We are existed, since the year will start with the release of our new software and site, so stay tuned for some surprises.

As of today, we have just released version 1.1.5, that is limited to a reduced list of beta tester. The first official version should be available in the very beginning of 2010…

Basically, the software will be shipped in two part :
1- an interface to create your ‘jobs’ (folders and files you want to backup), and execute the restore of your data.
2- a service that runs in backgound and that will record all modifications to any files within your jobs every four hours.

The interface is simple yet efficient

The jobs are easily created and maintained

As far as security is concerned, when installing the software, you choose an encryption password that will never leave your computer… therefore your data is stored in a private way (no one will read or even use your data for marketing purpose)

Data can be restored through a few clicks… on your computer but also on a new computer.

77backup uses Amazon web services

Basically, your data is stored on seven separated servers (that’s the cloud) that are designed for 99.99 % availability… By choosing amazon as a provider, 77backup guarantees you the stability and security of a large and respected company.

When choosing 77backup/altexa, You can be sure that your data will always be available for restore at anytime.

Amazon site / blog

This is an exiting step for all of us at Altexa, we are entering a new period and will rebrand the famous and award winning ‘altexa Online backup tool’ as ’77backup’

Check out in the weeks to come for new products with exiting unlimited offers, new website and lots of surprises !

However, since a lot of the work done by the program is now done in the background, sometimes, if a problem occurs, and the program ends up in some sort of situation we haven’t envisaged, then it can be hard to tell the user this.

So we’ve implemented a new system of bug reporting. If the program encounters an exception, then it will offer to send a bug report to us, telling us more about the situation, what caused the problem, etc.

Hopefully, it’ll help us help YOU!

The problem arises when you want to make a backup of a file, and another application is using it. Sometimes, it’s nearly impossible to get the other application to let you have a look at its file, even for a second or two. Notably Outlook. Outlook REALLY doesn’t like to have anyone else even look at its data files – meaning that it won’t let you open them if it’s open, and if you are looking at them when it opens, it’ll break.

The solution? In Windows XP, Vista and Windows Server 2003, it’s called the Volume Shadow Copy Service, which will allow you to make a backup of a file (or the system), even when files are open.

We’ve just implemented it in Altexa Backup, and hopefully, it should mean a lot more happy customers!

Yes, that’s right, something remarkably like ‘UAC’. Which happend to be the acronym for Vista’s new security framework – User Access Control. That’s the framework which gives you those popup windows every time you try to do something.

One of the more annoying (to us) parts of UAC is the way it handles programs which try to start when you log on to Windows. If the program hasn’t SPECIFICALLY been written for Vista (i.e. inside the program’s innards, there isn’t a magical line of code saying ‘hey, I know what UAC is and I play nice’), then the program won’t be allowed to run.

This was the case with the backup agent in Altexa Backup. Until build 808, that is smiley

Oh, and we now digitally sign our executable files – it’s another step forward in our security process…you can now be sure as soon as you download our programs that they are from us. The installer is signed by ‘Altexa LLC’, and each individual program is, too.

We’ll post stuff here when something interesting happens to either the software, the website, or something else related to the Altexa Backup product. We hope this blog will give you some insight into the workings of the Altexa system!

Cheers

Mark Walker