Restoring data
Reading data back is the only feature that matters. Backupinsta restores files and folders — it does not rebuild a machine from bare metal, and it does not write disk images to a volume.
Where a restore can land
| Destination | Use it when |
|---|---|
| In place | You want the original path back as it was |
| A new folder | You want the old copy beside the current one, not instead of it |
| Another machine | The original device is gone, or you are moving work |
| Your browser | You need one or two files and do not want to touch the endpoint |
Restoring to another machine works because cross-device restore is a supported path — a device’s credential can read the workspace, and the restore is performed with the correct repository key.
How existing files are treated
When a restore lands somewhere that already has files, one of three modes applies:
overwrite— existing files are replaced by the backed-up version.skip— existing files are left alone; only missing files are written.mirror— the destination is made to match the recovery point, which means files not in the backup are removed.
mirror is the destructive one. It is the only mode that deletes data at the
destination.
Reading the recovery point badges
Before you commit to a restore, the recovery point picker tells you whether the run that produced that point left anything out.
- A point with no flag was complete — nothing was skipped and the run was not degraded.
- A point flagged “no shadow copy” ran without a shadow copy, so files that were locked at the time are not in it.
- A point flagged with a skipped count is missing that many files, which could not be read when the backup ran.
A flagged point is still restorable. It simply does not contain everything that
was on the machine at that moment, and mixing it with a mirror restore is how
you end up with a folder assembled from two different points in time.