Seagate/Maxtor Manager - Backup supported file types

Seagate Manager and Maxtor Backup have a limit on the kinds of files they can backup. This article explains.
The Seagate/Maxtor software has a limit on the kinds of files it can backup. These are simple backup applications that can backup and restore user files on your PC. The following provides you with a list of what cannot be backed up through Seagate Manager or Maxtor Backup:

• operating system files that are in use
• hidden/system files and folders - this includes Microsoft Outlook Data & Personal files (e.g., *.PAB and/or *.PST files)
• Microsoft Compressed Folders
• Microsoft Encrypted Folders
• offline files

If some of those files are present in the folders that you are backing up, the backup software will log error messages to the backup log (usually denoted by an Internal Error 8211), to indicate that those files were not backed up. If the log contains errors, the simple view will indicate that the backup has failed, when really your data files may have been all successfully backed up, but you only received errors on system files or files that were currently in use.

The best way to check to see if the backup ran successfully is to check the Seagate Manager/Maxtor Backup folder on the external drive, to see if your data was successfully copied over.

If you want to check the log to see what types of errors were reported, you can open the log file with a text editor such as Notepad:

• Location for FreeAgent drives using Seagate Manager - see here for a tutorial
• Location for OneTouch III Drives Using Maxtor Backup - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Maxtor\ULC\Log
• Location for Shared Storage Drives Using Maxtor Backup - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Maxtor\MSS\Log

Look for and open the maxback.txt and maxback_.txt file(s) with Notepad.

 By default, these are hidden file/folder structures. To unhide these folder structures, do the following:

1. Open (My) Computer.
2. Click Tools - Folder Options...
3. Click the View tab.
4. Scroll down and click on the Show hidden files and folders radio button.
5. Click Apply and then click OK.

You can now browse to the folder structures identified above and access the appropriate logs.