 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Backing Up with Windows 98 Bryan Leech bryan@melbpc.org.au |
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Backing up is a chore that we all know should be done, but how many of us actually do it? As a minimum all data should be backed up regularly, perhaps at the end of each day. If you generate data infrequently, then a weekly backup of data may suffice. If you work in a large office where computer data is the lifeblood of the organisation you may be interrupted for a few moments as your data is automatically backed up every hour on the hour, throughout the day.
This process does not take long. If your data involves correspondence and the like, you can backup to floppies. For larger files, a Zip drive or CD-writer may be worth considering. A Zip drive can be obtained for around $250 and is ideal for data backup.
If you add and remove programs with any frequency, or if you have a large number of programs on your hard drive, then you should seriously consider regularly backing up the entire system. One little glitch can render your entire system unusable, and reinstalling Windows and then all of your programs can take many hours, not counting the time needed to configure the programs to your tastes. A recent reinstallation from scratch, along with the necessary configuration of the programs, took me twelve hours work. It might have taken much longer.
To backup an entire drive needs something more commodious than floppies or even a Zip drive. The main tools are tapes (which come in widely varying capacities), Jaz drives (that can hold up to 2 GB per disk) or veritable CDs (for this purpose, re-veritable disks are a better choice) which will hold around 630 MB of data per disc. In all cases, a backup can be spread across multiple media, depending on the backup software used. Many backup programs compress the data as it is backed up and then decompress the data during the restore process.
Choosing Your Backup Method
This usually comes down to a matter of what hardware is available; no-one wants to buy more hardware than they can get away with. However, if you do not have a suitable device, a CD-writer is probably the most economical choice at around $450, and blank discs are very cheap. In contrast, a Jaz drive will cost around $650 with blank, 2 GB, discs costing nearly $200 each. For tape drives, you are generally looking at prices that start at $1000 (although in a bargain purchase, some blank tapes and custom backup software may be included).
Alternatively, second-hand equipment may solve the problem. While my hard
drive was running at less than 1 GB, I was backing up quite happily (if a little slowly) with a very old
parallel port tape drive that had the convenience that I could use it with both my desktop and notebook
computers. If your demands are modest, such tape drives can be purchased very inexpensively and are generally
very reliable. It is only now that I have exceeded 2 GB that I am moving to backing up on CD-ROM (I might add
that I am also moving away from the Windows 9$ Backup program). The tape equipment will continue to be used
for my notebook machine.
Some storage devices such as Zip drives and CD-writers, come with their own backup program. For partial
backup of files, go ahead and use Windows' backup. For a complete system backup, using the backup program
supplied with the equipment may be better. Read the manuals, and experiment. For example, some CD backup
programs are limited to files that will fit on a single CD-ROM; not much use if you want to backup 2 GB, in
which case you will need to use Windows backup. Third party CD backup software that will encompass multiple
CDs (such as Adaptec Easy CD Creator Deluxe, a program I hope to be reporting on soon) are definitely a
better choice than Windows 98 Backup.
Preparation
Once a method has been chosen, a little preparation must be made.
First, make sure you have a working Windows Startup disk. If you do not have one, let's create it. Before you go any further note the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive, you may need this shortly. Then go to Start I Settings I Control Panel I Add/Remove programs. A Startup Disk panel appears and leads you through the creation of your Windows Startup disk.
Next, try booting with the disk and see if it works. You are now in the realms of DOS. See if you can log on to your CD-ROM drive which will now be one letter further along the alphabet than it Backing Up with was originally. This is because the Startup disk creates a RAM drive with its own drive letter (immediately after your hard-drive letters). So if your CD-ROM was originally drive D, it will now be E. At the A prompt (A:\>) type in E:, or whatever letter you think should be the new drive letter for your CD-ROM, followed by the colon. If you receive an error message of some sort, you may have typed the wrong drive letter. If you selected the correct drive letter your screen should show the prompt for the CD-ROM drive, e.g., E:\>.
If you get a message "invalid drive specification" or something similar, check to see if you have typed the wrong drive letter. When you find a valid drive, place a data CD-ROM (but not an empty disc) in your CD-ROM drive, type DIR and press ENTER. You will be presented with a list of files and directories that you should be able to identify with the CD-ROM. If this procedure does not work, then the Startup disk may not work for your system.
Windows creates a Startup disk with a range of CD-ROM drivers that should enable most CD-ROM drives, but some Creative SoundBlaster drives, for example, are not supported. If this is the case, you can cobble together a primitive Startup disk that will perform the essentials even though it lacks the bells and whistles of the Windows 98 version.
Creating Your Own Startup Disk
If the Windows Startup disk does not enable access to your CD-ROM, follow this procedure to create a simplified custom Startup disk. First format a 3.5 inch, 1.44 MB floppy disk with the system files included. Then copy FDISK.EXE, FORMAT.COM and MSCDEX.EXE from the \WINDOWS\COMMAND subdirectory on your C drive to the floppy disk. From the driver floppy disk that came with your CD-ROM drive you will also need to copy the actual CD-ROM driver; in the case of a SoundBlaster drive this will probably be SBCD.SYS. On the floppy you will also need to create single line AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files.
For the CONFIG.SYS file, the line needed is:
DEVICE= A:\SBCD.SYS /P:220
/D:MSCD001
For your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the line is:
A:\MSCDEX /D:MSCD001 /M:15
/V
In both files, make sure you include the single spaces (these assume you have a SoundBlaster CD-ROM). If you have another type of CD-ROM that did not work with the Windows Startup disk, use this paragraph as a guide to the two files you will need to create, but refer to the CD-ROM manual for the detail of these lines. The manual will probably show AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS file lines that assume the CD-ROM driver file is in a subdirectory on your C drive. Use the above lines as a model to convert the lines to apply to the A drive, with no subdirectory.
Now try booting with this disk and test to see if you have access to your CD-ROM drive. Screen messages should appear during the boot process to tell you if the CD-ROM has been enabled.
Once you have a valid Startup disk, write-protect it, label it and keep it somewhere safe.
Backing Up A Complete System
If you are backing up to writable CD, your CD-writer probably came with backup software (although make sure that it can span multiple CDs) and I would recommend that you use that in which case, much of this article will be redundant. Otherwise use Windows Backup. In Windows 95, the Backup program was a bit of a dog and it did not recognise CD-writers, but for Windows 98, Microsoft has licensed a backup program from Seagate that is much improved. To commence the backup process, from your Start button, go to Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup. If Backup does not appear here, that module has not been installed on your system. This is easily remedied by placing your Windows 98 disc into your CD-ROM drive and, when it auto-starts, click on Add/Remove Software. Scroll through the options until you find Accessories. Click on Details, and check Backup, the first item on the list. Click OK twice, and Backup will be added to your installation. You may need to reboot for this option to take effect.
Now that Backup is on your system, close all active programs and invoke it from your Start menu. The Backup Wizard will appear on top of the standard Backup screen. If you are backing up your system, or part of your system, for the first time, using the Wizard is probably better, as it is self-explanatory. For subsequent backups I would recommend closing the Wizard and performing the operation manually, as this provides greater flexibility.
For manual backup, click on Close on the Wizard screen. On the main Backup screen (Figure 1), first choose "What to back up", either "All selected files" or "New and changed files"; it will usually be the former. In the directory tree, click on the open boxes to choose from which drive(s) you will backup. If you wish only a partial backup, expand the tree (just as in Windows Explorer) and select which subdirectories and/or files you want to backup.
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Next move to "Where to backup to", near the bottom of the screen. Recognised parallel port devices will appear on a drop-down list. Select one, or select File. If you select file, another small window appears with a default name for the backup job. You can alter this to suit yourself; I find it convenient to use a name that identifies the equipment (desktop or notebook) and the date. Click on the icon to the right of this window to open a box where you choose your destination device. This may be another hard disk or it could be some form of removable media. If this is, say, a CD-writer, move around the box options until the drive letter of your CD-writer is visible and select that and then click on Open.
You can now move to "How to backup" where various options, such as compression modes, are selected. If you are unsure, just leave these choices at the defaults, but make sure that you choose to backup the Registry (available under the "Advanced" tab). It will save a little time if, under "Options" you select the "Report" tab, and check "Perform an unattended backup". Otherwise you may also get messages that some files could not be backed up as they were active. These are index files that will be ultimately re-created after a subsequent restore process anyway, so there is nothing to worry about.
At this point you should be ready to press the Start button toward the top right of the panel. There will be a delay while the program builds up the job, the process being visible on the screen, and then the screen will change as the actual backup commences (Figure 2). After a few more minutes the panel will display not only the time taken so far, but the estimated time to complete the job. If you are backing up to media that is not large enough to take the entire backup job, you will be prompted when necessary to put in a new tape or CD.
You have now completed all the work of the actual backup process. Just wait for the computer to write all the files, which may take some time and is dependent upon the storage medium and the size of the drive you are backing up. One gigabyte on my old tape system took two and a half hours! This can be contrasted with veritable CD, where I can back up 2 GB in under one hour.
Backing up is something that needs planning and a little practice. It takes time, and you should not use your computer for other operations while a backup is taking place. But backing up is really a necessity, like regularly servicing your car. Get into the habit today!
Reprinted from the March 2000 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
