Technical FAQs


  • How do I receive my username?
    The SOS account username is proposed by the registrant at the time of registration. Once registration is completed, an email is sent to your subscribed email address as well. Usernames are unique, and cannot be recycled.


  • What does UltraSafe mean to me?
    This is a feature which can be selected at the time of creating your backup account. When creating an account in UltraSafe mode, the password is irretrievable. For normal accounts, if ever customers forget their passwords, they can still get the passwords mailed to them by going to https://myaccount.sosonlinebackup.com and answering the “Forgot Password” question the answer to which is provided at the time of registration. Under UltraSafe mode, your data remains secure, but cannot be retrieved by any means in case of password lost.






  • How do I add folders and files to the list of what is backed up?
    After logging in SOS Online Backup client software, the user can decide whether to use the Classic View (from the dropdown on the top right corner of the software display screen) or the Wizard View, which is the default view after logging in.

    a) Wizard View
    After logging in, application screen consists of four different functions. To find the files which need to be backed up online, select the “Backup Online” option. You can then choose from the tree view which is all the files which have to be backed up. Since it is not advisable to back up system files and folders, make sure that you take time to scroll through the tree view to actually select data files that are important for backup.

    b) Classic View
    The Classic View offers three different modes for selecting files that need to be backed up. After logging in, click on Classic View from the “Advanced” menu on the top right corner of the application display. In the Classic view, navigate to Backup Mode. There are three different ways to look for data that need to be backed up.

    - Drag and Drop Feature
    Allows to ‘drag and drop’ a file or folder for backup

    - Explore computer
    Provides a directory tree view from which files and folders for back up can be selected.

    - Search for files
    This mode allows you to look for files with specific file extensions. A wide range of selection is available here.

  • How can I find a file when I don’t know where to look for it?
    You can look for files to back up through the ‘Backup Online’ Wizard option which you can launch after logging in the client software. On step 1 of the wizard, a tree view of the computer’s directory is available for file selection. You can also search for files. After logging in to the client software, on the top right corner of the application display go to ‘Advanced’ menu, select Classic View. Navigate to the Backup Mode and to ‘Search for files’. Look up in the directory for C drive (Most of the .pst files are hidden files) and select the .pst extension.

  • Why can’t I see my Outlook .pst file?
    By default, Outlook .pst files are hidden files. On Windows XP, they are usually located in the C:\Documents and settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder.

    On Windows Vista, Outlook files are usually located in C:\Users\\App Data\Local\Microsoft\Outlook folder.


  • How do I set a schedule?
    After logging in the client software, you can set up a scheduled back up through the following steps:

    1) Select “Backup Online” and select the files you need to backup

    2) On the step 2 screen, select “Run scheduled backup automatically without user intervention”

    3) The other checkbox “Run backup even when user is not logged on» is an advanced setting and is usually useful for server environment. Normal users need not select this option.

    4) Click on next, and key in an email address if you require a backup report

  • What are the Domain/Username/Password fields used for?
    This screen appears if the “Run backup even when user is not logged on” is checked on Step 2 when creating a backup from the Wizard View. These credentials are your Windows environment username and password and not your SOS Username and Password. This is an advanced option which is useful for unattended computers like servers. This option is not required by normal users using SOS Online Backup on a standalone computer.

  • Once a schedule is set, how can I check it?
    You can check the status of your SOS Scheduled Backup by looking at Windows Scheduled tasks. This is the repository of all scheduled tasks on a computer. You can get to the Windows Scheduled Tasks in Windows XP by navigating to Start -> Program Files -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks.

    If you have correctly scheduled a backup with SOS Online Backup, there will be an icon with the SOS Online Backup logo sitting there. Right click and view properties.

  • How can I re-set a schedule to another time?
    When logging into the client software, select “Backup Online”. If the backup set remains the same and you only wish to change the schedule, then do not have to do anything on step 1. Click next and move on to step 2. This is where you can change the time, frequency of a scheduled backup. Click on Next once the correct settings have been entered.



  • Can I change the email address later?
    Yes, it can be changed using the SOS client in the following two ways:

    • In the Classic View
    • Start the SOS client in the classic view
    • Go to Options
    • Select Email Backup Reports
    • Select the checkbox which says “send email reports at the end of scheduled backup”
    • Enter the email address where you want the reports to be delivered in the text box below.
    • Click Apply
    • In the Wizard View
    • While configuring online backup using the wizard
    • Step 3 of the configuration displays an option to send email backup reports
    • Select the checkbox which says “send email reports at the end of scheduled backup”
    • Enter the email address where you want the reports to be delivered in the text box below.
    • Continue with the back up



  • What is the difference between running on a schedule and running with no user logged on?
    In using a server there is usually no user account logged on to the server directly , however we have to provide the domain name of the domain to which the server belongs and also the login credentials to log into the server.

    In a normal PC or laptop, there is always an account logged on for the computer to function. In the case of this Backup program there must be an Administrator account logged on – it may be locked out

  • What should I be aware of in order to properly set the Caching Option?
    With FULL cache chosen the effects are to have the shortest session times and the largest footprint on the local drive.

    With NO cache chosen, the effects are to have the longest session times but the smallest possible footprint on the local drive; it basically retransfers the entire file.

    With intellicache selected the effect is to have a middle ground result. Only files above 500kb are cached, and the files which are less than 500 KB are re-transferred again




  • Can I change the session checklist without completely re-doing it?
    Yes. All selected elements are independently dealt with.

    If you want to change the items in the session checklist:
    • Open the SOS Client in the classic view
    • Go to Backup Mode
    • It will show all the files in the session check list
    • If you want to remove some files, select those files and click on the “Remove Selected Button”
    • If you want to add some files to the session checklist, it can be done in following three ways:
      • Using Drag and drop files and folder option, in which files and folder can be added simply by dragging the files to the list of files.
      • Using Browse for file option, in which simply browse the local drive and select the files which is to be added to the session check and click “Apply” button.
      • Using Search for files ,in which files to be added are searched based on files extensions and then the found files are selected and the “Protect “ button is clicked to add the selected files in the session check list




  • How can I share a file?
    To share a file/folder, you can use MyAccount facility which is available from our website (https://myaccount.sosonlinebackup.com ). Log in to your account using your username and password and then select the “Online Recovery” link. There will be a list of machines from which you have done your backup so far, drill down to which files/folders you want to share and then select the “SHARE/RECOVER” link on the right of the table.

  • How can I share a folder of files?
    To share a file/folder, you can use MyAccount facility which is available from our website (https://myaccount.sosonlinebackup.com ). Log in to your account using your username and password and then select the “Online Recovery” link. There will be a list of machines from which you have done your backup so far, drill down to which files/folders you want to share and then select the “SHARE/RECOVER” link on the right of the table

  • Can a Shared file recipient re-upload?
    The file recipient can not re-upload the files/folders using the web facility. The recipient needs to log in to a SOS Account using SOS Client Software to upload the files/folders

  • What if a common file on a server is accessed by many during a period, which version will be saved - or will all?
    All versions will be backed up. The backup will be saved separately on their own version. For example, if a file called MyDocument.doc exists in a server and we have 2 machines connected to the server and accessing the file (A and B). After finish modifying, A does a backup, the file will be saved as A -> Path\MyDocument.doc version 1. When B does a backup, it will go to B -> Path\MyDocument.doc version 1. When the server does the backup, the file will be backed up as Server -> Path\MyDocument.doc version 1



  • Why doesn't my SQL database get backed up even though it is in the session checklist?
    We don’t support native SQL database backup. What you can do is to run the backup using the database engine you’re using and then run the backup of the SQL database backup file into our server. For example, if you have a database file called MyDatabase.mdb using Ms SQL Server 2005, you can make a backup of your database using Ms SQL Server 2005, name it MyDatabase_date.bak and send the MyDatabase_date.bak for backup to our server

  • How can I disable/enable the email backup reports?
    • Click on the advanced button on the top right hand of the SOS software.
    • Select Classic View option.
    • Select the options tab in Classic View.
    • Select email backup reports in the options provided.
    • To disable, uncheck the send email reports checkbox.
    • To enable , check the send email reports checkbox, you can also change your email address.