Find missing backup files
Use online backup services
Pirform can work with online backup services like OneDrive, Dropbox, or Google Drive to store your certificate backups online. This means your certificates will be safe even if your computer is lost or damaged. Read how to set that up here.
Pirform is installed on your computer and stores all your certificates and backups on your computer.
If you have set up Pirform to use online storage like OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, or similar, you can find your last backup file there. The same applies if you use another backup method such as an external hard disk or USB key to take backups.
There are two ways that Pirform takes backups of your certificates:
- Automatic backups
- Manual backups
Automatic backups
Pirform automatically takes backups of your certificates every time you close the program. These are stored in a folder named Incremental which is inside the folder Backup. To find this folder, search for the name of the folder (such as Incremental).
Have you changed the folder name?
It is possible to change the name of this folder from Pirform Options. If so, you will need to search for the name of the folder that you used.
Alternatively, you can search for "CERT" files, which is the file type that Pirform uses for certificates. That might help you find the backup folder where these are stored. They look somethign like this:
00a9aae7-0d25-4321-8507-419b776e93cb.cert
To find them, use the wildcard search: *.cert.
Manual backups
These are backups that you create yourself. Read more about Pirform's backup features here. The backup file will show the time and date the backup was taken in the filename in reverse order. For example:
Pirform-Backup-2023-05-23-17-28.bak
To find them, use the wildcard search: *.bak.
What if you cannot find the backup file?
Changes to the user account
As Pirform stores the certificates in a folder that is specific to the user, if you have changed the user account on your computer, you will need to look under the folder for the same user that you used when you took the backup.
Has the disk been formatted?
If your hard disk has been formatted, that will remove old files from the disk. However, it can still be possible to recover files from a formatted disk, depending on how the disk was formatted and what has been written to it since. This is a specialised task, but your local computer repair shop may be able to help you with this and recover the missing files.
How to search for things on your computer
To search for files or folders, you can use the built-in search facility in Windows. Read more in Microsoft's documentation here: