Updates

[staysafe]

Hi guys,

I am a small business owner. I have several computers in the office that share and store documents on a hard drive on one of my computers.

I really need to have a utility that will…

*Compress and encrypt several folders, each of which will contain numerous other files and folders. All of these files and folders may be put into 1 zip file or several, it doesn’t matter.

*Upload the compressed file(s) to my hosting account for safekeeping.

*Do this daily after work at a scheduled time. Preferably only adding new or changed files. WHatever minimizes time archiving and uploading.

Can this be done in PowerArchiver 2009?

Thanks.

[TBGBe]

@staysafe:

Compress and encrypt several folders, each of which will contain numerous other files and folders. All of these files and folders may be put into 1 zip file or several, it doesn’t matter.

Yes.

@staysafe:

Upload the compressed file(s) to my hosting account for safekeeping.

Yes

@staysafe:

Do this daily after work at a scheduled time.

Using Windows Scheduler - in PA 2009 PRO Version

@staysafe:

Preferably only adding new or changed files. WHatever minimizes time archiving and uploading.

No :(
You can create a NEW archive of all sub-folders and files, or create a new incremental archive containing only the “new or modified” files, but you cannot (as a scheduled task) update the original archive by just adding those new/modified files.

Note: archives can be named with date/time stamp for identification.

I suggest you download the 2009 beta and try it out …

[spwolf]

you should have daily backups with modified files, named with time stamps, and weekly/monthly backup that is full. It will work great and exact scenario has been the focus of this version of pa

[kafka]

Spywolf,

I have been doing as you suggest. I have one DVD which contains individual backups (ie images, important Excel files, etc.) so that I can backup the particular files after I change them and another DVD which backs up ALL my important files at the one time (which takes longer).

I don’t use the timestamp facility as this would result in a separate backup every time I backed up and the DVD would become full very quickly. I discovered early on that it was better to do new backups over the existing ones so I didn’t have to delete earlier backups.

I seem to remember that a backup program I used years ago allowed me to backup only files that had changed since the last backup or files that had been added. Can I do this in PA 2009?

[Tankred]

Have you tried using this option?

[spwolf]

@kafka:

Spywolf,

I have been doing as you suggest. I have one DVD which contains individual backups (ie images, important Excel files, etc.) so that I can backup the particular files after I change them and another DVD which backs up ALL my important files at the one time (which takes longer).

I don’t use the timestamp facility as this would result in a separate backup every time I backed up and the DVD would become full very quickly. I discovered early on that it was better to do new backups over the existing ones so I didn’t have to delete earlier backups.

I seem to remember that a backup program I used years ago allowed me to backup only files that had changed since the last backup or files that had been added. Can I do this in PA 2009?

you need to use the option suggested by Tankred - Incremental backups for changed files and full backup for full backup needs.

You can use timestamp option because data is not deleted from the DVD, it is just hidden - use it for separate PBS with incremental backup (changed files).

[spwolf]

i.e. if you are using DVD-R or CD-R, data is never deleted from the disk, just added to it. So you can replace the filename, but it is still there (in previous session). It doesnt matter as DVD’s are so cheap these days. Thats just how it works (for all programs obviously).

thanks!

[spwolf]

p.s. make sure you are using beta 2.

[kafka]

Spywolf,

I am using PowerArchiver 2009 Version 11 -00-45.

If I change my script to incremental from normal will the backup process be quicker?

I don’t backup to DVD-R disks, I use DVD-RW disks as my complete backup uses most of the DVD (it includes about 1,000 images).

[spwolf]

Hi Kafka,

yes - you need to create 2 backups (PBS) - one with Full and another one with Incremental backup.

Incremental will backup only changed files. Try it out and see.

Unless you erase DVD-RW every time before you backup, data will still be added not replaced.

[kafka]

Thanks Spywolf,

I have done as you suggested and it works fine. In the past I haven’t erased my DVD-RW because I assumed that the original backup was overwritten and that therefore the backup would use roughly the same amount of space. I now understand why my DVDs became unusuable after a few backups; they were filled up. It would be nice to have the ability to have the DVD erased as part of the backup process. I find that once the disk becomes full I am unable to erase it as it is, apparently, read only. In future I will erase the DVD before performing a full backup.

Thanks again.

[spwolf]

there is an option to erase RW image in backup, under DVD/BD destination media options :).

p.s. it is not much backup if you erase the DVD :). I suggest that you keep monthly DVD backups on DVD-R as they are so affordable these days, it doesnt make sense not to…

[Tankred]

Aside from polluting the environment. ;)

[kafka]

Thanks again. I don’t have the Pro version so I can’t use the erase RW option. I’ve come up with a compromise which entails using two DVD-RWs for the main backup:-

Backup DVD 1 (about 1.7 gb) will contain all the files which rarely, if ever change (eg the 700 photos I took in Europe in June).

Backup DVD 2 (much smaller) will contain all the files which change every so often (eg the family budget spreadsheet).

*** for both of these DVDs I will have a single icon OFTEN. This means that I click on BACKUP OFTEN and all folders/files which change often are backed up at the same time.

I will have a third DVD which contains individual backups (eg the family budget spreadsheet) so that when I click on the BACKUP BUDGET icon only that file is backed up.

As you may have gathered, I am rather obsessive about backing up, which is due to a couple of unfortunate experiences at work back in the early nineties (in the days of 5.25" floppies).

[TBGBe]

@kafka:

As you may have gathered, I am rather obsessive about backing up, which is due to a couple of unfortunate experiences at work back in the early nineties (in the days of 5.25" floppies).

For minimum safety, double up :-
DVD 1A and DVD 1B
DVD 2A and DVD 2B

Then alternate your backups (e.g.
1A in August,
1B in September
1A October

and
2A week 1,
2B week 2,
2A week 3
etc.).

You risk losing only one period if something fails.

[kafka]

Thanks to all. Final question:My complete backup ( several folders) is backed up as a single archive with all the files from the various folders appearing together. According to Help I should be able to have each folder backed up into its own archive by selecting :Group files from same folder into same archive", but I can’t find this option.

[TBGBe]

@kafka:

… According to Help I should be able to have each folder backed up into its own archive by selecting :Group files from same folder into same archive", but I can’t find this option.

That is an option for BATCH Zipping not “normal archive”.
I don’t believe you can BATCH zip as a single pbs script, you would need a seperate pbs for each folder/archive.

[kafka]

I’ve answered my own question to some extent. I found that I could create a batch archive which backed up a number of folders in their individual archives, which is what I wanted, however I don’t know whether it’s possible to save this as a pbs so that I can run it by clicking on a desktop icon. I suspect that I would have to create the batch archive each time, which is not ideal.

Is this right? Ideally I would like to be able to backup a number of folders to individual archives at the press of a button. At the moment I can archive a number of folders at the press of a button but only to a single archive.

I notice also that the archives created via batch archive are much larger than the single archive which contains all the files in all the folders.

[spwolf]

you can not create several archives from backup - only single backup. Once you open the archive, if you use explorer view, you will see contents by folders in any case.

[kafka]

Thanks Spywolf

Even if I can’t have the backup create individual archives for the various folders I guess that I can sort the archive by path, which groups the files together under their folders (if you know what I mean !)*

• What I mean is that BACKUP 1 backs up four folders, BUDGET, IMAGES, MUSIC DATABASE and TRAVEL DIARY. When I sort the resulting archive by path all the files in BUDGET are grouped together, etc

Thanks again. Hopefully this will be my last question for a while.

[spwolf]

Go to View> DIsplay style> Explorer with folders and you will see what I meant

:).

[kafka]

I see what you mean.

Can I use the SFX Wizard in the following scenario?

Just say that, for some reason, I have to reformat my hard drive back to its facory settings. Can I create self-extracting archives which, when run, create folders on the hard drive into which the relevant backed up files are extracted? For example, my current archive (BACKUP 1 Rare) includes four individual folders (2008 TRIP, CD COVER, FINAL COMPLETE and MY PROJECTS). Would a self-extracting archive create these four folders on the hard drive and extract files into the appropriate folders it has created?

[spwolf]

Yes, of course. Thats what SFX’s are for.

[kafka]

I realize my last question might appear a bit dumb, what I should have added was that I would like to be able to create a shortcut on my desktop which, when clicked, would backup specified folders to a self-extracting archive on a DVD. As I have said before, this is what I do with normal backups. I don’t have to start from scratch each time (specifying folders to be backed up, etc.). I suspect that with self-extracting archives I would have to start at the begining each time I wanted to do a backup.

[spwolf]

you need to use .pbs for backups.

There is really no reason to use SFX for backup, every version of Windows in past 7 years has support for zip archives, and you can burn backups to DVD if you have Pro version.

[phil]

Originally Posted by staysafe :

“Preferably only adding new or changed files. WHatever minimizes time archiving and uploading.”

To do this, try Second Copy :

[spwolf]

no advertising of other products…

[phil]

sorry, it was just to help…