Look both ways before Backing Up, Time to stop playing with Toys

http://www.gfi.com/downloads/mirrors.aspx?pid=bkupf


I was recently working with SYNC TOYwhere I had Visual Studio files stored in a directory the Visual Studio application created for me when I started the project. I tried to used sync toy, a backup utility also from Microsoft that simply synchronizes or echos files from one directory to another. The problem was I had a project folder with the same name as the subfolder with the same project. SYNC TOY would only dump the contents of the second branch of the tree into the first branch. This made a real mess that I couldn't clean up and I wanted the project to maintain the same file and folder structure as the original project because if things go wrong I want to put it back the way it was before the failure.

I found a free utility that seems to work out well. It creates a full tree and ultimately folders containing files from what ever branch of the tree you select. You can also create backup projects and add the individual backups to a single project to back up with one click. If you want to speed things up and you only have one folder needing backing up then you can run the backup for just that folder.

http://www.gfi.com/downloads/mirrors.aspx?pid=bkupf

The backups can be batched together as shown below with the task group VS Projects.

You can do a large backup or simply synchronize files.

You select the first location then where you want it to end up and the method to get it there so you have a choice of date or date and CRC. You can also tell it which way to echo or to synchronize.

Finally you can put this on a schedule.



This is a full featured backup / files sync utility.

Rename Files - Another fine mess

http://www.bulkrenameutility.co.uk/Main_Intro.php

Don't think you are going to use DOS because you are as old as these guys and know what you are doing. If you need to rename files and the file extensions are tied up in your mess you will either have to do a copy then wait and hope you did it right or try bulkrenameutility



The utility has a interface that is more confusing than programming in FORTRAN.

So what.

Select the files you want to rename. In the RegEX(1) box put what you want to match on, extension and all.

In the Repl (3) box put what you want it to be. Extension and all.
















You can explore other options but I would read the PDF manual first. Don't be a STOOGE.

Sky Dive? Not Really Sky Drive? Hell Yeah

Mapping Windows Sky Drive to get 25 GIG of free online storage can' t get easier but requires some voodo to pull it off.

Open your browser, and navigate to http://skydrive.live.com/.

Login and then click on a folder to get your CID
https://cid-1234567890abcdef.skydrive.live.com/.Documents

or with office live

http://cid-1234567890abcdef.office.live.com/documents.aspx?sa=895693244
Copy the UID part of the displayed URL

Sign in with your Windows Live ID.

Leave SkyDrive open, and take note of one of your folder names.
Open Windows Explorer.

On the left sidebar, right-click on Network. Choose Map network drive.
Enter the following URL:

Right Click on Network and select Map Network Drive

Note: Replace “Documents” with “^2Documents”, and “Public” with “^2Public”.
\\docs.live.net@SSL\1234567890abcdef\^2Documents

Replace “XYZ” with the folder name you noted and that you want to map.

Choose a drive letter, and submit the dialog.



You will be prompted for your Windows Live ID. Sign in.

Then, you can access all the files and subfolders within your SkyDrive folder, including copying and pasting. You can even open and edit files directly!

Before you start crashing in games run CD check

http://www.kvipu.com/CDCheck/

CDcheck was made for CDs or DVDs but it works great with files or folders full of files.

In AOC I had crashes which led to my reinstallng the game. If I had a good CRC check I would have known if my files were corrupted. You need to run the CRC check once the game is installed. It will create a file with every the CRC for every file in a folder or set of folders. Later when you run a check to verify if your files are corrupted you will compare this check to the previous check. Some values will change and show up as errors. For example your profile might change which will have a different CRC. This can be used when backing up data or cloning data as well. Run the check then move the data and compare the check.

If your using it on a game you are going to want to re-run each time the game patches assuming it is a MMO.

The program is free. Just register on the site. Get the key and follow the instructions.
If your crashing and you didn't get a chance to run the file check you can have someone else run the check on their system and send you the file.

CDCheck is a utility for the prevention, detection and recovery of damaged files on CD-ROMs with an emphasis on error detection. With CDCheck you can check your CDs and discover which files are corrupted. By using the program proactively, you can insure that your data on CD-ROMs are safe -- before it's too late! CDCheck provides the following features: readability verification, binary compare, CRC file creation (and verification) and file recovery. For more information

Little Devil is up to no good?

This Linux distro lets you create your own FREE network attached storage. If you have old drives hanging around and a slow machine this little devil can give you a place to share files around all your machines on the network.


http://freenas.org/doku.php

FreeNAS is an embedded open source NAS (Network-Attached Storage) distribution based on FreeBSD, supporting the following protocols: CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, TFTP, AFP, RSYNC, Unison, iSCSI (initiator and target) and UPnP.

It supports Software RAID (0,1,5), ZFS, disk encryption, S.M.A.R.T/email monitoring with a WEB configuration interface (from m0n0wall).

FreeNAS can be installed on Compact Flash/USB key, hard drive or booted from LiveCD.

File System Management Super Compilation

Have you ever seen a kid who lost his parents in a large store. That's how I feel every time I tackle a disk partitioning project or problem. I have a simple one stop shop that simplifies the process but might not make it any easier.



http://partedmagic.com/programs.html

About Parted Magic

The Parted Magic OS employs core programs of GParted and Parted to handle partitioning tasks with ease, while featuring other useful programs (e.g. Partimage, TestDisk, Truecrypt, Clonezilla, G4L, SuperGrubDisk, ddrescue, etc...) and an excellent set of documentation to benefit the user. An extensive collection of file system tools are also included, as Parted Magic supports the following: ext2, ext3, ext4, fat16, fat32, hfs, hfs+, jfs, linux-swap, ntfs, reiserfs, reiser4, and xfs.

Parted Magic requires at least a i586 processor and 256MB of RAM to operate or 128MB in "Live" mode.

Features

• Format internal and external hard drives.
• Move, copy, create, delete, expand & shrink hard drive partitions.
• Clone your hard drive, to create a full backup.
• Test hard drives for impending failure.
• Test memory for bad sectors.
• Benchmark your computer for a performace rating.
• Securely erase your entire hard drive, wiping it clean from all data.
• Gives access to non-booting systems allowing you to rescue important data.
• Runs from the CD, no install required.

Clonezilla, should I be afraid?

What is Clonezilla ?

http://www.clonezilla.org/
When you get windows installed and you have all of your drivers updated and any software you always install then you need to make a clone image.

This program lets you do this from CD, DVD, or direct to another drive.

The best way to go about doing this is to make a backup and restore it as a test run before you reach that point of no return.

This is similar to the commercial package Norton Ghost®, and its Open Source counterpart, Partition Image.