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Request for additional backup/restore utilities (eg selection by directory tree) RRS feed

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    Compared with the old Windows NT Backup Utility, I find the One Care Restore Files extremely unhelpful when you have a lot of files with the same filename but which are organised through a carefully constructed set of directory paths. Also One Care doesn't apparently permit access to certain original back-up locations on the hub machine when the originating machine has either been replaced/renamed or had a clean install of a different Operating System (e.g. Windows Vista -> Windows XP, or vice-versa).

    The directory/file structure for backups does not appear to have changed between Versions 1 and 2 of One Care but perhaps there is an ownership or security access issue relating to whether One Care recognizes older backups or backups from machines which no longer exist. Does anyone know if this is so, or can provide information on this?

    Are there any more flexible utilities available for searching and restoring backups from One Care? Are there any plans to make One Care more flexible in this respect?

    Is documented information available which would enable one to write a program for a utility for such custom searches using Visual Studio?

    Any information on these issues would be extremely helpful and gratefully received.

    Tuesday, November 4, 2008 4:16 PM

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    Many good questions, Jack, and I certainly feel the pain of dealing with OneCare backup and restore. I'll answer the best that I can.

    I find the One Care Restore Files extremely unhelpful when you have a lot of files with the same filename but which are organised through a carefully constructed set of directory paths.

    Absolutely. The restore process allows you to search, but in your scenario, you will have difficulty identifying the specific files(s) you want by location.

    Also One Care doesn't apparently permit access to certain original back-up locations on the hub machine when the originating machine has either been replaced/renamed or had a clean install of a different Operating System (e.g. Windows Vista -> Windows XP, or vice-versa).

    No, you should not have any issues using the restore process to access older backups. However, when the PC goes through a rename or OS reinstall, it is a new PC to OneCare. You will need to use the custom restore option. In some cases, you may need to perform a small backup to the destination from the "new" PC for it to be able to restore from that location. Yes, that would be a glitch, in my opinion.

    Are there any more flexible utilities available for searching and restoring backups from One Care? Are there any plans to make One Care more flexible in this respect?

    You can open the backup files with a utility such as Winzip and extract the files manually. Any split files will need to be rejoined. A free utility for that step can be found here: 

    http://www.freebyte.com/hjsplit/

    Is it easier? No.

    I am ever hopeful that backup is greatly improved moving forward. It is clearly a pain point in the product right now.

    Is documented information available which would enable one to write a program for a utility for such custom searches using Visual Studio?

    I am not aware of any documentation for this and suspect that none exists. However, based on the fact that the backups are simple .zip files, one could presumably write an app to read the contents of all of the zip files and produce a searchable index from which actions could be executed to extract and rejoin and restore files. Personally, though, I'd switch backup processes (note that I personally do not use OneCare backup. I use SyncToy to maintain copies of my data on various machines and use Windows Home Server to perform a daily image backup of machines.) before trying to develop a workaround for the OneCare backup shortcomings.

    Thanks very much for the feedback and I remain ever hopeful that we see some major changes to backup in the future. Who knows - I may even use it then.

    -steve

     

    Tuesday, November 4, 2008 5:13 PM
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