FAQ for Windows Backup Software - MiniTool ShadowMaker

What conditions are required to backup remote computers?

1. The remote computer should be in the same LAN.
2. MiniTool ShadowMaker is installed on the remote computer.
3. The remote computer is running.
I want full backups only but not one full backup plus incremental backups. How to do it?

By default, our program creates incremental backups. To make full backups only, please click the Scheme feature and choose Full backup:
How to create incremental backup?

To create incremental backups, please click the Scheme feature and choose Incremental backup. The first backup will be full backup, and then incremental backups follow.
How to create differential backup?

To create differential backups, please click the Scheme feature and choose Differential backup. The first backup will be full backup, and then differential backups follow.
When I clicked Shared, I can’t see my mapped drives.

The agentservice of backup is running under the system account, so mapped folders will be invisible in our program if you login from another account.
I set it to medium compression and sectors-only, but the backup has the same size as the source drive. Why?

Please check whether your drives are encrypted in Windows Disk Management.
I can't backup a 1TB drive to a 1TB drive though the used space is less than 1TB but received the error "Free space on the target volume is insufficient".

In general, you can backup a 1TB hard drive to a 1TB hard drive, but considering the situation where many people like to create incremental/differential backup, we recommend backing up to much larger device, thus we give such an error when the target drive is relatively small. Under this situation, if you want to continue, you can click OK.
How do I set up backup for multiple disks?

You can create backups one after another. During this process, you can choose to either Back up now or Back up later. If you choose backup later, after all backups are set, you can see all backup tasks in the Manage tab. At this time, you can backup when you want.
How do I make once-a-week full back-up with daily incremental backups to follow?

You need to set up full backup and incremental backup separately. Firstly, please set up once-a-week full backup via the Schedule and Scheme functions. Then, please setup daily incremental back via the same functions.
What's the ordinary size for the backup file?

We provide 3 options for compression, namely Medium (default), None, and High. If you choose Compression Medium, the backup file is about 50% of the source; if you choose Compression None, it will be the same size as the source; if you choose Compression High, it is about 30%.
Kindly reminder: this is just estimation, and the percentage might be different in different situations.
Why ShadowMaker doesn’t keep my schedule or scheme settings? The schedule or scheme settings revert to the default settings after I restart the program or computer.

When you restart the program or computer, the Schedule & Scheme settings under the Backup tab will be reverted to the default. To check the Schedule & Scheme settings for existing backup tasks, please go to the Manage tab, click the 3-line menu, choose Edit Scheme or Edit Schedule to view.
Do I have to keep the program running so it can make daily backups?

ShadowMaker runs as a service. In general, as long as your computer boots successfully, the services will be running, and the program will do the scheduled backup. You can check the MTAgentService and MTSchedulerService in Task Manager or Services.msc.
Can I back up to cloud or back up cloud?

Sorry, MiniTool ShadowMaker doesn’t support either backing up to cloud or backing up cloud. Instead, you can back up your local files/drives to local drives or Windows/NAS shared drives.

Can I restore backups created by old versions on a newer version?

Yes, you can restore a backup created by old version on a newer version. If the backups aren’t showing up on the Restore or Manage tab, you can click the Add Backup button to add backup files manually.
MiniTool ShadowMaker said “Size of target disk is insufficient”, but it has enough space to hold files on the source disk.

Restoring a drive image requires that the target drive should be the same or larger than the source drive. In other words, our program considers drive size but not file size when restoring.
Got "size of target partition is insufficient" error when restore.

Please make sure the target disk has an unallocated space which should be with the same capacity or larger than the source drive.
After upgrade, all backups disappeared from the program.

Please go to the Restore or Manage tab, and then click the Add Backup feature to add backups manually.
Can I restore the backup to a disk that is from different manufacturer?

Our program just considers capacity, so you can restore it to any brand of hard disk.
I made a backup on an MBR data drive. How to restore the backup image to a GPT disk?

When you are prompted to choose volumes to restore, make sure you have checked the MBR and Track 0.
How to restore a part of files from the backup instead of restoring all?

Please use the Browse feature to select the files you prefer to restore. For the details, you can read How to Restore Individual Files from Backup.
When I tried to restore, the program told me ‘No good backup version found’.

Did you change the name of the backup file or change the location of the backup file?
If yes, please Add Backup under Manage tab and then restore again.
If not, please go to Manage tab to Browse and Locate the images to check if they are abnormal and send us an email with the details.

How to delete the boot menu.

Please run the program, click the Tools tab, choose Add boot menu, and delete boot menu. Alternatively, you can run msconfig.exe, and delete the boot menu under the Boot tab.
Invalid license code or activation code.

Please check whether license key is correct. If it is correct, please check whether there is blank at the beginning or in the end of the license key.
How do I check whether the backup is made correctly?

Please go to the Manage tab, then select the backup file, click the 3-bar menu, choose Browse, and follow instructions to browse contents of the backup. When browsing files, you can select some files and restore (export) them to see whether they are correct.
How to register the program when there is no internet connection?

You can refer to this help tutorial: https://www.minitool.com/help-sm/get-started.html#register
Receive the error "Failed to init the sys info service" when launch ShadowMaker.

1. If an external hard drive is connected to your computer, please try disconnecting it and run MiniTool ShadowMaker again.
2. Please delete the alldb.db file in two locations and run the program again:
- Fixed path: C:\Boot\sm_da\alldb.db
- The installation folder of your ShadowMaker like C:\Program Files (x86)\MiniTool ShadowMaker\data
- If you are not allowed to delete the file, please run services.msc, stop the MTAgentService, and delete the alldb.db file again. 3. However, if the above two methods don't work, please uninstall the program, then delete the whole installation folder, and install the program again.
When I boot computer from the bootable disc of MiniTool ShadowMaker, the program falls outside the border of my screen/the screen is outsized.

Please boot the computer from the bootable disc again and choose OK when it is changing screen resolution. However, if you still have the same issue, please enable CSM boot in BIOS. Under the CSM boot mode, the display driver is better.
Each time I start the computer, the message “You have not made any backup. We recommend you set up a backup task for your system right now” pops up.

Please go to Task Scheduler and delete the task of MiniTool ShadowMaker: If you do not see ShadowMaker there, please open Task Manager and stop SMMonitor either in Startup or Services tab.
The last method is to run msconfig.exe and UNSELECT the MTSM option.

ShadowMaker FAQ