HK wrote:
JimH wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Jan 10, 8:07 am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD
that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."
Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.

What's next? A treatise on computer science from the ReggieJerk that
summarizes something he read somewhere?

All Herring has to do is CONVERT the drive from FAT32 to NTFS. It is
a simple, straightforward procedure and the data on the drive will
still be there.


This is turning out to be just as funny as the battery charger thread
he started.

BTW: You were spot on regarding conversion of FAT32 to NTFS. Even a
10 year old kid can do it w/o a problem.



It obviously is too complicated a procedure for many of the "computer
experts" here, who suggested he needed a new hard drive, a new computer,
a new operating system, a new hairpiece, new teeth, whatever. Some of
these "computer experts" probably have the same level of "boating
expertise."






It is cute to watch Harry and JimH high fiving each other over this.
The only thing missing is for Don to repeat whatever harry says.

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:24:57 -0600, Scott Sexton wrote:

Scott Sexton
Hobie 16
Mako 21

How old is your Mako?

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 10:24:57 -0600, Scott Sexton wrote:

Backup Backup Backup.....

Once you have backed up the files then you can wither convert it to NTFS
or just reformat it with NTFS using disc manager.

I second the don't use MS-Backup

I just use the following command in a batch file:

xcopy c:\docume~1\sexton\mydocu~1\*.* e:\backup\*.* /d /s /c /f /h /y

where c:\docume~1\sexton\mydocu~1\*.* is the source of my files and e:
\backup\*.* is the destination location. I schedule this to run EVERY
night at 4:00am

for an explaination of the switches /d /s /c /f /h /y run XCOPY /? from
the dos prompt and the help file will show you what they do.

Good luck,

Scott Sexton
Hobie 16
Mako 21

xcopy has a well documented problem resolving short filename aliases
for long file names and long directory names properly. There are free
alternatives that overcome the limitation.

For Harry and JimH:
A short file name alias is the first six characters of a longfilename
with a tilde and a number at the end to make it 8 characters.

Example...

Microsoft Office

becomes:

Micros~1




Salty
becomes
Saltpeter (too much of)


I'm completely unimpressed by your pronouncements here, dipstick. You
remind me of a twerp with a clapped-out 26' sailboat who used to post
here, a guy who actually posted a photo of himself in a tight little
bathing suit.

Forgot the guy's handle, but I'm sure someone here will remember it (and
you).

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:54:37 -0600, Del Cecchi
wrote:

Rather than using backup, can you just copy the files manually using
windows explorer. Or perhaps different backup software?

That was my thought. I have several big drives scattered around my
network and I copy stuff I don't want to lose to them. There are
several copies of things like my MP3s and pictures spinning on oxide
in raw form. Backup files may use less disk space but you need the
matching restore program to retrieve them. The only thing these are
handy for is your system files that don't "copy" well.
Even with that if you are a W/9x person you can get a reasonably good
backup restore using XCOPY/S/H/E/R/C. There is a short file name
problem that could bite you but you need to have done some strange DOS
stuff to have it happen. Your Windows system files will come back
fine.
I am not running XP yet but I have a shrinkwrapped "pro" sitting here
for when I need to. 98SE still seems to be doing fine for what I do.


Hmmm. Have you considered MS DOS 1.1? :}

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:22:28 -0500, HK wrote:

HK wrote:
Vic Smith wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my
documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough
room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is
FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

Don't fool around. Just buy a bigger HD, and format it in NTFS.
Then reformat the other one, and use it too.
Better to have at least 2 backup drives for Murphy Law insurance.

--Vic


I don't usually help idiots because it only encourages them,
but you can easily convert a FAT32 drive to NTFS without a great risk of
losing data.

First, stop the backup. Then:

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click
Command Prompt.

At the command prompt, type the following, where drive letter is the
drive that you want to convert:
convert drive letter: /fs:ntfs
(As an example, type the following command to convert drive E to NTFS:
convert e: /fs:ntfs)

(Note If the operating system is on the drive that you are converting,
you will be prompted to schedule the task when you restart the computer
because the conversion cannot be completed while the operating system is
running. When you are prompted, click YES.)

When you receive the following message at the command prompt, type the
volume label of the drive that you are converting, and then press ENTER:

The type of the file system is FAT.
Enter the current volume label for drive drive letter

When the conversion to NTFS is complete, you receive the following
message at the command prompt:
Conversion complete

Quit the command prompt.



These are Mickeysoft's directions, not mine. I've done this a few times
without complications and without losing data.



Whoops...forgot the URL

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

Well, I tried. I'm getting told I have a 'dirty drive' and to run chkdsk,
which I do with the 'fix' option. Checkdisk comes back and tells me
everything is great, so I run the convert program again. Get told the same
thing.

Maybe a new drive and reformatting is the way to go.
--
John H

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:29:34 -0500, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is
Here wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 07:13:58 -0600, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
Don't fool around. Just buy a bigger HD, and format it in NTFS.
Then reformat the other one, and use it too.
Better to have at least 2 backup drives for Murphy Law insurance.

--Vic

Damn, that's easy. Will any external hard drive be formatable in NTFS?

Normally they are, in fact, today most computers purchased with WinXP
are formated in NTFS.

The drive in the computer is NTFS. The external drive bought a couple years
ago, is FAT32.
--
John H

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:35:55 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

You have a couple of options.

If there is enough room on your computer's harddrive, copy the
archives there temporarily while you work on the external drive. Then
you can use a program called "Partition Magic" to do the
reconfiguration without risk to your archives. Partition Magic "could"
do the conversion with the files in place, BUT: No matter what method
you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only way to guarantee your
files will be safe is to back them up somewhere else.


The other option is to buy another external hard drive. They are dirt
cheap these days. Newegg is very reliable to deal with and has a ton
of external drives to chose from. They even have a no name 160gb drive
for less than $70 including shipping. I've got several Maxtor's and
they have been great. Still relatively cheap.


I also HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use Windows Backup for
anything you care about. The reason is simple: When you want to
recover those backups a couple of years from now, you will find that
every new version of Windows has a new version of windows backup, and
they are NOT compatible! Use a separate backup program.



Good info. Thanks Salty.
--
John H

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:14:08 -0500, wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:41:43 -0500, HK wrote:

wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:07:52 -0500, John H.
wrote:

I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).

You have a couple of options.

If there is enough room on your computer's harddrive, copy the
archives there temporarily while you work on the external drive. Then
you can use a program called "Partition Magic" to do the
reconfiguration without risk to your archives. Partition Magic "could"
do the conversion with the files in place, BUT: No matter what method
you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only way to guarantee your
files will be safe is to back them up somewhere else.


The other option is to buy another external hard drive. They are dirt
cheap these days. Newegg is very reliable to deal with and has a ton
of external drives to chose from. They even have a no name 160gb drive
for less than $70 including shipping. I've got several Maxtor's and
they have been great. Still relatively cheap.


I also HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use Windows Backup for
anything you care about. The reason is simple: When you want to
recover those backups a couple of years from now, you will find that
every new version of Windows has a new version of windows backup, and
they are NOT compatible! Use a separate backup program.




Jesus. This is overkill. It is a relatively trivial task to convert a
drive from FAT32 to the New Technology File System, aka NTFS. There's a
simple procedure to accomplish it, which I posted here. You can do it
without losing the data on the hard drive. I've done it a few times
without any problems.

I don't care if you've done it a thousand times with no problem. It's
HIS data on the drive, and he said he doesn't want to lose it. I
believe him, and took that into account.

You have firmly established your lack of computer expertise in many
previous posts. Now you are recommending that he risk data he said he
doesn't want to lose. Guess what? You could cross the freeway
blindfolded as many times as you've converted drives while they have
data on them, and you might survive every time, as well. Please try
THAT experiment and get back to us.

One more time:
"No matter what method you use to convert the disk to NTFS, the only
way to guarantee your files will be safe is to back them up somewhere
else"

Which is the same advice Microsoft gives.
--
John H

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:27:43 -0500, Gene Kearns
wrote:

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:35:55 -0500, penned the following
well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|I also HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT use Windows Backup for
|anything you care about. The reason is simple: When you want to
|recover those backups a couple of years from now, you will find that
|every new version of Windows has a new version of windows backup, and
|they are NOT compatible! Use a separate backup program.

Suggestion:
http://www.superflexible.com/

Thanks Gene. There are so many different backup programs around, I don't
know which to get. What I'd like is a program that's nice and simple, only
for backing up.
--
John H

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:43:53 -0500, HK wrote:

wrote:
On Jan 10, 8:07 am, John H. wrote:
I have a 160 GB external hard disk to which I tried to back up my documents
and settings using the Windows backup system.

After about a half hour, I get a message saying there's not enough room for
the backup, and that if the hard disk is FAT 32, the backup can be no
larger than 4 GB. So I checked, and sure enough, the external HD is FAT 32.

Now what? I already have about 50 GB of stuff on the external HD that I
don't want to lose by reformatting (if that's what's required).
--
John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Don't make it any more complicated than it needs to be. Just by a new
big external HD, they are cheap.


What's next? A treatise on computer science from the ReggieJerk that
summarizes something he read somewhere?

All Herring has to do is CONVERT the drive from FAT32 to NTFS. It is a
simple, straightforward procedure and the data on the drive will still
be there.

Harry, don't get yourself into an uproar. It's not good for the heart. I
tried your advice, and it didn't work. Now I've got to try something
different.

You and JimH can have fun talking about how stupid I am, OK?
--
John H