ALL my backup tapes have become unrecognizable. They were working perfectly
fine March 12. On March 19, Microsoft Backup version 5 no longer recognizes
media that I've been using for over two years.

I usually rotate between several tapes to perform backups every few days. I
use one tape for a month then swith to another so that I can go back at least
three months at any given time.

NONE of my tapes are now recognizable. I would blame it on the tape if it
was just one, but its ALL my tapes. I performed Windows Updates March 14.
Could the updates be the cause?

Microsoft Backup wants to reformat my tapes, which would destroy the data.
For daily backups, I just append the data. At the beginning of a new month,
I completely replace the four month old data. This has worked great for two
years until now.... any ideas???
--
swatfor
Windows 2000 Server
Pentium IV, 2 Ghz
1 GB RAM

After more research, one article suggested the tape drive be cleaned.
CLEANING THE TAPE DRIVE WORKED!!!!!!! I used a standard cleaning tape and
everything is back to normal. I'm going to start a regular tape drive
cleaning schedule in addition to the backups. I had just never given it much
thought before. Any ideas on how often a drive should be cleaned if I use it
approximately 10 to 15 times a month?
--
swatfor
Windows 2000 Server
Pentium IV, 2 Ghz
1 GB RAM



"swatfor" wrote:

> ALL my backup tapes have become unrecognizable. They were working perfectly
> fine March 12. On March 19, Microsoft Backup version 5 no longer recognizes
> media that I've been using for over two years.
>
> I usually rotate between several tapes to perform backups every few days. I
> use one tape for a month then swith to another so that I can go back at least
> three months at any given time.
>
> NONE of my tapes are now recognizable. I would blame it on the tape if it
> was just one, but its ALL my tapes. I performed Windows Updates March 14.
> Could the updates be the cause?
>
> Microsoft Backup wants to reformat my tapes, which would destroy the data.
> For daily backups, I just append the data. At the beginning of a new month,
> I completely replace the four month old data. This has worked great for two
> years until now.... any ideas???
> --
> swatfor
> Windows 2000 Server
> Pentium IV, 2 Ghz
> 1 GB RAM
>

Try this link.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=clean+tape+drive

swatfor wrote:

> After more research, one article suggested the tape drive be cleaned.
> CLEANING THE TAPE DRIVE WORKED!!!!!!! I used a standard cleaning tape and
> everything is back to normal. I'm going to start a regular tape drive
> cleaning schedule in addition to the backups. I had just never given it much
> thought before. Any ideas on how often a drive should be cleaned if I use it
> approximately 10 to 15 times a month?

Thanks Bob, the links were very helpful.

--
swatfor
Windows 2000 Server
Pentium IV, 2 Ghz
1 GB RAM



"Bob I" wrote:

> Try this link.
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=clean+tape+drive
>
> swatfor wrote:
>
> > After more research, one article suggested the tape drive be cleaned.
> > CLEANING THE TAPE DRIVE WORKED!!!!!!! I used a standard cleaning tape and
> > everything is back to normal. I'm going to start a regular tape drive
> > cleaning schedule in addition to the backups. I had just never given it much
> > thought before. Any ideas on how often a drive should be cleaned if I use it
> > approximately 10 to 15 times a month?
>
>

You're welcome, google is usually my first stop for a query.

swatfor wrote:

> Thanks Bob, the links were very helpful.
>

swatfor wrote:
> After more research, one article suggested the tape drive be cleaned.
> CLEANING THE TAPE DRIVE WORKED!!!!!!! I used a standard cleaning
> tape and everything is back to normal. I'm going to start a regular
> tape drive cleaning schedule in addition to the backups. I had just
> never given it much thought before. Any ideas on how often a drive
> should be cleaned if I use it approximately 10 to 15 times a month?

About once a month.

Cheers,

Cliff

--

Have you ever noticed that if something is advertised as 'amusing' or
'hilarious', it usually isn't?