Backup Win / Dos script

[gnappi]

I think you're severely underestimating the amount of porn, and size of high quality video that's in existence. 4k video (becoming more popular in all types of recordings) takes 360 GB an hour. that's 13.8 hours per 5 tb. My collection of movies (nothing explicit) audiobooks, Console ROMS and PC games is taking up 12 TB and I'm looking into more drives.

Don't get me wrong 5 tb is probably overkill for the guy we're trying to help but 5tb is not that crazy nowadays. There's a reason it's for sale at a retail store. There was a time when people were getting 10 MB hard drives and thinking geez how will i EVER fill this. 10 MB sounds laughable now.

E freakin gads, can't someone make a comment without somebody postulating an opinion contrary to what was tongue in cheek and CLEARLY not directed to one of a "VERY few" self appointed power users?

LISTEN UP, anyone can stuff 5TB drive with crapenzola, but 5TB "PROBABLY" overkill? You're on such thin ice (or a porn collector) your comments are just too silly. They sell 350 horsepower cars too does that mean EVERY such car USES ALL 350 horse power?

I WAS there when 5 MEGABYTE drives were released, in the labs working on them, but the O/S and applications grew exponentially beyond 10,20 or 50 meg drives to where we are today, which BTW, my MAIN drive STILL only occupies 150 gigs... O/S data and everything else.

But... we're talking DATA backup here, not monstrous operating systems, and I stand by this comment...ANYONE who NEEDS 5TB isn't mom and pop, or hundreds of millions of users that LOSE DATA, not movies, or porn.

[LDUBS]

Whoa. I didn't understand your original reference to porn files and wondered why you said it. I knew it was incorrect. I sure didn't realize it was a joke. Someone calls you on it and you get defensive - I get it. But to accuse them of being a porn user to get even isn't right in my opinion. Maybe like me, the poster didn't understand your were making a joke.

Too bad about the fuss, because before your last post I was finding this thread useful.

[gnappi]

Whoa. I didn't understand your original reference to porn files and wondered why you said it. I knew it was incorrect. I sure didn't realize it was a joke. Someone calls you on it and you get defensive - I get it. But to accuse them of being a porn user to get even isn't right in my opinion. Maybe like me, the poster didn't understand your were making a joke.

Too bad about the fuss, because before your last post I was finding this thread useful.

I wasn't defensive I was pushing back on comments that were made that were inappropriate for the casual user like yourself, and even advanced users like me. I never said anyone was a porn collector, I suggested that porn and movies are reasons for huge drives.

[AnglerRoy]

I won’t get into the earlier fuss...whatever. 2,3,5TB drives would be more useful for “casual” data storage if you were implementing a real backup strategy with long-term full, incremental and differential backup schedules. To the majority of folks, they’d never go down this route, so yes, 5TB is a bit overkill. To more advanced users, 5TB isn’t excessive.

Yes the OP has a valid point that drives get bigger each year, it’s the way it is.

Ones data is whatever they want to keep. It’s nobody’s business what that data is, the size of it or what they do with it. You simply buy a drive for the capacity you need, and plan for the future.

[el_cheapo]

Guess I'm on "thin ice" wonder what happens when I fall through?

[gnappi]

Guess I'm on "thin ice" wonder what happens when I fall through?

Your drive crashes?

[gnappi]

I won’t get into the earlier fuss...whatever. 2,3,5TB drives would be more useful for “casual” data storage if you were implementing a real backup strategy with long-term full, incremental and differential backup schedules. To the majority of folks, they’d never go down this route, so yes, 5TB is a bit overkill. To more advanced users, 5TB isn’t excessive.

Yes the OP has a valid point that drives get bigger each year, it’s the way it is.

Ones data is whatever they want to keep. It’s nobody’s business what that data is, the size of it or what they do with it. You simply buy a drive for the capacity you need, and plan for the future.

I never said it was a "full" backup, it's for DATA. I can duplicate my Linux, and Windows drives in 5 minutes or less with a clone, or in an hour from DVD, but data I can keep on Waaayyyy less than a 256 gig drive.

At any rate, no skin off my nose who uses it.

Here's a recent user's comments:

I tried it today. I had to modify it a bit and have to run it as admin under windows 8. I ran it as a .bat file.

I am very great full to you for sharing this program! I have tried to use back-up software before but stopped using them due to the software not working properly.

I finally have a back-up copy!!! I love the simplicity of your program. You are very kind to share it with others!

I am ashamed to say I work in the tech industry and have not payed too much attention to back-ups at home. As you said these things fail when you least expect it.

Thank you again!!!

[AnglerRoy]

By nature, it is a full backup dude. You’re copying everything, that has changed based on your log file and skipping files that haven’t, but more or less a full backup if I recall your programming logic (i admit I did not go back and reread your post). A “full” backup doesn’t have to equate to backing up everything, it just means backing up everything you have specified as a source. I won’t dwell on the fundamentals of back-up terms any longer as the majority of the target audience most likely won’t understand.

In actuality, I guess your script could be considered an overwriting incremental backup if you want to get technical.

I think it’s great you shared it, but if “good” data gets corrupted and therefor modified, one would be trashing their good backup with bad data (because it’s been modified). Especially if the target drive is permanently connected like most folks probably would do, case in point, a crypto virus.

Hence, my mentioning of skipping the use of your application and using a real backup strategy if someone really wants to protect their info. But, as you are probably aware, even a backup drive with a complete backup schedule, permanently connected, would get corrupted by a crypto virus as well.

I’m not trying to trash your efforts, I just don’t really agree of leading people on that they’re fully protected by using your code. Yes, it’s a duplication and that never hurts, but once you overwrite that good data, there’s no going back...at least, with a simple script like the one you provided.

[gnappi]

By nature, it is a full backup dude.

I’m not trying to trash your efforts, I just don’t really agree of leading people on that they’re fully protected by using your code. Yes, it’s a duplication and that never hurts, but once you overwrite that good data, there’s no going back...at least, with a simple script like the one you provided.

If you bothered to read my original post, which it appears you did not...

"If anyone on this board feels they have an inadequate (or worse still non existent) backup plan, AND has some familiarity with DOS level scripting PM me and I will either email the file or attach it to a reply here, the text file is rather small."

I continued to say their DATA is backed up, THEY change it, how many iterations should THEY keep before backing up? YMMV, Rant on you seem to relish it."

[LDUBS]

I wasn't defensive I was pushing back on comments that were made that were inappropriate for the casual user like yourself, and even advanced users like me. I never said anyone was a porn collector, I suggested that porn and movies are reasons for huge drives.

Yeah, I think I used a poor choice of words.

[earl60446]

Thanks for the script Gary

[gnappi]

" there’s no going back...at least, with a simple script like the one you provided."

I rarely attack people but you make it tempting

My script is over 600 lines, no mean feat for a non compiled piece that has no compiler / build / make machine to catch errors and help debug.

What you and others with an agenda fail to see in my case is that I have people who have absolutely NO BACKUP plan at all for their kids pics, wedding movies, all stuff that will likely never change. Add stuff to as new fish are caught? Yes. Go back? To what? Tell me one single thing that having EVERYTHING a person accumulates on a machine over years, maybe even through two or more machine crashes is needing to "go back" to? An old unchanged file? An over written file? Handling stepping versions is no responsibility of backup software never was, never will be, that's the owner's responsibility.

Here's a note from a fellow who lost most EVERYTHING, because he had no backup plan... THEN had the temerity to blame the techs for not being able to restore what he lost after the crash.

Now the bad part ....most of you know my computer crashed ...finally got it back a few days ago ....they did a lousy job ....I lost lots of files , pictures ...name it ....

I bet he wished he had a "simple" backup plan in use well before the crash.