Working with WinZip Backup Jobs

WinZip Backup Job files are a way to automate the process of creating Zip files. They are great for repetitive zipping tasks. The easy-to-use Job Wizard helps you to create your own job to archive your files. It guides you, in a few quick steps, through the process of specifying exactly how your job should work.


Using the Job Wizard you can specify:

On each panel, you can either click Back to navagate to the previous step or Next to continue to the next step.

Step 1: Select Items

This panel allows you to select the files and folders to be zipped by your WinZip job. You can also specify filters, which refine your file selections when the job is run.

Item list

The Items column lists the current set of files and folders to be included and excluded.

The Action column shows what action will be applied to each item. Inc indicates that the item will be included, and Exc indicates that it will be excluded. Folders may also show the indicator Sub, which indicates that the action will also apply to subfolders of the folder.

To add items to the item list, click Add items, which will display a dialog that allows you to select the files, folders you want to back up. In the resulting dialog, simply check the files and folders you want included. When you click Add, your selections will appear in the Files/folders list.

To remove items from the item list, select one or more items in the list and click Remove items.

Filters

Filters are used to refine your file selections. For example, you can use Exclude filters to skip files that match wildcard patterns that you specify, and you can use Include filters to zip only files matching wildcard patterns.

To create or modify filters, click the Filters button. Note that filters do not appear in the list of items in the Select Items dialog.


Step 2: Choose Job Type

This panel sets your WinZip job type for how files are added to the zip file.

Password/encryption

This option specifies how files should be added to the zip file. The choices are:


Step 3: Specify Job Options

This panel sets your WinZip job options for how folder information is stored, whether the zipped files should be encrypted, what compression method is used, and what conversions should be applied.

Password/encryption

This option specifies whether and how files should be encrypted when they are zipped. The choices are:

Conversions

You can select to have WinZip do any of the available conversions to your files as it adds them to the Zip file being created.

Compression

Choose the compression method to be used in compressing the files. Only one compression type can be selected.


Step 4: Specify Zip File

This panel of the WinZip Job Wizard gives you options for naming the Zip file and specifying its location.


The Sample name: field gives you an idea of what the final Zip file name and folder will look like. The final name may vary from what is shown here if variable information is appended to the Zip file name, if generic folder names are used, or if you choose to save the Zip file in a variably named subfolder. (All of these options are described below.)

Zip file name

Type the name you want to use for the Zip file that the job will create. Do not include a drive letter or a folder.

The default name is WinZip Backup.zip. To help you to prevent over writing a file of the same name already saved in the folder, Append to Zip file name is set to Date + Time. You may type any name you wish and either configure to have nothing added to the end of the file name or choose something else to be appended.

Append to Zip file name

You may elect to append variable information to the Zip file name. This option allows you to run the same job at various times without overwriting previously created Zip files. The Append to Zip file name options are:

If (nothing) is chosen, nothing will be appended to the Zip file name.

Save in folder

The default location for your Zip file is a folder named My WinZip Files in the current user's Documents folder. There are several options available to you for changing the location for the Zip file.

Note that WinZip will create the required folder when the job runs if it does not already exist.


Step 5: Review Settings

This panal in the WinZip Job Wizard allows you to review the choices that you have made while creating or modifying your job. After reviewing these settings, you can either click Back to make changes or Next to continue to the final step.



Step 6: Specifications Complete

This is the final step of the WinZip Job Wizard. Here you can:


Important notes