Add Another Computer
Protect a second, third or tenth machine on the same Backup Engine account.
The short version
Install the agent on the new machine and sign in with the same email and password you already use. That is the whole process — the new computer joins your account automatically and appears in the portal within a few seconds.
ℹ Note
Step by step
- •On the new computer, download the agent from the download page and run the installer.
- •Open Backup Engine and choose Sign in (not Create account — a second account would start its own separate plan).
- •Enter the same email and password you use on your first machine.
- •The agent registers the computer and takes you straight to encryption setup.
- •Enter your existing encryption passphrase — the same one you chose on the first machine. It is what unlocks your backups, so it must match.
- •Choose what to back up on this machine and you are done.
Useful when you are setting up a server, or a machine with no desktop session.
backupengine login --email you@example.com backupengine status
Then unlock encryption with your existing passphrase and add a backup set:
backupengine encryption unlock backupengine sets add --name "Company Data" --path "D:\Data"
Your other machines' backup sets appear here — greyed out
Once signed in, the new computer shows every backup set on your account, not just its own. Sets belonging to another machine are greyed out and marked as such. That is deliberate: it lets you see your whole fleet from any machine, and it stops this computer running a job whose folders live somewhere else.
You can edit or run a set only from the computer that owns it, or from the customer portal.
If you run out of device slots
Every plan includes a number of devices: Free includes one, Professional five, Server Edition ten, and the Infra Teams Edition twenty. If you sign in on a machine beyond your limit, the agent says so and offers to open your billing page.
- •Upgrade your plan for more slots, or buy device add-ons at $0.99/mo each.
- •Or free a slot: a computer you no longer use can be moved to Trash from the portal, which releases its slot immediately. Its backups stay recoverable until you permanently delete it.
ℹ Note
Two computers with the same name
Cloned virtual machines and imaged fleets often share a hostname. Agent v1.36 and later gives each installation its own identity, so two machines called DESKTOP-A1B2C3 appear as two separate devices and back up independently.
⚠ Warning
Setting up machines for someone else
If you are installing on behalf of a customer or across an office, enrollment codes remove the need to hand out passwords. Generate a code in the portal, then run the install command on each machine — the agent enrolls itself into the right account and site on first launch.
Enrollment codes are available to anyone who can manage devices on the account, not only managed customers.