Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:15 pm Post subject:
How Not To Lose Your Data
It's generic tutorial time guys. Since I read about people losing their mods a little too often, it's time to educate you noobs on the finer points of data backup and syncing.
Step one is buy an external hard drive. I do not recommend flash drives because of how they work, which is based on flash memory, which have write cycles. Each flash drive will eventually burn out, making them impractical for long term backup. Short term, they're okay though.
Next step is to download and install SyncToy, which is a free Microsoft tool that allows you to sync and move data between two folders. It runs on Windows XP, Vista and 7 for 32-bit and 64-bit, as well.
When you load it up, you'll be greeted with a screen like this, but without a folder pair.
Click Create Folder Pair.
You'll be asked to enter which folders you want to sync between. This part is very important. The left folder is your source folder and the right is your target folder. If that's not clear, left is where you want to start and right is where you want to send.
When you're done, it'll look like this:
Click Next.
SyncToy will ask how you want to sync your files. You have three options: synchronize, echo and contribute. Synchronize compares all files and folders and makes sure they match between both folders; echo is a one way sync where it copies, renames and removes changed files; contribute is like echo except it does not delete any files. I recommend Contribute over the others.
Make your selection and click Next.
Simply name your folder pair. You can name it whatever you like; it really doesn't matter. It's merely an identifier.
Click Finish.
You should have a new folder pair like this:
Click Run to sync your files.
There, now stop losing your goddamn mods. _________________ Discord: princess_marisa
Steam QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Location: Algae Colony On Mars
Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:48 pm Post subject:
I would have thought a flash drive would be perfectly fine as a backup device. A typical device has at least 10,000 write cycles, which if you backed up once a day would mean you could back up a folder for 27 years.
Are there no revision-based backup programs for Windows (unless this does it and I haven't realised)? That would be a good solution especially for modders (having revisions would make it easier to track bugs and modifications in general).
Dropbox is also a good solution, especially if you work across multiple computers.
It's good that someone has actually posted a method of backing up, though. It does surprise me that so few people actually do it. _________________
Quote:
This is sexier than what this forum was supposed to tolerate. - Banshee
There's also this neat folder type in Vista + 7 called Briefcase, where you just copy the briefcase all your modding files are in to another drive, and when you change anything you hit update. Done.
As far as revisions, I use Wayback for linux, but I got nothing for windows. Suppose you could just make a new folder per revision of course. _________________ "Don't beg for things; Do it yourself or you'll never get anything." QUICK_EDIT
So a simple copy and paste of a folder won't work huh. This is useful. _________________ Ponies are not awesome. Kill all bronies with fire. QUICK_EDIT
Biggest fail in the first place is to use the stupid windows documents and settings folder, which is (by default) on C: and always removed when you have to do a complete OS reinstall (since only a format c: can make sure there isn't anything left from the messed up and bugged OS, and not the ridiculous OS repair where you keep all the broken and redundant files).
Ok, maybe not the biggest fail. The biggest fail is to put all stuff on the desktop. (Damn, how i love those users )
1. use partitions and put all stuff on the second partition that windows can't mess up
2. use an external or secondary hdd for regular backups.
3. use a raid system with 2 or more physical hdds. _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Biggest fail in the first place is to use the stupid windows documents and settings folder, which is (by default) on C: and always removed when you have to do a complete OS reinstall (since only a format c: can make sure there isn't anything left from the messed up and bugged OS, and not the ridiculous OS repair where you keep all the broken and redundant files).
It's not a big deal when you make regular backups, nor is it an issue when you only have one hard drive like, say, in a laptop. Not everyone owns extra hard drives, or even external ones so the next course of action is a backup DVD, which I know everyone can do. _________________ Discord: princess_marisa
Steam QUICK_EDIT
see point 1: create a secondary partition.
Every hdd allows that and this way you can strictly separate OS stuff from your own files.
Several programs can even work without the registry crap that others usually cram without rhyme or reason inside it. And those well written programs which work without the registry, can be kept on the separate partition as well (e.g. Tiberian Sun, gimp, total commander, winamp, DriveImageXML etc).
Of course doesn't a second partition save you from data loss if the hdd is damaged, but it makes doing a backup much easier. And in my experience are broken sectors also more often on the much more stressed c: (OS) partition where windows is constantly writing pagefiles and other stuff than on the secondary one, where work is only caused by the user.
With DriveImageXML (which is for free, btw) you can then also create an image from the fresh installed windaft, and when it kills itself again, it's only a 5 min job to put that image back on C: and have a fresh OS, rather than doing the up to 1.5 hours lasting windaft installation with the 5 hours additional optimization process afterwards (removing all the useless and bad working crap that you get without being asked, e.g. Internet explorer, windows media player, doing registry optimization, disabling useless tasks like error reporting and other annoying stuff...). _________________ SHP Artist of Twisted Insurrection: Nod buildings
Works too, but a little bit impractical if the filesize of your mod files is more than just few dozen megabytes. Regularly backing up mod files weighing several hundred megabytes in filesize to a remote server is much more of a hassle than transfering the same files to an another physical drive connected to your machine. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
On the other hand, you can work on the mod at any other place you desire, as long as it has dropbox.
OK, it depends for what the mod is. But if you do SHPs or some INI editings, it should be perfectly fine. If it takes a lot more space, it is impractible, but for saving some special files ... _________________
Think of me as Nordos, 'cause Banshee wouldn't rename me QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Location: Algae Colony On Mars
Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:24 am Post subject:
I can't imagine most mods getting larger than about 2GB. Besides, there's loads of ways to get extra space for free. Like this for example: http://db.tt/ylWDgPu (if you don't have an account, now it's time to get one so I can keep my increasing pile of microscope images backed up!) _________________
Quote:
This is sexier than what this forum was supposed to tolerate. - Banshee
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How Not To Lose Your Data
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