Resolve a Safety Freeze
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    Resolve a Safety Freeze

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    Article Summary

    A Safety Freeze protects you from losing your data that is backed up in Backblaze Computer Backup when errors occur.

    Notes
    Beginning with version 8.5, Backblaze Computer Backup contains a self-healing component that is designed to prevent Safety Freezes.
    You must have Backblaze Computer Backup version 8.5 or newer, and there cannot be an enabled personal encryption key (PEK).
    The self-healing component does not require or allow for user engagement, and you will not be able to enter your PEK during this process.
    You can follow the steps outlined in this article to manually resolve a Safety Freeze.
    If your backup meets the above conditions and it is still frozen, contact Backblaze Support.

    Verify Your Data

    You should determine whether you lost data. The Backblaze software does not delete files from your computer, However, an altering event on your hard drive itself could trigger a safety freeze.

    1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
    2. In the left navigation menu under Computer Backup, click View/Restore Files.
    3. Comparing what you see on your computer to what appears in your Backblaze account to determine whether the event on your computer caused data loss.
    4. If you have missing data, prepare a restore that includes all of your missing data. 

    Resolve a Safety Freeze

    1. Reboot your computer to ensure that all of the Backblaze files are unlocked.
    2. Uninstall the Backblaze client.
    3. Install the Backblaze client.
    4. License the new installation by using the Inherit Backup State option or by transferring the license from your previous installation to this new backup.
      If you are part of a Group, license transfers are not possible. You can resolve a safety freeze by inheriting the original backup, or you can delete the old backup after you install the new client.

    Resolve a Persisting Safety Freeze

    If you already followed the steps to resolve a safety freeze, and you still encounter the safety freeze, then the issue that caused your initial safety freeze was not resolved. You must upload your files to the server again to ensure their validity.

    1. Sign in to your Backblaze account.
    2. If you have data that is available only in your backup that would be lost in a new upload, create a restore of that data to ensure that it is not lost.
    3. In the left navigation menu under Computer Backup, click Preferences.
    4. To remove the corrupted backup and free up the license, select your frozen computer from the list of computers and click Delete Backup.
      This permanently removes all of the data from this backup. If you have any data that is present only in this backup, create a restore of that data.
    5. Uninstall the Backblaze client.
    6. Install the Backblaze client.
    7. Reboot your computer.
    8. In 12 or more hours, verify that Backblaze reports that you are successfully backing up your computer.

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