Just how do you back up your laptop?

[Feline]

Since the disk on my sub-notebook was getting decidely tatty, I have just spent a happy (Not!) few days formatting the disk, reloading windows (which was the easy part) and reloading all the applications (which was not so easy).

To save the pain of this exercise again at some time in the future, it would make sense to save a disk image while the machine is in known good shape, so that if it gets stuffed up again, I can simply restore the disk image.

But now the fun starts. I have an HP SureStore CD-Writer connected via a parallel port to the notebook. That seems a sensible device to use because it has sufficient capacity to save a compressed image of the disk.

However, Microsoft Backup doesn't work because it will only back up to tape and refuses to back up to the CD-ROM.

Norton Ghost won't work, because it only operates under DOS (on the basis that when Windows is actually running, some files may be open and will therefore be saved in "an indeterminate state"). However, there are no DOS drivers available for the HP CD-Writer, so as soon as the machine is bought up under DOS, it disappears off the radar scope.

So - does anyone out there have any bright suggestions about how to backup said notebook? I don't want to use tape (which I have found to be monstrously slow, unreliable and ineffective in the past), and I sure as hell don't want to shuffle a pile of several hundred diskettes.

Do you back up your laptop? How do you do it? Has it worked when you have needed to restore in the past?

Comments?

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Feline
(I Sit, I Watch, I Smile)

[ExSimGuy]

Now you got a lot of people out there saying to themselves "What's a backup?"!!

(Didn't the HP writer come with any suitable utility?

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Flight Sims, very expensive toys - but real fun to play with!

[Ironguts]

Feline, load the application software for the CD-R. However I'm pretty sure you will not be able to write a "compressed" copy of your Hard Drive using the CD-R software.

You don't mention how big your hard drive is, and how much is used. Also does your notebook have a normal type CD-ROM drive?

Let me know and I can probably suggest how to go about backing up as much as possible ( and restoring it! ) as easily as possible.


[This message has been edited by Ironguts (edited 05 January 2000).]

[spannersatcx]

I use adaptec easy cd creator v4 delux that comes with a HDD backup utility called take 2. About GBP50

[Tinstaafl]

It might be possible to work around it if you have a big enough disk by using a disk imaging program in DOS to save a complete image to file.

Then boot to Windows & back up the image file. This still leaves the problam of reversing the process to fix a corrupted disk though...

Perhaps it's possible to get a DOS or real mode driver from the manufacturer? Even just a compatible one that only gives basic functions.

[Feline]

Thanks for all the input - but I am beginning to understand why 99.9% of users don't back up their disks!

Managed to get hold of a copy of Adaptec Easy CD Creator version 4 - and it does indeed make a back up - the only problem is that I can't restore it, because it uses a DOS programme to restore - and the system doesn't recognise the CD-Writer under DOS. Grrr!

Will keep persevering - there has to be an easy solution (but I'm not quite there at the moment).

Will report back when I do get there - there may be quite a few ppruners out there who could use a backup ...

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Feline
(I Sit, I Watch, I Smile)

[spannersatcx]

Found the following at adaptec FAQ

Can I backup a laptop system?
Take Two can backup desktop and laptop systems. However, when restoring to a laptop, booting to DOS can be problematic, especially if the backup device is connected through a PCMCIA or PC Card connector. In this case you will need either card and socket services or a port enabler, in addition to the default Take Two restore configuration. Please contact your laptop vendor for these files.

After I have backed up my system to CD-R, do I need Take Two installed to restore my system or to restore individual files?
Take Two creates a bootable floppy disk that will allow you to restore your entire system from scratch. If you just want to install individual files, you will only be able to do so if Take Two is already installed in your system.
http://www.adaptec.com/products/faqs/taketwo.html#13
there is an update on the adaptec site to v1.02 of take 2.

[This message has been edited by spannersatcx (edited 08 January 2000).]

[Ironguts]

Feline - The CD-R is only recognised under win95/98.

For it to be recognised under DOS you MUST have the "real mode drivers" loaded. check on the manufacturer's web site for them.

[Irish Steve]

Feline,

Do you also have a desktop machine? If yes, then the cheapest and quickest solution may well be to get either a laplink cable, or a couple of cheap 10 mBit network adapters, ( PCMCIA probably for the laptop) and connect the 2 together, then backup across the link.

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"Irish" Steve

[Feline]

Thanks once again to everyone who has responded. I think I have now achieved what I set out to do which I now summarise here for anyone else who might be interested (in the hope that it may save them a lot of grief at some time in the future).

I have no doubt there are other backup programmes, but I have used Take Two from Adaptec which is included with Adaptec Easy CD Creator Version 4 Deluxe (thanks for that pointer spannersatcx). This writes a compressed disk image to CD under Windows (ideally this should be done under DOS to ensure that there are no files open - but Take Two checks to see what files are actually open and judges whether they are significant or not). This suits me because I don't want (large) backup files cluttering my hard disks until I actually need them. It's a very easy three step process with Take Two and a DOS boot/recovery diskette is created the first time you do the backup.

My laptop (with about 500Mb on the hard disk) compresses down to about 180Mb, and my desktop (2.62Gb) compresses down to 1.6Gb and spans 4 CD-R/W disks (493Mb/disk). The desktop took 2 hours 17 minutes to write the to the disks (so it's probably not something I will do every night).

Unfortunately (Ironguts) there are no "real mode drivers" for the HP CD Writer (I checked directly with HP).

My recovery strategy is based on the assumption that only one machine will crash at one time (if both get smashed I'll have to do some more thinking).

If desktop crashes, attach CD Writer to laptop; Bring desktop up under DOS; Use old DOS version of LapLink in DOS box to get backup files across to desktop, and the proceed with recovery.

If laptop crashes, reverse the procedure to get backup file across from desktop to laptop.

This does mean that I need to ensure that there is enough disk space for the backup file and the recovered files (particularly on the laptop which only has limited hard disk), but should be enable to ensure this will be the case by only backing up a "bare bones" operating system and application packages (ie. without any data files) and maintaining a backup of the data files elsewhere.

This is not quite as simple or elegant as I had hoped, but at least it should get me back into business without having to completely re-load everything (which is, at best, a tedious process).

Whatever backup software is used, recovery will rely on the machine being recovered recognising all the necessay disks when bought up under DOS (ie. it may not recognise devices (such as a CD Writer) attached via parallel port or PCMCIA card). Also, the actual backup files themselves must be named according to DOS naming convention (8 letter name with 3 letter extension).

Hope that may help some of you out there.

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Feline
(I Sit, I Watch, I Smile)