Backups, Robocopy, SyncToy and a Requiem for a Laptop

It was working fine last night. I tried to fire up my battered and bruised Packard Bell laptop and nothing. Charging Light, Power Light, but no boot. External Screen to see if it was the LCD, but still nothing. Fan, but no activity. It’s bust.

They come to take it away tomorrow, but this means (tragically) that I am without a PC to work on during my retreat next week at the SLG. I was hoping to get so much done alongside a lot more prayer and some early nights. Of course, I might be able to persuade Lou to lend me hers, but then again, what’s she going to play Freecell on?

The loss of Outlook data has hit me harder than I imagined, and a new wave of paranoia has taken over. I am currently backing up the NAS [Network Attached Storage Server (a nifty little box which attaches to an external USB Drive and makes WORK available across the network without hassle), to both another USB drive and to a directory on the Linux Server. I’ve used SyncToy since it first came out, and Version 2.0 is currently in Beta, but you have to initiate the “echo” yourself [echo better than sync as it simply scrapes the WORK disk onto another, updating as required. I was looking for command-line options and discovered ROBOCOPY – the ROBustCOPY, and a replacement for XCOPY from DOS.

I ran the help text to a file for your information:

——————————————————————————-
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows
——————————————————————————-

Started : Thu Apr 17 13:56:16 2008

Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file… [options

source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
destination :: Destination Dir (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
file :: File(s) to copy (names/wildcards: default is “*.*”).

::
:: Copy options :
::
/S :: copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
/E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones.
/LEV:n :: only copy the top n LEVels of the source directory tree.

/Z :: copy files in restartable mode.
/B :: copy files in Backup mode.
/ZB :: use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
/EFSRAW :: copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.

/COPY:copyflag[s :: what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT).
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
(S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).

/DCOPY:T :: COPY Directory Timestamps.

/SEC :: copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
/COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY :: COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).

/SECFIX :: FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
/TIMFIX :: FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.

/PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
/MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).

/MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
/MOVE :: MOVE files AND dirs (delete from source after copying).

/A+:[RASHCNET :: add the given Attributes to copied files.
/A-:[RASHCNET :: remove the given Attributes from copied files.

/CREATE :: CREATE directory tree and zero-length files only.
/FAT :: create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
/256 :: turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

/MON:n :: MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
/MOT:m :: MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.

/RH:hhmm-hhmm :: Run Hours – times when new copies may be started.
/PF :: check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

/IPG:n :: Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

::
:: File Selection Options :
::
/A :: copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
/M :: copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO :: Include only files with any of the given Attributes set.
/XA:[RASHCNETO :: eXclude files with any of the given Attributes set.

/XF file [file… :: eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs… :: eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.

/XC :: eXclude Changed files.
/XN :: eXclude Newer files.
/XO :: eXclude Older files.
/XX :: eXclude eXtra files and directories.
/XL :: eXclude Lonely files and directories.
/IS :: Include Same files.
/IT :: Include Tweaked files.

/MAX:n :: MAXimum file size – exclude files bigger than n bytes.
/MIN:n :: MINimum file size – exclude files smaller than n bytes.

/MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE – exclude files older than n days/date.
/MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE – exclude files newer than n days/date.
/MAXLAD:n :: MAXimum Last Access Date – exclude files unused since n.
/MINLAD:n :: MINimum Last Access Date – exclude files used since n.
(If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

/XJ :: eXclude Junction points. (normally included by default).

/FFT :: assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
/DST :: compensate for one-hour DST time differences.

/XJD :: eXclude Junction points for Directories.
/XJF :: eXclude Junction points for Files.

::
:: Retry Options :
::
/R:n :: number of Retries on failed copies: default 1 million.
/W:n :: Wait time between retries: default is 30 seconds.

/REG :: Save /R:n and /W:n in the Registry as default settings.

/TBD :: wait for sharenames To Be Defined (retry error 67).

::
:: Logging Options :
::
/L :: List only – don’t copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/X :: report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
/V :: produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
/TS :: include source file Time Stamps in the output.
/FP :: include Full Pathname of files in the output.
/BYTES :: Print sizes as bytes.

/NS :: No Size – don’t log file sizes.
/NC :: No Class – don’t log file classes.
/NFL :: No File List – don’t log file names.
/NDL :: No Directory List – don’t log directory names.

/NP :: No Progress – don’t display % copied.
/ETA :: show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.

/LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
/LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

/UNILOG:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
/UNILOG+:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).

/TEE :: output to console window, as well as the log file.

/NJH :: No Job Header.
/NJS :: No Job Summary.

/UNICODE :: output status as UNICODE.

::
:: Job Options :
::
/JOB:jobname :: take parameters from the named JOB file.
/SAVE:jobname :: SAVE parameters to the named job file
/QUIT :: QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters).
/NOSD :: NO Source Directory is specified.
/NODD :: NO Destination Directory is specified.
/IF :: Include the following Files.

So, all I need is a batch file with:

ROBOCOPY X:\ Y:\ /MIR

and use the Task Scheduler (hidden inside CONTROL PANEL / ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS) to run it at 1.15am each day, and I have automatic mirroring of all that crucial work. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the USB drive which contains all my video work – lose that I really am messed up!!