Bit of a "blonde" question I'm afraid

Muppet81

I need to do backups of our folders at work and it takes forever if I use the COPY option.
I presume I want to DRAG and DROP but the folder I want to copy is DOCUMENTS and SETTINGS on the C Drive. Once I go to MY COMPUTER and I open the C Drive to enable me to see th DOCUMENTS and SETTINGS folder, I can no longer see the external D Drive which I want to drag it to.
Can anyone tell me how i do this? I know I'm probably being really thick and it will be obvious once I am told but until then .........duuuuuurrrrrr

Jelly_man

Drag-and-Drop will not be any faster than copying. You can use specialised backup programs to back up the full folder first, then only new files after that. A quick search on Filehippo led me to this program. You can find some reviews of it here

PaulK_3

Open 2 windows, resize them side by side and then right click drag the folder.

msun

For more advanced and automated backup, I can recommend robocopy.exe which is part of the Microsoft Windows resource kit. Robocopy allows you to just copy changed files and folders.

That should substantially speed up the backup process.

Robocopy has a lot of options but is a command line based utility. There is also a GUI interface available for this for those that prefer a graphical interface. Just google search for "robocopy gui".

Cheers from Mike.

spud17

I use this

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx

It has a easy to use setup and can also be used in conjunction with the "scheduled tasks " facility, (I needed a couple of goes to get that right).
Otherwise just do it manually with a couple of clicks.

P.s you need genuine Windows, but it is not as complicated as the MS page appears.

scheming_gypsy

Can believe nobody picked up on this.

if you drag and drop your Documents and Settings folder you're going to have a shock when you try and access anything. Dragging and dropping doesn't copy folders it moves them so you won't have your profile on the computer any more it'll all be on the

Why are you wanting to copy all your documents and settings folder? you'll end up copying everything regardless of if you need it, cookies, temporary internet files etc etc which is why it's taking so long to copy.
You're best moving all files you need into your My documents folder (including email if you use Outlook or Outlook Express as they don't put them there by deault) and copying then contents of that.

scheming_gypsy

msun wrote: »

For more advanced and automated backup, I can recommend robocopy.exe which is part of the Microsoft Windows resource kit. Robocopy allows you to just copy changed files and folders.

standard windows backup allows you to do that on the imcremental backups. How come they're supplying 2 backup options that does the same thing?

LittleVoice

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

Can believe nobody picked up on this.

Dragging and dropping doesn't copy folders it moves them so you won't have your profile on the computer any more it'll all be on the

Surely straight forward drag and drop does copy if you are dragging and dropping to a different drive.

If you want to copy within a drive and still use drag and drop, all you need do is hold control key down while selecting and continue to do so during the drag and drop process.

scheming_gypsy

ooops................ (its been a long hard day)

Muppet81

I'm getting a bit confused now.

I had a recent problem where all e-mails dissapeared and settings as well.

I had been copying specific folders but not the whole of DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS. The techies who sorted the problem suggested that if I had copied the whole of DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS I would have been able to restore these with no problem. They told me to do this in future.

Bit scared now about the DRAG AND DROP idea so will have to just do a COPY and PASTE or a SEND TO to be on the safe side. Trouble is I only work 9 hours a week for this company and this will probably snarl up the PC for a sizable chunk of my time.

Sadly I do not have admin rights to start downloading any of the little bits of software suggested by some of you.

Your help is much appreciated. Thanks :T

bubblesbonbon

There is a little gem that MS brought out with Windows 95 called "Briefcase" and the good news is that it is still available with all other versions including XP (dunno about Vista though)
The idea is that you can create a virtual briefcase on any other fixed/removable drive or computer containing the files you want to transport or back up. The original idea was for when working on files in two locations - say work and home- you could synchronise every time you opened the briefcase and clicked "synchronise". I still use it over a wireless network to back up selected folders & files in My Documents.
If you want to try it, open Windows help (F1 whilst displaying Desktop) and type in "briefcase" in the search option then follow each topic.
Best of luck