It also supports running simultaneously for multiple logged-in users on the same computer.

To get the latest release you can pick “Check for Updates” from the iPhotoSync menu (if you’ve already installed it) or download it from here:http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/iPhotoSync.zip.

The full release notes are available here: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/ips_release_notes.html

As always, please send any feedback you have! Email it to support@haystacksoftware.com

- Stefan

To get it, pick “Check for Updates” from the Arq menu, or download it from the product page.

Here are the details:

Release Notes for Arq Backup Version 1.5.12

Feature Additions

• Select an individual file to add to backups.

Bug Fixes

• If Arq is in the middle of relaunching after installing an update, don’t show an error about Arq Agent not running.
• Arq Agent checks for app updates and displays a message when an update is available.
• Don’t show filename as “download name” in S3 objects.
• Added help to the initial setup screen that explains what S3 keys are.

To get the latest release you can pick “Check for Updates” from the iPhotoSync menu (if you’ve already installed it) or download it from here:http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/iPhotoSync.zip.

The full release notes are available here: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/ips_release_notes.html

- Stefan

There are a number of bug fixes, including a fix for the non-functioning “Show Ignored Photos” checkbox.

To get the latest release you can pick “Check for Updates” from the iPhotoSync menu (if you’ve already installed it) or download it from here:http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/iPhotoSync.zip.

The full release notes are available here: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/ips_release_notes.html

- Stefan

It also has an “Ignore” feature so you can ignore some of the other computer’s photos instead of having to import them and then delete them.

To get the latest release you can pick “Check for Updates” from the iPhotoSync menu (if you’ve already installed it) or download it from here: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/iPhotoSync.zip.

The full release notes are available here: http://www.haystacksoftware.com/iphotosync/ips_release_notes.html

But your computer’s hard drive died. So you took it to the Apple store, and they replaced the hard drive. Now how do you get your files back? Here’s how:

Restoring with Arq

First, download Arq from http://www.haystacksoftware.com/arq/ and unzip it.

Next, launch Arq. It’ll ask you for S3 account credentials. Use the same S3 account you used before. If you don’t have your S3 credentials handy you can look them up at the Amazon web site.

Next, Arq will ask you for your encryption key. Use the same key; otherwise Arq won’t be able to decrypt your backups.

Once you’ve entered that information, Arq’s main window appears, and you’ll see a spinning progress indicator next to the title “Other Computers”:

Arq will download all the “index” files it needs to figure out the old computer’s backups. Once that’s done you can click on the triangle next to “Other Computers” to see the backups. Select a backup version on the left; then drag and drop the backed-up folder on the right to a Finder window to start the restore process:

Arq displays a progress dialog during the restore process:

And that’s it! If you wish you can drag and drop more backed-up items to restore multiple backed-up items in parallel.

Feature Additions

• Password protection: Set a password in the Preferences and other computers will have to type it in to gain access to your photos.
• For JPEG photos, compare image data only to detect duplicates. This means photos that look exactly the same but have slightly different metadata (such as embedded ColorSync profiles that iPhoto adds) will be treated as the same photo by iPhotoSync.

Fixed Bugs

• Much less memory usage (still some work to do here).
• Rewrote a significant portion of the code.

Get It

Pick “Check for Updates” from the iPhotoSync menu to update to the new version, or download it from here.

If you have feedback or questions, please email me at support@haystacksoftware.com. I would love to hear from you!

- Stefan

So Arq lets you back up anything you want. But then the question is, what should you back up? The following is my suggestion for a basic backup of your files on your Mac.

Basic Backup Using Arq

When you first install and launch Arq, it asks your for your Amazon S3 “keys” and a few other things. Then it asks if you’d like to choose your own files for backup, or back up your home folder minus a few unnecessary items:

If you picked “I’ll manually add folders to back up” and you’ve changed your mind, here’s how to set up Arq to back up your home folder minus the unnecessary items:

1. Add your home folder

Click the + button at the bottom left of the Arq main window.

Pick your home folder (/Users/<yourname>) and click OK.

2. Add some excludes

Click the “Edit Excludes…” button.

Add 3 excludes.

Make sure the first 2 are set to “relative path” instead of “name”.

Click OK.

Backing Up Applications Using Arq

If you want to back up your applications, add the Applications folder.

Many applications put some of their support files in /Library/Application Support, so add that too.

Advanced Backup Using Arq

If you prefer, you pick and choose specific folders to back up instead of backing up your entire home directory.

WARNING: If you choose to do this and you later create a new folder in your home directory and start putting important files in there, you’ll have to remember to add this new folder to Arq or else it won’t be backed up!

I back up the following folders as separate items in Arq:

• Application Support (/Library/Application Support)
• Applications (/Applications)
• Documents
• Library, excluding files/folders named ‘Caches’ and ‘Logs’
• Music
• osaka iPhoto Library (my big iPhoto Library, named after my computer), excluding files/folders named ‘iPod Photo Cache’
• src (my work files), excluding files/folders named ‘build’ and ‘bin’

Time Machine and Arq

Time Machine and Arq are complementary. Backing up using Time Machine to another disk is cheap and fast. If you’re backing up to a Time Capsule via Wifi it’s very convenient because it just happens; there’s nothing to plug in. If you’re backing up to a USB drive, you’ll have to remember to plug in the USB drive periodically. Restoring is fast because you’re reading from a USB disk physically connected to your Mac, or from a Time Capsule over Wifi.

But Time Machine doesn’t cover all cases. If someone breaks in and steals your computer, they may steal your Time Capsule or USB drive as well, and then your files are gone forever. If fire, flood, or lightning strikes, you may lose both your computer and your backups; files gone forever. And if you travel often, you’ll have to bring along your USB drive or Time Capsule, or backups won’t happen until you get home and stay home long enough for a backup to complete.

Arq covers those cases that Time Machine doesn’t. The backups are off site at Amazon’s servers, safe from your theif and your natural disasters. They’re even safe from disaster at an Amazon site because Amazon replicates your data at several sites. And Arq works whenever there’s an Internet connection, so backups still happen when you’re on the road.

It includes scheduling options like once-per-day backups and manual-only (one of the most requested features) as well as Pause/Resume and Back Up Now functions. It also includes a whole bunch of refinements and bug fixes.

To get it, pick “Check for Updates” from the menu in Arq, or download it from the product page.

Here are the details:

Feature Additions

• Configurable backup schedule: hourly, once/day at a certain time of day, or manually.
• Back Up Now feature.
• Pause backups for an amount of time you choose. Resume early if you wish. (‘Pause’ is better than ‘stop’ because you won’t have to remember to start it again).
• Progress indicator next to the “Other Computers” heading in the source list (on the left side of the window) so you can tell when Arq is still scanning for other computers’ backups in the S3 data.
• More informative status messages such as “Calculating upload size” and “Finishing backup” instead of just “Backing up …”
• Better communication of error and warning conditions.
• Estimated backup time is now calculated based on start of backup, not start of calculating upload size.
• More accurate progress bar in 2 scenarios — when saving the “packs” of small files, and when re-doing an initial backup that was aborted.
• More useful logging output when log level is set to Info.
• Much faster loading when browsing backups.

Bug Fixes

• More efficient caching of the set of objects in S3.
• Fixed an issue where calculating the upload size for a backup was incomplete when a permission error was encountered.
• Fixed issues with high memory usage in both Arq and Arq Agent.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing the “Start at Login” preference from persisting.
• Fixed 2 issues where packs weren’t being read correctly, leading to “object not found” errors.
• Fixed regression bug in restoring file permissions correctly for root-owned files.
• Fixed an issue where the folder’s progress bar was occasionally disappearing.
• Fixed an issue with trying to read extended attributes on files that don’t support extended attributes.

Enjoy! If you have any feedback or questions I’d love to hear from you! Just email support@haystacksoftware.com. Thanks!

- Stefan

Pick “Check for Updates” from the Arq menu to automatically update to 1.4.4. Or download Arq here.