Use Retro 9 with older backup sets

[pius222]

Read a lot on the web, it seems Retro 9 cannot read older backup sets prior to Retro 6. I hope Retrospect can come up with some updates that can fix that, or what is the purpose of backing up if files cannot be retrieved?

 

We need a work around, we have a lot of old files that was backed up with I think Retro 4. Now in order for Retro 9 to read, we need to first convert the old backup sets to Retro 6 first, how do we do that?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Lennart_T]

You need a version of Retrospect that can read those backups, which may be version 5 or 6. Restore to a new hard drive. Backup the new hard drive with version 9. Done.

 

Want the complete history of the files? Then do a restore from each generation of the backups to different folders of the new hard drive. Backup all folders on the new hard drive with version 9.

Comparing the hard disk sizes of those times with today's sizes, it would not be a problem fitting all backups onto the same disk.

 

The problem with legacy file formats is that you need legacy software, which probably requires legacy hardware. That is not limited to backup software.

[pius222]

Thanks Lennart, was hoping to skip the re-backup process as there will be TB of files to restore/re-backup. It is just frustrating that the time spent backing up all those years gone wasted when one has to back up again with newer versions.

 

Keeping Retro 6 will not be an option as that iMac running it is acting strange lately, I am suspecting it will die on us sometime in the near future.

 

So to use Retro 9, anyone still with old backup sets better restore as much files as we can with Retro 6, re-back up everything with Retro 9 before the last legacy hardware on earth fails. It just frustrates the heck out of us.

 

There are still tons of software that are backward compatible regardless of hardware, we never had issues opening Illustrator 3 files with CS5.5. or Word 97 files with the newest MS Office. So I think it can be done. It's just a matter of wanting it or not by Retrospect.

[Lennart_T]

Thanks Lennart, was hoping to skip the re-backup process as there will be TB of files to restore/re-backup. It is just frustrating that the time spent backing up all those years gone wasted when one has to back up again with newer versions.

 

Keeping Retro 6 will not be an option as that iMac running it is acting strange lately, I am suspecting it will die on us sometime in the near future.

You have TB of files backed up by Retro 4???

 

Well, get a used Mac on eBay to keep Retro 6 running.

 

 

 

There are still tons of software that are backward compatible regardless of hardware, we never had issues opening Illustrator 3 files with CS5.5. or Word 97 files with the newest MS Office. So I think it can be done. It's just a matter of wanting it or not by Retrospect.

There are more software that are NOT backwards compatible.

Let me take just one example: AppleWorks. I have hundreds of AppleWorks files and there is no replacement for AppleWorks that can read the files. AppleWorks is PPC and will not run at all on Intel Macs with Lion or Mountain Lion. So I have to keep my Snow Leopard Macs running. (That's not so bad as there are a number of other thing I don't like with Lion and ML.)