The nine scheduled tasks
VaultGuard Backup is really two things. There's the app window, where you set things up and read results. And there are nine Windows scheduled tasks that do the actual work on the days and times you chose. The tasks run whether or not the app is open, and whether or not anyone is signed in, because they run under the Windows system account.
This page is a tour of the nine. Seven of them are weekly and run in two chains. Two of them are daily checks that stand on their own.
How a chain works
A chain has a start day and a start time, which you set on the Schedule tab, and a number of hours between each step, which you also set. The first task runs at the start time. Each task after it waits for the one before it to finish successfully, then runs at its own offset. If a step fails, the steps after it don't run; their cards say "an earlier step in the chain did not succeed, so this one did not run" so you know where to look.
The two chains are scheduled separately, so the second copy can run on a different day than the backup.
The backup chain
1. Backup Task
Makes the system image using Windows' own image engine and puts it on your backup drive. Before it starts, it asks Microsoft Defender to scan the computer, so a backup isn't made of a machine that's already infected.
2. Fingerprint
Reads the new backup from end to end and records its fingerprint (SHA-256). This is the reference everything later is checked against.
3. Check Backup for Changes
Reads the backup again and compares it to the fingerprint. If a single byte has changed since the backup was made, it says "Changes found" and the Restore tab will tell you which version.
4. Backup Restore Test
Pulls about 50 real files out of the backup, compares each to the original on your computer, and writes the report to C:\RestoredFiles. This is the step that proves the backup can actually give files back.
The copy chain
These three do the same thing for the second copy, the one on another drive or in a folder your own cloud service syncs.
5. Copy Task
Copies the newest backup to the second location. If the copy drive isn't connected at the scheduled time, this is the task that fails, and the two behind it skip.
6. Check Copy for Changes
Compares the copy to the fingerprint of the backup it was made from. A copy that doesn't match is a copy you can't trust.
7. Copy Restore Test
Pulls about 50 files out of the copy and compares them to the originals, same as the backup restore test, with its own report in C:\RestoredFiles.
The two daily checks
Both run every day at 8:00 AM, or as soon as the computer is turned on. Neither one touches the backup drive, so they're quick and they don't wait on anything.
8. Backup Age
Looks at the date of your newest backup and compares it to the alert threshold you set. If the backup is older than that, you get an email. On a Technician license this is also the task that sends each machine's daily check-in to the Technician tab on the master machine.
9. Settings Check
Confirms that VaultGuard's own settings file hasn't been changed by anything other than the app. If it has, you're told, because a settings file that changed on its own is a sign something else is on the machine.
Running a task yourself
Every task has a button in the app to run it right now, outside the schedule. The one exception is Fingerprint: once a backup has a saved fingerprint, the button is off for that backup, because a second fingerprint of the same backup would only overwrite the reference that everything else is checked against. A backup that doesn't have a fingerprint yet can be fingerprinted by hand.
Where you see them
The seven chain tasks each have a card on the Dashboard, showing the result, the last time it succeeded, and the next scheduled run. Backup Age and Settings Check don't have cards; each has a line on the Schedule tab showing when it runs, and their results feed the Safety Score and the daily email.
Every task writes to the Logs tab. And if you open Windows Task Scheduler, you'll find all nine under these names:
Backup Task: VaultGuard_WeeklyBackup
Fingerprint: VaultGuard_Hash
Check Backup for Changes: VaultGuard_BackupVerify
Backup Restore Test: VaultGuard_RestoreTest
Copy Task: VaultGuard_CopyToCloud
Check Copy for Changes: VaultGuard_CopyVerify
Copy Restore Test: VaultGuard_CopyRestoreTest
Backup Age: VaultGuard_AgeCheck
Settings Check: VaultGuard_IntegrityCheck
Two of those names are older than the features they run. VaultGuard_CopyToCloud makes the second copy wherever you pointed it, cloud folder or not. VaultGuard_IntegrityCheck is the settings check, not the backup check. The app's own names are the ones to go by.
What happens when one fails
You get an email that names the task and the cause, the same day. The card turns red and says why. The tasks behind it in the chain skip and say so. Nothing is deleted and nothing is retried on its own; the chain runs again at the next scheduled time, or you can run the failed step yourself once you've fixed the cause.
You don't get an email when things succeed. The Dashboard and the Safety Score are how you see that.