it's the little things...

[Guest]

[drmjx]

it fails to backup

- IE favourites with special (asian?) characters in them

- files with long path names (not its fault but it'd be nice to have a solution for that);

[panic]

it fails to backup

- IE favourites with special (asian?) characters in them

- files with long path names (not its fault but it'd be nice to have a solution for that);

Backups failing with long path names is common to all (AFAIK) backup apps. I don't understand why this limitation exists when you can create the file at the end of a torturously long path in the first place. The limitation appears to be 255 characters, where the driver designator, back slashes and the full pathnames are included as being part of the absolute filename.

One way around it (it's an old trick but it works!) is to use the SUBST command and assign a drive letter to a point halfway down the long file path and include this drive letter in your backup job.

Regardless, I always try and stick to a folder depth of no more than 4 in any branch. I've read that humans have trouble remembering beyond a chain of seven events, and I'd hate to think that my backup app was smarter than me. LOL.

Hope this helps,
Ewen :-)

P.S. Although Backup is still at Version 1, I found a really neat feature in it the other day that no other backup app has.

All backup apps that can backup to CD media will only write to CD-RW, and only in packet writing mode. CD-RW are more expensive, not as widely available as CD-R, you have the time and trouble of having to format them prior to use and you can strike compatibility issues with different vendors packet writing technologies.

Comodo backup will write the backup files to CD-R (NOT CD-RW) as a session!!! Neat, cheap and the files are immediately  accessible on any PC.

The funny thing was Melih, the CEO of Comodo, didn't even know it could do this! Some code monkey in the dungeons is laughing, even as we speak. LOL

 (WCF3)

[JRd1st]

Here's another little thing,  lol.

If to have the program set to back up when you open it, how can you ever use the program to restore a backup without overwriting it?

[panic]

Here's another little thing,  lol.

If to have the program set to back up when you open it, how can you ever use the program to restore a backup without overwriting it?

Ummm .... wouldn't it be better to have it back up prior to shutdown rather than on startup. That way, your backup contains the latest work.

Just a thought.

Ewen :-)

[JRd1st]

Ummm .... wouldn't it be better to have it back up prior to shutdown rather than on startup. That way, your backup contains the latest work.

Just a thought.

Ewen :-)

I like to use Backup on demand because I also use Acronic TrueImage to restore my system disk, often, instead on uninstalling some drivers, software, etc.  I run www.TweaksRUs.com and tend to try a lot of stuff I need to uninstall.  lol

I automatically make an image every morning, so I always have a way to get back to where I was.  The only problem is with my emails.  If I restore an image, I sometimes lose the emails in my Inbox.  I had Comodo Backup set to make a backup on the start of the program, but found that there was no way to restore(using the program) without overwriting the backup!  lol

[panic]

I like to use Backup on demand because I also use Acronic TrueImage to restore my system disk, often, instead on uninstalling some drivers, software, etc.  I run www.TweaksRUs.com and tend to try a lot of stuff I need to uninstall.  lol

I automatically make an image every morning, so I always have a way to get back to where I was.  The only problem is with my emails.  If I restore an image, I sometimes lose the emails in my Inbox.  I had Comodo Backup set to make a backup on the start of the program, but found that there was no way to restore(using the program) without overwriting the backup!  lol

G'day,

While it's a good idea to take an image if your system is in a constant state of flux, I'd have a good hard look at TrueImage if I were you.

A drive image is supposed to be a snapshot of a LOCKED partition. Assuming that your inbox is on the drive you're imaging, then it should be locked and the image should be an exact bit copy of the partitions contents. I've used Paragon Drive Backup, Ghost, TrueImage and dd to do images and restores and have never had an issue where some files weren't updated to the point where the snapshot was taken.

If your inbox is on another disk, this discrepancy could occur as the Outlook index is stored on the system drive, regardless of the location of the mail data. If you have got multiple disks or multiple partitions, wouldn't it be better to image all of them, so you are capturing a system-wide snapshot with a higher degree of integrity and completeness?

Please understand I'm not trying to teach you how to suck eggs, you obviously know what  you're doing. I'm just trying to get my head around the condition you've described.

I had Comodo Backup set to make a backup on the start of the program, but found that there was no way to restore(using the program) without overwriting the backup!

Were you expecting Comodo Backup to create an image? It's a file system backup utility, not a disk or partition utility.

Could you please clarify?

Rgds,
Ewen :-)
 (WCF3) (WCF3) (WCF3)

[JRd1st]

You're misunderstanding me.  The reason I lose the emails is because I make an image in the morning, but if restore the image sometime during the day, any emails added after the image is made, are lost.

I like to backup my emails, address book, and Firefox bookmarks, to a backup file on a different drive, just prior to restoring my system disk.  Then, after the image restore, I simply restore the email etc. backup.

No, I didn't expect ComodoBackup to make images, I expected it to be what it is.  If fact, it's better than I expected.   My only problem is, if you set the program to automatically make a backup when you open it, which you can, then there's no way to use the program to restore a backup because any previous backup will be overwritten.  (unless you move the backup you want to restore to another folder)

What would be good is a way to open the program in backup mode and also a way to open the program in restore mode.  ie with a shortcut "C:\Program Files\Comodo\Backup\CmdBackUp.exe" /b  for backup and "C:\Program Files\Comodo\Backup\CmdBackUp.exe" /r for restore

[panic]

You're misunderstanding me.  The reason I lose the emails is because I make an image in the morning, but if restore the image sometime during the day, any emails added after the image is made, are lost.

I like to backup my emails, address book, and Firefox bookmarks, to a backup file on a different drive, just prior to restoring my system disk.  Then, after the image restore, I simply restore the email etc. backup.

No, I didn't expect ComodoBackup to make images, I expected it to be what it is.  If fact, it's better than I expected.   My only problem is, if you set the program to automatically make a backup when you open it, which you can, then there's no way to use the program to restore a backup because any previous backup will be overwritten.  (unless you move the backup you want to restore to another folder)

Thanks for the clarification.

You might be able to achieve what you want by using revisions. This is on the OPTIONS tab when you set the job up and allows for multiple archives revisions of the same backup job output.

What would be good is a way to open the program in backup mode and also a way to open the program in restore mode.  ie with a shortcut "C:\Program Files\Comodo\Backup\CmdBackUp.exe" /b  for backup and "C:\Program Files\Comodo\Backup\CmdBackUp.exe" /r for restore

Would it be better to be able to define two "startup" operations - a backup job and a restore job, and have the app ask which one to run on app startup? If you think this is a better option, please add this to the Backup Wishlist topic.


P.S. Have you discovered that as well as writing to CD-RW, Comodo Backup can write a backup, as a session, to CD-R? No more formatting and reformatting, no more expensive CD-RW media, no more discovering the limited life of CD-RW media.

Hope all this helps,
Ewen :-)

[panic]

I've thought of another way you could do this. In the options for the backup job, click on the tab "External Task". Here, you could assign a batch file to be run BEFORE the backup. The batch file could simply rename the existing backup, which would mean your current backup would not overwrite your previous backup. If you're any good at batch files, the rename could be set to prefix the backup name with %TIME% or %DATE% (e.g. "ren backup.zup %DATE%backup.zip".

Hope this helps,
Ewen :-)

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