External Hard Drive Backups,any easy way?

kozzman · 01-16-2006, 01:53 PM

ok here's the deal...

i bought a second hard drive (250gb external) before christmas, backed up all of my media files which i have been collecting for many years (music,movies etc), for this i just used a standard copy and paste job from copying the folders one at a time from my pc's hd to my external hd. that was fine.
i have since downloaded new media and wish to 'update' these folders on my external, i would really like to be able to click 'copy' on the folders i wish to update on my pc's hd and just have the new content added to the externals same folder, i hope this makes sense i dont know how else to put it.

when i try to do this in xp it tells me its going to replace the entire folder, not update it. i dont need this because some of the folders im updating/backing up are very large, they merely need updating with the new files.

i really hope this makes sense and if anyone here knows a solution to please help.

thanks

**linderman** · 01-16-2006, 02:21 PM

you can use xxclone (free 30 day trial) see my signature

you can backup the contents of any drive to another partition or drive >>>> just DONT select the bootable options boxes (in the advanced button) and there you will have it >>>>> then after the first full back-up you can just choose incremental and it will rewrite only the files that have changed >>>> makes it much faster

or you can play with this one (sounds right ?????) <<<<< would be my choicehttp://www.backup4all.com/differential_backup.php

kozzman · 01-16-2006, 02:36 PM

you know when you say 'files that have changed' if using the incremental backup? i wont actually be changing any files (becasue they are all mostly media files) but i will be changing the content of the folders they are in as in updating them with new media files.

so with clonexx i can copy over my 'media folder' with all of the sub-folders in it (music folder, movies folder etc) and it will update it with only the new stuff i add to these folders, is that right?

thanks so much for the help.

**linderman** · 01-16-2006, 02:53 PM

you would have to do a full back-up for the first time / then you could choose incremental >>>> which would add any changes since the last back-up

xxclone will do it >>>> but i think the other program is more directly suited to your needs >>>>> you experiment and then let us know ????? I know xxclone will work >>>>> but the other program offers more options ???

cheers

joe

**johnwill** · 01-16-2006, 05:06 PM

I use Acronis True Image to make image backups of my boot partition, Cobian Backup for scheduled backups with multiple generations, and Beyond Compare to synchronize large directory trees. Cobian is free, the other two can be had for $30/ea.

01-16-2006, 01:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
kozzman Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6 OS: Win XP	External Hard Drive Backups,any easy way? ok here's the deal... i bought a second hard drive (250gb external) before christmas, backed up all of my media files which i have been collecting for many years (music,movies etc), for this i just used a standard copy and paste job from copying the folders one at a time from my pc's hd to my external hd. that was fine. i have since downloaded new media and wish to 'update' these folders on my external, i would really like to be able to click 'copy' on the folders i wish to update on my pc's hd and just have the new content added to the externals same folder, i hope this makes sense i dont know how else to put it. when i try to do this in xp it tells me its going to replace the entire folder, not update it. i dont need this because some of the folders im updating/backing up are very large, they merely need updating with the new files. i really hope this makes sense and if anyone here knows a solution to please help. thanks

01-16-2006, 02:21 PM	#2 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,440 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	you can use xxclone (free 30 day trial) see my signature you can backup the contents of any drive to another partition or drive >>>> just DONT select the bootable options boxes (in the advanced button) and there you will have it >>>>> then after the first full back-up you can just choose incremental and it will rewrite only the files that have changed >>>> makes it much faster or you can play with this one (sounds right ?????) <<<<< would be my choicehttp://www.backup4all.com/differential_backup.php __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

01-16-2006, 02:53 PM	#4 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 20,440 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	you would have to do a full back-up for the first time / then you could choose incremental >>>> which would add any changes since the last back-up xxclone will do it >>>> but i think the other program is more directly suited to your needs >>>>> you experiment and then let us know ????? I know xxclone will work >>>>> but the other program offers more options ??? cheers joe __________________ I still know nothing and I respect that fact, striving to improve and, along the way, help anyone that comes from the place that I used to be! Power Supply Selection LEARN TO BACK-UP YOUR DATA FREE & EASY YouTube - Runtime Software DriveImage XML tutorial

01-16-2006, 05:06 PM	#5 (permalink)
johnwill Manager, Networking Forums Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania, US Posts: 41,787 OS: Windows 7, XP-Pro, Vista, Linux Blog Entries: 1	I use Acronis True Image to make image backups of my boot partition, Cobian Backup for scheduled backups with multiple generations, and Beyond Compare to synchronize large directory trees. Cobian is free, the other two can be had for $30/ea. __________________ If TSF has helped you, Tell us about it! or Donate to help keep the site up! Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience

01-16-2006, 02:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
kozzman Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 6 OS: Win XP	you know when you say 'files that have changed' if using the incremental backup? i wont actually be changing any files (becasue they are all mostly media files) but i will be changing the content of the folders they are in as in updating them with new media files. so with clonexx i can copy over my 'media folder' with all of the sub-folders in it (music folder, movies folder etc) and it will update it with only the new stuff i add to these folders, is that right? thanks so much for the help.