XP File Backup utility???

[hazmat]

Want to set up my machine for automatic backups to a usb hard drive. Just data files - pix, music, etc ~20GB. I tried Windows XP Backup utility but it konked out after 15 minutes and 4GB. I even had to manually install it - seems like something that should be built in.

Looking for other suggestions - although free or low cost is always preferred, the pictures are irreplaceable so I'm willing to pay a few bucks for a robust program.

 

[GaryE]

Hazmat


How about Free? This is how I back up from machine to machine on a schedule all the time.


Create a bat file using notepad like this:


xcopy P:*.* D:\Public /e/v/c/i/h/r
exit


Where in this case, P: is the source directory and D: is the destination directory. Name it something like Public_Backup.bat. It must have a .bat extension. You can add an xcopy line for each directory as needed. Then go to Control Panel, Scheduled Task, Add Scheduled Task and follow the wizard.


Hope this helps,


Gary

 

[hazmat]

I think you lost me

Seems like your solution copies the entire contents every time?? I'm looking for something that will only copy new or changed items since the last backup. The USB drive isn't that fast - I think I'm running USB 1 vs 2 (I notice a huge speed difference when downloading pix onto my laptop vs. this desktop).

 

[GaryE]

I'm looking for something that will only copy new or changed items since the last backup.

Hazmat,


Then just add the /D switch... From xcopy help:


/D:m-d-y Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
If no date is given, copies only those files whose
source time is newer than the destination time.


This should do what you need.



Gary

 

[hazmat]

OK - I'll give it a shot tonight on a small test folder. If smoke starts pouring out of the machine, you can bet I'm taking a pic and posting for all to see -

 

[HomeBrew2]

I addition to the switches Gary noted,I like to use the /y switch also, to suppress prompting when overwriting existing files when running the batch file unattended.
Sometimes it's nice to redirect the output to a txt file to get a log of what was backedup using: "> c:\temp\backup.txt"
For appending more output to same file use ">>" instead of ">"

 

[Mickey_Fx]

You might want to give this commercial prgm a check. SyncBack from 2bright sparks. There is a free version that I've been using for several yrs. Not hard to figure out how to use and is very versital.

2BrightSparks | Downloads Make sure it's the free version and not the SE version that you have to pay for after 30 days.

 

[Soundguy]

Wow.. I remember batch files from my old PC days.. I can remember making some batch files that were almost as functional 'basic' programs.. using strings.. and errorlevel detecting.. etc.

I found a neat utility way back in the day to compile batch files into small com files ( <64k ).. worked out great.

Soundguy

 

[dougj7]

not free, but this is a great program:

Hard disk drive cloning and image backup software: computer files and disk copy

 

[MossRoad]

I use a similar batch file to copy things from my main hard drive to my spare hard drive on a nightly basis, but I maintain a 7 day full backup. Since hard drives are so huge and so cheap, it doesn't cost any more than a backup of just the changed files.

On my spare drive there is a folder called d:\backups
Under the backups folder are 7 subfolders named
Today
TodayPlus1
TodayPlus2
TodayPlus3
TodayPlus4
TodayPlus5
TodayPlus6

My batch file deletes TodayPlus6, then renames
TodayPlus5 to TodayPlus6,
TodayPlus4 to TodayPlus5
TodayPlus3 to TodayPlus4
TodayPlus2 to TodayPlus3
TodayPlus1 to TodayPlus2
Today to TodayPlus1

Then it creates a new Today folder,

Then it uses Xcopy to copy the contents of the My Documents folder on the C drive to the Today folder on the D drive.

Since I am asleep when it happens, it causes me no grief, and if I mess something up badly, I can go back up to 6 days to get it back.

Once in a while, I make a DVD backup of the important documents.