A brand new Mac computer has approximately 1 million files. When you’re trying to recover that one document you need after mistakenly clicking delete, it may be a bit daunting to find. With Backblaze, you could always browse through your online backup directories to find your file.

However, we’ve just introduced something to make it a little bit easier: Search.

How To Search Backed Up Files
* Visit www.backblaze.com and sign-in
* Select the computer you wish to restore from
* Enter the text you want to search
* Pick the result(s) you want to restore

An Example
A couple years ago I put together a list of swimming pools that were close to my house and what hours they were open. I was not at my computer and couldn’t remember where I saved that file. So I signed into Backblaze.com, typed in “swimmin” (didn’t even finish the whole word) and clicked the search icon. I got a list of the three files, clicked the first one, and got my file in a few seconds!

A Few Notes
This search will look at the name of the file only. Since your files are encrypted, we cannot search the contents of the files themselves. All files that match the name will show up. The directory that the file is in is shown just below the filename.

Hope you enjoy the new feature!

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release:

Release Date: 10/25/10
Version: 1.5.1
Auto-Update: All Users

• Scriptable installer for mass deployment in organizations (Win)
• Bug fix for Mac OS 10.4 to prevent messages in the console logs (Mac)
• Performance improvement on systems mounting AFS filesystems (Mac)
• Automatic exclusion of thumbnail cache folder created by iPhoto 11 which increases performance and stops backing up unnecessary temporary files (Mac)

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be
automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements
in this release:

Release Date: 9/2/10
Version: 1.5.0.311
Auto-Update: All Users

• Increased frequency of updating summaries in customer accounts (helps
Transfer Backup State reflect accurate information).
•  Minor security enhancements.
•  On Macintosh only – opening System Preferences automatically fixes missing menu
item problem.
•  For IT departments in companies – added “push” deployment support to
installer.

Backblaze has made a new release available. All users are scheduled to automatically upgrade over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release:

Release Date: 7/20/10
Version: 1.5.0
Auto-Update: All Users

In addition to various minor fixes and enhancements, there are two key new features:

1. Backup Of Individual Files Up To 9 GB
Despite most photos, songs, and documents being just a few megabytes each, Backblaze has always supported backing up individual files up to 4 GB (1000 times bigger) to ensure we captured even your full-length HD movies. However, once in a while we had users tell us they have even larger files: extra-long HD movies, raw footage from photographers and videographers, Outlook files in certain businesses, and more. So, in this latest release, we added support for backing up uber-large files up to 9 GB.

A question we sometimes get asked is: “My iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom file that contains all my pictures is bigger than that. Will it get backed up?” Yes. All of those store the files individually inside what is called a “Package” on the Mac. Backblaze sees that it is a package and backs up all the individual files inside of it – which are typically a mere few megabytes.

The default remains 4 GB for existing and new installs since this will not be necessary for most people. However, all it takes is a flick of a menu item to change it if you do.

How do you take advantage of this new maximum file size?
* Update to the new release (or wait to be auto-updated within 2 weeks.)
* Open the Backblaze Preference Panel > Settings > Exclusions.
* Change the “Do not backup files larger than:” setting to “9000 MB”.

2. Transfer Backup State

“Do I need to upload all my data again?”

We have heard this question many times in the past. Users upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7 or buying new computers to replace old ones want their backup magically tied to their new setup. Transfer Backup State enables this to happen easily.

When would you use Transfer Backup State?
* You are upgrading the operating system on your computer.
* You are buying a new computer to replace an old computer.
* When your old computer died AND you already restored data to your new computer.

When would you NOT use Transfer Backup State?
* When your old computer died. (Instead, you should restore your data ASAP.)

How do you Transfer Backup State?
Windows: http://www.backblaze.com/help-transfer-backup-win.html
Mac: http://www.backblaze.com/help-transfer-backup-mac.html

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release:

Release Date: 6/21/10
Version: 1.0.7
Auto-Update: All Users

* Protocol changes to add efficiency and reliability.
* Minor security enhancements.
* Rolls up changes from previous versions which were not set to automatically update.

Backblaze has made a new release available. Release is very minor, thus users will not be automatically upgraded. A future release will include these items and automatically upgrade all users.

Release Date: 6/10/10
Windows Version: 1.0.6.263
Mac Version: 1.0.6.264
Auto-Update: None

Usability
* Slightly updated icons in Backblaze Preference Pane/Control Panel

Exclusions
* Added exclusions for temporary filetypes created in iPod Photo Cache (created by iPhone, iPad, etc.)

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release:

Release Date: 3/1/10
Version: 1.0.6
Auto-Update: All Users

Performance Improvements
* Reduces network traffic between client and Backblaze data center.

Improved install & error checking robustness (Mac)
* Clearer messaging during installation if Backblaze data center cannot be reached.
* Clear notification when two Backblaze computers are running with the same ID.
* Many miscellaneous small fixes.

Backblaze has made a new release available and all users are scheduled to be automatically upgraded over the next two weeks. Below are the enhancements in this release:

Release Date: 12/4/09
Version: 1.0.4
Auto-Update: All Users

All binaries are signed (Win)
The installers Windows and Mac installers has always been signed and all Mac binaries have been signed since the Snow Leopard release. Now all binaries on Windows are signed as well per request by Symantec to reduce old versions of Norton anti-virus from misidentifying Backblaze as a virus.

Renewal notification enhancements
* Added notifications to alert customers if their renewal did not succeed.

Added temporary file exclusions
* Excluded DropBox, MobileMe, and Safari cache files since they are temporary and automatically rebuilt.

UI enhancements
* Touched up German and French text to be more accurate and fit better.
* Updated “Vault” icon in Backblaze Preference Pane. (Mac)
* Clicking “Backblaze Preference…” from the icon in the top-bar shows the pane even if it was minimized to the dock. (Mac)
* Stopped printing unnecessary status messages to stdout log. (Mac)

Backup enhancements
* Added iPhone backups to be backed up (for iPhones that are synched with iTunes to the desktop or laptop.)
* Added Mozilla Firefox shortcuts to backup. (Mac)
* Avoid backing up bogus “.” and “..” files found in /Users/Shared/ folders.

Improved install & auto-update robustness (Mac)
* Unpack new installer into uniquely named folder to avoid conflicts.
* Pre-check for Backblaze system files running during auto-update.
* Pre-check for certain esoteric system items to enhance install success.