General Questions
How do I log into my Carbonite account?
If you have registered a paid subscription or a free trial from this website (www.carbonite.com.au), you can log into your account here. Please use the username (the email you registered your paid/trial Carbonite subscription with) and password to login.
Once logged in, you can reinstall Carbonite, transfer your Carbonite subscription from one PC to another, restore lost files and install a new 30 day Carbonite trial.
Where are the Carbonite Data Centres?
Carbonite’s Data Centres are all located in the Boston, US. Each Data Centers is guarded 24/7 and uses a proprietary “mostly write” high performance file system. Carbonite uses RAID6 redundant disk arrays – which is 36 million times more reliable than the hard drive in your computer. The total file storage capacity is over 15,000,000 gigabytes, with further expansion planned in 2009.
To date, Carbonite has backed up more than 25 billion files and restored more than 2 billion files that otherwise would have been lost forever.
How do I know if Carbonite is working properly?
When you install our software, the Carbonite lock icon will appear in your system tray (usually in the lower right-hand corner of your Windows screen).
The Carbonite icon will turn green once your initial backup is complete, yellow if your initial backup is in progress or if your backup is out-of-date, and red if there is a problem. Double-clicking on the icon will open up the Carbonite InfoCenter which will give you more detailed information.
Please note: After your initial backup, your Carbonite icon will stay green if your backup is operating normally, even if you have files pending backup.
Will Carbonite work on my computer?
The current version of Carbonite is designed for Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7. Carbonite supports both the standard 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, XP and Vista. Carbonite will not support older versions of Windows (Windows 98, Windows 2000, and Windows ME).
Carbonite is also available for all Intel-based Macs running OS 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard).
Does Carbonite work on a Mac?
Yes, Carbonite is available for all Intel-based Macs running OS 10.4 (Tiger) or 10.5 (Leopard).
What does the ‘Low Priority’ option do?
The Low Priority option causes Carbonite to slow down its use of the Internet so as not to interfere with other Internet-intensive hardware/software such as VoIP telephony (e.g., Skype and Vonage).
Carbonite reduces its packet size from 8,000 bytes to 1,400 bytes and sends only one packet at a time instead of streaming multiple packets.
What is Carbonite and who is it for?
Carbonite is a simple, safe online backup service for casual home computer users, students, home office users, business travellers, etc. For less than six dollars a month, Carbonite will back up all the irreplaceable data on your computer (digital photos, music, office documents, and other valuable files) whenever your computer is connected to the Internet.
Carbonite is very easy to set up and use, requiring little or no ongoing user involvement. Our service is always on and continually backing up files on your computer whenever it is connected to the Internet.
Why choose Carbonite instead of other backup methods?
There are four important considerations when deciding how to backup your data:
Time & Hassle — If you have to think about backups, you probably won’t ever get around to doing them. That’s why only 2% of home computers are backed up regularly. In addition, most computer users do not know where all of their important files are stored on their computer and would therefore otherwise miss critical information if they were selecting specific items to be backed-up. With Carbonite, you download our software, and leave the rest up to us.
Cost — If you backed up your computer daily to CDs, you’d go through hundreds of dollars worth of CDs a year. Outboard hard drives cost $150 and up. Traditional online backup services cost at least $100 per year and offer only limited capacity. Carbonite offers unlimited storage capacity for just a few dollars per month.
A note on CD backups: some people wrongly assume that backing up files to CD offers a permanent solution. However, the nature of chemicals used to manufacture recordable CDs gives them a much shorter lifespan than store-bought albums. In fact, even recordable CDs that are stored in dark, temperature-controlled rooms usually won’t last longer than a few years!
Peace of Mind — Are all of the files you care about protected from theft, fire, flood, and other natural disasters? With Carbonite, you know for sure that data you’ve lost can be recovered. And because Carbonite is always on, continually detecting new data and changes to existing files on your computer, you never have to worry.
Security — With Carbonite, nothing leaves your computer unless it is encrypted twice – once with your encryption key and again as it travels over the Internet. When you register, you create a user ID and password and only you will be able to unlock the encrypted files stored by Carbonite. You can also rest assured that Carbonite won’t share any information about you or your data with advertisers or other third parties.
What happens when my computer is not connected to the Internet?
Carbonite will continue scanning your computer for new and modified files to be backed up. As soon as Internet access is restored, Carbonite will begin to send your new and changed files to our servers. If you are disconnected for a long time, the Carbonite icon will turn red, indicating that you need to restore Internet access as soon as possible to keep your backup up to date.
Why are there colored dots on my files and folders?
Carbonite puts coloured dots on your file and folder icons in Windows Explorer to indicate their backup status.
| A green lock icon means your initial backup is complete and your backup is operating normally. | |
| A yellow lock icon indicates that your backup is at least 24- hours out-of-date. When you install Carbonite for the first time, the lock icon will be yellow. It will turn green after your first backup is complete. Whenever you see a yellow lock icon, it’s best to leave your computer turned on and connected to the Internet until the lock icon turns green, indicating that your backup is up-to-date. | |
| A red lock icon indicates that there’s some sort of a problem with your backup that requires your attention. Click on the lock icon to view the alert message and instructions. | |
| A yellow or green icon with a down arrow on it indicates that you’ve put Carbonite in Low Priority mode. | |
| A gray lock icon indicates that you have paused or disabled Carbonite. | |
| A blue lock icon with a red cross in the middle indicates that Carbonite is in Recover Mode. |
The backup status of any file or folder can also be found by right-clicking on the file or folder and reading the description in gray at the top of the Carbonite menu.
How do I disable / turn off the coloured dots?
Carbonite uses coloured dots to indicate the backup status of your files and folders. To disable the dots, double-click on the Carbonite lock icon in your system tray to open the InfoCenter.
Click the ‘Set Options’ button, and uncheck the option that says ‘Show colored status dots on my files and folders.’
If you choose to disable the dots, you can check the backup status of your files by browsing the Carbonite Backup Drive in your My Computer directory.
What is Recover Mode?
If you transfer your Carbonite subscription to a new computer or if you replace the hard drive on your old computer, Carbonite will start up in Recover Mode.
Recover Mode essentially freezes your backup so that you can restore your files; it prevents Carbonite from thinking that you have deleted all your files. Once you have restored your backed up files to your new/repaired computer, Carbonite automatically exits Recover Mode and begins to back up your new files.
When Carbonite is in Recover Mode, the lock icon in the system tray turns blue with a red cross, and an alert is displayed in the InfoCenter to advise you that backup has been suspended. You may discontinue Recover Mode by de-selecting Recover Mode on the InfoCenter ‘Set Options’ tab. You can keep Carbonite in Recover Mode for as long as you need to, but your backup will not be updated while you are in Recover Mode.
It is important to remember to complete the restore process within 30 days or, if you are a trial customer, within 15 days after your trial has expired; whichever is shorter, to ensure you restore all of your files before they would otherwise be deleted. If you leave recover mode after 30 days (or 15 days after your trial has expired) any files that have not been recovered will be deleted.
What does the ‘Pause for’ option do?
If you right-click the Carbonite lock icon in your system tray and select ‘Pause for’ Carbonite will stop all backup operations for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, or 24 hours, depending on which option you select.
While Carbonite is paused, the lock icon in the system tray will turn gray with a red paused symbol to remind you that Carbonite is paused. To stop Carbonite for long periods of time, select ‘Disable Carbonite’ instead.
What does the ‘Disable Carbonite’ option do?
To stop Carbonite completely and release all associated system resources, such as the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), right-click on the Carbonite lock icon in your system tray and select ‘Disable Carbonite’.
When Carbonite is disabled, the lock icon in your system tray will turn gray with a red ‘X’. You can reenable Carbonite by right-clicking the lock icon again and unchecking the ‘Disable Carbonite’ option.
You may want to disable Carbonite if you need to use another program that requires the Volume Shadow Copy Service, such as a disk defragmenter, or if you are traveling with your computer for an extended period of time without access to the Internet.
Will Carbonite work through a proxy server?
Carbonite does not work with proxy servers at this time.
Where do I find the Carbonite Backup Drive?
If you don’t see the blue Carbonite Backup Drive lock icon on your Desktop, you can access the backup drive from the ‘My Computer’ directory.
Click the Windows Start menu, then click on ‘My Computer’ to open the directory. (Note: ‘My Computer’ is called ‘Computer’ in Windows Vista.)
Double-click the blue lock icon to open the Carbonite Backup Drive.
What does the ‘Back up ASAP’ option do?
Carbonite works automatically in the background to keep your backup up-to-date without interfering with your computer’s performance. However, if you need to update your backup right away, you can select ‘Back up ASAP’ on the View Status tab. When you select Back up ASAP, any new and changed files will be uploaded to your backup immediately. (Note that this option is only available after your initial backup is complete.)
You can also back up individual files ASAP by right-clicking on the file and selecting “Back up this file as soon as possible.”
System Tray Lock Icon Meanings
| A green lock icon means your initial backup is complete and your backup is operating normally. | |
| A yellow lock icon indicates that your backup is at least 24- hours out-of-date. When you install Carbonite for the first time, the lock icon will be yellow. It will turn green after your first backup is complete. Whenever you see a yellow lock icon, it’s best to leave your computer turned on and connected to the Internet until the lock icon turns green, indicating that your backup is up-to-date. | |
| A red lock icon indicates that there’s some sort of a problem with your backup that requires your attention. Click on the lock icon to view the alert message and instructions. | |
| A yellow or green icon with a down arrow on it indicates that you’ve put Carbonite in Low Priority mode. | |
| A gray lock icon indicates that you have paused or disabled Carbonite. | |
| A blue lock icon with a red cross in the middle indicates that Carbonite is in Recover Mode. |
