Data Backup Digest

One of the differences between gaming on your computer and on a console is that all the save games are stored in different folders. Whereas on a console everything is united under the system architecture and stored in the same place, save files on a PC will be all over the place. They can be found just about anywhere, be it your program files or documents.
If you’ve got a lot of games installed on your computer then it’s going to be a time consuming process to back up the save games. It would mean manually going to each folder for each game and backing everything up one by one. This is fine if you only have a few games installed, perhaps, but this isn’t satisfactory for those who use a computer as their primary gaming device.
Luckily, there are programs out there to help you out with the task of backing up PC save game files. One such program is GameSave Manager. It’s a free piece of kit that relies on donations to keep running.
The program supports a huge number of games right off the bat. You can view the whole list of supported games at their website. However, even if one of your games isn’t on the list, you can easily add it by simply pointing the program to the designated save folder. It’s even totally compatible with Steam, a popular gaming client and store.
After installing the program it is advisable to check for updates (accessible via the ‘Help’ menu) to ensure that the master list of games is up to date.
GameSave Manager will allow you to manually or automatically back up your save games. Simply click ‘Backup Gamesave(s)’ and the program will present a list of all recognised games on your system. By default they’ll all be selected to be backed up, but you can deselect any if you desire. When ready, just click ‘Backup now’ and select a destination for the gsba file.
You can also use the ‘Scheduled Tasks’ feature to set specific times when you want your game saves to be backed up (like every week, for example). This is very handy and will save you the trouble of having to remember to backup.
If you use online cloud storage software Dropbox, then you can put your save games backups in your Dropbox folder. Whenever your saved games are updated, Dropbox will automatically sync everything to the server. This feature can be enabled by clicking ‘Sync & Link’ and then clicking ‘Start Now’.
Say your system suffers a hard drive failure or you move computer then you’ll want to copy your save games over to the new drive. To do this, load up GameSave Manager and click ‘Restore Gamesave(s)’. You can then specify which games you want to backup (all of them if you want) through the checkboxes. Clicking ‘Restore Now’ will do just that.
Hopefully this guide has provided useful in teaching you how to back up your game saves. GameSave Manager is a great piece of kit that will help keep your gaming in order!