Backup to the Network Drive

 

Backup to the Network Drive A bit about backups and imaging PreRequisite (and I mean it!): Why Back Up Your Computer? Won't CIS do that? Why the Network Drive? But it sounds like a lot of hassle, and I have to remember to do it regularly, and ... What to Backup? How do I do it the easy way? Log Messages You May See  Making Changes How do I make sure a backup was made? Notes Sources Drafts

 

[version 20071218a]

 

A bit about backups and imaging

 

A backup may be everything on a drive or it may be very selective.  An image is usually a complete backup with everything exactly as it was at the moment the image was taken.  Imaging takes longer but it gets everything.  You could start with an image and end up with the computer exactly as it was, even with a new hard drive.

 

When CIS does their backup to move you to a new computer, although they might use imaging software, they do not do a complete image.  They backup only what you have that is unique.  They will install programs from the installation files, and use the software already there.  That clears out a lot of junk, and gets things nice and orderly on your new computer, but it takes a lot longer.  They might miss some files here and there.

 

If you do your own backup of the files you know are essential, you'll have them ready for a new computer, or just a new hard drive if your old hard drive dies.

 

PreRequisite (and I mean it!):

 

You should have already completed the Organizing Your Hard Drive section of this wiki.  You will need to have that knowledge of how your files are organized on your computer, and preferably have put your files into directories that you can easily designate for backup.

Otherwise, this section is going to be a lot harder to use.

 

Why Back Up Your Computer?

 

Because everything dies, eventually.

That includes your hard drive, here and at home.

 

Because CDs and floppies are vulnerable to loss, or damage, or not getting a good copy in the first place, or just age.

 

Because USB Flash drives get lost or die or broken or stolen.

 

Won't CIS do that?

 

Not unless they know in advance and come to your computer, and you may not find that out in time.  If the hard drive dies and CIS can't figure out how to retrieve it, the only option is to send it to a specialist -- and the cost begins in hundreds of dollars and goes into thousands from there.   

So, what are the odds that you can convince them you have something worth that much to save, as opposed to putting in a lot of extra time having to reconstruct it yourself? 

 

Why the Network Drive?

 

Here in the Library, the only drives that are backed up regularly are the ones for campus systems: R, N, and so on (plus our server - but we can't back up our own files to it!).

 

I've tried backing up to the R drive, but I kept running out of allotted space.  I have a lot of essential files (over 660MB), however, so you may get by with just using the R drive, and that is accessible only to you and CIS.

If not, you can use/create your own directory on the N drive and put a backup file in there.  If you run out of space, ask the Help Desk to allocate you more.

Remember that you should back up only the files that you would need to recreate your work.  Please backup any personal files (music, photos, etc.) to CD or USB drive separately.

 

But it sounds like a lot of hassle, and I have to remember to do it regularly, and ...

 

So, I'm going to make it EASY for you.  Honest! 

 

How about -- a program that you set up once, and then it backs up your computer to a network drive EVERY DAY you turn it on (but after the first time, only the changes, so it's fast -- like, five minutes or so).  You can set it for your lunch hour, and it does it all without you even noticing it.  One time and you're done messing with it (unless you want to add or remove designated files you backup).

 

And -- this is a freeware program.  No cost.  You can download a copy for your home PC. 

It's open source.  So more than one person is working on it, and it's popular enough (award winning!) that it should continue for some time into the future.  And be updated for new versions of Windows, I hope.

 

Works on Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista (use an older version from these sites for 98, etc.).  Can backup to a network drive, or a CD, or any connected drive.  You have an option to compress it to save room, to encrypt it so nobody else can read it (so you can store your passwords and email in there).

 

What to Backup?

 

This depends a lot on how you work.

 

1.  You don't backup programs.  You reinstall them (download them, get them from CD, etc.).

 

2.  You DO backup configuration and template files.  For example, the ".kex" files from Keyboard Express, the label files from Wasp, and the configuration files (including bookmarks, etc.) for browsers, email software, etc.

If all your email is done online via LionsLink, that is already backed up (pun intended, some days!).  However, I use Thunderbird and download my mail so I can handle and archive it better (and faster!) which means I need to depend on my own backup method.

 

3.  Data files.  These are the files that you created: word processing, spreadsheets, PDFs, graphics, signs, etc.  Anything that you don't have a copy of on the N drive already to make it available for all of us.

 

How do I do it the easy way?

 

The software is called Cobian Backup, it's version 8, and you can download it from the Sources section (near the end of this page) -- either of those links.  It's also on the N drive in the "installing" directory.

 

* Download it, and save it to your hard drive.  The file will be called CbSetup.exe .

 

* Close your other programs (always a good precaution when installing software) and doubleclick on the cbsetup.exe file to start it.

 

* Accept the conditions for the license.

 

*  Let it install in the default location, and create icons on the start menu.

 

*  Installation type should be "As an application (Autostart for the current user)".  This is probably the second choice from the top.

 

This will allow the program to be loaded automatically (you should see a Black crescent moon appear in the system tray).

 

*  Cobian Backup installs.  Click the Done button when it activates.

 

* Double-click on the black crescent moon in the system tray.

 

*  In the toolbar, click on the clipboard (Create a new task) icon.

 

*  The Properties box shows up and leads you through the steps for this specific backup.  You start in the General section.

 

*  Name the backup: call it "Backup 1" or whatever you like.

 

*  Disabled is NOT checked, it is blank.

       Include subdirectories and the other boxes ARE checked.

       Backup type is Differential which checks to see if a file was changed since the last FULL backup.  Since we will be doing full backups each time, this is appropriate.

       Full copies to keep can be set to 2 or greater.  That will keep some older ones available in case anything is wrong with the latest one.

       Make a full backup every should be set to 1.  That will create a full backup every time.

 

*  In the left panel, click on Files.  Here you select what files to backup, and where to put them.

 

A nice feature is that you can drag files from My Computer listings and drop them into this, just as if you were moving them (but you aren't) and they show up in the list.

 

*  In the Destination box, you need to put the network drive to receive the files.  Because of the way our network drives are named, the letters may not work properly here, so you need to enter this manually.

For the N drive, click on Add and browse down for the R drive (or the N drive).  Select one of those.

An R drive listing will look something like \\ad.uafortsmith.edu\dfsroot\home\faculty\yourname\

An N drive listing will look something like \\ad.uafortsmith.edu\dfsroot\Shared\Library\yourname\

 

*  Add "backup" to the end.  This will put the file into a separate backup directory and keep it out of your way.  The yourname is your campus login name, of course.  ONLY do ONE of these - either R or N -- but you don't need both.

 

Okay, now comes the only hard part, and it's not too bad.    Really!  I said it's drag and drop, didn't I?  In the Source section, you can either do drag and drop, or use the Add button.  Drag and drop might be easiest for now.

 

*  Okay, now use the Windows Start button (green, lower left on the screen) and get your My Computer window up.  Reduce and move it so it leaves room for you to see the Cobian Source window.

 

*  Now, what do you drag and drop into Sources?

 

    a.  C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\Application Data covers the settings and bookmarks for your browsers, OCLC Connexion, and a bunch of other software you have installed.

 

    b.  C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\Desktop covers your desktop -- what you have on it, etc.  This would let you get back to your regular arrangement quickly, once you reinstalled your software.

 

    c.  C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\My Documents -- STOP! and from here you do NOT usually want the entire directory.  For example, the My Music subdirectory in here has all the music you listen to, and you should have that backed up someplace else.  (Of course, on your home computer, you may well WANT to back this up, especially if you have paid to download music!).

       If you have all your documents in the one big My Documents directory, you may just want to mark them all and drag them to the Sources box.  If you have any special subdirectories for them, drag and drop those.

 

    d.  C:\Documents and Settings\yourname\Favorites gets bookmarks from IE but not Firefox.

 

    e.  Now, if you created a special directory for your word processing/spreadsheet/whatever files on C:\, you need to add that to Sources, along with any other special directories that could not be easily recreated.

 

*  In the left panel, click on the Schedule section.

 

*  Schedule type is daily for every day.

 

*  Time is during your regular lunch hour.  Of course, you can use the other features to schedule it differently if you like.  Just bear in mind that when you're not logged in, the backup can't happen -- it won't happen when you turn off the computer and go home.  And you don't want to have it happen when you're leaving and have to wait for it -- it's too tempting to just skip it and shut down. 

 

Lunchtime is good.  You don't have much happening on your computer, so nothing will be slowed down -- although I haven't noticed it yet when Cobian is running until the little popup appears saying it's finished.  Still, the less going on, the better, as active files cannot be backed up.

 

*  In the left panel, click on Archive.

 

*  Select your Compression method as Zip compression.  This is common and easily handled by programs other than Cobian.

 

*  If you have anything that might be confidential that is not already password-protected, you should also encrypt the backup file with a password.  Select Encryption type as Blowfish (128 bits) and enter the password (as "Passphrase") twice.  The quality bar will show how good your password is (longer = better).  Put the password in KeePass!

 

*  In the left panel, click on the Special section.

 

*  Here you can limit the files collected.  For example, you might exclude ".ini" and ".db" files, which show up in a lot of directories but are not vital here.  Also, you can exclude *.mp3 and *.wma to avoid getting music, or similar limitations.

 

*  Events and Advanced are not necessary.  You can leave them in default settings.  Click on OK to finish setting up.

 

*  In the toolbar, click on the Log setting.  This will show the results of the work the program does.

 

Log Messages You May See 

 

If you get a log message saying something like "ERR 9/27/2007 12:10:52 PM This is NOT an error: A new version is available. Download it from the program's site!" then you need to update your version.

 

Uh-oh-- You got an error message, saying there are errors, but not specifying.  Scroll back up the log and look for the red error message.  Chances are, it was unable to backup a particular file -- because you had a program using it at the time.  If that's the case, no big deal. Just remember which program it is, and be sure to close that before you go to lunch in the future.

 

Making Changes

 

Any time you want to check the log, or change the settings (say, if you moved a critical data file to a new directory), right-click on the black crescent moon in your system tray and open the program.

 

How do I make sure a backup was made?

 

Cobian gives you the option to get a report by email, but the simpler solution is to just go and look for the file where you said to put it.  If you have a big file there, and the log looks good, you can test it by looking inside it (right-click and Open) to see if it looks okay.  I tried unzipping mine just to be sure it had everything in it that I specified.

 

Notes

If you are backing up to a CD, be sure you have room on the CD in the drive to handle everything.  Same for a USB Flash drive, or whatever you are using.  The files are simply copied if you don't specify compression or encryption, so you can get to them easily.

 

If you plan to encrypt the backup, because you have some confidential stuff in there (KeePass is already encrypted, but you might have email or other data), then you'll also need to download the encryption software from Cobian.

 

Sources

 

1. Cobian Backup site
2. Cobian backup at SourceForge

 

 

Drafts

 

 

Draft 1

Draft 2