Patent ID: 8117163

Claim:
A computing device comprising: a processor; a user interface operably coupled to the processor, the user interface including a display; a communication interface operably coupled to the processor, the communication interface configured to communicate with a remote backup computer system using a publicly accessible communication network; and a computer-readable medium operably coupled to the processor, the computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, upon execution by the processor, perform operations comprising: defining a backup profile for the computing device, the backup profile designating files on the computing device for which backup processing is to be performed, the backup processing comprising maintaining current backup copies of the designated files at the remote backup computer system to thereby create a one-to-one correspondence between the designated files at the computing device and the backup copies of the designated files at the remote backup computer system; controlling the user interface to render on the display overlay icons representing backup states of the designated files, the overlay icons being rendered on the display at least partially overlapping file icons representing the designated files, the overlay icons being rendered on the display so as to provide an indication of (i) files that are designated for backup processing but for which a current backup copy is not stored at the remote backup computer system, (ii) files that are designated for backup processing and for which a current backup copy is stored at the remote backup computer system, and (iii) files that are not designated for backup processing; detecting that a current backup copy is not stored at the remote backup computer system for a file that has been designated for backup processing, the detected file being a file that has been added to the files designated for backup processing and/or a file that has changed; wherein controlling the user interface further comprises controlling the user interface to render at least one aspect of an overlay icon associated with the detected file to provide a first indication that the detected file is designated for backup processing but that a current backup copy of the detected file is not stored at the remote backup computer system; transmitting a backup copy of the detected file to the remote backup computer system for backup, wherein the transmitting is performed automatically responsive to detecting the change and without user interaction with the user interface; and wherein controlling the user interface further comprises controlling the user interface to modify at least one aspect of the overlay icon to change the first indication into a second indication to the user that the electronic file is backed up, and wherein the modification is performed automatically responsive to transmitting the backup copy and without user interaction with the user interface to modify the overlay icon.