D.Currie said:
Backups are generally meant as a way to restore the files back to the
same program, not as a means to transfer the data to a different (or in
this case, a different operating system). So your Win98 backups would
restore easily on Win98, but WinXP doesn't have the same backup program.
Same problem exists with programs that do "backups" of their files. You
have to have the program that will do the "restore" to access the data
whereas you might be able to access the files with a different program
if it hadn't been backed up but just copied the files intact.
To some extent I agree, but the issue would be moot if XP backup would
also read their earlier .qic format. (That's what Outlook Express can do
with earlier messages). That's what I expected, as I no longer rely on it
to restore the operating system to a bootable condition with these
backups. Considering all the updates and service packs, I've found this to
be virtually impossible. And don't get me started on the false hopes of
XP's Automatic Recovery. That is *seriously* broken. I wasted 2 days of
my life when it didn't work as advertised. All was noted in an exchange
here some 6 months or so ago. This is why I buy only the XP Home
Edition now.
I stay away from any sort of "backup" program for that reason and also
because they tend to take all of the files and compress them into one
backup file, which means that if that one file gets corrupted, you lose
everything.
I haven't encountered a corrupted file in years, though the possibility
certainly exists. (I *always* verify a backup).
I prefer to copy whatever data I have, in the same format, to whatever
storage media I'm using. That way the data is easily readable, and I can
pick and choose what I want to retrieve.
This probably isn't much help now, but it's something to consider for
the future. You'll surely find a way to retrieve those old documents as
Windows 98 isn't that old, and others have given you some good
suggestions.
Your advice seems good. This all worked well when the 4 machines here
were Windows 98. The most critical machine is the last to go. Saving
the files directly to another drive, as you suggest, is the safest way,
but it becomes too cumbersome to pick out the critical folders each time
and not overlook an address book or some such. It's also made more
difficult, because a couple of the users aren't regular backers under this
scenario. (Too much work
they just want to click a button and be done
with it.
Fortunately, I've had enough experience with Windows Back-up to know, one
odd computer is odd man out, so I've backed the most critical stuff as
straight up copies. Secondly though, I have good news, in that the drive
in the dead machine did in fact come alive in another machine, so I have
files without the putzing, or at least the worst kinda putzing.
*Thanks* to all who replied
Steve Young
PS A 'life saver' I've learned along the way, is to clone a new C install
to either the 2nd hard drive or to one of those small drives before it
hits the shelf. If it's the D drive, one can boot from either, as the
machine is started. Then, build everything on C and copy back-up, (non-op
system), data to D. I do NOT change anything to the D boot/system
portion, but use it as a static save of when it was best, which allows me
to boot a machine, even if one hard drive goes dead.
