Check the integrity of the backup
There is reliable hardware and there is unreliable hardware. For a serious backup you need to know, if you store your data to reliable hardware. It can be, if your hardware is not good enough, that some bits and bytes change. After a while, or while backing up data. For this you need a routine which checks, if all bits and bytes are dead reliable written how they should to the backup storage.
For this, use the integrated integrity check, which is included in the backup program. The integrity check verifies if all bits and bytes are equal on the backup and on the original folders. So, use this check after performing a backup.
To start this backup integrity check, navigate to Tools > Check Backup..., or just press Check Backup if you are in the Easy Mode of the backup program.
In the first step, you see the items of the last used backup task. You can open a different backup task by clicking Open Task. Check the boxes of the elements, which you want push trough the integrity check!
You can choose in the second step of the wizard, if you want to do a Bit-Layer-Check (recommendable), or if you want to check only if files are existing on the backup. A full Bit-Layer-Check is recommended, because only this way the backup program checks each bit if it's the same on the backup and on the original store. Zip-files will be uncompressed and verified, and furthermore, and this really very important, if you have used a password to encrypt your backup data, the wizard will check if the password which you know is valid! You see, the full Bit-Layer-Check is quiet more helpful.
Do you know the decryption password of your backup files?
If you use encryption in your backup task, the wizard asks additionally for a password. Insert the password for the decryption. It's the same password which you used for encrypting the backup files (saved in the options of the backup-program). The wizard checks the password only when you use the full Bit-Layer-Check.
Click to Complete to start the check:
After the check you will see all problems, by clicking the button "Show problems". Here you can use the button "Store again", if you want to store a file, which issued a problem, an other time to the backup drive.
What can you do, when a lot of failures are issued?
If the wizard issues a lot of failures, and you cannot find any a reason for this, you shall think about a new backup hardware. Either the backup media is overaged, has a malfunction, or the quality is not like usually.
You can visit the URL www.langmeier-software.com/backupmedia to look which backup drives are recommended and to order them.