Duplicating Files on Two Hard Drives to Make a Backup

[seawolf]

I found the answer to fase & efficent cloning...Folder Clone Pro. If it has changed, it will be copied. If not, it won't. You have the option of which direction you wish to clone. This permits me to have a clone external and my backup laptop ready at all times.

http://www.saltybrine.com/

DC

[billyo]

Originally Posted by seawolf

I found the answer to fase & efficent cloning...Folder Clone Pro. If it has changed, it will be copied. If not, it won't. You have the option of which direction you wish to clone. This permits me to have a clone external and my backup laptop ready at all times.

http://www.saltybrine.com/

DC

i been cloning my int. hhd. for awhile and i've been using acronis for a while and it was so easy to use...

[seawolf]

I tried Acronis & found it a bit cumbersome. In fact, I wound up cloning the entire drive, not just the files I had changed.

FolderClone Pro allows you to create "tasks" that will permit cloning individual folders (which is what I do with Hoster Songs folder and databases folder. That way, after a show, you can update the singers db and anything else you have changed during the show.

With adding new songs or editing the songs db, it will copy only the NEW or changed files. Very fast and efficient.

LapLInk will do it as well, but is a bit more complicated.

DC

[billyo]

the reason i opted to use acronis was so i can clone my entire int. hhd ( os and such ) that way if something happens to my hhd. i could just swap it in just a few minutes, so that i dont have to re-install everything, i have all my kma files on a separate ext. drive and also has a separate back-up drive..if i have to add new songs i import it to my ext. drive and then copy it to my back-up drive...and that is just my opinion but if you're happy doing it the other way, you should stick with it, btw acronis can also clone diff. folders..just a question, are you cloning your entire hhd, or just diff. folders? i just don't understand what you meant by updating your singers database, are you adding new singers or deleting some?

[seawolf]

I use Bounce Back for that. Always have a cloned HD in the bag. Use Folder Clone Pro for the files that I use ^=& UG.

DC

[rkk1]

I'm trying to figure out how I want to continue to back up my files. Again I know just enough about computers to make me dangerous. I've been reading this thread and trying to decide if i want to purchase Ghost or acronis. My computer has windows 7 so I need to make sure they are compatible. Right now I have a full system back up on my external hard drive and a local full system backup on dell datasafe. I don't like the datasafe and I just want to make sure I'm completely protected. I never want to have to download all this music ever again!

[seawolf]

There are a few things that need to be considered:

1. Are you running the Hoster program from an internal or external drive?
2. Do you want/need a spare internal and/or external drive?

If you are running everything from an internal drive, you would be well advised to have a CLONE of that drive so that you can swap it out and be back up and running in less than 10 minutes. This also holds true if you keep the songs on an external drive. If either drive fails, you need an exact copy to continue without undue delay.

I am redundancy poor---I have a main laptop with everything running from its hard drive and I have a clone of that drive. I have an external drive with the songs & database on it in case the internal songs/database becomes corrupted. Believe it or not, this has happened when we had a lightning strike. I took a break, attached the external drive, re-built the database and continued the show.

I also have a second laptop that is basically a clone of the first, giving me redundancy to the max. Both of these machines are running Windows 7 Ultimate.

I use Acronis 10 for cloning and Folder Clone Pro to keep all of the songs and database info identical. Acronis True Image Home 2010 is available at: http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...cts/trueimage/

Folder Clone Professional is available to try or buy at: http://www.folderclone.com/fcinfo.htm

I'm sure there are other solutions, perhaps some better, but these have saved my bacon several times and I have never had to cancel due to equipment failure.

DC