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First, take it easy. You have a backup, so you can restore your site. If you're too stressed, it's certain that you'll do something you'll regret later on. Stress is proven to make us do really stupid things. Trust me, I've got first hand experience of that!

Start by downloading your backup archives to your local machine. Please note that each backup may consist of more than one files, i.e. .jpa, .j01, .j02 and so on. It's easy to figure out: all related files have the same name, e.g. backup.jpa, backup.j01, backup.j02 and so on. Make sure you download ALL of them to your local PC using FTP in Binary Transfer mode. For details, take a look at this video tutorial. For security's sake, keep two more copies of each one of them on different media (e.g. DVDs or flash disks).

Next up, let's try to restore your site. Make sure you upload your latest backup archive to your site's root (the directory where Joomla!'s index.php file is located) using FTP in Binary Transfer mode. If your backup consists of several files (.jpa, .j01, ...) make sure you upload ALL of them. Also upload the latest version of kickstart.php to your site's root using FTP.

Before launching Kickstart, delete your .htaccess file to avoid any conflicts. Then, launch Kickstart to start the extraction.

If you get an extraction error, first read these troubleshooting instructions. If you can't get through with the restoration, please copy the exact error message you are receiving or, better, take a screenshot and post it here. Without a specific error message, I can't help.

If it extracts but you get stuck during the restoration of your database, please take a look at this troubleshooting page. Most notably, you may have to choose the mysql database driver (without a trailing i) instead of the default (mysqli - with a trailing i).

If your database restoration has run but you can't proceed to the next page, try these troubleshooting instructions.

In any case, if you get stuck somewhere, please tell me the exact step you're stuck and the exact error message you're receiving. Telling me that you see an "AJAX error" only tells me that there was an error, but gives me no clue as to what this could be so that I can really help you.

I also forgot to mention that we have detailed, step-by-step instructions for restoring your backups in the Restoring your Backups section of our Quick Start Guide. Usually, stepping through these instructions is all you need to overcome any troubles during restoration. Just make sure you take your time reading your instructions. If you push yourself to do something you don't understand it's more likely that you'll break something else rather than fix it. Keeping your head cool will allow you to restore your site as soon as possible.

Having one file is the most common case. Multiple files are only generated when your backup is over 2Gb or when the server has limitations on the maximum size of generated files. It looks like you belong to the rest 90% of cases where only a single file is generated.

BTW, unless you changed your backup output directory, you should still be able to find your backup archives in administrator/components/com_akeeba/backup so that you can download them in the (much more reliable than using your browser!) FTP Binary Transfer mode to your PC, for safety reasons.

And, yes, you can restore your backup archive any time you like, without asking your host.

Leave it as it is. You can always change that later on using Admin Tools. Let's make sure that we can get you into your site first.

Yes, of course.

Perfect!

You can use the backup any time you like. That's the whole premise of having a backup: you can use it to restore your site any time you want to any state you have a backup for. I strongly recommend taking daily backups. In case of a hiccup, you can always restore the backup of the last known good date :)

You're welcome, Eric!