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I used to (attempt to) use the MS Backup Utility supplied with Win2K. I found it to be a real pain (especially the restore), with the result that I hardly ever used it.
Then, about a year ago I discovered that there was a WinZip command line client which allows Zip files to be created very easily from batch files or scripts.
As a result, I now have a set of simple batch files/scripts which zip up the contents of user accounts, the source code control database etc. etc.
I've found the way to ensure it happens regularly is to run it as a scheduled task overnight. As the zipfiles created end up in a "backup" folder on the disk of my laptop, it's a simple matter to blat the contents off to the server in the morning or cut them to a CD-R or CD-RW as required.
Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
"I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories."
- Paul Watson
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The problem of this approach (and nearly all those nice little shareware backup utilities) is, that is does not take care of all those NTFS specific stuff: ACLs, hardlinks, softlinks, alternate file streams (like the file metadata on XP), sparse files, compression attributes and so on - everything that is not plain FAT compatible is lost!
It depends if this is a problem or not. Usually one uses only very few of these features. However, the problem is that most people even don't know about this problem. They use a backup utility that seems to work fine and never recognize that, for example, all security settings are lost after a restore. Or that a hardlinked file is now simply duplicated and therefore wastes space and - even worse - leads to inconsistencies. Or ...
I don't like NTBackup either, but I was not able to find an (affordable) alternative, yet.
Daniel
--
Daniel Lohmann
http://www.losoft.de
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Very true. Since I use it this approach for individual user account data (documents, mail and favourites, mainly), NTFS specific attributes aren't an issue for me - although they may be for others.
I wouldn't advocate this approach for a complete machine backup - but it is very handy for user documents.
Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd
Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
"I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories."
- Paul Watson
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I mean , it wouldn't happen to me would it.
So what's the point.
Regardz
Colin J Davies
Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin
More about me
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Never tease God, son.
"Think of it as evolution in action." - 'Oath of Fealty' by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
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Fortunately only to you... My data matters to me, I back it up daily. Not worth my job otherwise... and I like playing Counterstrike at lunchtime
Polymorph
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And you are really sure you put enough of your income into the offertory bag?
--
Daniel Lohmann
http://www.losoft.de
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Colin Davies wrote:
it wouldn't happen to me
Whos taking bets, my money is on a disaster of some sort by the end of the month
- Matt Newman / Windows XP Activist
-Sonork ID: 100.11179
"You can't seriously believe that you could get away with suing someone over quoting text from a message posted in a public forum, can you?" - John Simmons
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Belive me sometimes it does.
Best regards,
Alexandru Savescu
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About once a week (which reminds me, it's time...) I put my code and email onto a zip disk.
The only other stuff I back up is downloaded software and media (pics, MP3, etc). When a dir /s /a:a shows 600 MB of unarchived stuff, I put the new downloads onto a CD.
--Mike--
Just released - RightClick-Encrypt v1.3 - Adds fast & easy file encryption to Explorer
My really out-of-date homepage
Sonork-100.19012 Acid_Helm
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...after i've already lost the data once, and have had to re-enter it from memory...
Someday, i'll get around to being a responsible, organized person...
- Shog9 - Aaah... It's time to relax. You know what that means: a glass of beer, your favorite ergo chair... And of course, The Code Project loaded on your Personal Computer System. So go on, and indulge yourself, put your feet up. Lean back and just enjoy the articles. After all, CP sooths even the savage
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Shog9 wrote:
Someday, i'll get around to being a responsible, organized person...
I used to think that when I was at high school, then I just realised that some people just don't need to do all the extra work. If they can bum their way through life, why can't I?!
(to those unaware of my new ratings system, this is a joke)
"Life, as well as software, has bugs." - Roger Wright
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