⁦I.⁩ When something goes wrong

I don't remember the backup or disc password

What happened

The backup password, the disc password and the off-site backup's encryption password cannot be recovered or reset. The program has no other key. Without the password nobody can read the encrypted files, not even the publisher of the program.

What to do

First, look for the password

  • Check the places where it may have been written down, for example a password manager, a notebook or a safe. The disc password is on the disc card.
  • Enter it again, paying attention to upper and lower case, the keyboard layout and accented letters. Enter the disc password including the hyphens, exactly as on the card.

A backup password remembered by the program

If scheduled backups are still being made, the password is remembered in Windows Credential Manager. The program will not show it, but it uses it for restoring: on the “Templates” page, select the template and click “Restore from this backup”, and on the “Restore” page leave the password field empty. This works only on this computer and this Windows account; anywhere else, you cannot read the backup without the password. So, while the original files are still on the computer, make a backup with a new password:

  1. On the “Templates” page, select the template and click “Load into the form”.
  2. In the “Where we write” box, choose a new, empty backup folder.
  3. Enter a new password in both fields and write it down somewhere safe. Tick “Remember the password in Windows Credential Manager”.
  4. Click “Run backup”. A full backup with the new password is made.
  5. Click “Save as template”, keep the same name, and when asked “Replace the template?”, answer “Yes”. The next backups go to the new folder.

The disc password

Without the password nobody can read an encrypted disc. If these files are still in a backup or on the computer, record a new disc with a new password and print its card (see “Recording an encrypted disc”).

The off-site backup password

If the program has remembered it, restoring from the off-site backup works on this computer: in the “From” box, choose the template (see “Restoring from the off-site backup”). On another computer, the restore will not work without this password.

If something goes wrong

  • Every encrypted file reports “Verification failed: wrong password or a damaged file.”: the password entered is different from the backup password. Damage usually affects a single file, not all of them at once.