Help - new to this service

[pwsnov]

Never really got round to it before so thought I'd give it a go.  It did say that it would take 11 hours to set up which I thought was a long time but thought hey ho.

From 11am yesterday to about 3am this morning it said it was still backing up.  Then said back up complete and was syncing my account.  Thought 'enough' and switched my laptop off (have never had it on so long!)

When switching on this morning some of my desktop icons are green but not all. Also when accessing Back up it said it was still err, backing up.

Is this really normal or have I just wasted 24hrs electricity on something that doesn't work?  Cannot access 'Free' photo service yet.

By the way I have 20 Meg BB so surely it cannot take this long, if it does then why bother and just stick with windows back up?

Any help much appreciated.

[RonB]

Hi

The little green icon means that file is backed up.  The ones without the icon are probably shortcut links.  You can check to see what is backed up by clicking on 'backed up files' or better still because I do not trust virgin media backup go to my virgin media and access your backed up files there.  You can also see how much space has been used.  If backup was still working this morning it is because it had not finished last night or that you have worked on a file today.  Unlike windows backup virgin media backup keeps all your selected files backed up as you amend them.  There is some information here that may help:  http://help.virginmedia.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1002&PARTITION_ID=1&TIMEZONE...

[pwsnov]

Thanks for taking the time to help.  Maybe the computer hadn't finished the full back up.  As I look at desktop now, some shortcuts are green, others are grey.  The problem I found was that I had my laptop on constantly from 11 am yesterday through to 4am this morning.  At 4am I noticed it said syncing account so assumed all back up had been done.

As I type it says 'backing up your stuff' so will go back to it in a couple of hours.

I can't seem to access anything else like photos right now so guess it hasn't finished.  But should we really have to leave a computer on for as long as nearly 17 hours?

I also noticed today that I couldn't complete my iPad sync so wondered if this setting up being a factor.  Will look at this again later.

How long did yours take to set up the first time?

Again, thanks for helping - Once I'm set I should be fine - Just need to know whether it's worth using this service or sticking to Windows back up - Only takes about 20 - 25 mins with that!

[pwsnov]

Think I can see where I was going wrong with photos, can see how you do this via My Virgin Media now.

Just the screen on the back up App still syas 'backing up your stuff' so my concern about how much time it takes still applies.  Assuming it will say back up complete when done?  The screen that says 'Monitoring your files' I'm guessing is always on?  Haven't had the luxury of that one yet!

[RonB · Accepted solution]

Hi

Yes, it can take forever to do a backup, it really is not fit for purpose.  I only use it to back up my documents and a few photographs, that is just over 2.5gb.  Yes I do think it is worth sticking to VM backup for your documents that you may work on over the week, because it is a real time backup.  For example if you loose a document while you are working on it, you will be able to retrieve it from VM backup.  You could not do that with windows.

[pwsnov]

I see, that is good advice. So stick with Windows for the main stuff and as you say for weekly stuff and photos - use VM

I will change my settings now and hopefully will not have to leave the computer on 24/7

Brilliant stuff, thanks again.