press the "Load archive by path" button.  Once open, the folder and files in the archive will be visible in the area below.
	- You can only have one archive open at a time.  When you open a new archive, the old archive will be closed.

Can I restore an entire archive in one operation using SiloExplorer?
	- Yes.  Select a target directory for the extraction, then press the button "Extract All Files".  All the files in the archive will then be restored to subfolders within this target directory.

How can I extract only the files from a particular folder?
	- SiloExplorer has several other options for how to restore files from an archive.  You can restore all files from the archive to a specified target folder as above; you can restore just one folder from the archive to a target folder; or you can restore selected files from a folder in the archive to a target folder.
	- To restore just one folder from the archive, select the desired folder from within the tree on the left, then click the button "Extract Selected Folder" above the folder tree.  This will extract only files within the selected folder.  To extract files from this folder and all its subfolders, use the checkbox "Include subfolders" to the right of the button.
	- To restore selected files from a single folder in the archive, navigate to the folder using the archive folders tree.  The files contained in this folder are displayed in the files list at the right of the tree.  Use the button "Extract selected files" at the top right of the files list to extract a single file; you can use the checkbox "Selection mode" to display checkboxes next to each file in the list, so that you can select multiple (or all) files in the list and extract them in one operation.

How do I extract the most recent version of a file in the open archive?
	- Use the checkbox "Extract most recent files only" if you only want the most recent version of each file (that is, the version of the file contained in the most recent timestamp folder) to be extracted.  In this case, the extracted (target) folders will not have a top-level timestamp folder; instead all the timestamps in the archive will be combined into a unified target folder containing only the most recent version of each file.
	- All extraction operations above are governed by the "Extract most recent files" checkbox.

How can I see what files have been restored during an extraction?
	- Use the button "Explore Extracted Files" to open a Windows Explorer in the target folder of the most recent extraction operation.
	- Every extraction operation has its own log file.  For each extraction operation, an extraction log file with a name of the form
		"SiloExplorer_ExtractionLog.YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log"
will be created in the top level target folder of the extraction. (Here YYYYMMDD_hhmmss means YearMonthDay_HourMinuteSecond.)  This log contains details of the extraction operation, i.e. each source file path within the archive, each target file of the extraction, any errors encountered, and the total number of files successfully extracted.  These log files can be opened with Notepad.
	- The main history log in SiloExplorer will show a record of the extraction, and a count of files successfully restored.  It also contains the full path to the extraction log file created for that extraction operation.

How can I find certain files inside an open archive?

	- The bottom pane of SiloExplorer has a search facility.
	- Enter one or more search terms in the search box; files whose names contain all these terms will be displayed in the list below the search box.  Use the checkbox "Include folder names" to search for files whose folder name (or file name) contain the terms; if not checked, the folder name will be ignored in the search, and only file names will be matched.
	- Use the "Match case" checkbox if you want the search to be case-sensitive.
	- The "Find next" button will advance through the list of files found.
	- When you press the "Locate" button abofe the list of files found, SiloExplorer will automatically navigate to the folder in the archive that contains the entry for the current file.

Miscellaneous

Sometimes I see multiple timestamps within an archive I have loaded into SiloExplorer.  What's going on?
	- A BitSilo archive always contains a single "full" backup run (with the earliest timestamp) and optionally several "incremental" backup runs (with later timestamps).  These incremental timestamps represent files that were changed or added since the full backup run was added to the archive.

Can I load more than one archive into SiloExplorer at a time?
	- No.  To keep things simple, you can only load a single archive at once (which may contain multiple timestamps for incremental backup runs as above).  When you load another archive, the current archive will be closed and no longer visible in SiloExplorer.

How can I tell how many files are in each folder of an archive?
	- Use the checkbox "Show file counts" to add a file count to each node of the folder tree.  The file count is cumulative, that is, the number of files shown on a folder represents files in that folder and all its subfolders.  As you drill down into subfolders, you will see the file counts decrease, since every child folder contains only a subset of the files in a parent folder.

How do I navigate between SiloExplorer windows?
	- Each of the SiloExplorer views (Main and History Log) has buttons at the top allowing you to navigate from the current view to any of the other views.
	- SiloExplorer will remember which views are open and when restarted, will recreate the same view for you, with the same size and position it last had.

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 SiloExplorer 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 SiloExplorer.
	- 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 SiloExplorer is started, a new History Log file is created in the directory 
		%localappdata%\SiloExplorer\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
		 SiloExplorerLog.YYYYMMDD_hhmmss.log,
e.g. SiloExplorerLog.20170701_143932.log is the file created 2017/07/01 at 14:39.  These files contain diagnostic information relevant to the operation of SiloExplorer, 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 SiloExplorer window to open the History Log window.
	- At startup, the History Log will display the current SiloExplorer version and license information.
	- 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.

What else is in %localappdata%\SiloExplorer?
	- The "Config" subdirectory contains timestamped SiloExplorer.cfg files, which hold various SiloExplorer program settings.
	- The "Logs" subdirectory contains SiloExplorer log files (the current log file is what is shown in the History Log).
	- Never modify any file in this directory or any subdirectory, or the results will be "unpredictable".

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