Using the Backblaze Downloader

Looking for the macOS guide? It can be found here.  

When downloading a large zip restore, over 2 GB in total, we recommend using the Backblaze Downloader application. The Backblaze Downloader has a number of advantages over downloading through a web browser, such as generally increased speed, greater reliability, and the ability to resume a download if it is interrupted. 

The Backblaze Downloader is available here, or on the "My Restores" page, after a zip restore has been created, as shown below: 

Selecting the "Use Downloader" button will download the "Backblaze Downloader" application to the default location your browser is set to save downloads. Often, the default location will be your "Downloads" folder. When you have located the Backblaze Downloader, you will need to extract it from the downloaded zip. Double clicking it will use the built in Windows zip utility to extract the Backblaze Downloader application. A screenshot of the Backblaze Downloader zip and the contents of the zip, after extraction, can be seen below: 

To open the Backblaze Downloader, double click on the "bzdownloader" icon. Once opened, a screen such as the one below will be open: 

After you have received the email notifying you the restore zip is ready for download, enter the email address registered to your Backblaze account and the account password.

The Backblaze Downloader will automatically select the newest restore under your account for download. If there are older restores under your account you wish to download, you can do so by either deleting or canceling the newer restores from the "My Restores" page of the Backblaze website. Canceling or deleting a restore does not remove the data from your backup. 

After you have entered your account credentials, you can also choose the location to which the Backblaze Downloader will save your restore zip. By default, the Backblaze Downloader will select your desktop, but any other location can be selected, including secondary or external hard drives. 

Please note: if the password on your Backblaze account was changed or reset after the restore zip was requested, the Backblaze Downloader will fail to login. The password on your Backblaze account will either need to be changed back to the original password or a new restore requested when logged into the Backblaze website with the new password. 

Much like the Backblaze client software for backing up your computer, the Backblaze Downloader has the option to run multiple threads. This is particularly useful for customer's who cannot use a significant portion of their available download bandwidth due to latency, geographical distance from our data center, or similar network issues. Increasing the number of threads may increase the rate at which the Backblaze Downloader is able to download your restore zip. Increasing the number of threads will not allow you to download faster than the bandwidth your ISP provides. 

When the Backblaze Downloader has started the download, a progress window will be shown such as that below. The current transfer rate and estimated time to completion will fluctuate with your actual download speed. 

If the Downloader has been opened and you have logged in, but the restore is not yet available, the Backblaze Downloader will wait for the restore zip to be ready for download. It will display a mostly blank pane, such as that shown below. Once the restore is available for download, the Backblaze Downloader will automatically start the download. This is particularly useful if you need to walk away from your computer, but would like to download to start as soon as possible. On some versions of Windows, the Backblaze Downloader may be reported by Windows to be "Not Responding" when waiting for the restore to be ready. This is inaccurate and the download will start automatically when the restore is available. 

Please note: any automatic sleep or shutdown settings will interrupt an ongoing backup. You can find these settings under the Power Options section of your Control Panel. 

Once the download is complete, a success message like that below will be displayed. Selecting the "Show File" button will open a new Windows Explorer window with the restore zip displayed. 

Unzipping restores with the built in Windows unzip utility can cause empty, invalid or 0KB files. To resolve this issue, the Backblaze Downloader has a built in unzip utility. Select the Unzip File button to use the zip utility build into the Backblaze Downloader. While unzipping, a progress window such as that below will be shown: 

Depending on the size of the zip restore and the number of files, unzipping can take anywhere from a few seconds to many minutes. Once complete, a success message will be displayed: 

Selecting the "Show Results" button will open a new Windows Explorer window with the contents of your zip restore displayed. If, for any reason, you have issues unzipping, we recommend using an alternate zip utility. 

Some alternate choices:

7-Zip: 7-Zip powers the unzipping end of our Downloader, but can handle errors more gracefully. After you've downloaded and installed 7zip, you can right click on your restore zip, and choose 7-Zip -> Extract to "restorename" You can download 7-Zip from http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Info-Zip: Download it from http://www.willus.com/archive/zip64/unzip.exe . Drag and drop your restore zip on top of the "unzip.exe" program. It will auto-launch and begin unzipping in the location of your restore zip. You will get folders named after your drive name of the data you selected (such as "C" and/or "D", etc.)