Can someone recommend a simple backup proceedure?

[News]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you have
only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc you have to
rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one instead of just the
new one.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the complexities of
"volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time you put in your CD
you have to adjust the setting for the volume, which measn you can't just
pop it in and see everything that is on the CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

 

[Sharon F]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you have
only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc you have to
rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one instead of just the
new one.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the complexities of
"volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time you put in your CD
you have to adjust the setting for the volume, which measn you can't just
pop it in and see everything that is on the CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

The way around this is to not use XP's burning component. It is not capable
of doing what you want. Instead, use a 3rd party burning program such as
Nero or Roxio.

 

[NobodyMan]

The way around this is to not use XP's burning component. It is not capable
of doing what you want. Instead, use a 3rd party burning program such as
Nero or Roxio.

Or you could use the free NTBackup. You can't write directly to a
CDR(W) but you can make a small backup file on the HD using it, then
write that file to a CD.

 

[Malke]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite
the entire amount each time you want to change something.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you
have only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc
you have to rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one
instead of just the new one.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the
complexities of "volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time
you put in your CD you have to adjust the setting for the volume,
which measn you can't just pop it in and see everything that is on the
CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

I like SecondCopy from www.centered.com. It scales, can be very simple,
is inexpensive. I don't think it backs up directly to cd-r, although it
might (I just don't know). For clients, I normally make a folder called
something clever like "backup" and funnel all the SC backups to it.
Then all the client needs to do is burn that "backup" folder to cd-r
regularly. SC can do lots of fancy copying, but the easiest thing is
the standard copy - it will do an initial copy of the files and then
only copy what has changed.

Malke

 

[Rock]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you have
only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc you have to
rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one instead of just the
new one.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the complexities of
"volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time you put in your CD
you have to adjust the setting for the volume, which measn you can't just
pop it in and see everything that is on the CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

Stompsoft's Backup MyPC or a drive imaging program such as Norton Ghost,
Acronis True Image, Terabyte Unlimited's Image for Windows, or Terabyte
Unlimited's BootIt NG.

 

[News]

I like SecondCopy from www.centered.com. It scales, can be very simple,
is inexpensive. I don't think it backs up directly to cd-r, although it
might (I just don't know). For clients, I normally make a folder called
something clever like "backup" and funnel all the SC backups to it.
Then all the client needs to do is burn that "backup" folder to cd-r
regularly. SC can do lots of fancy copying, but the easiest thing is
the standard copy - it will do an initial copy of the files and then
only copy what has changed.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Many Thanks! Sometimes simplest is the best!!

 

[Sharon F]

Or you could use the free NTBackup. You can't write directly to a
CDR(W) but you can make a small backup file on the HD using it, then
write that file to a CD.

Good point. The very basic NTBackup definitely covers the "simple backup"
part of the OP's question. However, it does not fit the bill where they
describe how they would like to use the CDRW.

 

[NoStop]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you have
only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc you have
to rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one instead of just
the new one.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the complexities
of "volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time you put in your
CD you have to adjust the setting for the volume, which measn you can't
just pop it in and see everything that is on the CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

I suggest you look at True Image. I'll make a backup image of your complete
harddrive and then incremental backkups of the disk. This way you know that
you can restore not only your data but the whole OS plus your data if
something goes "south" as Windoze is prone to do.

 

[Carl]

I suggest you look at True Image. I'll make a backup image of your
complete
harddrive and then incremental backkups of the disk. This way you know
that
you can restore not only your data but the whole OS plus your data if
something goes "south" as Windoze is prone to do.

Look at Karen's (free) Replicator at Karenware.com

 

[Keith S]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

Packet writing software like Nero InCD and a simple batch file using XCOPY
is the simplest way I know of.

 

[Malke]

Packet writing software like Nero InCD and a simple batch file using
XCOPY is the simplest way I know of.

Packet-writing is really not recommended. If the same software or a
reader is not installed on a different machine, the cd-rw will be
unreadable on that machine. Better to just use cd-r's and a regular
burning program.

Malke

 

[Keith S]

Packet-writing is really not recommended. If the same software or a
reader is not installed on a different machine, the cd-rw will be
unreadable on that machine. Better to just use cd-r's and a regular
burning program.

Malke

Cant agree there Malke. The guy wants a simple means of updating his own
files . He wont be sharing files with anyone else, they will likely be
private and have sensitive content. Once formatted the cd's can be written
to with a single click on a batch file. Feel free to use this one.below.

@echo off

:START_BACKUP
@echo copy Archives data music photos USB:
@echo Copy files+ update files
@echo --------------------------------------

:ARCHIVES
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES @echo ARCHIVES not present on D:
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES @echo --------------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES GOTO END_ARCHIVES
@echo ARCHIVES
XCOPY D:\ARCHIVES I:\ARCHIVES /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_ARCHIVES

:BACKUP
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP @echo BACKUP not present on F:
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP @echo ----------------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP GOTO END_BACKUP
@echo BACKUP
XCOPY F:\BACKUP K:\BACKUP /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_BACKUP

 

[News]

Cant agree there Malke. The guy wants a simple means of updating his own
files . He wont be sharing files with anyone else, they will likely be
private and have sensitive content. Once formatted the cd's can be written
to with a single click on a batch file. Feel free to use this one.below.

@echo off

:START_BACKUP
@echo copy Archives data music photos USB:
@echo Copy files+ update files
@echo --------------------------------------

:ARCHIVES
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES @echo ARCHIVES not present on D:
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES @echo --------------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST D:\ARCHIVES GOTO END_ARCHIVES
@echo ARCHIVES
XCOPY D:\ARCHIVES I:\ARCHIVES /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_ARCHIVES

:BACKUP
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP @echo BACKUP not present on F:
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP @echo ----------------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST F:\BACKUP GOTO END_BACKUP
@echo BACKUP
XCOPY F:\BACKUP K:\BACKUP /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_BACKUP

I get the feeling I am missing the concept here. Is thier some way to copy
but keep the ones that are already on the disc so that it only
actually adds the newest file?

 

[Keith S]

@echo off
:START_BACKUP
@echo Copy files+ update files
@echo --------------------------------------

:FAVORITES
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\FAVORITES" @echo FAVORITES not
present on C:
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\FAVORITES"
@echo -------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\FAVORITES" GOTO END_FAVORITES
@echo FAVORITES
XCOPY "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\FAVORITES" F:\FAVORITES /S/A/I/Y
IF NOT EXIST K:\FAVORITES GOTO END_FAVORITES
XCOPY "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\FAVORITES" K:\FAVORITES /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_FAVORITES

:MAILWASHER BLACKLISTS
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\APPLICATION
DATA\MAILWASHERPRO" @echo MAILWASHER BLACKLIST not present on C:
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\APPLICATION
DATA\MAILWASHERPRO" @echo --------------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\APPLICATION
DATA\MAILWASHERPRO" GOTO END_MAILWASHER_BLACKLISTS
@echo MAILWASHER BLACKLISTS
XCOPY "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\APPLICATION DATA\MAILWASHERPRO"
F:\BLACKLISTS /S/A/I/Y
IF NOT EXIST K:\BLACKLISTS GOTO END_MAILWASHER_BLACKLISTS
XCOPY "C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\KEITH\APPLICATION DATA\MAILWASHERPRO"
K:\BLACKLISTS /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_MAILWASHER_BLACKLISTS

:MICROSOFT WORKS
IF NOT EXIST "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS" @echo MICROSOFT
WORKS not present on C:
IF NOT EXIST "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS"
@echo -----------------------------------
IF NOT EXIST "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS" GOTO
END_MICROSOFT_WORKS
@echo MICROSOFT WORKS
XCOPY "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS" "F:\MICROSOFT
WORKS\DOCUMENTS" /S/A/I/Y
IF NOT EXIST "K:\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS" GOTO END_MICROSOFT_WORKS
XCOPY "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT WORKS\DOCUMENTS" "K:\MICROSOFT
WORKS\DOCUMENTS" /S/M/I/Y
@echo --------------------------------------
:END_MICROSOFT_WORKS
pause

I get the feeling I am missing the concept here. Is thier some way to copy
but keep the ones that are already on the disc so that it only
actually adds the newest file?

The above batch file will copy NEW files and files CHANGED since last
update.You only need to copy and paste this batch code into a text file
,rename it "anyname.bat" and edit it to suit your personal folder names. If
you have a spare hard drive it will work so long as you edit drive letters
and folder names to suit.

 

[frodo]

my 2 cents:

You make backups for two very different reasons. 1), to recover from a
stupid mistake, like trashing an important file unintentionally, or
overwritting a good version with a bad revision. and 2) to recover from a
major catastrophe, like a virus eating your system or a HD failure. So,

Use an Image Backup routine once every couple of months to make an image
of the entire drive, just in case. It'll save many hours of setup if you
need to wipe your system disk and rebuild. As a min, make just one of
these after your system is up and stable for about a week.

Then, I like to use winzip's command line util along w/ a batch file to
backup my working documents daily, or more often. It's fast and easy, and
always keeps a SINGLE copy of all your docs. If you want MULTIPLE copies
of your docs (ie, keep earlier versions), then use ntbackup and do
incremental backups. I save all these backups on a separate partition,
and occasionally copy them to CD as they get old/large (perhaps chancey,
should the entire drive array fail, but easy).

Another option not mentioned: Buy one of those $250 external Network
Attached Storage Devices. Easy one button backup of your My Documents.
They have gotten better lately, I've been told.

Nero's multisession backup capability seems reasonable, but it doesn't
make very effcient use of the CD's space. But at 5 cents apiece I guess
that's not really that important.

 

[Jones]

my 2 cents:

You make backups for two very different reasons. 1), to recover from a
stupid mistake, like trashing an important file unintentionally, or
overwritting a good version with a bad revision. and 2) to recover from a
major catastrophe, like a virus eating your system or a HD failure. So,

Use an Image Backup routine once every couple of months to make an image
of the entire drive, just in case. It'll save many hours of setup if you
need to wipe your system disk and rebuild. As a min, make just one of
these after your system is up and stable for about a week.

Then, I like to use winzip's command line util along w/ a batch file to
backup my working documents daily, or more often.

What is exactly a "batch file"?

It's fast and easy, and

always keeps a SINGLE copy of all your docs. If you want MULTIPLE copies
of your docs (ie, keep earlier versions), then use ntbackup and do
incremental backups. I save all these backups on a separate partition,
and occasionally copy them to CD as they get old/large (perhaps chancey,
should the entire drive array fail, but easy).

Another option not mentioned: Buy one of those $250 external Network
Attached Storage Devices. Easy one button backup of your My Documents.
They have gotten better lately, I've been told.

Nero's multisession backup capability seems reasonable, but it doesn't
make very effcient use of the CD's space. But at 5 cents apiece I guess
that's not really that important.

so does it seem like those are the options. Thanks

 

[frodo]

batch file == .bat

if that doesn't ring any bells then it isn't really important.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

my 2 cents:

You make backups for two very different reasons. 1), to recover from a
stupid mistake, like trashing an important file unintentionally, or
overwritting a good version with a bad revision. and 2) to recover from a
major catastrophe, like a virus eating your system or a HD failure. So,

Use an Image Backup routine once every couple of months to make an image
of the entire drive, just in case. It'll save many hours of setup if you
need to wipe your system disk and rebuild. As a min, make just one of
these after your system is up and stable for about a week.

Then, I like to use winzip's command line util along w/ a batch file to
backup my working documents daily, or more often. It's fast and easy, and
always keeps a SINGLE copy of all your docs. If you want MULTIPLE copies
of your docs (ie, keep earlier versions), then use ntbackup and do
incremental backups. I save all these backups on a separate partition,
and occasionally copy them to CD as they get old/large (perhaps chancey,
should the entire drive array fail, but easy).

Another option not mentioned: Buy one of those $250 external Network
Attached Storage Devices. Easy one button backup of your My Documents.
They have gotten better lately, I've been told.

Nero's multisession backup capability seems reasonable, but it doesn't
make very effcient use of the CD's space. But at 5 cents apiece I guess
that's not really that important.

Another simple (and cheap) method of backing up your HD is to use XP's
Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.

Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread
so that others may be instructed or informed
============================================

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Hi
Could someone recommend the simplest backup proceedure.

I wish to backup regularly my documents and my applications etc. and
downloads. Does anybody know the simplest way to back up regularly?

I have bought some rewrittable CD's, it seems that you have to rewrite the
entire amount each time you want to change something.

This is not a problem with back-up software: It is a problem with the
way the Windows XP addresses CD-RW disks. It is possible to do random
access of CD-RW disks (as you appear to want to be able to do) if you
have packet-writing software installed on your CD-RW drive, and the
drive allows for packet-writing. Windows XP itself does not supply a
packet-writing driver on the Installation disk. Nor does Microsoft
even write packet-writing software.

For example if last week you backed up 10 folders, and this week you have
only one extra folder that in order to keep it on the same disc you have to
rebackuup and restore the original 10 plus the new one instead of just the
new one.

You want a back-up procedure which does iterative backups. That is,
it would only back up the files which have not been backed up yet. As
far as I know, this is not possible with Microsoft-supplied software.
To do it, you must purchase third-party software. And again, to do
random reads and writes of a CD-RW disk, you must have packet-writing
software installed in your system.

Is their a simple way around this? Without getting into the complexities of
"volumes" I dont quite understand this where each time you put in your CD
you have to adjust the setting for the volume, which measn you can't just
pop it in and see everything that is on the CD. Eg. the simplest way.

I hope I am being clear, but I'm not a real in depth backer upper.

A simple (and cheap: it's provided on the OS installation CD), method
of backing up your documents and applications is to use XP's Files and
Settings Transfer Wizard. However, this does necessitate knowledge of
your applications' folder usage. This method really should only be
used for "quick-n-dirty" backups. For example, I use XP's F&STW to
back-up my settings, accounts, email, and newsgroups/messages in
Outlook Explorer.

Your best solution would be:
1) Make sure you have a CD-RW drive which allows packet-writing.
2) Make sure you have packet-writing software installed in your
system.
3) Purchase a third-party back-up utility which will do iterative
back-ups, and which will use packet-writing software to save the
back-ups to CD-RW discs.

*** NOTE **************************************************
You might Google on "DVD-RAM". XP will use some types of DVD-RW
drives as RAM (Random Access Memory): That is, it might be possible to
use DVD-RAM drives to do iterative back-ups without installing a
packet-writing driver in your system. In addition, you would be able
to save many more files or folders using a DVD-RAM drive. Never
having researched this myself, I know little about it.
Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread
so that others may be instructed or informed
============================================

 

[Donald McDaniel]

Or you could use the free NTBackup. You can't write directly to a
CDR(W) but you can make a small backup file on the HD using it, then
write that file to a CD.

It is possible to do direct CD-RW disc writes if you use
packet-writing software, and the disc is formatted for packet-writing.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread
so that others may be instructed or informed
============================================