Fast, Easy Backups
For Win98 / ME / NT / 2K / XP
Copyright © 1997-2005 Fred Langa/ Langa Consulting LLC. All worldwide rights reserved.
5) TRADITIONAL BACKUPS
Traditional backup programs use something called an “archive bit” to determine if a file needs to be backed up (“archived”): Every file on your system carries a kind of digital flag that the operating system sets when the file is first created. This flag says, in effect, “I need to be backed up.” A traditional backup program looks for files with this flag, backs them up, and then turns off the bit so the flag now says “I don’t need to be backed up.” This way, the backup program will skip that file the next time.
But if you alter the file in any way, the operating system re-sets the archive bit to once again say “I need to be backed up again.” The backup program then knows to grab that file during the next backup.
Sounds great--- and it can indeed work fine. But there are problems, as explained in detail in http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-11-26.htm#3 , http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-12-03.htm#1 and the other references at the start of this article.
There’s a better way; it involves a little more work up front, but pays off forever, once it’s done.
Next: A MORE RATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR YOUR FILES
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