Archive name and parameters dialog: backup options

Erase destination disk contents before archiving

All files and folders on the target disk will be erased before starting the archiving operation. If you create volumes, erasing will be performed before creating of each volume, giving you the chance to archive to non-empty removable disks. But you must be sure that disks do not contain any useful information. The option applies only to removable media, hard disk cannot be erased using this function.

Add only files with attribute "Archive" set

Only those files which have attribute "Archive" set, will be added. This option is designed for backup purposes.

Clear attribute "Archive" after compressing

Clear attribute "Archive" on successfully compressed files. This option is designed for backup purposes.

Open shared files

Allows to process files opened by other applications for writing. It helps if an application allowed read access to file, but if all types of file access are prohibited, file open operation still will fail.

This option could be dangerous, because it allows a file to be archived, while that file may be in the process of being modified by an other application. Use with great care.

Generate archive name by mask

Appends the current date string to an archive name when creating an archive. Useful for daily backups. The date string is formatted by the specified mask. Read description of switch -ag for details.

Keep previous file versions

Forces WinRAR to keep previous file versions when updating files in the already existing archive. Old versions are renamed to 'filename;n', where 'n' is the version number. Supported only by RAR archives.