I back up nightly, two ways: I use the eM Client backup command, which creates a single zip backup file. I also make a copy of the entire data directory intact to an external SSD using FreeFileSync, an excellent tool.
The eM Client backup is quite slow compared with the direct backup - FreeFileSync doesn’t copy unchanged files.
I tested restoring from the direct backup by simply copying all the files back, and it worked fine.
Questions:
is there a heightened risk of restore failure?
is anyone else doing this?
is there a chance that eM Client’s backup can be made smarter and faster?
If you are copying the hidden database folder regularly as an alternate backup to the builtin backup, “as long as eM Client is closed” then you should have no problems restoring.
Its only if you have eM Client open if you are manually copying or synching the hidden database folder that you would normally have problems restoring.
Is there a chance that eM Client’s backup can be made smarter and faster?
All i can suggest is when you backup either using the builtin backup manually or automatically via the Settings, “do the backup at a time when you are not using your computer” so then doesn’t matter how long it takes to do the backup. I do mine late at night.
If you use the automatic periodic backup you can change the scheduled time when it backs up via either using the Task Scheduler in Windows or launchd Mac.
I should have made it clear - yes, eM Client is closed when I do my direct backup. And I always put eM Client in “work offline” mode when using the built-in backup. Seems like the database could change during a built-in backup…