yunkaa
asked on
Big Backup... Suggestions?
Hello Everyone,
Thanks for reading our question. LAst time we did a big backup of the C: drive, in bringing the files back over, they said... "Error. File name too long." We are about to do another big backup. Please can you offer us any tips as to how to handle the large amount of data? Is there a BETTER way other than just copying and pasting?
Any tips and powerful applications would be wonderful.
Many thanks,
Yunkaa
Thanks for reading our question. LAst time we did a big backup of the C: drive, in bringing the files back over, they said... "Error. File name too long." We are about to do another big backup. Please can you offer us any tips as to how to handle the large amount of data? Is there a BETTER way other than just copying and pasting?
Any tips and powerful applications would be wonderful.
Many thanks,
Yunkaa
shivsa
what os and platform.
do u have some software like veritas backup exec for backup.
You can use Windows Backup to backup to a file on another filesystem.
ASKER
XP... to an external drive. I'll check out veritas. IS there a BEST program for backups?
THanks all!
Yunkaa
THanks all!
Yunkaa
Also it is a server or some personal PC, since i want to know how important is backup is for u.
like if it a small PC only serving few people( not having file server installed on it). then u can use built in backup in XP to backup the things.
otherwise use some commercial software to backup your data.
Veritas is #1 as fas as i know.
like if it a small PC only serving few people( not having file server installed on it). then u can use built in backup in XP to backup the things.
otherwise use some commercial software to backup your data.
Veritas is #1 as fas as i know.
For a complete C: drive backup, I always use Norton Ghost. Now that's a powerful application. It can copy almost any type of partition - Linux, Fat16/32, NTFS etc. Long filenames are not a problem. It also doesn't matter what o/s you are using. The best part about it is the execution - It can run from one floppy disk. Not much good having a backup program which needs a working o/s to restore everything if you only have one PC. You can compress the data, and copy it to another HDD or a burner. (Amongst others) I just run a compressed backup to another HDD, and then copy that file to a couple of other PC's on my network for extra backup copies.
Q: "I'll check out veritas. IS there a BEST program for backups?"
A: Most think robustness of veritas makes it a best
Q: Is there a BETTER way other than just copying and pasting?
A: Actually, there is. Most prefer the simple command line options of "xCopy" are sufficient. They can be placed in a .cmd or .bat and run according to schedules. Program is free and comes with the OS, no D/L required.
A: Most think robustness of veritas makes it a best
Q: Is there a BETTER way other than just copying and pasting?
A: Actually, there is. Most prefer the simple command line options of "xCopy" are sufficient. They can be placed in a .cmd or .bat and run according to schedules. Program is free and comes with the OS, no D/L required.
ASKER
Hello All,
We are very grateful for your help!
Shivsa, it is a PC, but a key one in our office. Please would you identify the specific application among Veritas'? We couldn't decide which one to try for PC back up.
shultz6, you talked about Norton Ghost. About a year and a half a go we had ghost only to find... it can't copy to a USB drive. Is that still the case? How well does it work for backing up individual directories, like just the "My Documents" directory?
MobileOakAI, we will look at xCopy. Thnak you very much for that.
Many thanks,
Yunkaa
We are very grateful for your help!
Shivsa, it is a PC, but a key one in our office. Please would you identify the specific application among Veritas'? We couldn't decide which one to try for PC back up.
shultz6, you talked about Norton Ghost. About a year and a half a go we had ghost only to find... it can't copy to a USB drive. Is that still the case? How well does it work for backing up individual directories, like just the "My Documents" directory?
MobileOakAI, we will look at xCopy. Thnak you very much for that.
Many thanks,
Yunkaa
ASKER
Hello Again,
Also, I should point out that it's the "my Documents" folder that we're going to backup. No applications. While that may seem simple, we had a real diffucult time doing this last time because of "Long File Name" errors. Please if you can help us find something that will just read the data as it is and make a ?picture? that we can then easily bring back. Would that be ghost?
Kind regrads,
Yunkaa
Also, I should point out that it's the "my Documents" folder that we're going to backup. No applications. While that may seem simple, we had a real diffucult time doing this last time because of "Long File Name" errors. Please if you can help us find something that will just read the data as it is and make a ?picture? that we can then easily bring back. Would that be ghost?
Kind regrads,
Yunkaa
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If u want exact image copy of your document folder then Ghost is best but as suggested above, u can use any of the xcopy or ntbackup. they come free and easy to use.
the problem with ghost as a backup solution is it's not designed to be a backup solution, because you cannot restore individual files, only the entire image, and it most often that would overwrite newer changes that you want.
A real backup solution NEEDS to have the ability to backup an individual file, or multiple files. As such, NTBackup is the best choice. XCopy is an old DOS command, fyi, and isn't meant to backup either. You can't xcopy to a tape drive, and you can't xcopy to a cd. It's designed to copy to hard drive or floppy...
Because it's free, and works with tape devices, NTBackup is most likely the most reasonable solution in a small case like this. Or, if the folder is under 700Mb CD burning software is also a good alternative to buying a tape backup.
I like NTBackup because you can schedule it around non-productive times, much like you can Veritas BackupExec (which we use in our agency - But then again in my site I'm backing up 10 servers with anywhere from 20GB to 200GB of data on them . . . That's what's meant by 'robust'. Most soho type situations don't require that much oomph.
A real backup solution NEEDS to have the ability to backup an individual file, or multiple files. As such, NTBackup is the best choice. XCopy is an old DOS command, fyi, and isn't meant to backup either. You can't xcopy to a tape drive, and you can't xcopy to a cd. It's designed to copy to hard drive or floppy...
Because it's free, and works with tape devices, NTBackup is most likely the most reasonable solution in a small case like this. Or, if the folder is under 700Mb CD burning software is also a good alternative to buying a tape backup.
I like NTBackup because you can schedule it around non-productive times, much like you can Veritas BackupExec (which we use in our agency - But then again in my site I'm backing up 10 servers with anywhere from 20GB to 200GB of data on them . . . That's what's meant by 'robust'. Most soho type situations don't require that much oomph.
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ASKER
Hello Everyone,
Your answers all show such depth of understanding, we are so grateful! Please can you help us to understand a few other issues:
AlbertaBeef, egarding backing up to a CD rom: is it really true - 700mb on one disk! We'd like to rename the long files, but I think the error is in the MS Dos truncation of the 8 or more character names, but, there are SO MANY files we can't go through them all now.
NTBackup is an application? Can we use it on a pc?
chicagoan you wrote
>>Ghost Explorer will browse an image file,
>>and restore individual files..
So, we could select just the "My Documents" and Email.pst folders for backup with ghost?
Many many thanks...
Yun
Your answers all show such depth of understanding, we are so grateful! Please can you help us to understand a few other issues:
AlbertaBeef, egarding backing up to a CD rom: is it really true - 700mb on one disk! We'd like to rename the long files, but I think the error is in the MS Dos truncation of the 8 or more character names, but, there are SO MANY files we can't go through them all now.
NTBackup is an application? Can we use it on a pc?
chicagoan you wrote
>>Ghost Explorer will browse an image file,
>>and restore individual files..
So, we could select just the "My Documents" and Email.pst folders for backup with ghost?
Many many thanks...
Yun
ASKER
Hi,
One other thing, please would you tell us, among Ghost, NTCopy and backing up to a CD rom... which one would be fastest and, is there any one that would certainly avoid the long filename problem?
Thanks...
Yun
One other thing, please would you tell us, among Ghost, NTCopy and backing up to a CD rom... which one would be fastest and, is there any one that would certainly avoid the long filename problem?
Thanks...
Yun
fastest: Ghost
Long file names: review http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,41242,00.asp
Long file names: review http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,41242,00.asp
ASKER
Hi,
chicagoan, regarding this...
>>Ghost Explorer will browse an image file,
>>and restore individual files..
So, copying just the "My Documents" folder would work, or would we need to ghost the whole disk, and then use Ghost Explorer to bring back the "My Documents". Also, do you know if one can copy to and retrieve from a USB drive with Ghost?
Kind regards,
Yunkaa
chicagoan, regarding this...
>>Ghost Explorer will browse an image file,
>>and restore individual files..
So, copying just the "My Documents" folder would work, or would we need to ghost the whole disk, and then use Ghost Explorer to bring back the "My Documents". Also, do you know if one can copy to and retrieve from a USB drive with Ghost?
Kind regards,
Yunkaa
Ghost backs up a partition or a whole disk only.
You can backup to 'most' usb drives. If your USB drive is available when booting from a Win98 or dos disk, it will work. If not, it usually works.
Ghost is a great tool, but as I said above it is not a substitue for a proper backup schedule.
You can backup to 'most' usb drives. If your USB drive is available when booting from a Win98 or dos disk, it will work. If not, it usually works.
Ghost is a great tool, but as I said above it is not a substitue for a proper backup schedule.
ASKER
Hi chicagoan,
We have WinXP, is there any kind of test we can run to see if our USB drive is available when booting from WinXP or dos disk?
Kind regards,
Yun
We have WinXP, is there any kind of test we can run to see if our USB drive is available when booting from WinXP or dos disk?
Kind regards,
Yun
It's not the operating system, it's a function of the BIOS.
Grab a 98 bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com, boot with it and see.
It will need to be formated FAT32.
Grab a 98 bootdisk from www.bootdisk.com, boot with it and see.
It will need to be formated FAT32.
ASKER
Hi chicagoan,
Please could you give us the steps for this?
Kindest regards,
Yunkaa
Please could you give us the steps for this?
Kindest regards,
Yunkaa
download http://www.shaneo.com/bootdisks/diskimages/wboot98se.exe
put a floopy in drive A:
execute wboot98se.exe to make a bootable floppy
shutdown windows and reboot with the floppy in the drive
run FDISK to see of the drive is available
put a floopy in drive A:
execute wboot98se.exe to make a bootable floppy
shutdown windows and reboot with the floppy in the drive
run FDISK to see of the drive is available
ASKER
Hi chicagoan,
Should we use the:
http://www.shaneo.com/bootdisks/diskimages/wboot98se.exe
in question is WinXP?
Many thanks,
Yun
Should we use the:
http://www.shaneo.com/bootdisks/diskimages/wboot98se.exe
in question is WinXP?
Many thanks,
Yun
In order to make an image of your hard drive you need to boot with an IBM DOS7 or MS WIndows 98 boot disk