cprstn54 Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 The Help file suggests that you should back up your catalog files. The catalog files seem to go to "My Documents\Retrospect Catalog Files" as the default, which is on my C: drive -- the one being backed up. What about the catalog file for the backup you are doing today? That won't be backed up until tomorrow (using daily backups). This seems potentially inconvenient. Is there a way to redirect the catalog file to the backup media, so it won't be lost if my hard drive dies -- which is my whole purpose for using Retrospect? Ken C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitPusher Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Ken, What I do after a backup, is to copy the .rbc file that was created by the just completed backup to a directory on a different physical hard drive on my system in order to have a local backup of the .rbc file that was just created. Then I also copy it to the root directory of the 750 GB external Firewire hard drive containing the backup data itself. When I used to back up to tape, I copied the catalog file to a ZIP disk and kept it with the tape. With my current arrangement, I have 2 online local copies and a copy on the external hard drive that I periodically rotate (with 2 others) to my safe deposit box, so if someone steals all my computer equipment I still have the offsite backup and the .rbc that goes with it on the external drive without going through the hassle of recreating the catalog by "scanning" the whole backup set. Although I keep nothing in "My Documents" this should also work if the .rbc files are located there. Just create a new directory (preferably on a different physical hard disk) to keep the .rbc copies. HTH Carl Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitPusher Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 As an addendum to my previous post, the reason I don't store my Retrospect .rbc files in the "My Documents" directory is that I have it and its subdirectory tree structure encrypted with Windows XP Professional EFS (Encrypting File System). If I was going to do a recovery of a totally trashed system I wouldn't want to have to deal with having to import EFS Certificates and Private Keys in order to access the Retrospect .rbc catalog file(s). By storing them in a non-EFS directory, they and any copies are not encrypted allowing easy access. Carl Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cprstn54 Posted February 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi, Carl. Thank you. But doesn't that defeat the purpose of *automated* back up? Let's assume I back up My Documents daily, together with the rest of my key directories on c:. I will always be missing the current catalog on the backup media. How burdensome is it to create the catalog for that one day, assuming we are talking about a 15 minute total incremental backup execution? Ken C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitPusher Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi Ken, You didn't describe your system environment, so I can't say how long it would take for you to recreate your Retrospect catalog from the backup set. The only time I ever had to do that was several years ago when I was still using tape for the backup set data. It took over 11 hours to recreate the catalog with my having to semi-babysit the system to change tapes. I decided that was the last time I was going to that, and came up with the procedure I described. I actually use a JP Software 4NT batch program to do the .rbc copies. I only use immediate backups, but you might be able to accomplish this with a Retrospect Duplicate function to copy the .rbc file after the backup completes, but if your "My Documents" is EFS encrypted you will have to use the CIPHER command to decrypt the copy, otherwise if you have to reinstall Windows for some reason or another, any of your EFS data won't be usable until you first import your EFS Certificates and Private Key. Since I am the only user of this system, I know if I'm going to do something risky (like allowing the latest Windows updates to be installed) I run an immediate backup beforehand. In any event I run an immediate backup every 2 or 3 days or more often if I've changed a lot. For my daily or multiple-daily backups for commonly changed data such as my Quicken files and C and C++ source code I use something I used before I bought Retrospect. I have a batch file that invokes PKZIPC (Command Line PKZIP) with an Include List that specifies the directories I want to back up. This runs in about 30 seconds versus about 10 minutes to run the Retrospect Normal/Incremental backup. I tried to set up Retrospect for doing this to a separate Backup Set, but I met my match in trying to set up a Retrospect Selector that wasn't going to be hundreds of lines long, so I continued using my old method. The most important thing for any backup/recovery scheme is to make sure it works and you can do a successful recovery if necessary. Carl Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Have you considered changing where the catalog is stored, to some place other than the default location? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BitPusher Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hi rhwalker, Since you "Re: BitPusher" I assume you were replying to me and not Ken C. The location of my Retrospect catalog files has never been anywhere in the "My Documents" directory tree. In fact, the location where Retrospect saves them and the copies I make are each on separate physical hard drives. In Ken's OP he said his catalog files were in "My Documents". He didn't say whether or not he was using EFS, but if he is, the "My Documents" directory tree structure is included in the "Tips for Implementing EFS" in the Windows XP Professional Resource Kit book, so I was just pointing out something for him to consider if he is using EFS and if "My Documents" was EFS encrypted. Carl Johnson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhwalker Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Quote: Since you "Re: BitPusher" I assume you were replying to me and not Ken C. Sorry, I just hit the "Reply" button to the last post. I meant to reply to Ken C. My apology. Another senior moment.... Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cprstn54 Posted February 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Hi, Carl. The light just went on: All I need to do is schedule a separate script (Duplicate -- for the catalog folder/subvolume) to run a few minutes after the Backup script is scheduled for. Because I have the parameters set to allow only one execution at a time, the Duplicate will run after the Backup and should do the job. Thanks. Ken C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gosub Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Hi Ken, I realize I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but as mentioned above, regardless of whether you backup to disk or tape, it's very simple to tell Retrospect to automatically store the catalog file wherever you want. That way you don't have to bother with setting up a second script to duplicate the catalog file. I backup my data to an external drive and store the catalog right there on the same drive. Piece of cake. You specify where to store the catalog file during the backup set creation process. Here's a screenshot from Retrospect Pro v7.0... Hope this helps! -Stever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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