backup data

[bill davis]

I just partitioned my drive into 4 partitions, I have win98 os and I want to copy c: to the d: partition. Do I need to go into dos to to this?
thanks
bill davis

[jeana]

Hi Bill,

I've found that using DOS to copy files from C: to D: backfires because the filenames get abbreviated (Windows uses long filenames that aren't recognized by DOS).

If you're just doing this copying for backup you're fine using the Win98 copy utilities.

When I backup my Windows folder, however, I leave the copy on the C drive because of past problems (Windows wouldn't boot, so I tried to move my backup copy from another partition to the C drive using DOS. Because DOS screwed up the long file names, my restore didn't work and I ended up having to reinstall Windows from scratch anyway.) So it's best to have the backup copy of Windows on the C drive, so that under DOS you can just use the ren command to rename it.

See the following discussion for the best darn Windows backup method! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/001685.html

However, if you're trying to move all your program and Windows files to D: for some reason, you may run into trouble because all of your config files, registry information, etc. will be pointing to the old locations. Unless you have a program like Partition Manager that will handle these changes, I'd advise against it.

[bill davis]

Thanks for your reply jeana.
Well your are right, I didn't think about the
names being shorten, my thinking is if I am able to copy the complete c: drive to (in this case)F: I would be able to refresh c: drive if I need to or if the data in c: was to become corupt by some outside force. I may be able to boot to f: and format c: and copy f: to c:. How would I be able to copy one drive to another? I don't want to copy one file at a time for I sure I'll miss one or two key files in the process.

[This message has been edited by bill davis (edited 04-26-2000).]

[hd581]

xcopy32 /e c:\ d:\

I think thats how I did it. I'm pretty sure it picks up hidden files, too. Test it out first if you're going to use it.

[jeana]

You're right, Bill-- it is a good idea to have that extra copy of c:, and you definitely can do the copy back the way you plan. I just tried out xcopy32 from my Windows DOS prompt(thanks hd581!) and it does seem to get those long filenames. Hopefully it works from a regular DOS prompt.

Even if you think you'll use the F: drive to boot and reformat, I still find that having a backup of Windows on the C: partition (if you have the space) saves loads of time.
You also might as well have a boot floppy with format, fdisk, sys, xcopy32, a text editor, CD-ROM drivers, and other helpful DOS programs on it, for restoring your drive.

**I just tried xcopy32'ing a folder back to my C drive from the real DOS prompt (not the one you get from inside windows), as might happen if you were trying to restore from your backup copy after a crash. Unfortunately, it still cuts off all the filenames.

So in order to do a restore, you'd have to get Windows working somewhere (i.e. reinstalled on C?) on your computer before you could copy everything from F: to C: properly.

Say your computer crashes: then you reformat your C: drive and reinstall Windows on it. Then, you use Windows to copy all of your backed up files from F to C. Then, you may find your old program files won't work because they aren't registered with your new copy of Windows, and all your settings like the desktop, shortcuts, etc. will be back to default. In this case you need to do something like
(1) create a folder on C called "oldwin"; in Windows copy the files from your F:\windows folder into that folder;
(2)then boot into DOS and rename C:\windows to C:\newwin;
(3) rename C:\oldwin to C:\windows;
(4) finally reboot and you'll be back where you were when you backed up.
(5) you have to go through all this because Windows understandably won't let you replace files that it's actively using.

Your plan is still doable, just a bit more work than you hoped. It's not as bad as it sounds. If anybody knows a better (free)way to back up onto the hard drive now's the time to speak up!

A backup to other media is of course the best thing to do.

[This message has been edited by jeana (edited 04-26-2000).]

[Dave_H]

Another option would be to use a drive image program like Ghost or Powerquest and image the C drive onto another partition.
Your correct that the C drive is the most vulnerable to problems because if something wacks Windows, you could have problems getting to your stuff. Another option would be to use a second drive (not partition) to hold an Image or back-ups, in case the primary drive fails. Either way, important data should be kept of the C drive AND also kept on another external source in my opinion. (CD-R, Zip, Jazz, tape, etc).
Dave

[jeana]

Did I say Partition Manager? I meant Partition Magic! Looking at your comment in another thread in the Tech forum, it looks like you have that software... so you're all right. Using it you should be able to move your files to different partitions and still be able to use them.

You probably don't have to go through the elaborate steps I described above...

[bill davis]

thanks jeana, I'll go with partitonmagic, this business of copying using the method mention in the past articles sound complicated. I think I saw somewhere in the partition magic manual about copying files from one partiton to another. I'll read up on that and give it a go. I sincerely thank everybody for your help.
bill davis

[Biff]

I guess its cause I got 2nd hd doing nothing. I backed up my entire c drive onto slave drive. When I get a major meltdown, I use MS backup, and I have choice of what files I want to overwrite!