My documents auto backup, how?

[Mattw]

Hi, im looking for a piece of software that will automatically look at the my documents folder and mirror/copy all changes to a network drive at a certain time daily.

Any free piece of software that does this?

Regards,

 

[wizardmaxx]

Try some of these. Gotta love freeware.

http://www.all4you.dk/FreewareWorld/links.php?search=auto+backup&la=xx

 

[bledd]

synctoy

its free, and microsoft make it..

can use it in conjunction with task scheduler (instructions are in the synctoy help file)

 

[meghatronic]

synctoy

its free, and microsoft make it..

can use it in conjunction with task scheduler (instructions are in the synctoy help file)

Only problem is it slows the pc down a bit (for me anyway)

 

[bledd]

it doesn't run when you're not running it though

 

[meghatronic]

it doesn't run when you're not running it though

Yeah. I think it is great personally.. have it on 'echo' drive to drive.

 

[bledd]

i use robocopy myself, but it commandline based

synctoy is prefect on my mum's machine for her

 

[NaNd0!]

synctoy

its free, and microsoft make it..

can use it in conjunction with task scheduler (instructions are in the synctoy help file)

agreed

 

[Captain Fizz]

Never tried synctoy (will do next time its required)

Used xcopy many times and it seems to do the job well.
(Combined with Task Scheduler)


Oh, and if using the HDD for stuff - Expect the PC to slow down a little.

 

[bledd]

fizz, robocopy is def worth a look for you..

has option to only copied modified files, and is commandline

http://www.ss64.com/nt/robocopy.html

(its made by ms, part of the 2003 resource toolkit -can be used on 2k/xp)

 

[Messiah Khan]

I use robocopy as well. Ive put it in a batch file that scans through all my files and copies anything that has changed to the backupdrive. This happens every 24 hours after the computer has been idle for more than 20 minutes after 6 o clock.(Its basically looking for when I go for my dinner). Im really pleased with the setup, and I have to keep looking in the log file to make sure its still working as the system is so invisible and resource friendly. It scans about 500Gb in 2-3 minutes, which isn't bad IMO.

 

[Captain Fizz]

...and is commandline

That's the ticket!

Looked at SyncToy - Not the sort of thing that I would use.

Robocopy seems to do things a bit nicer than xcopy too - Will be adding that to the folder.

OP - Looks like robocopy is the tool.

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Why not just write a simple batch script that copies the contents of the directory to the backup volume? You'd then just set it as a scheduled task.

 

[ns400r]

Why not just write a simple batch script that copies the contents of the directory to the backup volume? You'd then just set it as a scheduled task.

^ Yeah, what he said.

 

[Captain Fizz]

Why not just write a simple batch script that copies the contents of the directory to the backup volume? You'd then just set it as a scheduled task.

Only problem with this is it copies the entire folder every time...
So copying a shedload of files you don't need to.

xcopy (and robocopy) give a much richer way of using it.
Are also used via batch scripts and scheduled... Same as copy... But MUCH more configurable than the "copy" command which is rather limited.

For someone who isn't keen on the command line - SyncToy looks great.

 

[bledd]

Why not just write a simple batch script that copies the contents of the directory to the backup volume? You'd then just set it as a scheduled task.

^ Yeah, what he said.

robocopy does this, but you can set it to only copy updated files (instead of mindlessly copying multiple gb's everytime it backs up, it'll just copy the updated files) = far better!

 

[bledd]

synctoy is a simpler robocopy with an easy GUI

if you're not totally comfortable with commandline and want a head start with robocopy, get this..


http://www.sh-soft.com/front_content.php?idcatart=156

 

[ns400r]

Xcopy will also do what you need. Then set it as a scheduled task.
I use a batch file containing Xcopy commands and schedule it or simply run it as I need too.

Example.
xcopy /e /y /d /c /I /h /r "Z:\www\*.*" "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Server Backup\www\*.*"

/e = Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
/y = Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an existing destination file.
/d:d-m-y = Copies files changed on or after the specified date. If no date is given, copies only those files whose source time is newer than the destination time.
/c = Continues copying even if errors occur.
/I = If destination does not exist and copying more than one file, assumes that destination must be a directory.
/h = Copies hidden and system files also.
/r = Overwrites read-only files.

 

[zetec452]

SyncBack is a nifty program. www.2brightsparks.com

 

[Messiah Khan]

robocopy does this, but you can set it to only copy updated files (instead of mindlessly copying multiple gb's everytime it backs up, it'll just copy the updated files) = far better!

See my earlier post. Thats what im using.

My current setup look like this;

@ECHO off
COLOR 80
ROBOCOPY "E:\Graphics" "X:\Graphics" *.* /S /PURGE >X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Uni" "X:\Uni" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\College" "X:\College" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Jobs" "X:\Jobs" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Stuff\My website details" "X:\Stuff\My website details" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Stuff\Win Settings" "X:\Stuff\Win Settings" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Stuff\XP Modding" "X:\Stuff\XP Modding" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "E:\Stuff\X1" "X:\Stuff\X1" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Favorites" "X:\Favorites" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
ROBOCOPY "C:\WINDOWS\Fonts" "X:\Fonts" *.* /S /PURGE >>X:\Backuplog.txt
MSG Administrator Backup Complete