Verify a folder backup by restoring a copy

A copied folder is not a proven backup until it can be verified and restored. A second physical drive also matters: a copy on the same failed disk may disappear with the original.

Prepare your input

Close files and applications that write to the source folder. Choose a backup destination on a separate physical device if possible. Prepare a small representative folder for the first test.

Work through the task

Save a named source and destination profile in Business Backup Assistant; saving a profile does not start a copy. Click Create snapshot, then inspect the snapshot list. Use Verify and preview to check content hashes: listing alone checks manifests, not file contents. Restore to a brand-new folder; the app verifies hashes again before copying. Compare restored files with the source and open a few documents.

Example to try

Create a sample folder with one document and one nested folder. After a snapshot, change the original document and run Verify on the snapshot; it should still prove the saved copy independently. Restore into a new empty destination and open the restored file. This exercise tests recovery, which is the actual reason the backup exists.

Check the result

Repeat the test periodically with changing files. Keep the verified restore folder separate from active records until you decide how to use it. An interrupted snapshot without a manifest is incomplete.

Know the current limits

This release has manual snapshots only. There is no scheduler, encryption, cloud sync, retention deletion or live database backup.