Backing up the Winnt folder

  • Thread starter Thread starter jw
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J

jw

To backup my computer I use an external USB drive. This computer is
dual booted to Win98 and Win2000. I use Win98 for most things because
I prefer it. I use the Win2000 to do the backup because Win98 does
not read my Free Agent 320gig drive (formatted to Fat32). I guess the
partition size is too big, plus in Win98 I only got the (slow) USB
1.x, even on my add on USB 2 card.

Anyhow, I just select all, and copy the whole partition to the USB
drive for all my six partitions. They all copy fine, except I can not
copy the WINNT or DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS folders. (or pagefile.sys,
but I know that dont need to be copied anyhow).

So, how does someone backup the WINNT and DOCU..... folders?
So far the only way I found was to boot to Win98, and Winzip both of
those folders, then copy the ZIP files to the backup drive.

Anyone have a better solution?
Particularly for someone who does not have Win98.

Please dont tell me to upgrade to XP Vista or Win7. (or linux) I hate
all of them.

Thanks
 
I believe that Win 98 does not and never did work for USB drives or anything USB. In other words Win 98 does not recognize USB

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I believe that Win 98 does not and never did work for USB drives or
anything USB. In other words Win 98 does not recognize USB
Click to expand...

Not out of the box, but like many kinds of hardware it just requires
drivers to be installed. I've used USB flash drives and wireless mice
with USB transmitters just fine. (My experience is with Win98SE,
can't say about other versions).
 
I believe that Win 98 does not and never did work for USB drives or anything USB. In other words Win 98 does not recognize USB
Click to expand...

Win98 natively supports USB. Retail Win95 didn't, but the OEM-only
Win95c has partial USB support. Some older USB drives used to come with
drivers so that Win95 (or maybe just Win98) would recognize them.
 
I don't know how you can do this anyway with a simple copy. Some of the
files involved are in use and locked by the running version of Windows -
at least those in it's native partition. I suspect this is at least part
of the problem.

You would be much better off doing this using a proper backup program
such as Ghost or Acronis True-Image (there used to be a free version of
the latter - perhaps there still is). With either of these you can make
boot discs which will run independently (without booting Windows - so
you have no locked file problems) and have their own USB drivers. Ghost,
at least, can also be installed as a Windows application and purports to
back up from within Windows, somehow getting around the locked files
issue (never tried or trusted it myself).

The Windows application of Ghost does, at least, give you access to
individual files in the (compressed) backup image which is handy. It
will do that even if the actual backup was performed by direct boot
outside Windows as described above, so it's worth installing the Windows
app anyway.
 
I don't know how you can do this anyway with a simple copy. Some of the
files involved are in use and locked by the running version of Windows -
at least those in it's native partition. I suspect this is at least part
of the problem.

You would be much better off doing this using a proper backup program
such as Ghost or Acronis True-Image (there used to be a free version of
the latter - perhaps there still is). With either of these you can make
boot discs which will run independently (without booting Windows - so
you have no locked file problems) and have their own USB drivers. Ghost,
at least, can also be installed as a Windows application and purports to
back up from within Windows, somehow getting around the locked files
issue (never tried or trusted it myself).

The Windows application of Ghost does, at least, give you access to
individual files in the (compressed) backup image which is handy. It
will do that even if the actual backup was performed by direct boot
outside Windows as described above, so it's worth installing the Windows
app anyway.
Click to expand...

My workaround for this is to boot to Win98se, use Winzip to zip both
of these folders, then boot back to Win2000 to copy the zip files to
the backup. Maybe I already have the solution, but if I could nto
dual boot, I'd be screwed. I tried to Winzip the WINNT folder while
Win2000 was running, it failed.

It sounds like this Ghost will allow access to individual files just
like a Winzip file. I will not use backup softwware that does not
allow me to access each individual file. Not only is it a hassle to
retrieve stuff, but I have had these type of files fail in the past.
I'll look into Ghost. Thanks
 
I tried to Winzip the WINNT folder while
Win2000 was running, it failed.
Click to expand...

Yes, because some files were "busy" due to Windows accessing them.
Moreover, even if Winzip had just skipped those files, they would be
missing from the resulting zip file which could therefore not be used as
a complete restore in the case of a catastrophe.
It sounds like this Ghost will allow access to individual files just
like a Winzip file. I will not use backup softwware that does not
allow me to access each individual file. Not only is it a hassle to
retrieve stuff, but I have had these type of files fail in the past.
I'll look into Ghost. Thanks
Click to expand...

Look around and see if you can pick up an earlier version inexpensively.
Like most of the applications around today, Ghost has become pretty
bloated over the years as they add stuff that only a minority will ever
use to justify charging for an upgrade. In any case, it might be better
to use the earlier versions with your earlier Windows.

I'm still using V8 and it's plenty adequate to do what you want. (I
created a mini boot-cd which fits nicely in the pocket).

There is another thing you could look at too which will do what you
want, backing up to a USB drive and allowing access to individual files.
It's called Rebit ( http://rebit.com/ ) and runs continuously in the
background. It does work quite well actually. Sometimes you notice a
small performance hit but it's hardly noticeable the majority of the
time. (Basically, it gives priority to anything that's running on
Windows, but once it is accessing a file it has to safely complete that
access before handing back to the app).

Check out Acronis too - I'm not sure if it allows individual file
access/restore or not.
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote ...
in Win98 I
only got the (slow) USB 1.x, even on my add on USB 2 card.
Click to expand...

Some USB 2.0 mtherboard or addon cards came with drivers for Windows
98. Did you double check this is not the case for yours, it may've
come with drivers on dikette or a (mini)CD.

Whether or not it was the case, there is a much better solution viz
NUSB, "Maximus Decim's" universal Windows 98 driver for USB2 mass
storage devices which you can find discussions and download at the
MSFN forums. It is free (as in no cost) and in my experience, works
perfectly.

<http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/43605-maximus-decim-native-usb-
drivers/>

HTH
 
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