Backup: looking for devices in all the wrong places?

[Jonathan Sachs]

I have an odd problem with the backup program in Windows XP. When I start
it, I get a message box which says, "Looking for backup devices." This box
remains open for anything from a fraction of a second to several minutes.
Then the backup program's normal window opens and everything proceeds
normally.

While the message box is open, there is no entry for the backup program on
the taskbar. Also, the message box itself has no "OK" or "Cancel" button,
and no Close box in the upper right corner.

My backup device is an HP DAT drive in an external enclosure connected to an
Adaptec 2910 controller. I am using a premium-quality terminator and a
6-foot cable, both of which have served me for years with no problems.

I have had my current computer for about two weeks. Prior to that I used the
same backup device, cable, and terminator for about nine months with another
computer and adapter, also running Windows XP, and I had the same problem.
Prior to that I used them for about three years with yet another computer,
running Windows 2000, and never had the problem.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

It always does that.

Do you mean that this isn't considered a bug? It can easily increase the
time required to start a backup from a minute or so to five or six minutes.
That is a serious problem, particularly when starting the backup is the last
thing I do in the morning before I go out to catch a bus!

 

[David Candy]

1. It shouldn't take minutes. But you also said it takes seconds. But the search dialog always appears. It takes 2 seconds with no backup devices, floppy or tape (and in the past it takes about that with a tape drive and floppy).

2. Schedule your task, go to Task Scheduler and you'll find a nice command line that will run it without needing to click anything else (apart from starting the program). Put that command line into a shortcut, delete schedule task. Dbl click shortcut, catch bus.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

1. It shouldn't take minutes. But you also said it takes seconds.

Sometimes it takes seconds. Sometimes it takes minutes. I have not
identified the factor that determines this. Actually, I have not even come
up with a plausible theory.

2. Schedule your task, go to Task Scheduler...

I ran the backup program from the command line in Windows NT (with batch
files, not the scheduler), but when I moved to Windows 2000 the command line
options apparently changed, and I could no longer make it work the way I
wanted it to. It's been years, so I don't remember the details.

I can try to make the command line work for me again, but it will have to be
added to a list of time-consuming troubleshooting tasks I need to perform,
both on the computer and elsewhere. I really would rather find out how to
make the program locate the backup device consistently in a couple of
seconds, as you say it should.

 

[David Candy]

If you schedule it it will make the command line for you. A no brainer, don't need to learn anything.

I tried to think of tests but then I thought no point unless one can make the fault happen else...

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

If you schedule it it will make the command line for you.
A no brainer, don't need to learn anything.

How does that work? I tried setting up a scheduled task, and I didn't see
it. Here's what I found:

When I clicked "Add Scheduled Task," it started a wizard which let me select
the application, then the scheduling frequency, then the start time, then
the username and password. The final tab allowed me to select an option to
open "advanced properties." I selected that, and next got a dialog box with
three tabs, "Task," "Schedule," and "Settings."

"Task" let me change the command line (in pure ASCII), the directory to run
in, and the username and password.

"Schedule" let me change the scheduling parameters which the wizard set.

"Settings" let me set some additional scheduling parameters which the wizard
did not mention.

If there's something like a wizard in there for setting command line
parameters, I missed it.

 

[David Candy]

In Backup, 4th tab, Schedule Info, Add Job. Then the backup wizard will build a task in task scheduler for you with the 32000 command line switches. Then after finishing the backup wizard goto task scheduler and look in the properties for the new job for the command line.

 

[Jonathan Sachs]

In Backup, 4th tab, Schedule Info, Add Job. Then the backup wizard will

build a task...

I tried that, and was able to create a backup. However, the batch job that
Backup creates does not identify the tape to be used; instead, it contains a
/g parameter, which defines something which the help file calls a "guid," a
long string of hexadecimal digits that presumably refers to a registry
entry. There is no way I can edit that when I change tapes, as I do on a
weekly basis. And Backup cannot edit a scheduled job at all. If I used this
procedure I would be compelled to create a new scheduled job each week. That
would not only the time-consuming, but would introduce a continual risk of
error in operation which should, above all others, be made foolproof.

As an added note, I had a moment of sheer panic when I looked up /g in the
help file and was told that it "Overwrites or appends to this tape." An
immediate check of the tape assured me that its prior contents had not been
overwritten. (I was disturbed because I focused on the word "overwrite,"
unconsciously trying to interpret the text in a way that would give it some
meaning. It's actual meaning apparently is nonsense. Of course it
"overwrites or appends to this tape"; EVERY backup operation either
overwrites or appends to the tape.)

I have now spent about as much time investigating this procedure as I was
afraid I would, and I am no closer to solving my problem that I was. May I
ask that you please address the problem I brought here, instead of trying to
help me solve a different problem that seems easier?