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Backing up using a batch file?

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GregorBerry

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Trooper

Joined: Dec 30, 2004
Posts: 33
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:15 pm Post subject: Backing up using a batch file?

I've been looking for a way to back up files which have been altered since my last backup to my external hard drive for a while, and came across the suggestion of using a batch file. I found the following sample code:

Quote:

"backup.bat" @echo off set drive=e:\Backup set backupcmd=xcopy /s /c /d /e /h /i /r /k /y echo ### Backing up My Documents... %backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "%drive%\My Documents" echo Backup Complete! @pause

I'm not familiar with batch file syntax, and obviously I need to customize the above code to suit my specific needs. Could someone give me some help doing this?

Apologies if this isn't the right forum for this, but it was the closest fit I could find.

Mister2

SRT Team Lead

Premium Member

Joined: Oct 28, 2004
Posts: 7326

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:34 pm Post subject:

Hi GregorBerry,

Ah, the good old days of DOS! Laughing

Copy the text in the box below into Notepad, go to File, Save, change the file type to All Files and Save as MyBackup.bat (or whatever you want to call it with the .bat extension) to your desktop.

Code:

xcopy /m /e /y "%userprofile%\My Documents\*.*" e:\Backup\
pause

I have assumed you will backup to a folder named Backup on your external drive. Change this to whatever you like, but if more than 8 characters or if it contains a space then enclose it in double quotes - "e:\My Backup Files\"

The first time you run the program it will probably copy all the contents of your My Documents folder. Subsequent runs will copy only changed files.

/m specifies only files that have changed
/e makes sure subdirectories are included
/y suppresses the prompt to overwrite an older file

That is how I used to copy files over from an old laptop at work and it did the trick. Smile

_________________
Never stop learning

k027

Special Response Team
Guest Forums Host

Joined: Aug 25, 2003
Posts: 8479

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:40 pm Post subject:

Quote:

I'm not familiar with batch file syntax

See this:

http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm

GregorBerry

Trooper
Trooper

Joined: Dec 30, 2004
Posts: 33
Location: UK

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 5:35 pm Post subject:

Thank you both very much for the replies.

Mister2 - with the help of your reply and a few related things I managed to find, I created the following batch file:

Quote:

@echo off
set drive="F:\My PC Backup"
set backupcmd=xcopy /s /c /d /e /h /i /r /k /y

echo ### Backing up Desktop...
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Desktop" "%drive%\Desktop"

echo ### Backing up Firefox Profiles...
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox" "%drive%\Firefox"

echo ### Backing up My Documents...
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\My Documents" "%drive%\My Documents"

echo ### Backing up email and address book (Outlook Express)...
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book" "%drive%\Address Book"
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities" "%drive%\Outlook Express"

echo ### Backing up Start Menu...
%backupcmd% "%USERPROFILE%\Start Menu" "%drive%\Start Menu"
%backupcmd% "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu" "%drive%\Start Menu"

echo Backup Complete!
@pause

A bit of testing reveals a slight problem with this. It works perfectly, provided that in the second line the variable 'drive' has no spaces in it. So, for example,

Quote:

set drive="F:\Backup"

works, but

Quote:

set drive="F:\My PC Backup"

does not, even though the path is in double quotes. Can you see where the problem is?

PapaDos

Lieutenant

Premium Member

Joined: Mar 20, 2004
Posts: 224
Location: Canada

Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 10:58 pm Post subject:

Don't use quotes in your SET command... And be careful not to put any spaces at the end of the line... _________________ Festina Lente

GregorBerry

Trooper
Trooper

Joined: Dec 30, 2004
Posts: 33
Location: UK

Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 11:36 am Post subject:

Thanks, works perfectly now! Should save me a lot of time compared with doing things manually as I have been. Just one final issue. Files which have been deleted from my C drive or even renamed will presumably still be present on my F drive. Is there any easy way to sort this out, other than to periodically delete my backup folder and start fresh?

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