| 1 |
Q |
What does the BackupBox actually do? |
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A |
The BackupBox Software is a full disaster recovery solution (including your whole boot physical disk, partitions, hidden partitions, (*everything*) which guarantees the complete restoration of your PC or laptop on a daily basis. You can use BackupBox space for storing your files and folders using standard Explorer tools -- be sure to leave enough space for you boot disk backups! |
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| 2 |
Q |
Which of the operating systems does the BackupBox support? |
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A |
The BackupBox Software is compatible with Windows 2000 (W2k), Windows XP (WinXP), and VISTA (the next version of Windows). VISTA testers are encouraged to enroll in our PRE-RELEASE program. |
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| 3 |
Q |
What is the difference between the Personal BackupBox and the Mobile BackupBox? |
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A |
The Personal BackupBox (80GB, 250GB, 320GB, 400GB, 500GB, or 750GB) is primarily used for the home or office, and requires wall power. The Mobile BackupBox (80GB, 120GB, 160GB), is used primarily for the laptops and is powered by the USB port. The Mobile BackupBox is small enough to carry in your pocket and requires only a single USB cable for both the USB connection and power. |
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| 4 |
Q |
What is the warranty and what does it cover? |
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A |
We stand behind our products fully. Ninety days on everything with a minimum 3 year manufacturer’s warranty on all hard drives. |
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| 5 |
Q |
What size (GB*) BackupBox should I purchase? |
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A |
The capacity of the Personal BackupBox is either 80GB, 250GB, or 320GB, 400GB, 500GB, or 750GB. The capacity of the Mobile BackupBox is 80GB, 120GB, or 160GB larger. We recommend the BackupBox size (GB) be equal to or greater than the physical boot drive(s) being backed up on your computer(s). If you are uncertain of the size of your system's disk, email Red Paw Support or call us at (970) 372 5002 and we will help.
*For hard drives, GB means 1 billion bytes; actual, unformatted capacity varies with format and will be less |
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| 6 |
Q |
Are there any monthly or recurring fees for the BackupBox and/or services? |
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A |
No - not today. There are discussions for future subscription services like advanced remote diagnostics, software updates, etc. but for now we do not charge for any of it. There is a 90-day warranty on both the software and hardware, but we have never charged customers for updates and do not plan that for the immediate future. |
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| 7 |
Q |
Will my BackupBox software work on my existing external USB 2.0 drive? Can I purchase the software only? |
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A |
Yes - the software can be installed on any external USB drive. |
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A |
Yes - the BackupBox software can be purchased and comes with a utility that will let you create a BackupBox on any of your internal, external, or network fixed disk drives. |
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| 8 |
Q |
How does the BackupBox differ from an external hard drive? |
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A |
The BackupBox units are USB-based and/or FireWire external disk units pre-loaded with the BackupBox client software. You can use your existing external hard disk using the software that comes with your BackupBox or you can buy additional BackupBox software client workstation licenses from us. Contact us at BackupBox Sales or call us at (970) 372-1264 between 9 AM and 5 PM Mountain Time. |
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| 9 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox analyze my system drive and detect problems as they occur; more importantly, before the problems that cause data loss? |
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A |
Yes - the remote disk monitoring (and enhanced diagnostics which are constantly evolving) is a very useful and unique capability of the BackupBox. We look at *every* sector of your physical disk spindle, so that if any of the sectors show indications of read problems (the first indication of typical disk problems) our software recognizes and reports it. As you know, your files exist within a file system which exists within a partition which exists on a physical disk spindle. In other words, your normal PC usage only touches sectors that are within the file system(s), not all of the disk. If sectors are going bad, you may not ‘see’ them until it is too late. We get that info right away and in turn, send you notification via your internet connection. |
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| 10 |
Q |
How does the BackupBox actually backup my system? |
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A |
The BackupBox saveset(s) are designed to make sure you have a complete, disaster recovery backup of your boot physical disk, including all partitions, logical volumes, automatically on an ongoing basis. The frequency of the saveset updates is dependent on an intelligent heuristics model that we have built and update on a monthly basis. If the BackupBox is plugged in, your system will be backed up. We do not exactly save ‘old copies’ of your disk data; however, we do have transient ‘chunks’ that (before they are committed to the current sealed backup image) are representative of your disk data at a newer point in time than the sealed backup. Our users never see any of this, of course. |
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| 11 |
Q |
Can the BackupBox be used to migrate a computer from one size hard drive to another equal size or larger size hard drive? |
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A |
Yes - do a full BackupBox backup on the smaller, original disk. Pull it out, put in the new one, boot from our Recovery CD, it will see the BackupBox (it must be plugged in), and do the restore. |
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| 12 |
Q |
Apart from restoring the whole hard disk, does the BackupBox support recovering individual files, if a file is accidentally deleted? |
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A |
No - the BackupBox is a full disaster recovery solution (including your whole boot physical disk, partitions, and hidden partitions which guarantees the complete restoration of your PC/laptop on an ongoing basis; not file-by-file, yet. However, you can use the BackupBox extra space for storing your files, folders, et al as long as there is space. |
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| 13 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox give a roll back facility? For example, can the disk be set to the way it was one hour ago? |
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A |
No - the objective of the BackupBox is to provide users with a simple, reliable, complete restoration. In reality, the backup may be a reflection of the disk as of 1-4 hours ago, depending on the way the system was used for the past 4-8 hours (this is driven by a simple, but intelligent heuristic that we continue to work on every month). User’s that are sophisticated enough to want/need system roll-backs will probably use a much more sophisticated enterprise-oriented backup solution. We started there and worked back down to an implementation that is totally automatic and simple to use for everyone. |
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| 14 |
Q |
If the BackupBox is not plugged in when the computer boots, then plugged in later; will it sync the changes done to the disk during the non-plugged in period? |
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A |
Yes - the point where the current backup/refresh cycle is marked and the next time the unit is plugged in it continues from there. If it is in the middle of a write, Windows will probably give a ‘delayed write error’, but it has no effect on the sealed saveset. |
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| 15 |
Q |
What is the process for performing a restore on a new, raw drive (i.e., a bare metal restore)? Is a boot disk required? |
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A |
Yes - a boot CD is required. Our Recovery CD, based on Microsoft Windows XP Pre-Installation Environment, loads our Restore programs from the BackupBox itself, so the programs that did the backup are always stored with the backup saveset itself. |
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| 16 |
Q |
What happens to the sealed saveset (backup image file) when the BackupBox loses power (is unplugged) or disconnected from the USB port? |
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A |
The BackupBox saveset will be a reflection of the last disk as of 4-18 hours ago, depending on the way the system has been used (this is driven by a simple, but intelligent heuristic that we continue to work on every month). |
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| 17 |
Q |
Can I restore to hard drives with different geometry than the source drive? |
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A |
Yes - any geometry; all partitions, volumes, et al will be back. |
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| 18 |
Q |
Will the BackupBox work with servers? |
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A |
Yes - with Windows-based servers only. There is a server-based version of the software for the servers because of additional load-balancing capabilities. |
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| 19 |
Q |
How does the BackupBox handle large changes to the disk (say, creating of a file that is several GB's in length) and will it delay the actual disk writes until it can make a copy onto the BackupBox (i.e. does it backup asynchronously?) |
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A |
Yes and No - The BackupBox is constantly monitoring and updating backup ‘chunks’, but the chunks are not committed to the ‘sealed’ backup saveset until a heuristically-determined point happens. Then the ‘new’ image is committed and you have a representation of your disk at that point in time. When you restore, the disk is exactly as it is at that time. If you are performing special, ultra-large disk I/O, you may want to control your saveset recycle times to be before or after those writes are committed by Windows to disk (otherwise you risk a very long CHKDSK after restore). |
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| 20 |
Q |
Looking at your system, for servers, will the BackupBox back up the entire network or just the server? |
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A |
For server-based BackupBox units (using the BackupBox Server software on Windows-based servers only) the BackupBox is going to backup the server system spindle (physical disk or array). |
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| 21 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox perform a bare metal recovery? |
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A |
Yes - Raw sectors from the physical disk image (chunked, compressed, SHA-1’d, etc.) back to the new drive. |
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| 22 |
Q |
I have a small network one server and 3 clients. How would you recommend backing up all computers? Not all information from each client is stored on the server. |
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A |
There are a number of good options. If it is a Microsoft Windows server you can put a BackupBox directly on it to backup the server installation and boot disk. You can then, either license BackupBox clients for each of the individual machines and backup to the server storage or put individual BackupBox units on one or more of the individual client machines, depending on how important the desktop, settings, and data for each of them is, etc. |
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| 23 |
Q |
If I have a 120 GB disk full of mp3 music files, will it handle it? |
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A |
If you have a lot of pre-compressed files, you need to make sure the BackupBox unit has at least the capacity of your boot disk spindle (physical disk). If you have a laptop with a 60GB hard disk, you would need the 80GB Mobile BackupBox. We really backup the *entire* physical boot disk, so even if your logical partition is only partially in use, there is (possibly) a lot of information that needs to be kept like hidden manufacturer partition, for a complete disaster recovery solution. |
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| 24 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox restore the complete OS onto a new hard drive or must there be an OS restore CD available or have an OS on the drive first? |
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A |
The BackupBox does a complete restore of your entire disk, including the backed up OS. We ship a fully bootable Recovery CD so you don’t have to worry the operating system CD. |
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| 25 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox allow restoring selected parts such as selected software or data files? |
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A |
There is no file-by-file restoration yet. However, you can use BackupBox space for storing your files, folders, et al as long as there is space. The BackupBox is a full disaster recovery solution (including your whole boot physical disk, partitions, hidden partitions, *everything*) which guarantees the complete restoration of your PC/laptop on a daily basis. |
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| 26 |
Q |
To avoid losing my BackupBox data, where should I store it? (i.e. in the case of theft or fire, I want to be sure it isn’t in the same proximity). |
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A |
For businesses, 2 BackupBoxes should be rotated out weekly (1 Box attached to the system in use, and the other rotated offsite on a weekly basis). |
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| 27 |
Q |
When does the system back-up or close its files? Is there a command to backup? |
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A |
The BackupBox is a continuous, non-scheduled implementation. As your PC becomes idle (your keyboard and mouse become quiet for a window of time, default is 3 minutes) the last backup cycle continues from where it last left off. At some point, determined heuristically, we commit a ‘sealed’ backup saveset which is reported in the tooltip and monitor; then the next cycle then begins. There Is A “Backup Now” command to force an immediate backup. |
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| 28 |
Q |
How long has it been on the market? |
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A |
The BackupBox has been on the market since March 2005. BackupBox initiated a formal marketing presence during the first quarter of 2006. We now use a host of channels, and have escalated to volume sales in North America. |
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| 29 |
Q |
My laptop has a 100 GB hard drive. Do you have something for that size? |
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A |
Yes - We can put any size hard drives in our enclosure to meet your needs. The 80GB Mobile BackupBox can be used as long as your storage stays below 80GB; otherwiase the Mobile 120GB BackupBox is recommended. In the case of Personal BackupBox units, you can use an 80GB unit as long as your storage demands stays below 80GB; however the Personal 250 is highly recommended |
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| 30 |
Q |
Does the BackupBox save only the last update or does it save incremental changes and old copies? |
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A |
Depending on the space available, it is possible to have multiple images, but very few customers actually do that since they are entire physical disk images. For installations (on servers) where multiple versions are important, the usual case it that they also need offsite storage, so there are two or more BackupBox units rotated offsite which forms both the offsite disaster recovery and the secondary version. |
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| 31 |
Q |
Does the mobile BackupBox work with larger hard drives? i.e., a 100 GB hard drive in a laptop. |
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A |
The Mobile BackupBox with an 80GB (pre compression) which will work. There are two additional options: (1) the Home/Office Personal BackupBox if you do not need the portability of the Mobile BackupBox or (2) the Mobile BackupBox with either a 120GB or larger disk. |
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| 32 |
Q |
Does the desktop backup boxes have the ability to backup more than a single PC? |
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A |
Yes - but allow enough space for the BackupBox to cover each machine’s physical boot disk size. For example, if your laptop has a 100GB and your desktop has a 120GB, then the Home/Office BackupBox Edition with 250GB will be fine. Contact BackupBox sales for appropriate product details at BackupBox Sales or call us at (970) 372-1264 between 9 AM and 5 PM Mountain Time. |
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| 33 |
Q |
As a psychiatrist, I have a lot of personal information about patients on my computer. How is confidentiality protected? |
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A |
We have other customers with the same issue. We have a HIPAA compliant solution for medical practitioners so they can deal with off-site requirements. You can protect your BackupBox data at several different levels, including hard encryption. |
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| 34 |
Q |
After the initial install, am I required to do ANYTHING to ensure that the system backs-up automatically? |
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A |
No - as long as the BackupBox is connected to your computer, it will automatically update the saveset continuously. You can hover over the Red Paw at any time to see the last completed saveset date and time. |
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| 35 |
Q |
If I want to change to a new computer and do not want to reinstall anything myself, can I simply restore my BackupBox to the new computer? |
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A |
Yes - BUT, be aware that when you do the restore to the new computer, Windows will expect that computer to have the same hardware configuration (device drivers). You will probably need to boot Windows to the safe mode so that Windows can load the new device drivers for the different hardware for the new computer. |
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| 36 |
Q |
I have several programs that have to be registered with the software company and put in an unlock code to use. When my laptop needed another motherboard last year, the program refused to function until another code was obtained. Does this program have a way of getting around this, or would I still need to get another code once the backup was finished? |
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A |
The backup image is exact, so if your existing disk works with a machine, a replacement disk will/should work. I have never seen any exceptions to this, although there are some crazy protection schemes out there! |
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| 37 |
Q |
Is there a BackupBox Users Manual, and where do I obtain it? |
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A |
There is no manual and if one was needed we would have failed in the primary design objective. The BackupBox only needs to be plugged in and it does what it is supposed to – a full disaster recovery of the client PC or laptop. The Recovery CD is the same. Put it in, reboot, answer 2-3 questions, and the restore is done. If you have additional questions, please email Red Paw Support or call us at (970) 372 5002 and we will help. |
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| 38 |
Q |
How is the BackupBox better than the “One Touch” backup? |
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A |
We do not require any “Touch”. The BackupBox is fully automatic and you do not have to learn how to use a software package like Retrospect (which is good albeit complex software). It includes the needed recovery CD which allows you to boot a machine and do your recovery (Retrospect does not, at least Version 6.5). We provide a simple solution to a complex problem with our emphasis on keeping it simple enough for anyone to use, not just PC/technical experts. |
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| 39 |
Q |
If you have multiple high capacity (i.e. 2 x 250GB) drives, will one BackupBox backup both drives until it reaches capacity? |
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A |
No - it will only (automatically) backup your physical disk that you booted from (typically this is the only spindle you really need an image of). |
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| 40 |
Q |
How are the BackupBox software revisions and updates handled? |
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A |
Automatically - cost free, via an internet connection (about 2 minutes on a very slow dial-up because the update files are very small). |
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| 41 |
Q |
“Too good to be true” - Can the BackupBox notify me of impending hard drive failures? |
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A |
We monitor the physical boot disk statistically in addition to during backups. If errors occur, our update servers will get an exception log and, if you have registered a contact email, you will get an advance notification that something is going wrong with your boot drive. |
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| 42 |
Q |
How does the BackupBox handle viruses? |
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A |
It doesn’t - all computers today should have a professional Anti-Virus program installed, which updates DAILY. The BackupBox will restore a system, but if you have a virus, then it will become a part of the saveset. In the event that your computer has been infected while disconnected from the BackupBox, then the virus must be removed from the computer before re-connecting to the BackupBox, to prevent infecting the saveset. In the event the virus was saved in the saveset, it cannot migrate back to your virus-free computer. |
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| 43 |
Q |
Can I run the BackupBox without being connected to the internet? |
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A |
Yes - but you will not get automatic updates, etc., which we consider important. In addition, the BackupBox analyzes the physical condition of your hard drive’s tracks and sectors, and in return, reports (via the internet) the hard drive status. Any pending hard drive failure notices would be impossible to receive without an internet connection. |
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| 44 |
Q |
Should I be concerned about privacy issues with the BackupBox? |
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A |
No - Red Paw Systems (BackupBox) analyzes the physical condition of your hard drive and necessary software updates. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for additional information. |
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| 45 |
Q |
In an Information Technology Department (IT), we have a number of images for various users and computers. Can the BackupBox support more than one image for selective restore? |
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A |
Yes - this is a perfect application for our BackupBox Technology. |
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| 46 |
Q |
Do you offer Tech Support / Customer Service with the BackupBox? |
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A |
Yes - although we are striving to make support “a thing of the past”, because this software is so simple to use that it requires virtually no interaction by the user. However, please feel free to contact us at email Red Paw Support or call us at (970) 372 5002 and we will be glad to help. |
"So Simple It Gets Used!"