So...How many backups are enough?

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1

So…How many back ups are enough?

 

I have gone a bit crazy with backup jobs and would appreciate comments on how many backups are too many.

 

I have two external Seagate GoFlex Desk 2 TB Stac2000106 USB: Drive I and Drive J.

 

The screen shot shows 3 jobs.

 

From screen shot Backup line 1:

 

Drive I backs up my C:\ drive as a "recovery point set." The "limit the number of recovery points saved for this backup"   at 3. I have set up recovery point for weekly and the days Sun through Sat. Do I need to “Verify recovery points after creation?

 

 

Drive J backs up my I drive as an offsite. I have read pages 81 to 84 of Ghost 15 manual and this offsite feature is very cool maybe even beyond cool. The manual suggests using two external drives as "offsite" so it looks to me that I  should have 3 external drives. Let's use a different drive assignment for this example:

 

      The primary backup drive A (in my case external) that stays with the PC.

      Drive B and Drive C as offsite for Drive A.  Drive B and C  would take their turns at the offsite location.

 

Per screen shot I have also set up back up jobs (2) and (3) that run an "independent recovery point."

 

Do I need to keep the independent recovery points in job 2 and 3?

 

Is the backup job line 1 adequate?

 

What is the comfort level for one backup job only? 

 

I know this is not NASA but would like as much protection from data loss as is practical.

 

Thanks very much.

:smileyhappy:

BobNortonGhostBackUpJobs112911.png

 

 

2

I back up to an external drive twice a week now that I'm not keeping financial records on the system. A new set each month and all verified after backup. The drive is big enough for me to keep the two pervious months while generating the third. When it is complete then the oldest is deleted.

3

RedK and Dick

 

Thanks for the tip on verify. I have changed all backup jobs to include verify.

 

I have decided to go with another external HD (EHD)  where I will have a total of  3 EHDs.  My internal drives are a RAID 1 (mirror) so I have no backup drive options internally. I have nicknamed my drives A, B and C.  Drive A will be the primary  EHD and remain with the PC and  Drives B and C would take their turns at an offsite location. I will back up A  with a weekly recovery point set with daily incremental and  with offsite enabled for B and C.  These drives are all Seagate GoFlex 2TB Stac2000106 USB 3.0. I have one on order and the other two are working fine.

 

I have also set up  backup job for A only as an "independent recovery point" with offsite disabled.

 

So to sum up for Ghost: Two backup jobs with the bonus of offsite storage. smileyvery-happy:

 

I also have Mozy Pro  and Maxtor files and folders. I will soon retire MP in favor of Jungle Disk as I understand that JD archives and MP does not archive.

 

My next step is set up several test files on C:\, back them up, then delete on C:\ and restore from Ghost.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Bob

 

XP3

 

 

 

4

You may want to practice a restore with the USB 3 drive. WinPE 2.1 (Ghost SRD) doesn't support USB 3, so it will have to be used in USB 2 mode.

5

Hi Bob,

Sounds like you have a good plan. On-site and off-site backups can eliminate a lot of heartache when something happens.

You didn't mention having the system on a UPS but I would also recommend that. It prevents sudden shutdowns which can corrupt data and destroy hardware. Mine at home has saved me several times this year alone. It's not very big but it allows me to shut down correctly.

Stay well and surf safe

6

Before you restore anything, you may want to post an image here of disk management.

If your using windows 7 you may have a hidden SRP partition that is the active partition containing the boot files.

 

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port.

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

Dave

7

Hi Dick:

 

Yes I have an APC SmartUPS 1500. I think we could cook eggs with this monster.

 

I even have an APC connected to my flat screen. Love the folks at APC.

 

Thanks for the follow up.

 

Cheers.

 

Bob

8

Hi Redk and DaveH:

 

Fortunately my 2009 Dell Precision 3400 has only USB 2 with XP3.

 

I had thought of upgrading to 3.0 but after both of your comments I will stand down. The backup times for my 61GB drive C:\ are reasonable.

 

I will copy your comments as part of my restore to do list.

 

Thanks a bunch.

 

Bob

9
johnsoncpa wrote:

Hi Dick:

 

Yes I have an APC SmartUPS 1500. I think we could cook eggs with this monster.

 

I even have an APC connected to my flat screen. Love the folks at APC.

 

Thanks for the follow up.

 

Cheers.

 

Bob

Hi Bob,

That covers the bases I was concerned about. Try not to connect a printer, especially a laser, to one of those UPS systems. They will go dead in short order. Besides, you don't really need a printer under those circumstances. :smileywink:

10

So…How many back ups are enough?

 

I have gone a bit crazy with backup jobs and would appreciate comments on how many backups are too many.

 

I have two external Seagate GoFlex Desk 2 TB Stac2000106 USB: Drive I and Drive J.

 

The screen shot shows 3 jobs.

 

From screen shot Backup line 1:

 

Drive I backs up my C:\ drive as a "recovery point set." The "limit the number of recovery points saved for this backup"   at 3. I have set up recovery point for weekly and the days Sun through Sat. Do I need to “Verify recovery points after creation?

 

 

Drive J backs up my I drive as an offsite. I have read pages 81 to 84 of Ghost 15 manual and this offsite feature is very cool maybe even beyond cool. The manual suggests using two external drives as "offsite" so it looks to me that I  should have 3 external drives. Let's use a different drive assignment for this example:

 

      The primary backup drive A (in my case external) that stays with the PC.

      Drive B and Drive C as offsite for Drive A.  Drive B and C  would take their turns at the offsite location.

 

Per screen shot I have also set up back up jobs (2) and (3) that run an "independent recovery point."

 

Do I need to keep the independent recovery points in job 2 and 3?

 

Is the backup job line 1 adequate?

 

What is the comfort level for one backup job only? 

 

I know this is not NASA but would like as much protection from data loss as is practical.

 

Thanks very much.

:smileyhappy:

BobNortonGhostBackUpJobs112911.png

 

 

11

DavidH and Red

 

Please excuse the structure. I pasted from Windows and some sentences did not break as they should.

 

I have slogged through the user guide and am ready to follow up on my 11/30/2011 post. Two drive based backups (diskimage) jobs are working fine: A recovery point set and an independent recovery point. As previously mentioned, I have 3external hard drives: A, B and C where A stays with the system and B and C take their turns as offsites. I do not use file and folder recovery.

 

Here is my latest mission from previous post 11/30/11: Test Recovery of files: My next step is delete several test files on C:\, and restore with Ghost.

 

Additional thoughts as of today: Am I correct to assume that testing an image restore is not possible? I guess the best I can do is make sure all of the points here are cleared and hope the image restore works. Make sense? If there is anything else I can do to insure a successful image restore, please let me know. 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

DavidH and Red wrote 11/30/11:

Before you restore anything, you may want to post an image here of disk management.

If your using windows 7 you may have a hidden SRP partition that is the active partition containing the boot files. (I use XP3).

 

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk (SRD) and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port. (USB 3 is  2 compatible)

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

Some follow up questions:

1....you may want to post an image here of disk management.

Can you elaborate?

 

2. The restore section of the user's guide (page 130...) refers to using windows explorer and  the recovery point browser(RPB).

To sum up then: windows explorer  lets you view the contents of a recovery point and RPB lets you restore a file or folder or an image?

 

3. Looks like the Google search engine lets you search a RP for a file or folder? Yes?

 

4. Users guide p. 178 Recovering a computer. I am curious to understand how Ghost can restore a computer from an incremental recovery point? If the IRP is only a current part of the base image how does Ghost restore the full image? Does Ghost work through all IRPs back to base and retain the most recent files? This would be helpful to know.

 

5. I will test the SRD (this would be the second test) as recommended by Red above and validate the drivers.

 

That should do it for now.

 

If I am missing anything please let me know.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Bob

 

System:

29 January 2009

Dell Precision T3400 Convertible MiniTower
Processor Q6600, 2.40GHz 1066, 2X4MB L2, 525W Bios A11 (updated to latest version 8/22/11)

Windows XP PRO SP3 OS Repair run starting 8/14/11 3x - MS update did not work 2 xs and froze mouse and keyboard.  MS Update successful 9/13/11 with help from Nick - Dell and Gordon Lou - Microsoft. Third time must be the charm. MSupdate run with Norton AV OFF and excluding updates NOT approved by Susan Bradley of Windows Secrets Newsletters8/25/11.

Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration with 1394 Card, Dell Precision T3400

4GB, 667MHz, DDR2 ECC SDRAM Memory, 2X2GB16XDVD AND 16XDVD+/-RW, Data Only

Dual Nvidia Quadro FX1700 512MB dual DVI Graphics Card

C7, ALL SATA, RAID 1 for 2 Hard Drives (Drive 2 Mirror)

Dual Hitachi 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache

Quad Monitors:

Dual Dell UltraSharp 1908FP Flat Panel 19.0

Dual Dell UltraSharp 2408 WFP Flat Panel 24.0  

HP: All in One Printer Expected service date 2/15/11

0590226                LaserJet M2727nf

                                CB532A#ABA

6916260                HP 250-Sheet Tray for LJ3390 AIO

                                Q7556A

Maxtor One Touch III external hard drive

GoFlex Desk 10/23/11

Drive A

Drive I:\

Seagate GoFlex 2TB Stac2000106 USB 3.0

SN: NA0LBPER

PN: 9ZQ2P5-500 2 TB

 

GoFlex Desk 10/23/11

Drive B

Drive J:\

Seagate GoFlex 2 TB Stac2000106 USB 3.0

SN: NA0LAFHV

PN: 9ZQ2P5-500 2TB

 

Amazon Drive C

GoFlex Desk 11/30/11

Drive C

Seagate GoFlex 2 TB Stac2000106 USB 3.0

SN: NA0LPSW0

PN: 9ZQ2P5-500 2TB

Model 90884

S/N 90884-2031664

Dymo Labelwriter 330 Turbo. Model 90884

Dymo by Pelouze 10# USB Scale Model 40158

Harmon Kardon speakers 695 – resurrected from Dimension 8200 after Logitech Z4 speaker right channel stopped working.Logitech Z4 is a POS.

Logitech m705 Marathon wireless laser mouse

APC: 120 V Smart-UPS 980 Watt - 1500VA USB and Serial UPS

Linksys router: WRT54G
Vonage: Motorola Adapter (2)

Microsoft LifeCam Cinema Model 1393  Three year warranty for 5/26/11

H5D-00001

SN 0204501045360

12
johnsoncpa wrote:

DavidH and Red

 

Please excuse the structure. I pasted from Windows and some sentences did not break as they should.

 

I have slogged through the user guide and am ready to follow up on my 11/30/2011 post. Two drive based backups (diskimage) jobs are working fine: A recovery point set and an independent recovery point. As previously mentioned, I have 3external hard drives: A, B and C where A stays with the system and B and C take their turns as offsites. I do not use file and folder recovery.

 

Here is my latest mission from previous post 11/30/11: Test Recovery of files: My next step is delete several test files on C:\, and restore with Ghost.

 

Additional thoughts as of today: Am I correct to assume that testing an image restore is not possible?

If you have a spare hard drive to test with, you could do a test restore. Other wise you would have to wipe out the current drive.

 

 I guess the best I can do is make sure all of the points here are cleared and hope the image restore works. Make sense? If there is anything else I can do to insure a successful image restore, please let me know. 

 

Just make sure you verify your image files.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

DavidH and Red wrote 11/30/11:

Before you restore anything, you may want to post an image here of disk management.

If your using windows 7 you may have a hidden SRP partition that is the active partition containing the boot files. (I use XP3).

 

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk (SRD) and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port. (USB 3 is  2 compatible)

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

Some follow up questions:

1....you may want to post an image here of disk management.

Can you elaborate?

 

Someone wanted to see the partitions on your hard drive.

 

2. The restore section of the user's guide (page 130...) refers to using windows explorer and  the recovery point browser(RPB).

To sum up then: windows explorer  lets you view the contents of a recovery point and RPB lets you restore a file or folder or an image?

 

Use Windows Explorer to browse to the backup file (.v2i or .iv2i). Double clicking should open the image in RPB. You can restore single files or folders using RPB. You can also mount the image as a drive letter and copy the files using Windows Explorer.

 

3. Looks like the Google search engine lets you search a RP for a file or folder? Yes?

 

Google Desktop is discontinued. Just Mount the image as a drive letter and search using Windows Explorer.

 

4. Users guide p. 178 Recovering a computer. I am curious to understand how Ghost can restore a computer from an incremental recovery point? If the IRP is only a current part of the base image how does Ghost restore the full image? Does Ghost work through all IRPs back to base and retain the most recent files? This would be helpful to know.

 

Incremental Recovery Points need every previous .iv2i and .v2i file in the chain to work. Ghost takes care of putting the stuff together, but all of the files must exist.

 

5. I will test the SRD (this would be the second test) as recommended by Red above and validate the drivers.

 

That should do it for now.

 

If I am missing anything please let me know.

 

Thanks very much.

 

Bob

 

13

Hi Red:

 

I will be working  on the final touches on Ghost this weekend and let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks very much. You have been a big help.

 

Bob

14

Hi David:

 

DavidH said:

 

Before you restore anything, you may want to post an image here of disk management.

If your using windows 7 you may have a hidden SRP partition that is the active partition containing the boot files. (I use XP3).

 

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk (SRD) and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port. (USB 3 is  2 compatible)

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

Some follow up questions:

1....you may want to post an image here of disk management.

Can you elaborate and let me know how to do 1. above.

 

Thanks very much for your help.

 

Bob

 

 

 

15

Start > Run > Type diskmgmt.msc [enter]. With a view of the disk you are backing up, hit SHIFT+PRT SCR. This copies the current window to the clipboard. Paste the image from the clipboard in MS Paint and save as .png or .jpg and use the button that looks like a tree (imageuploader.gif) to insert the image into a post.

16

Hi redk

 

Thanks for taking over for DavidH and your 2 posts of 1/24. I appreciate your help very much. Norton should put you on the payroll.

 

DavidH and Red wrote 11/30/11:

Before you restore anything, you may want to post an image here of disk management.

If your using windows 7 you may have a hidden SRP partition that is the active partition containing the boot files. (I use XP3).

 

So here is image of disk management below thanks to your instructions in your last post. 

 

JohnsoncpaDiskMgmt02012012.PNG

 

The status is cut off and reads: FAT: Healthy (EISA Configuration) and Badboy NTFS Healthy (System). The last column is cut off and is Overhead with all 0%. 

 

FYI I also have a drive (M:) that is offsite and not connected. My drive nicknames are A =(I:) Stays with PC and  offsites B =(J:) and C = (M:). (F:) is a Maxtor drive with a separate file and folder backup not part of Ghost. Belt and suspenders.

 

 

Everything ok with image of disk managment?

 

red said: 

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk (SRD) and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port. (Bob comment: FreeAgent GoFlex drives are USB 3 and USB 2 compatible and are working fine.)

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

red says:

Use Windows Explorer to browse to the backup file (.v2i or .iv2i). Double clicking should open the image in RPB. You can restore single files or folders using RPB. You can also mount the image as a drive letter and copy the files using Windows Explorer.

 

 

Final Ghost testing - Anything else you can think of? I will hold off the items below until I get your response to this post.

 

I have been using the original Ghost program disk as SRD. From page 29 of the users guide it looks like I need to create a "custom SRD'" so that will be my first step.

 

I am going to test the new custom Symantec Recovery Disk  per Chapter 3 of User guide and your instructions above. I will test the Run Driver Validation tool as recommended in Chapter 3 page 27. Once I am comfortable that I can get around in the SRD I will delete some test files from C and recover through the custom SRD and RPB. 

 

Give me a shout if I am missing anything.

 

 

Thanks very much!

 

Bob

 

:smileywink:

 

 

 

 

 

 

17

If the normal SRD works for you, there is no reason to create a Custom SRD. If you ever decide to do Cold Backups, it would be worth making a custom SRD that contains your serial number so you do not have to type it in every time.

18

Thanks.

19

Test of Symantec Custom Recovery Disk: Drives on PC labeled (I:\  J:\ and M:\) -  why are they different on SRD? 

 

DaveH wrote:

As Red suggested, you should also boot to the recovery disk and verify that it can access both your RAID drives and your external drive.  Your external drive may need to be plugged into a USB2 port.

 

When you boot to the recovery disk, click Analyze > Explorer my computer and make sure you can browse both internal and external drives.

 

Dave

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

When I analyze>Explorer from the SRD my drives on  PC (I:\  J:\ and M:\) show up on the SRD as F:\  H:\ and I:\. 

 

In Ghost I have nicknamed I:\  "A",     J:\ "B"  and  M:\  "C" and  that's how I view them through the Ghost GUI. The page 43 instructions say:

 

  1. To help you manage these destinations, Norton Ghost lets you assign a nickname to each external drive. Doing so does not change the drive label, but is for use only when you are accessing those drives from within Ghost.  
  2. See screen shot below. 

 

Question: As noted above:  Why are SRD drive letters different from drive letters compared to Ghost GUI? The SRD does not show nicknames or if it does I cannot find them. I cannot show a screen shot of the SRD drive assignments but they are exactly as noted above  --- on the SRD as F:\  H:\ and I:\ and on the Ghost GUI  and Explorer as (I:\  J:\ and M:\). See second screen shot below of my PC explorer.

 

Anyone have any thoughts? 

 

This is very confusing. :smileysad:

 

Thanks.

 

Bob

GhostExternalDriveNicknames02032012.PNG 

 

 

PCExplorerDriveAssignments020312.PNG

20
johnsoncpa wrote:Question:
As noted above:  Why are SRD drive letters different from drive letters compared to Ghost GUI? The SRD does not show nicknames or if it does I cannot find them. I cannot show a screen shot of the SRD drive assignments but they are exactly as noted above  ---on the SRD as F:\  H:\ and I:\ and on the Ghost GUI  and Explorer as (I:\  J:\ and M:\). See second screen shot below of my PC explorer.

In Windows, drive letters are controlled by the Windows Registry. While booted in the SRD, you are no longer in Windows or using the Windows Registry, so drive letters may be assigned differently in the recovery environment. This is only temporary, and once you reboot back into Windows, the drive letter will be as they were.

 

(If you were ever in a situation where drives were assigned different drive letters by Windows after a restore, it is fairly simple to go into Windows Disk Manangement and re-assign drive letters. To open, click Start  > "RUN..." and type diskmgmt.msc and press [ENTER].