In need of a viable backup solution for an XP Pro

[iblearnen]

Greetings,
I’m in search of a viable backup solution for an XP Pro mach however my client does not want to spend any money on it (how typical) The windows ntbackup is one option. They have an extra internal HD and want to make weekly backups of Quicken data. Thanks in advance

 

[linney]

Doesn't Quicken ask you to Backup before you exit the program?

He could just copy the data he wants to Save.

This is a complete Partition Backup and Restore solution included with XP Pro.

How to Set up and Use Automated System Recovery in Windows XP

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/managing/asr.asp

 

[iandoreeninvan]

It should be relatively easy to find a horror story about backups [ independant source so you can show your client].

Then the costs of not having backups, re-keying all the data etc. AND, if you have a backup solution must be able to prove the restore will work - on a virgin pc in case of complete failure... & cover all of the other backup restore scenarios.

Find the sub-directory where quicken keeps data files.
Also other important application data sub-directories.
find local specific application config files.

create a "backup.bat" batch file which copies or Xcopies all files in the important sub-directories to say
G:\weekBu\quicken\data
G:\weekBu\app2\data
etc [ i could supply a copy of a batch file i use - if you'd like].

ensure the user exits all applications before running the
backup [ incidently should be daily at least - not weekly]
eg at lunchtime.

Then burn all files on G to CD-R or DVD-R etc.
[And/or copy to a network drive -this is what i do]
or copy to a memory stick, dat drive or whatever.

also include other directories.
i find storing word docs under "my documents" etc
a pain.
if your have any config probs on your pc the first thing
i find breaks is file associations with blanks in the
file name [IMHO].

i'd use for eg

C:\Ian\Music
C:\Ian\MsWord\Jobs
C:\Ian\MsWord\CamerasDigEtc
C:\Ian\MsWord\CompuTecho
C:\Ian\MsWord\music\songlists
C:\Ian\MsWord\CompuNetworks

then also xcopy all under "ian"

HTH

Ian C

 

[firewolfrl]

I use KLS backup pro for my clients

http://www.kls-soft.com/klsbackup/

I use this because I believe in offsite backup plans and this program has the capability to turn off the database before copy then turn it back on after copy is done...this all happens during lunch hour. after hours the backup is FTPed to a Network harddrive at the owner's home.

I had this same setup for another business that had a fire burn the building to the ground. they lost 4 computers but did not lose the accounting and billing data. They had over a $900,000 in accounts receivable. if they had not had the offsite backup option they would have been forced out of business.
they also had backed up their email and the My documents files.
I also had the 4 computers interbackup to each other so if there was a harddrive failure in one the other 3 had current backups of the failed computer. the insurance company was going to pony up the money to recover data ....they actually were so happy with the backup option that they discounted the premuim after the fire


It is the client's choice for the backup...it's just a matter of how much your client wants to pay a lab to get the data off a failed drive. $2000 +/- is the average cost

 

[gregmuir2]

Solution 1: tell your client he's a moron. Most satisfying but probably not the most productive.

Solution 2: have client make two backups, one to the second internal hard drive and one to an external usb keychain that goes home with the owner. The last time I used Quickbooks, it had an internal backup utility you could run and would handle all the details. Conversely, backing up the QDB file with Windows Backup to the secondary hard drive would work just as easily.

I am not a fan of single backups, especially when dealing with something as important to a business as the accounting info. If your customer balks at any of this, smile and say "Ok, imagine we're six months from now and I'm telling you right now that the hard drive is dead. How much would you pay to get it all back? Imagine it's lost forever, now how much is it costing you?"

The advantage of using a keychain USB is that your backup is off-site as well. The problem with ONLY backing up to a secondary internal drive is that you could still lose the entire machine to a power surge, gremelins, whatever.

At that last quickbooks customer of mine, the bookkeeper ran two backups nightly. The first backup went to a zip disk that was kept right by the computer in case the drive puked and we were getting it up and running on another machine in the office. The second backup went home with her in case the building burned down. If we had a failure on one zip disk, the likelihood would be that the second is still valid. The odds of losing a hard drive and one zip disk are still not as long as the odds of losing all three. I also had them burn monthly CD's as point in time backups. It made the owner feel safer because he had zero comprehension of computers and physical media was close enough to paper that he could stick it in a filing cabinet and feel like his hiney was covered. Peace of mind and all that.

 

[gregmuir2]

Firewolf, concerning KLS backup, does it also span the archives across multiple DVD's? I've got a utility i'm about to try out that's supposed to be able to do something like that. For all of our important info that gets backed up on a routine basis, we use external hard drives. For info that isn't likely to change often, probably won't be needed, and certainly could be off the server, I was thinking of using spanned DVD's.

 

[cgkeller]

I tried the "Handy Backup" by NovosoftLLC, which I find very good because you can put your backup on DVD-Blue ray, on Hard-Disk, on USB, or on CD-R.
And then you can restore it, where it was before.
Just google and put in
"Handy Backup" by Nocosoft and you will get all the details.
And you can try it for 30 days, before you by it for $39.

Charles Keller - Programmer.

 

[firewolfrl]

It does span multi-DVD with no problems that I have seen. it also gives nice options on compression and whether you want it or not.
On critical data I usually use no compression

 

[cgkeller]

I'm sorry, i made a typing error.
it is not "Nocosoft",
it is "Handy Backup" by Novosoft.

Charles Keller.

 

[maxhugen]

Hi iandoreeninvan

I'm looking at buying Backup software for my workstation and file server. However, I'd like to also backup personal files/folders etc from my families' pcs. To avoid the cost of 5 licences (rather than just one for my own machine), I thought I'd try to write a batch file.

I tried the following but my syntax must be wrong as it didn't copy anything:

[tt]>xcopy "C:\Documents and Settings\Max\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*" "H:\Backup\Max\Firefox\Profiles"
>0 File(s) copied[/tt]

MTIA



Max Hugen
Australia

 

[linney]

See if this will create a batch file for you?

Caches, Batches, and Freeware, Oh My!

http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-08.htm

 

[maxhugen]

G'day linney, thanks for the link, but that application doesn't create a 'standard' batch file. Mind you, it certainly worked, but I'd rather create a .bat file.

Max Hugen
Australia

 

[linney]

Sorry about that but batch files are not my forte. The only thing that looks strange to me in your example is *.* rather than * in this bit "C:\Documents and Settings\Max\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*"

Xcopy

http://technet2.microsoft.com/windo...9925-4571-a252-0e28960d5f891033.mspx?mfr=true

 

[guitarzan]

maxhugen,

You are getting "0 File(s) copied" because there are probably no files in the source folder, only folders. You need the /S option to include subfolders in the xcopy.

And I agree with Linney, change * to *.*

xcopy "C:\Documents and Settings\Max\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*[COLOR=red].*[/color]" "H:\Backup\Max\Firefox\Profiles" [COLOR=red]/s[/color]

Some other switches you might want: /E (includes empty folders), /V (verifies), /H (copies hidden/system files)

To see all the switches, go to a command prompt and type XCOPY /?

 

[maxhugen]

Thanks guitarzan, the /s switch did the trick. BTW, the single asterisk works OK... which is what I would have expected really.

Cheers guys!


Max Hugen
Australia

 

[iandoreeninvan]

Hi Blokes.

what i had was...

rem huh ? all windows xp stuiff disappeared ? ? ? ?
rem xcopy "c:\Documents and Settings\All users\Documents\*.*" D:\18IanBu\AllUzrsdox\ /s
rem

But i must of had a problem [ as per my comment]


& ta.

I didn't know about the single asterisk.

AFAIK you only need inverted commas if there are embedded
blanks in the directory structure [ which i avoid like a plague anyway].

& i try to train users to save files in eg
C:\Max\WoteverApp\data... etc

Ian C

iandoreeninvan
ie Ian and Doreen In caraVan ( ie RV).
this is a 'generic' email we use when travelling.

 

[maxhugen]

Totally agree with Ian... but MS screwed that up for us. All user data I control has no spaces in the folder names, but profile data is at the mercy of Outlook etc.

Max Hugen
Australia

 

[wahnula]

My backup solution for home & office including my server is 2BrightSparks' SyncBackSE, about a $30 program that has proven itself invaluable. Since your scenario probably most closely resembles my office, here's the plan. I chose (2) 2.5" laptop drives (with the ability for an external power brick) about 2-3X the amount of data I was backing up, in this case 100GB for less than $100. Then I bought (2) Thermaltake cases and (1) power adapter. Every day, at 11 pm, ntbackup backs up system state and My documents, at 1:30 SyncBack backs up all other files and in your case, Quicken.

At the end of day, the accountant goes to the server, double-clicks that little "Safely remove Hardware" icon, and removes the drive. If it says the drive cannot be stopped, logging off and back on will fix that. I then have her switch drives and take the other drive with her, so there is always offsite media.

For my home, I have a ginormous external USB drive, also wall-powered, that stays off most of the time. About every week I back up "Documents and Settings" for the (3) PC's in my home office. It's an auto-run routine that simply doesn't run when the drive's off. SyncBack is an incremental file-copy backup so it can restore and accidentally-overwritten file. In the event of a disaster all I need to do is take the drive.

The two most important points I would like to stress are not relying on USB-power and stopping the device before removing it or tuning it off.

Tony

 

[CecilXavier]

Try a program called second copy. I believe it is fairly cheap P). I know you don't want to spend money, but if something screws up it usually goes on your head, not the client. Tell him to either spend the money on something small, or sign a disclaimer that what you are doing is at their request and nothing more is needed.

 

[iandoreeninvan]

Hi Blokes again.

my backup batch file (buIan_c.bat) stopped working sometime.

I'm not sure when AND
I'm not too sure of what i've done or installed, etc.

i haven't seen a another tek-tip thread that's relevant yet.

generally my backup batch file sez:
xcopy C:\....fred D:\1bu\...fred
xcopy " bill " " bill
etc


& then i can burn d:\1bu etc

but the batch file doesn't work now.
i included a pause after a few REM's but
the batch file doesn't "pause"

I can't see errors in the firewall log (kerio -last free one) to indicate that is the problem.

i have other batch files - which run ok from
[given] different sub-directories.

maybe a M$ upgrade doesn't allow xcopy?

The other strange? thing about it is that i can
run xcopy... etc from the command line ok
& it WORKS!


For a heads up, please

Ian C