Back-up files

[Antares 531]

This is probably off topic in this newsgroup, but I don't know where
else to post it.

My question is, how does one avoid having back-up files corrupted by
the automatic back-up process, after the file gets corrupted on the
main drive? I have a Win XP Pro Sp3 desktop computer with two hard
drives. I use one for the working hard drive and the other for
back-ups of the working files on the main drive.

But, my back-up software would not perceive, then halt a back-up
process if one or some of the files on the main drive were corrupted.
It will just copy these over the not yet corrupted files on the
back-up drive. By the time I discover that something has gone wrong,
both drives will be corrupted and I won't have any usable back-up
files.

What is a good work-around for this problem?

Gordon

 

[DL]

You need to fix whatever is corrupting your files, back up apps do not
currupt files they are backing up
What app are you using to backup, and are there specific files that are
being corupted or random files?

 

[Mark Adams]

This is probably off topic in this newsgroup, but I don't know where
else to post it.

My question is, how does one avoid having back-up files corrupted by
the automatic back-up process, after the file gets corrupted on the
main drive? I have a Win XP Pro Sp3 desktop computer with two hard
drives. I use one for the working hard drive and the other for
back-ups of the working files on the main drive.

But, my back-up software would not perceive, then halt a back-up
process if one or some of the files on the main drive were corrupted.
It will just copy these over the not yet corrupted files on the
back-up drive. By the time I discover that something has gone wrong,
both drives will be corrupted and I won't have any usable back-up
files.

What is a good work-around for this problem?

Gordon

A good work around would be to use a USB external drive for your backups.
Use software that boots from a CD and copies an image of your system to the
external drive. Disconnect and turn off the USB drive while not actually
making a backup. No way for the corruption, whatever the source, to get to
the USB drive if it isn't connected to your computer.

 

[Guest]

RAID 1

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

This is probably off topic in this newsgroup, but I don't know where
else to post it.

My question is, how does one avoid having back-up files corrupted by
the automatic back-up process, after the file gets corrupted on the
main drive? I have a Win XP Pro Sp3 desktop computer with two hard
drives. I use one for the working hard drive and the other for
back-ups of the working files on the main drive.

But, my back-up software would not perceive, then halt a back-up
process if one or some of the files on the main drive were corrupted.
It will just copy these over the not yet corrupted files on the
back-up drive. By the time I discover that something has gone wrong,
both drives will be corrupted and I won't have any usable back-up
files.

What is a good work-around for this problem?

Gordon

What automatic backup process?

Most file corruption is invisible to the operating system. A corrupted Excel
file, for example, looks perfectly OK to Windows yet Excel will not open it.
Since the backup process operates at the OS level, it cannot pass judgement
about the integrity of a file. To ensure that you have at least some
uncorrupted backup files, you must keep multiple copies of your files, e.g.
by implementing some son/father/grandfather scheme:
- Back up your files Monday to Friday to one of 5 media.
- Keep all Friday media for a whole month, recycle the rest.
- Keep all end-of-month media for a whole year.
- Keep all end-of-year media for 5 years.

By the way, having a backup disk built into your PC is somewhat pointless
because it fails to protect you against most types of file loss:
- Theft, fire, water damage
- Electrical damage (thunderstorm)
- User error (deleting backup files by mistake)
- Power supply problems (the supply frying your disk)
- Operating system problems (Windows destroying the file system)
In a robust backup system it is compulsory to keep all backup media well
away from the PC for most of the time.

 

[peter]

The object would be to not have corrupted files..
So first I would run chkdsk/f on that drive to verify no corruption.
Once it shows all is ok I would create a new complete backup .
I would save this onto a DVD.
I would then go to the HD manufacturers website to download and run their HD
diagnostic untility to see if the HD
is going bad. If you find that files are getting regularly corrupted it
might be time for a new HD.
I would also set it up so that I had 2 versions of the backups with V1
being done one day and V2 being done the next day and then back to version
1.
hopefully in this manner you will catch the corruption before it ruins both
backups

What backup program are you specifically using??
I use Acronis True Image and as such I "image" my main HD to partition on
another HD.
peter

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

RAID arrays protect against disk failures. If the OP has a corrupted file
then it will be corrupted on all RAID volumes.

 

[Antares 531]

This is probably off topic in this newsgroup, but I don't know where
else to post it.

My question is, how does one avoid having back-up files corrupted by
the automatic back-up process, after the file gets corrupted on the
main drive? I have a Win XP Pro Sp3 desktop computer with two hard
drives. I use one for the working hard drive and the other for
back-ups of the working files on the main drive.

But, my back-up software would not perceive, then halt a back-up
process if one or some of the files on the main drive were corrupted.
It will just copy these over the not yet corrupted files on the
back-up drive. By the time I discover that something has gone wrong,
both drives will be corrupted and I won't have any usable back-up
files.

What is a good work-around for this problem?

Gordon

Thanks to all who responded. To answer some questions;

No, I haven't yet had any files get corrupted on this computer, but am
just anticipating the situation that this would produce.

I had a 500 GB Western Digital hard drive in an eSATA external caddy
but this developed a problem. That is, the circuit board in the caddy
seems to have a thermal problem. If I use the drive for more than a
few minutes it will become unreadable, but after it cools down it is
okay, again. I took the hard drive out of this caddy and moved it into
the second slot inside my computer and the thermal problem doesn't
show up. But, this means the drive is always available to my SyncBac
SE back-up software, and this could overwrite the good files on my
back-up hard drive with corrupted files from the main drive, perhaps
before I realized there was a problem.

Maybe all I need to do is change the SyncBac SE settings such that it
won't do any back-up/sync work unless I give it the go-ahead.

I tend to agree with the suggestion that the best solution would be
another external caddy that I plug in and use only after I've verified
that the files on the main hard drive are in good condition. But, this
means my SyncBack SE software would not be usable for this kind of
back-up strategy.

I have burned my really critical files onto DVD+R disks, but those
files keep changing, and I need a means for updating at least once a
week. I will probably continue this, since I like to have back-up
copies stored in a separate building/location from my computer (Safe
Deposit Box at my bank), in case of some disaster such as a house fire
or tornado.

Gordon

 

[Mark Adams]

Thanks to all who responded. To answer some questions;

No, I haven't yet had any files get corrupted on this computer, but am
just anticipating the situation that this would produce.

I had a 500 GB Western Digital hard drive in an eSATA external caddy
but this developed a problem. That is, the circuit board in the caddy
seems to have a thermal problem. If I use the drive for more than a
few minutes it will become unreadable, but after it cools down it is
okay, again. I took the hard drive out of this caddy and moved it into
the second slot inside my computer and the thermal problem doesn't
show up. But, this means the drive is always available to my SyncBac
SE back-up software, and this could overwrite the good files on my
back-up hard drive with corrupted files from the main drive, perhaps
before I realized there was a problem.

Maybe all I need to do is change the SyncBac SE settings such that it
won't do any back-up/sync work unless I give it the go-ahead.

I tend to agree with the suggestion that the best solution would be
another external caddy that I plug in and use only after I've verified
that the files on the main hard drive are in good condition. But, this
means my SyncBack SE software would not be usable for this kind of
back-up strategy.

I have burned my really critical files onto DVD+R disks, but those
files keep changing, and I need a means for updating at least once a
week. I will probably continue this, since I like to have back-up
copies stored in a separate building/location from my computer (Safe
Deposit Box at my bank), in case of some disaster such as a house fire
or tornado.

Gordon

What about using one of those removable drive bay caddies that uses a eSATA
connection? This would allow your software to continue to access the drive
when you need it, then you could remove the drive when not in use for
safekeeping without having to open the case and disconnect cables and screws.

 

[Antares 531]

What about using one of those removable drive bay caddies that uses a eSATA
connection? This would allow your software to continue to access the drive
when you need it, then you could remove the drive when not in use for
safekeeping without having to open the case and disconnect cables and screws.

That's what I was doing with my Antec external drive caddy, before it
developed the thermal problem. This Antec drive caddy connects to the
computer by an eSATA cable on the back of the computer. But, when I
turned the Antec caddy off without removing the eSATA cable it was not
accessible to the computer, and thus not vulnerable to being corrupted
inadvertently.

Gordon

 

[Roy Smith]

That's what I was doing with my Antec external drive caddy, before it
developed the thermal problem. This Antec drive caddy connects to the
computer by an eSATA cable on the back of the computer. But, when I
turned the Antec caddy off without removing the eSATA cable it was not
accessible to the computer, and thus not vulnerable to being corrupted
inadvertently.

I think Mark was talking about a unit that mounts inside your pc case,
yet has a caddy that allows you to remove the drive. Something along
the lines of this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3301336&CatId=285

(The above should be one line, but may be wrapped by my editor)

 

[Antares 531]

I think Mark was talking about a unit that mounts inside your pc case,
yet has a caddy that allows you to remove the drive. Something along
the lines of this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3301336&CatId=285

(The above should be one line, but may be wrapped by my editor)

Thanks, Roy. I looked at one like this before I bought my Antec caddy
but couldn't figure out any convenient way to turn it on/off without
pulling the removable part out and stacking it somewhere. The Antec
caddy has a switch on the back that lets me turn it off and leave it
in place.

I'll give this some more thought, though. It might be a better way to
go than the Antec caddy.

Gordon