In search of an app

[somewhereinusa]

This is a long shot but, I know there are some geeks on here.

I'm in search of an app that I used all the time, actually in the background all of the time. I am recovering from a crash with a new new computer, long story. I didn't really lose much data because of that app and I was able to recover much off of the old C drive. Please don't tell me about how I SHOULD have done it that's not important now.
I run three drives in my computer, "C" basically only has programs on it. All working files are on "D" with "E" getting duplicates of the really important stuff on "D".

I had an app that handled that backup stuff. I could set it for each folder by time as little as 15 minutes for each folder from any drive to any drive. It was easy to use without
doing any writing of batch code, and it was free. Problem is I can't remember the name of it or, where I got it. I've spent 2 days trying to find something that is close.

Hoping someone has something they like.

[cadillackid]

Is the old hard drive physically 100% DOA? Or just lots of bad blocks?

I ask because I use a Linux utility called Ddrescue which is a bit for bit bang-copier. It reads a drive and takes all the hood data over to a new drive or image file.. then it goes back through all the bad sectors one by one trying to get them ..

Often a drive will work for a short time after it’s cooled off.. since ddrescue can stop and resume I have more than once frozen a drive then got it to work for 5-10 minutes . Freeze repeat and ddrescue eventually able to get me to 98% point where the drive could either boot or I. COuld replace broken files with copies from other windows machines..

At least to get it readable where you could mount it and look in the program files directory for the name or even files from your back up app.

[somewhereinusa]

Thanks, it's a ssd. Drive was still good just no way to rescue windows without loosing everything. I got a lot of good stuff off of it. Though I had all I needed, then did something really stupid. I tried a recovery but, all is gone now. I really hate getting a new computer back to the way I had the last one.
I have found an app that I think will do what I want. It's just not as handy as the old one.

[turf]

i hate when i talk to people smarter than me and i think i have a simple answer.


ok, maybe, maybe not.....

but to me, it sounds like you are describing the advance settings on windows backup.

i got a nas a year ago and started running a backup on the nas device. i opened up windows backup, and realized i've never ever done a back up before.

i thought i always had backups, but, no. not the windows kind anyway.

try -.
settings, backup, more options

you can pick which file, how often.....

idk

[somewhereinusa]

Originally Posted by turf

i hate when i talk to people smarter than me and i think i have a simple answer.


ok, maybe, maybe not.....

but to me, it sounds like you are describing the advance settings on windows backup.

i got a nas a year ago and started running a backup on the nas device. i opened up windows backup, and realized i've never ever done a back up before.

i thought i always had backups, but, no. not the windows kind anyway.

try -.
settings, backup, more options

you can pick which file, how often.....

idk

Thanks, I had a look at that, it looks interesting and I may use part of it. On quick look I didn't see any way to choose an individual folder or any way to tell it where to put it. Perhaps backup isn't the right word, more like make a copy.

What's a nas?

Dick

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

What's a nas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC4O...hannel=NasVEVO

I feel privileged that I get to negatively compare modern auto-tuned rap to the "classics" like this, whereas my poor parents had to hate all rap.

[turf]

lol, not that

nas - network attached storage
i have a twin hardrive setup for my astrophotography, security, and backups. the NAS is a central hub in my network.
for my astrophoto's the nas stores huge data files i record. for my security, the nas stores a couple weeks of video from the cameras on my property. and as for backups, the NAS receives a daily backup from each of the computers around the house.

when i wired my house network, i tried to set up a better system than copying the same 500 gigs of music on to every single computer i own. i wanted a central data point and be able to have everything. the astro photos files are so large, after 3-4 nights of imaging, i'd have to dump my laptop memory. i record 50 gigs/night imaging.

so when i got the NAS, and set up my backups, i found that none of my computers had ever been backed up, per the windows prompts. (lastbackup = never) i've copied and pasted, but never backed up.

when you mention the frequency, that what clicked, with the drop down menu, win backup goes from every 10 minutes to daily. pick which files, and where they go.


i love the NAS. i added memory and a google tensor processor to my NAS, and the thing can do facial recognition on the security cameras. i need more drives. a 2 bay NAS is not enough. you can set them how you want, i have it as a mirrored raid drive. but if i had more drive bays, it'd have the mirrored raid data drives, its own hard drive for the security cameras, a caching drive for my astrophotos, and a drive for stuff the Nas can do on its own, like running container station or a virtual machine. 5 bays

https://www.qnap.com/en-us/product/ts-253d

[somewhereinusa]

Originally Posted by turf

lol, not that



when you mention the frequency, that what clicked, with the drop down menu, win backup goes from every 10 minutes to daily. pick which files, and where they go.

You must be one of those smarter than me people. I only see a way to pick files NOT to copy. No way to pick the files I want to copy or, where to put them. Guess I'll have to do some web instructions.

[TheHubbardBus]

1) Call the FBI
2) Ask them if they have a Jan 6 'lost & found' bin
3) Tell them you dropped your brass knuckle belt-buckle somewhere on the house floor & want it back

Within hours a team of highly-trained forensic investigators will arrive to help you recover every bit of data off that drive.

Seriously though - depending on how important that stuff is to you - there are companies that specialize in data recovery. No personal experience but I'd google someone in your area. Hacking away at it yourself might end up making what could have been recoverable unrecoverable for good.

[turf]

right before i hit the more options button.....

my radio button for auto backups is on. maybe thats the difference?

attached is the screenshot of my win10 backup options but it came up weird

[cadillackid]

NAS rocks.. i have a SAN at home.. (PetaSAN)(really its only because I wanted to build one for fun). these things are FAST..



since im MAC based I use iCloud to back up my files from the Macs.. windows i use i-Drive.. online backups so I have imstant off-site storage.. my SAN is fun but does me no good if the house burns down

[schirminator]

FreeFileSync

Been using it for years. Very flexible.

[somewhereinusa]

Thanks guys, I never found the one I had but, I think I'm going to go with Cobian relfector.

[rgjarrell]

Microsoft cloud has software: it's branded as SharePoint (larger business) or one drive(personal) -- it's the same tech.

The easiest way to back up is to use the backup cloud service provided by the operating system author

So use one drive or SharePoint if it's Microsoft Windows,
Use iCloud if it's Apple ecosystem
Use Google docs now Google drive or I think it's now called drive on an Android device.

Carbonite was a software company product that did this as well but it was small one-off and I think it isn't very prevalent anymore.

Idrive is the newest advertiser on talk radio as opposed to Carbonite. They're advertised to be easy. The native cloud for the device operating system is probably the one most designed to integrate seamlessly with the device.

All these are paid services. The software will sync to the cloud as you save files. And some programs in a windows environment are just constantly saving like one note.

The amount charged is rather reasonable and if you want the backup it's probably better to pay for reliability as that's the whole point. A reliable backup. Not just a backup on some free storage on various websites or free email providers or something.

NAS - network attached storage is a solution for those off the grid not constantly attached to the cloud. Basically you have another hard drive acting as your own personal cloud. The data is transmitted over networking protocols like the protocols used to communicate over the internet as opposed to being transmitted over USB or some other antiquated connection type.

A lot of backup hard drives sold at a place like microcenter.com has software that comes with the drive that helps you establish automatic backup for your primary computer drive. Usually those software services offer an ability to backup both to your personal NAS hard drive as well as the cloud.

[somewhereinusa]

Any of the cloud solutions would probably be fine if I had available solid internet connections. Iffy one to two bars on a cell phone isn't that. A foot of snow pretty much slowed me down to nothing.
I currently back up to two extra drives in my computer which takes care of hard drive failure. No help if the house burns down. I may look into storage out of the computer but, that still wouldn't help if the house burns.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

Any of the cloud solutions would probably be fine if I had available solid internet connections. Iffy one to two bars on a cell phone isn't that. A foot of snow pretty much slowed me down to nothing.
I currently back up to two extra drives in my computer which takes care of hard drive failure. No help if the house burns down. I may look into storage out of the computer but, that still wouldn't help if the house burns.

my problem with cloud services is that they use a lot of bandwidth.. I have iCloud drive on my MAC and its always sending and receiving stuff so it can eat up cell plans in a hurry.. and unlike windows Mac doesnt have 'metered connection' that will limit cloud services when on that type of network..



I still miss Norton commander of the old days!

[somewhereinusa]

I haven't looked into it. Any options of say wi fi in another room in my house to a second computer?

[Oldyeller]

This thread takes me back to the old days - bad days?

My last 12 years with IBM were as a hardware architect solutioning midrange hardware/software systems for Fortune 100 clients. I'm glad I don't have to do it anymore. Now I have a Microsnot Surface and a smart phone and that's about as much IT as I want.

After this thread I hope to never think about computers again - ever. Or until my brother calls and announces that he can't print . . . again. OMG!!!

[kazetsukai]

Hope you are able to recover your files. For anyone wondering about NAS, its short for Network Attached Storage. Basically a computer with a few hard drives whose sole job is to make the storage available to other computers on the network.



After switching to a NAS adding or upgrading computers has become much easier. I don't need to migrate any large amount of data when switching... All long-term storage data goes to the NAS by default so it is available locally across-the-board, no huge copy jobs.

Other benefits are:
Resiliency: our NAS has 4 drives in RAID 6, so even if one drive fails the unit will still operate
Security: most NAS solutions can be setup such that all data is encrypted at rest
Multi-user: unlike a shared folder on a standard computer, you can provision "home" directories on a NAS so that each person has their own slice of the pie.

With computer components so expensive, they can be pricey. But if you don't want to have to deal with moving data around anymore, they're a great option.

[cadillackid]

I back up to others server in my network.. Synology makes a NAS in a box turnkey .. I use a Linux box running a Samba server / NFS for backing up computers within my network... a second windoze PC running file sharing can also be used as a backup machine as well.. since im in the Linux / Mac world im used to building my own stuff..