WinRescue Help - Backup Properties

Backup Properties - this page has five tabs of its own and a dropdown box at the top. Select which Config you want to setup or change and then go through the tabs at the bottom. If you don't like the names, Config 1, Config 2, etc., you can change these by typing a new name in the dropdown box (10 letter limit).

Next to the dropdown box showing the Config names is a button that says, "Display Config Settings". When you click on this button, a list of all of the settings for the current Config will be printed up and displayed in a Notepad window. You can then save or print out this information.

Incremental Backup - backs up only the files that have changed since the last Full or Incremental backup. If Incremental Backup is checked, WinRescue will check the archive attribute of each file (excluding the registry files and WinConfig files) and see if it is on. If it is, it backs up the file and turns it off. If it isn't, the file is skipped. The archive attribute file remains off until the file is changed. So only the files that have changed are backed up.

If you use Incremental Backups, you should first make a Full Backup. Then if you are limiting the number of backups, when the Full Backup is deleted, you should make another Full Backup.

Differential Backup - backs up only the files that have changed since the last Full backup. If Differential Backup is checked, WinRescue will check the archive attribute of each file (excluding the registry files and WinConfig files) and see if it is on. If it is, it backs up the file but unlike Incremental the archive bit is not turned off. This means that when two differential backups are done in a row, the second backup will include all of the files that are in the first differential backup plus any other files that have changed. When restoring you only have to restore the latest Full Backup and the latest Differential Backup.

If you use Differential Backups, you should first make a Full Backup. Then if you are limiting the number of backups, when the Full Backup is deleted, you should make another Full Backup.

Replace Files - replaces files that have changed with the newer files. If Replace Files is selected, during Backup, WinRescue will go through the list of files, check a file in the backup and see if it is different, if it is, it replaces it, if not, it leaves the old file.

Full (Archive not reset) Backup - backs up all files in the list (just like the Full Backup), but the Archive attribute is not reset. This is for programs like Quicken which do not like the Archive attribute changed on their files. Incremental and Differential Backups will not work in conjunction with this option.

Target - tells where to put the Backup. Use the ... button to find a location. If the Target points to the hard drive, when a backup is produced, a subdirectory will be produced in the Target and the backup files will be added to the subdirectory. Any drives that are set up in Windows as drives are accessible, for example, A:\ diskette, C:\ harddrive, D:\ 2nd harddrive, E:\ CD, F:\ Zip drive, G:\ Jaz drive, H:\ Network drive.

Compression Level - the following choices are given: Do Not Compress, Low/Fast Compression, Medium Compression, High/Slow Compression, Higher/Slower Compression, Highest/Slowest Compression. Some of the higher settings will not produce much smaller files, but will take longer.

Verify Backup - if you check this checkbox, Backup will take an extra step and go back to the Backup after it is produced and check it. This will take a little longer than if you don't verify it. If the Backup is bad, a dialog box will be displayed after Backup listing the bad file. There should be no problem with not checking this checkbox, but if you do check it, you will have the added assurance that everything is good.

WinFiles - this page has a list of files to backup. You can check or uncheck each item. The word in parenthesis, WinConfig or User Profile, tells what group the files belong in for Restoring. Below are a list of each of the files and a short description.

Registry - system.dat (Win95/98/ME), user.dat (Win95/98/ME), classes.dat (WinME), five main keys of the registry (WinXP/2000/NT), files of multiple users, system.ini, and win.ini.

config.sys (Win95/98/ME - WinConfig) - bootup file for DOS for backwards compatibility only. If you have only had a later version of Win98 or WinME on your computer, it is highly likely that you will not have autoexec.bat or config.sys on your computer.

dosstart.bat (Win95/98/ME - WinConfig) - something like, autoexec.bat, but it is only activated when DOS is run from Windows. Sometimes this file does not exist. If you get an error message saying that this file could not be copied, it is probably because it does not exist on your computer. This error message does not harm the backup, but it is recommended that you uncheck this file from the WinFiles list, so that you will not get the error message.

bootfont.bin (WinXP/2000/NT - WinConfig) - used to provide non-English languages during boot up of WinXP (not on most computers). If you get an error message saying that this file could not be copied, it is probably because it does not exist on your computer. This error message does not harm the backup, but it is recommended that you uncheck this file from the WinFiles list, so that you will not get the error message.

ntbootdd.sys (WinXP/2000/NT - WinConfig) - used to boot up WinXP on a SCSI disk (not on most computers). If you get an error message saying that this file could not be copied, it is probably because it does not exist on your computer. This error message does not harm the backup, but it is recommended that you uncheck this file from the WinFiles list, so that you will not get the error message.

bootsect.dos (WinXP/2000/NT - WinConfig) - used to boot up other operating systems other than WinXP/2000/NT, like, DOS or other Windows (not on most computers). If you get an error message saying that this file could not be copied, it is probably because it does not exist on your computer. This error message does not harm the backup, but it is recommended that you uncheck this file from the WinFiles list, so that you will not get the error message.

Application Data (User Profile) - files and shortcuts in the Application Data subdirectory of the Windows directory and the Users' directories. These are put in appdata.zip.

Desktop (User Profile) - files and shortcuts in the Desktop subdirectory of the Windows directory and the Users' directories. These appear on the desktop too. These are put in desktop.zip.

IECache (User Profile) - files in the Temporary Internet Files subdirectory of the Windows directory. These are sites and images that are accessed by the Internet Explorer while browsing. They are kept temporarily on your harddrive for offline browsing. These are put in iecache.zip.

Print Hood (WinXP/2000/NT - User Profile) - files and shortcuts in the Printhood subdirectory of the Windows directory and the Users' directory. These are put in printhood.zip.

The Entire Drive button is for backing up all of the files on a drive. When clicked, a popup menu appears showing the available drives. Select one and it will be added to the listbox as "All Files on Drive X" (where X is the drive letter). If this item is checked, when a Backup is done, each of the top level directories on that drive will be backed up into separate zip files. This avoids problems with memory and backup files that are too big for Windows.

Which Registry to Backup (Win95 only) - Windows95 keeps two Registries: the previous Registry and the current Registry.
The current Registry choice is provided for those who like to live dangerously. Windows is constantly consulting and changing the current Registry. If Windows consults it while you are backing it up, your backup will be bad. You will only find out that it is bad when you try to restore from it and it doesn't work. So my advice to you is to backup the previous Registry or at least have a few on hand.
The previous Registry will not have any changes that have been made since Windows was started. If you are using this option and you want to save current changes, restart Windows95 first and then do a backup.

Minimize during Backup - if this is checked WinRescue is minimized to the taskbar during Backup. No progress bar is shown. While it is minimized, you can click on it to restore it to its normal size.

Delete all Files on Diskette before Backup - if this is checked all of the files in the Target directory (if any) will be deleted before performing Backup. This option only works with diskettes and removeable disks.

Treat Removable Disk as Fixed Disk - when this is checked during Backups a new subdirectory is assigned to the Target directory. The Backup goes in this new subdirectory and it is included in the limited number of the Backup Manager.

Use CD Packet Format - older versions of WinRescue would only back up to CD with the use of DirectCD or PacketCD. Now WinRescue does not need these. There are certain advantages to using DirectCD and PacketCD (there is not a limit to the length of filenames in Uncompressed mode and the Backup file index is put on the first disk in Compressed mode), but there are also disadvantages (it takes longer to format a CD, sometimes DirectCD doesn't work properly). If you would still like to use DirectCD or PacketCD, check this checkbox. Otherwise, leave it unchecked.

Password - if anything is entered in the Password text box during Backup all files will be encrypted with that password and during Restore all files will be extracted with that password. For security reasons, the password is not saved by WinRescue. You must reenter it each time you start WinRescue. If you make a Backup with a password and then wish to Restore without a password (or vice versa), you must be sure to remove the password before Restoring.

Save Large Files in Blocks of - when checked WinRescue will divide up the large backup files into smaller files the size specified in the text box. This is good for backing up a harddrive to CD, if your CD doesn't support backing up directly to the CD. WinRescue will keep track of the size of files already backed up (if you are creating more than one backup file) and subtract this from the size of the first block. The blocks will have extensions starting at .001 and going up, as in, .002, .003, and so forth. Once the backup is finished, you can then copy *.001 and any files created before this file to the first CD. Be sure to include the *.zfc file so that WinRescue can read the contents of the first block, otherwise you will need to start restoring with the last block. You would then copy the *.002 file to the second CD and so forth.

No Non-WinRescue CDs - if this is checked WinRescue will check the name of the CD in the CD drive before doing a backup and make sure that the name is WinRescue or it is blank. This protects you from accidently backing up to the wrong CD. This only works if you are backing up to a CD. If a Non-WinRescue CD is detected, you will be asked to insert a WinRescue CD (you can also insert a new or formatted CD). Click on OK after you insert another CD or click on Cancel to end the backup.

If the CD that you want to back up to has a different name and you want to use this feature, you can format the CD using the CD Format section and it will erase the CD name. When WinRescue puts backups on the CD, the CD will be named WinRescue.

Always Blank CDs - if this is checked WinRescue will assume that the CD is completely empty when it writes to it. This means that the CD has not ever been written to or if it has been written to, that it has been formatted since then. If this checkbox is not enabled, the Target is not a CD drive or you are using CD Packet Format. In both of these cases, this checkbox is not needed.

The reason for this checkbox is that sometimes WinRescue does not read the available free space on the CD correctly (especially on CD/R discs) and so only a fraction of the CD is used during Backup. If this is what happens to you, try checking this checkbox. It will cause WinRescue to assume that the amount of free space is the size of the CD.

Eject CD - if this is checked WinRescue will eject the CD after it has been used. If this is not checked, you will have to press the Eject button on the CD drive to get the CD out. This checkbox was added because some people want the CD to come out when WinRescue is finished with it, while others do not want to be bothered by the CD drawer opening.