Backup Utilities

e-nation

I think it's time for me to do a fresh install of XP. I have 4 seperate 40 gig drives. one i use strictly for a Digital Audio Workstation (D.A.W.), one i just have a bunch of junk on, one has a lot of ... ahem... mpg clips... and mp3's and, and one is my primary drive w/ Dreamweaver, Eudora, Rainlendar w/ all of my to-do lists and upcoming event logs, mailwasher, etc.
It is this primary drive that is running slow, and just feels gummed up. (i know it's slow cause i can A-B it when i boot up into the "slave" drive that stays in the case w/ the primary... and there is a considerable difference the speed at which applications launch, and how fast they perform, etc). Both drives have about 3- 7 gigs free at any given time, depending on if i'm encoding a DVD or whatnot...

What's my point? well, i'm looking for suggestions on what might be the best procedure to ensure that all of my docs and settings are backed up efficiently and effectively, yet i'm not pack ratting more than i need. i don't want to risk the chance of losing spam filters, archived Eudora mail, bookmarks, etc. i can deal with the software re-installation bit.

Anyone have a "guide" and / or suggested utility for this procedure? basically i want to start over from scratch in terms of the software. it always seems to help, and it's a good feeling to start fresh... w/ a clean desktop so to speak.

i know how to wipe a drive and reinstall XP... in fact have done it several times, but i feel like it's tedious to get in there and copy all of the "application data" folders from the documents and setings folder, the Eudora folder (cause i like to keep the e-mails... never know when you need to search for something), etc.

Perhaps there is a step-by-step recommended way to do it? or even some utility w/ a wizard for really lazy people like myself?

kryyst

Normally I just manually back up my Documents and Settings Folder (making sure that all the hidden files are copied). That folder should contain all your documents, emails, contact lists and any other 'data' the a program is dumping to. The exception being things like saved games which are generally in the program files folder for that game.

Your span filters I can't say for sure about it depends on the software. They could either have them logging to your Documents and Settings directory or they may be saving within their own.

Sadly there is no easy guide that I've ever stumbled across it's normally a case of back up the data and re-install and migrate the data back.

e-nation

i hear what you're sayin' kryyst.

i'm just thinking that maybe there's a utility out there that will scan for such things as jpg, .doc, .mpg... .mbx, etc... with express intent of helping a user to "backup" such files.

hehe... i know there are virus that expressly DESTROY such files...
surely there's something that can find 'em packaged into a nice utility. ringing a bell w/ anyone?

i realize i could simply use the built in search utility, but that will be a bit tedious.

i'll probably end up doing it the old-fashioned way, as you've suggested, kryyst. every time i do that though, i end up w/ duped files clogging up an otherwise useful hard drive.

obvioulsy, just being lazy... looking for an easy way out.

kryyst

ummm you could do xcopy /s *.jpg d:
xcopy /s *.mpg d:

etc..

e-nation

here i go again. hehe...
ready to do the ol' start a new install on a fresh drive routine.

i'm sure most of us would agree that grabbing a copy of the "Documents and Settings" folder will pretty much hit everything-- especially since i've been using the program defaults, which usually default to storing docs in that folder. (having been doing this for years, dating back to before there was such a default folder, i carried a nasty habit over to XP in which i'd actually make specific folders at the C: root -- or, as a failsafe, even went further as to use Partition Magic to keep docs on a totally different partition in case Windows crashed-- named stuff like "Word_Docs", "ImageFiles", etc., instead of letting XP put 'em all in the My Docs folder) What if I want to carry over only the "application data", such as the Blacklist from Mailwasher, or the account settings from Thunderbird-- basic stuff like that, and leave behind the MyPictures, and other "document" type files?

Does anyone have the answer? which folders in the Documents and Settings folder, hidden and otherwise, should i copy if i want to keep most of my filters, preferences, etc-- for at least some of the stuff like internet bookmarks, etc. you get the idea. Any suggestions? I made the mistake of making a movie folder on my desktop, so the entire docs and settings folder amounts to about 20 Gigs right now! oops!

this isn't a critical issue. mostly just conversation material. i'm just curious as to how other people handle this operation.

oh, and BTW... i am now "folding at home"

e-nation

i think i'm making a mountain out of a mole here, actually. i just realized i was able to put the whole thing, sans desktop and one "temp" folder, onto half of a 700MB CD-RW!

i think what this all boils down to for me-- why i've posted here-- is that i'm curious....
do any of you use this method of carrying over old settings as "a habit"? and if so, do you find it to be worth the effort? anyone strongly recommend that i DON'T do this practice?

kryyst

Normally when I'm facing a re-install I back up my data, documents, pics, music, movies and occasionally game saves. For email's and address books I'll export them using whatever means the particular program does and back them up also.

Generally for program settings I don't bother backing them up. Some programs get bloated over time and others the settings are so minor that redoing them is easier then backing them up. Spam filters and virus def's aren't worth backing up I find because, well virus def's are just a download away and I don't mind redoing my spam filters because they also can get bloated as certain spam triggers loose their relevance over time as some spam is just given up - for example you don't see the Seven Dwarfs thing hardly ever anymore and no viagra add actually calls it viagra...

e-nation

good point, kryyst. i tried copying the "application data" contents, such as Thunderbird e-mail client, and mailwasher. i was surprised to see that all of my e-mail accounts transferred, and the mail filters therein as well. i find that setting up the e-mail accounts is one of the more tedious processes-- especially if you run a lot of filters for organizing your mail. so, that worked out the way i wanted. i still had to add my accounts to mailwasher, even though the filters and whitelist did transfer.

kryyst

e-nation wrote:

good point, kryyst. i tried copying the "application data" contents, such as Thunderbird e-mail client, and mailwasher. i was surprised to see that all of my e-mail accounts transferred, and the mail filters therein as well. i find that setting up the e-mail accounts is one of the more tedious processes-- especially if you run a lot of filters for organizing your mail. so, that worked out the way i wanted. i still had to add my accounts to mailwasher, even though the filters and whitelist did transfer.

Yeah most 3rd party programs especially those that are cross platform based are really good at containing their own data and are prety easily migrated by just copying their app data folder. Where you'll sometimes get problems is when you say have a 3rd parth spam filter ascociated with a mail account and then try and migrate if it's using identities for it's mail account. Like Outlook Express has an identity dir that'll look like {asdf9usd09u23r97sdfj23598798} and it changes so if a spam filter is looking for that you'll never get it the same way.

e-nation

typical M$ bullcaca, eh?

kryyst

e-nation wrote:

typical M$ bullcaca, eh?

To a point but it's not limited to M$ every OS has their weird little oddities, M$ are just more readily found.

outlook

I have been using it. reparer outlook express and repair outlook express inbox more stable and secure than other programs.