[comp.sys.amiga] Backup Program Reccomendation

pv_troia@jhunix (Paolo V Troia-Cancio) (12/12/89)

	Now that I finally got my hard drive I was wondering if there are
any good PD backup programs available. I've heard rumors that some people
have had problems with some of the programs. If anyone is using any such
program with success (i.e. no loss of data on the drive) I would like to
hear about it. Any other suggestions (e.g. commercial programs)
will be appreciated, too.

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Paolo V. Troia                          BITNET: pv_troia@jhuvms.bitnet
The Johns Hopkins University, MD        Phone:  (301)889-8613
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sjk@ut-emx.UUCP (bob) (12/13/89)

I  just tried to use the latest posted version of MRBackup to
backup my three partitions on my Q80. It didn't make it through any
of them sucessfully.  It crashed often; I could not figure out why,
and it came up with an error it couldn't explain often. This error
I think arose when it compressed a file that got bigger after
compression. It would report that fact, then try to write it anyway
and come up with an error.  No clue what it was.
In short, it seemed very flakey which surprised me greatly as I
have heard good things about it.  Did I miss something, or are
there really some problems with it?

Now, I'm left with an un-backupped disk, and the prosepect of
shelling out $50 for Quarterback or something. Although I'd gladly
fork out a few hundred for a tape unit, if there were existing
drivers and software. Why can't I just buy a SCSI tape unit, plug
it in and say backup dh0: to tp0: ?
Then again, why can't dos recognize that I meant delete when I type
in delere or somethig similar?  |- >

Has anybody had better luck with this program? If so, can you shed
some light on what I did wrong?

Thanks

Scot
sjk@astro.as.utexas.edu

B-dah! M

hcmutt@hpcll31.HP.COM (Harry Muttart) (12/14/89)

I have tried a variety of PD backup programs...each demonstrated intermittant
crashes.  It would usually take 2-3 tries to back up a single volume.  I
remember trying MRBackup, SDbackup, and the alpha version that Fred Fish 
provided.  I also tried a "cheepo" near-commercial quality :^) backup utility
called Star Backup, or something.  With my disk and partitioning, the results
were the equivalent of using the PD backups.

I recently purchased Quarterback.  This has been a whole different story!  I
was able to back-up all three partitions without a single hiccup.  The
interface is very strightforward.  Selective store and restore of files is
easy!  I would recommend it.

halo@cognos.UUCP (Hal O'Connell) (12/17/89)

In article <22300@ut-emx.UUCP> sjk@ut-emx.UUCP (bob) writes:
>
>I  just tried to use the latest posted version of MRBackup to
>backup my three partitions on my Q80. It didn't make it through any
>of them sucessfully.  

I gave up on MRBackup due to speed and reliability. It has some good
features and a reasonable interface, but it was taking almost five hours
to backup 20 megs (about half of my hard drive is in use), and it
locked up once in a while.

I've said this before, if you have to go with PD software, or you
are downright cheap, the most reliable and fastest backup software
that comes free is Matt Dillon's Backup program. It came in the DNET
package. Strictly CLI, and the interface will make a Unix wizard
smile, but it is fast, reliable and well documented. It backs up
20 megs in around 2 and 1/2 hours.

Mind you, I got this copy before Matt started thinking about going
commercial :-)

And most of my friends do swear by Quarterback...


-- 
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