I've always hated backup utilities as they are all so intrusive and horribly programed.. I really can't seem to fine a simple one to do what I want.. So for years all I've done is manualled copied my stuff over to my back external usb hardrive. It works fine but lacks automation due to windows somewhat poor copy ability. Main issue being when it finds files that are already there, you get a overrite option of yes/no and yes to all. But the one option i want - no to all - does not exist, so when I do very large copies, well I have to click no an awful lot of times or just yes to all and it takes much longer then it needs to as most of the files are the same. All I want is a utility that can do this: copy C:\Data to E:\Data, not renaming files nor over-writing, or better, over writing if new file has a newer modified date. Be a quick 1 click thing I can minimize to the background and not demand to be automated and run 25 processes in the background all the time to do it. One that will do this fast and intelligently by clearing the archieve attribute on the files as it goes would be a bonus but not needed. Seems so simple yet every program i've tried to get to do that is utterly unable to do it correctly. Windows backup - likes to juble all the files into a .BKF file for some unknown reason, making them unreadable and useless to me. Genie backup manager (seposedly highly rated) - decides it's best to rename all files to a folder called E:\[project name]\Data\MF\C\Data... with no option to disable such weird behavior. Also forces compression on by default (can be disabled but has to be done everytime) and constantly asks you to automate and schedule the backup. Simple backup - Looked like it was working, buit then renamed the folder to c\data\data... And then failed for no reason. Tried a few others with similar results. Anyone know a good one that will do what I want?
Hey, I use Allway Sync ( www.allwaysync.com ) Its a simple program that literally syncs the contents of 2 folders. The good thing about it is that it will only override a file if it has been modified so you only copy whats new! Oh and best of all its FREE!!!! Hope that helps!
I had problems restoring my system in visa 64 bit with acronis...worked on vista32 bit and xp32 bit without any problems. I was using it for backuping my instalation of windows. never used for syncing folders. It has the job scheduler. Now I`m using Norton Ghost but again to backup my C: drive in case of a system failure. Never did the restoration yet. Ther is also a very simple and tested (free) utility called Sync Toy from microsoft
NOT TRYING TO HIJACK figured this does not need it's own thread,as i feel the aggrevation of the OP i also cannot find a good program tried acronis did not like it vista 64 backup always fails my question is this is there a way to say fit all of your data from a 320 gig hdd onto say 2-4 dvd's? there has to be some ultimate compression tool there is a ripper from torrent sites named Skullptura he fits 10 GB games into 968MB downloads,uses some funky installer that decompresses it all into a 10 gig file. How does one compress like that and where does one get the tools?
Two items: First: There is a " No to all " function in Windows. All you need to do is hold down the shift button and then click on NO. A little Microsoft secret. Second: Syncback will do what you need it to do. http://www.2brightsparks.com/freeware/freeware-hub.html Watcher
320 GB onto 4 DVD. I hope not. Can you imagine if by some chance it could be done. The time it would take to do it would be unrealistic. What about when you want to restore it? It again would be very very very slow. What if your media is even a little damaged? Either image the drive onto another drive or buy an external drive and back it up. Really, I wouldn't bother with compression with the cheap storage of today. Watcher
ahhh screw it then i have my os cd a cd of all the drivers and apps i use all my games are on dvd pics music books docs and my os is on it's own partition so i guess im ok if i can get money to get 2 hdd 1 internal and one external than i will use the external as a backup.
You can use robocopy (with the right switches it can do you what you want) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc733145.aspx RoboCopy GUI (looks like you still have to use "append other parameters" to get the diff copy working) http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/OS-Enhancements/RoboCopy-GUI.shtml I don't really use this type of backup software so i can't really recommend anything. http://backup.comodo.com http://www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/backupandimage.shtml http://free-backup.info/backup-software.htm
Cobian Backup if you're transferring files anywhere. Hands down the best backup utility I've used. If you're doing Images of your hard drive, I find Acronis to be the nicest. The Bootable CD version of it, not the program you install onto your computer.
If I understand you correctly, you want to overwrite the file in the backup if it has changed. What if later you realize that you need the old version? Anyway, I use Cobian. http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/index.htm It is free. It runs in the background. It runs a schedules backup from my main drive to a secondary internal drive, where I have my backups. There are pros and cons to any backup utility.
Wow nice tip never knew that one. Still has a minor flaw of not asking your yes/no until it reachs a file that already exists - and the order it copies files in is often hard to determine so that could be a while of waiting. Thanks for the many suggestions. Problem with all the sync software ideas is that they generally (never tested most of them) want to well.. sync entirely.. Meaning they will also copy the my E:\Data contents to match my C:\Data.. or at least try. The problem with that is that A) it will fail - c drive is smaller then E:, plus filled with installed games, while the data folder is all uninstalled iso/music/movies/etc. and B) Its really not want I want, I want a 1 way only copy. Animatrix: I picked your suggestion, I like robocopy. Took some time to figure out the right switchs, but when I did it worked perfect.. Plus as a simple command line utility its incredibly fast, basicly instant if it detects nothing needs to be copied. I just set it up to make a couple copy scripts and had copy all archive files and remove the /archive attribute when its copied, simple and effective. Amazing what a little 78kb commandline exe can do.
Only reason i'd have a newer file with the same there anyways is if the old one was wrong/corrupt/etc, so wouldn't really matter either way. Plus im not doing anything automated, so if something goes wrong and corrupts the files, the corrupt versions wont be copied as i wont be running the script in that case.
He can generally do that only because todays developers are lazy ) in terms of conserving filesize.. Sometimes due to just shear incompetance, and often due to wanting to completely fill the DVD to make pirating more difficult. Meaning theres lots of crap he can easily rip without anyone noticing. It's not so much compression as good ripping skills. He generally takes out all non-english languages - which can be several gigs, redundant low-rez version of textures and other crap. The compression done is usually just standard 7zip. Tho sometimes rippers take an extra step and re-encode the audio/video files with a better codec/lower bitrate. None of which can be done quickly or easily. heh if not for laziness and foolish anti piracy attempts, todays 10-20gb games could still fit on a single layer DVD, and stay around the same size when installed thanks to todays good compression technology. There would be some minor sacrifices in texture/sound/video quality, but improvements in load times as less hard drive reading would be needed.
