Genie's suggestions on Home
One card on Home when something needs you: a folder no job backs up, a job that keeps failing, a copy that has fallen behind, a drive running out of room. Worked out on your PC; nothing is sent.
On this page
GBM AI keeps an eye on your backups and your folders and, when something needs you, says so in one card on Home, under the status strip. It shows one card at a time: problems first, then suggestions.
The cards are worked out by the background agent on this PC, from your jobs, their runs and your folders. No AI is used and nothing is sent anywhere, so the cards work on every edition, offline and signed out. Genie (the AI) is only used if you press Ask Genie why or Add to a backup and then send the question yourself.
What Genie notices#
| Card | When it shows | Buttons |
|---|---|---|
| A job failed its last runs | A job's last two or more backups failed. The card gives the reason. | Run now, Show me, Ask Genie why |
| A job hasn't backed up | A scheduled job has not completed a backup for twice its interval (two days at least). Often the PC was off or asleep at the time. | Run now, Show me |
| Running out of room | The job's drive or share has less free space than the job's last full backup took. | Keep fewer backups (opens the job's settings), Show me |
| Second copy behind | A job's second copy has not been made for 14 days, usually because its drive has not been plugged in. | Show me |
| Drive not seen | The drive a job backs up to, usually a USB drive, has not been plugged in for 14 days. | Show me |
| A folder no job backs up | A folder holds at least 500 photos, videos, music files or documents, or 1 GB of them, and no job includes it. Genie looks at your Pictures, Documents, Desktop, Videos and Music, and at the top-level folders of your other internal drives. | Add to a backup, Show the folder |
| Files only in the cloud left out | A job's last backup skipped files that OneDrive (or another cloud drive) keeps online only, because the job is set to skip them. | Turn it on, Show me |
Add to a backup opens Ask Genie with Add (folder) to my backups typed in. Nothing is sent until you press Ask. If you are signed out, or this month's prompts are used up, the backup wizard opens instead, with the folder already in a new job.
Turn it on sets the job to download files kept only online for the backup and make them online-only again afterwards. It is the same switch as Back up files that are only in the cloud in the job's settings (the wizard's Settings step, under Advanced).
When a job needs attention, the status strip above the card already names the worst job. Genie's card then speaks about something else (the next job, or a suggestion) rather than say the same thing twice.
Putting a card away#
- Not now hides the card for a week. The next card, if there is one, takes its place.
- Don't show this again (suggestions only) hides that card for good. A problem, such as a failing job, can only be put off, never put away.
A card also goes by itself once the situation is gone: the job succeeds, the drive is plugged in, the folder is added to a job.
How folders are measured#
The agent sizes the folders a few minutes after it starts and then every 12 hours, never while a backup or restore runs. It reads only the folder listing (names and sizes) and stops after 200,000 entries or 20 seconds per folder. It never opens a file, so a file that lives only in the cloud is never downloaded to find out its size.
Tips about other Genie9 products#
Now and then a card may suggest another Genie9 product that fits what this PC shows, for example BigMind Home when your phone's photos are synced to this PC (iCloud Photos, Camera Roll). A tip never shows while a backup or restore runs or while a job needs attention. No more tips like this turns tips off. The products themselves are on the More from Genie9 page.
Turning the cards off#
In Settings ▸ General ▸ Ask Genie:
- Genie's suggestions on Home turns every card off. The agent then stops measuring folders too.
- Tips about other Genie9 products turns off the tips only.