Clean NovaBACKUP Restore Index/Media Index (used by file level backups)

There are times when the NovaBACKUP Restore Index / Media Index, used by file level backups, will become unusable or have some corruption which will cause a few different outcomes including newly completed file backup jobs do not index correctly. 

• I.E. they do not store a new index record when the backup has completed or 
• Importing a prior backup does not show the re-imported index record, or 
• Backup Retention does not seem to work because the Restore Index is not working correctly. 
• The root cause is unknown but could be related to using earlier editions of NovaBACKUP software and upgrading over time to newer versions and re-using previous media index records from older versions and something becomes corrupt.

NOTE: Image Backups will Never display on the Restore tab. You need to mount them to retrieve individual files instead:
Mount (and Unmount) an image backup to Restore Files in Windows

If you are importing a backup file that already exists on the Restore tab, but was backed up to a different location originally, please Delete the entry on the Restore tab before performing the Import.

You can attempt to manually recover from this corruption by removing any 0-size files from the following directory with the software closed

C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Data\Media

To rebuild the NovaBACKUP restore index used by file level backups, you can delete all index records using the following instructions:

After removing all records, you will have to Import all backups you wish to have in the Restore Index (which is also used by Retention jobs)

1. Close the NovaBACKUP software (NovaBackX.exe).

2. Via Windows File Explorer (not internet explorer), delete the contents of these two folders utilized by NovaBACKUP:

C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Data\Media

C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Index

NOTE: If your NovaBACKUP "Temporary Files directory" setting has been changed to a folder other than the default folder C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP you will also have to delete the Index records in two additional folders.

To locate this setting:

1. Click the large circle button at the top left of the program, that looks like a red and blue "NovaStor" logo, and choose Default Settings then go to the Advanced Settings tab.
2. Navigate to the "Temporary Files directory" on this tab using Windows File Explorer (not internet explorer), for example C:\NovaTEMP\
3. Once in this directory, browse to the C:\NovaTEMP\Data\Media\ folder and remove all contents (files and folders). 
4. Then go into C:\NovaTEMP\Index\ and remove all contents from this folder (files and folders).

3. Start up NovaBACKUP software and go to the Restore tab and see if the index is empty and clean.

4. Re-try some new backup jobs to see if you can restore them without issue.

5. How to import file backups into the Restore tab

If that doesn't solve the restore index / media index related issue that you have, please perform a clean uninstall / reinstall of NovaBACKUP software and try again:

How To Uninstall NovaBACKUP PC, Server, or Business Essentials