BACKUP DOs and DON'Ts

eZine lover (@eZine)

Published in 

Zhit Axis Nation

 · 5 years ago

Written by: Intelligent Wise IQ
Dated: (Date Written)
Greets to: CoP and Guido Sanchez for making this all possible!

ThisClaimer: This is for educational, destructional, and anarchial purposes..
If anything happens to you, I AM responsible... but remember I KNOW where you LIVE!!! You can distribute this in any way (ZIP, by hand), but DO NOT EDIT THIS file!! If you happen to pull out your EDIT prog and work on this, PLEASE leave the opening screen, and add your additions at the end of the file...

Reproduced from PC Magazine June 11, 1991, with permission from Chantal Lavelant, PC Magazine, PO Box 54093, Boulder, CO, 80322

[BACKUP DOs AND DON'Ts]

• [_DO_] Plan a backup strategy and stick to it. If you accumulate backup disks haphazardly, you'll waste floppy disks, tapes, and hours trying to find the file you need.
• [DONT] Use foreign or graphics characters in your filenames unless you're certain you backup software will process nonstandard filenames. Some programs treat nonstandard filenames as if they were corrupted and won't back them up.
• [_DO_] Keep at least one full backup set in deep storage for six months to a year, even if you recycle floppy disks and tapes in your other backup sets. The file you most want to recover may turn out to be the one that you deleted three months ago, and your recent backups won't have any trace of it.
• [DONT] Keep all your backups in one place, and don't leave them all in the drawer under your computer. A thief might decide to help himself to some disks when he walks off with your machine.
• [DONT] Use data compression when backing up files that have already been compressed with software like PKZIP or ARC. You'll only lose time by forcing the compression routine to make a futile attempt at compressing the file further.
• [_DO_] turn on the error correction and verification options in your backup program. Most of today's advanced programs use error correction to duplicate data in more than one part of a disk, and can successfully recover files from damaged/magnetically weakened floppy disks.
• [_DO_] Use 3.5" floppy disks instead of 5.25" floppy disks for backups if your machine uses both sizes. The smaller disks are sturdier and less damage prone.
• [DONT] try to economize by using generic floppy disks for backups or by trying to format 720k disks to a 1.44 capacity. The money you save is worth less than the data you'll lose.
• [_DO_] set your backup program to preserve detailed logs of every backup. The program will need them when you want to recover a specific, older version of a lost or modified file.
• [_DO_] use your backup program as a fast and cheap way of transfering files between two computers; many program allow you to perform backups without switching off the archive bit. This option lets you use the backup program's speed and compression to pack as many files on a few disks -- without preventing them from being backed up in your next incremental backup.
• [DONT] trust your backup program unless you test it in realworld conditions. Perform a small backup with your usual memory resident software installed. Restore the files to a different directory and run DOS's COMPARE command on the original and restored set. If they match, you can sleep easily.
• [_DO_] retest your backup software after installing any new RAM resident software. It's probably impractical to run backups only from a clean DOS, but if you run into any difficulty with TSRs, it may be the only safe course of action.
• [_DO_] perform your backup software's hardware compatibility test after installing any new expansion boards of hard disks in your system. Most advanced packages support high-speed DMA transfers that can be subtly affected by newly added hardware.
• [_DO_] consider purchasing a tape drive if you have more than 30MB of data on your hard disk. Large floppy-disk backups can be so tedious that you'll avoid them at all costs. A good tape drive can back up your entire disk while you're having lunch.
• [_DO_] run CHKDSK before backing up. If any files have been corrupted, you may be able to use a disk utility to recover at least some of your data, and you may be able to recover more from the set of old backup disks that you're about to overwrite.
• [_DO_] make at least two fresh backups (and test on) before formatting or replacing your hard disk.
• [_DO_] use the password protectiong or encryption when backing up critical data if your program provides that feature. If not, lock up your backups in a secure place.

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 |  > |  |  BACK UP YOUR FILES NOW!!!! 
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[END OF ARTICLE]

Note from Intelligent Wise IQ: Look for my new dictionary of RAP and STREET terms. A 40k+ text file written by yours truly, coming to a ZAN BBS near you!

Origin: The Melting Point BBS (708)698-1774 3/12/2400 a ZAN support board!

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