Backup

[Guest]

I recently installed the Backup Wizard from Xp Home Edition cd because I
wanted to backup an entire partition to an external hard drive. I selected
the drive in the Wizard, started a backup, but when it got to 4 gig of backup
I received the message that a backup file cannot exceed 4 gigs and, also,
stating that the operation failed. Is there any way around this limitation
using Backup? How can one backup an entire drive with a limitation of 4
gigs? Eventually, I just copied the partition to the external drive by using
copy and paste in Windows Explorer. However, that took quite some time. (I
have Norton System Works with the Clone Disk feature, but for some reason it
is stating that the device I am attempting to copy to is not present and that
additional drivers may need to be installed. Odd, and not understandable by
me as Windows recognizes the drive and the copying of the partition files was
accomplished without a problem doing it the way I did it.)

Any help rendered would be appreciated.

 

[Modem Ani]

XP's Backup Wizard was not designed for that task. Look at these
applications instead (in no particular order):

Norton Ghost 9.0
http://www.symantec.com/sabu/ghost/ghost_personal/

True Image 8.0
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Image for Windows
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/imagew.html

Modem Ani

 

[Guest]

Thanks for reply. But why is one of the options listed in Backup 'All
information on this computer'? It seems that 'all the information' on most
computers is going to exceed 4 gigs. Odd.

I have Ghost, which is where the Clone Disk Wizard is located, but as I
mentioned in my post it is not recognizing the external drive for some
reason, which appears related to the USB drivers. Also, as I said, Windows
recognizes the USB drivers and downloaded the data fine. If you have any
suggestion regarding why Ghost is having problems with this USB external
drive / drivers, please post them.

gman

 

[Kerry Brown]

I recently installed the Backup Wizard from Xp Home Edition cd because I
wanted to backup an entire partition to an external hard drive. I
selected
the drive in the Wizard, started a backup, but when it got to 4 gig of
backup
I received the message that a backup file cannot exceed 4 gigs and, also,
stating that the operation failed. Is there any way around this
limitation
using Backup? How can one backup an entire drive with a limitation of 4
gigs? Eventually, I just copied the partition to the external drive by
using
copy and paste in Windows Explorer. However, that took quite some time.
(I
have Norton System Works with the Clone Disk feature, but for some reason
it
is stating that the device I am attempting to copy to is not present and
that
additional drivers may need to be installed. Odd, and not understandable
by
me as Windows recognizes the drive and the copying of the partition files
was
accomplished without a problem doing it the way I did it.)

Any help rendered would be appreciated.

The external drive is formatted as FAT32. The largest file size XP can use
on a FAT32 volume is 4 GB. You can convert the volume to NTFS and then the
backup will work as long as the volume is large enough.

NOTE!!! Once the drive is converted to NTFS older versions of Windows i.e.
95/98/Me won't be able to access it. Also backup any important data on the
drive before converting it. See the following link for details on converting
a volume to NTFS.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307881

It is easier to use an imaging program like the ones Modem Ani mentioned.

Kerry

 

[Modem Ani]

One of the more significant days in my computing life was when I realized
that, in computing, words and phrases mean what they are defined to mean.
This is partly due to limitations of space: In order for menus to be a
reasonable length, menu items need to have compact descriptions.

To obtain authoritative answers to questions about Symantec software, you
need to contact Symantec technical support.

Modem Ani

 

[Guest]

Thanks for response. Now that you mention it, I remember reading that 4 gig
is max file size for Fat 32. Oh, well, too bad. Don't want to convert to
NTFS as so many programs on machine are for ME and run fine under XP in Fat
32, except Adobe PhotoDeluxe 4.0 / 4.1. For some reason it tends to freeze
often when started and the only way to get it to run again is by rebooting
the system. I even tried the Compatability Wizard, to no avail.

Trying to get Norton to respond is like pulling teeth. Horrific customer
service. That is what I tried first, but it wouldn't work, so I resorted to
Backup, which failed, and finally the old copy and paste operation.

gman

 

[Kerry Brown]

Thanks for response. Now that you mention it, I remember reading that 4
gig
is max file size for Fat 32. Oh, well, too bad. Don't want to convert to
NTFS as so many programs on machine are for ME and run fine under XP in
Fat
32, except Adobe PhotoDeluxe 4.0 / 4.1. For some reason it tends to
freeze
often when started and the only way to get it to run again is by rebooting
the system. I even tried the Compatability Wizard, to no avail.

Trying to get Norton to respond is like pulling teeth. Horrific customer
service. That is what I tried first, but it wouldn't work, so I resorted
to
Backup, which failed, and finally the old copy and paste operation.

gman

I don't even bother trying Symantec's support any more. If I can't find it
in the online support I use a different program. It's too bad, Symantec has
some good products (along with a lot of bloated crap) but the support is so
bad I only use their products if nothing else is available. Try a program
called novabackup www.novastor.com for file backup or trueimage
www.acronis.com for imaging. Both are easy to use, support almost any media,
and have decent support. Both are priced at only $49.99 and can be
downloaded. You may still run into the 4 GB limit with FAT32 if you use
either program from Windows XP.

Kerry

 

[Guest]

Thanks again, Kerry, for your reply. Maybe I will just have to get one of
those programs. But, now that I have copied all the folders / files fro my
XP drive onto the external one, I think I will now copy the System State
folder onto the external disk and then just use Search when I do a new backup
to find and copy all folders / files created or modified since the last
backup. And, then, erase the System State folder and recopy it. I think
this will work as I won't be creating and modifying tons of folders / files
between each backup now that most of my major software has been installed.

gman