August 10, 2009 by sharky
How It Works:
µTBackup compresses the directory which contains µTorrent files and saves it with .utb extension. To oversimplify the process - run µTBackup on the local machine and click on the "Backup µTorrent files" link, and save it as a .utb file. On another computer or new OS (or the same one), run µTBackup again, and this time click "Restore ‘em". All uTorrent settings (including the actual .torrent files) will be restored to a different or new instance of uTorrent.exe.
How It Can Be Applied
There’s not a lot of documentation on their website, but we’ll explain two methods in which µTBackup can be applied:
1. Same PC, same Windows OS.
Generally it’s not a bad idea to backup your uTorrent settings in the event something goes drastically wrong with your current OS. Everything will be saved; including all .torrent files, RSS setups, IP blocklists - as well as uTorrent configuration (labels, preferences, port/connection settings, etc).
To make a uTorrent backup - download, extract and run µTBackup, and click on “Backup uTorrent files" link. You’ll be presented with a Save As location for the .utb file (and enter a name for the file - the name is arbitrary). Click Save to finish:
Remember where you saved this .utb file, since you’ll require it when loading the old uTorrent setting through "Restore ‘em" in µTBackup. You’ll now be able to completely delete or uninstall uTorrent, and restore it to its original state (just don’t delete the seeding data folders, as these are not saved in the .utb file, just the .torrents and uTorrent program settings).
NOTE: You need to completely exit uTorrent (kill the uTorrent.exe process) in order complete a restored backup. Restart uTorrent after completing.
2. Different PC, same (or different) Windows OS.
See below for Known Issues. Of course, you can use a free gmail account and email the *.utb file to yourself in order to access it on another OS or computer. µTBackup will need to be downloaded and ran on the second machine in order to restore the backup (click "Restore ‘em" and browse to the location of your saved *.utb file).
Known Issues / Supported OSes
Vista only? µTBackup’s website at http://teemue.googlepages.com claims that it has only been tested on Windows Vista (x86). For this it works flawlessly, and correctly imports the files into the default uTorrent path:
C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent
We’ve also tested it on WinXP SP2, and it also works great - but you may need to install:
µTBackup is also reverse-OS compatible, in that we were able to save the .utb file in Vista and successfully load it into a uTorrent installation in WinXP on a second computer. The caveat, however is that uTorrent will have needed to be installed into the default path (Program Files\uTorrent\) and that the working uTorrent program files directory (aka the appdata dir) is located in:
C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Application Data\uTorrent\
(Unless you hacked or customized the installation, all paths should be OK).
Directory Paths, Cross-OS
By default, all individual torrent directory paths (the seeding locations) will take on the same dir structure as the original uTorrent installation to which they were originally backed up. µTBackup does NOT backup the actual torrent directories (content) - just the .torrent files and the uTorrent settings files. You’ll need to manually move the finished torrent files/folders to the new path or harddrive on a different OS, in order to continue seeding. Otherwise, this can be accomplished on a per-torrent basis (right-click a torrent, select Advanced > Set Download Location…) and browse to the proper location.
Thus, when working with external drives or custom paths these may need to be manually edited to suit the new path on a different OS or machine. For example, if you’re seeding from an external drive hooked up to Vista it may appear as Drive (F:) but when plugged into XP it may be listed as (E:) - depending on hardware configurations.
TIP: When working across different OSes (on different machines or otherwise), it’s not a bad idea to set a default location for downloaded files before making the µTBackup (.utb) file. The reason here is that downloads paths are saved (by default) to different locations in both XP and Vista. This can be done through Preferences > Directories in uTorrent. Make the applicable change, and proceed to move your torrent folders/files to that path - then make the backup. On a new OS, this save location will be imported into the new uTorrent installation when doing "Restore ‘em". Just be sure to also move your torrent folders/files to the same location (which will probably require you to manually create the new "Put new downloads in:" directory on the PC with the new OS).
Archived by FSFmirror
