Restoring/copying in 5.0.238

[putley165]

Several months ago, I was installing Panther. I had had some problems with Jaguar and an e mail list advised me that whether there were problems or not, it was best to do a clean install of Panther. I wanted to retain the ability to boot in OS 9, so I first installed OS 9, then OS 10.1 (or possibly 10. 2, but not yet 10.3). I then ran Retrospect 5.0.238, I am not sure whether from the disk or from the computer. The Retrospect program said it did not recognize the files on my backup disks, which were stored on two Iomega Peerless drives. The program offered to reformat them and I agreed to do so. I had to restart in order to access the files, and when I did, the computer said it could not read them. Fortunately I had copied my important files onto an Iomega HDD, so I simply reinstalled my software from original disks, and then copied the important files, mostly software upgrades and documents, from the HDD.

 

I can’t recreate the situation because the Peerless drive crashed and is now obsolete and can’t be repurchased.

 

I was so angry about this and about the fact that I could not get a response from Retrospect on its support line that I dropped the whole matter and have simply been copying files instead of using a backup program for the past six months. I paid the money and I didn’t have the files when I needed them. I don’t think I should have to be a computer expert with all the sophistication of those who use this list to do a simple restore or use my backed-up files. I am now asking the question which I should have asked then the because I prefer to keep entire disk backed up.

 

What may have been the problem, and how could I have solved it then? Will I have a similar problem and be throwing away money as before if I upgrade to Retrospect 6.0? Maybe I should forget backup programs, or use the free one that comes with the Iomega HDD.

 

Philip Utley Ph.D.

New York