--=======67D53936======= Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-67257BA9; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit At 10:00 PM 1/6/2003 -0700, you wrote: >OTOH, it's a shame that we preach and preach about multiple, rotating, >verified backups I have seen the mention of "verified backups" on this list several times and have always ignored the suggestion because the only way I know to verify a backup is to restore it. This is something I would NEVER do to my main database. Is there some other way to verify a backup? The reason I won't restore to my main database to verify is that I would be virtually guaranteeing that the first (and every) bad backup I make will probably wipe out my database. Just a few minutes ago I made a backup on floppies and tried to verify it on another computer. It was a bad backup and it corrupted my database such that FO10 would only crash each time I tried to run it. I will discuss that problem in my next email in order to keep the issues separate. This discovery of a bad backup and subsequent crash points out the obvious need for verifying backups. However if I did not have another computer or at least a separate hard drive on which to do it I would still never use Restore to verify one. BTW, looking at the backup in WinZip showed no apparent problems. The files appeared to be normal in filenames, number of files and size. Jim Wise --=======67D53936=======--

When you "Restore" a backup, it will have the same database name as the database that it was created from. When you choose to restore, if there is a database in that folder with the same name, the original for instance, you will get a warning and be questioned if you want to overwrite the existing database. To verify a backup, restore it to a different directory/folder than the original resides in. You could create a folder just for this purpose and, once the backup checks out, delete the database and have an empty folder until next time. As long as it is in a different folder it will not overwrite the original, it does not have to be on a different hard drive. BE CAREFUL DELETING DATABASES IF YOU HAVE TWO OR MORE OPENED AT ONCE! I have selected 'delete database' and confirmed that is what I wanted to do, then, too late, realized that I had the wrong one left. Sometimes the problem with floppies is the drives being out of alignment just a bit, "one to the left and one to the right," so that they cannot quite understand each other. Alfred D. Eller Help for Windows beginners: http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~adelr/index.htm ========================== ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Wise" <jwise@wvadventures.net> To: <FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 10:20 AM Subject: [FO] Re: verified backups > --=======67D53936======= > Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-67257BA9; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > > At 10:00 PM 1/6/2003 -0700, you wrote: > >OTOH, it's a shame that we preach and preach about multiple, rotating, > >verified backups > > I have seen the mention of "verified backups" on this list several times > and have always ignored the suggestion because the only way I know to > verify a backup is to restore it. This is something I would NEVER do to my > main database. Is there some other way to verify a backup? > > The reason I won't restore to my main database to verify is that I would be > virtually guaranteeing that the first (and every) bad backup I make will > probably wipe out my database. Just a few minutes ago I made a backup on > floppies and tried to verify it on another computer. It was a bad backup > and it corrupted my database such that FO10 would only crash each time I > tried to run it. I will discuss that problem in my next email in order to > keep the issues separate. > > This discovery of a bad backup and subsequent crash points out the obvious > need for verifying backups. However if I did not have another computer or > at least a separate hard drive on which to do it I would still never use > Restore to verify one. > > BTW, looking at the backup in WinZip showed no apparent problems. The files > appeared to be normal in filenames, number of files and size. > > Jim Wise >

Jim Wise <jwise@wvadventures.net> wrote: >I have seen the mention of "verified backups" on this list several times >and have always ignored the suggestion because the only way I know to >verify a backup is to restore it. This is something I would NEVER do to my >main database. Is there some other way to verify a backup? The most obvious way to test a backup is to restore it. But you very definitely do not want to restore a questionable backup on top of your main database. But as Alfred mentioned, you do not need another computer ... you merely restore it to a different folder than the one your real database is in. As soon as you see the database restored in the other folder properly, and you open it and find it good, you can delete it. Always make the effort to be reasonably sure you have a good backup. But there is a more efficient way to test a backup without all that file creating and deleting. Both WinZip and PKzip will test a zipfile for integrity ... they go through the process of unzipping the backup but without actually extracting any of the files and will tell you if there are any errors. PKzip has an extremely handy function ... it puts the test item in the windows right click menu. So, if you have PKzip for windows installed on your computer and you have just made a backup of your database then go ahead and click on the restore item and find your new backup in the file finder dialog ... but instead of restoring it, right click on it instead. In the sub menu that pops up you will see the PKzip test item ... click on it and PKzip will test your backup zipfile right there on the spot ... you don't even have to leave FO to test a backup that way. Wayne League

Hi, I make a GEDCOM on a CD-RW; then install it back on the computer into a file with a NEW NAME. I then proceed to add or work on this NEW file. I do not delete the old file. Eventually I will delete files that are very old. This way I am sure everything copied. Another advantage is when I do something stupid like accidentally deleting something, or a mistake when merging, I can then check the previous file for the original information. This works for me. Margaret LaGue-Hobler Ohio ----- Original Message ----- From: <wleague@mindspring.com> To: <FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 07, 2003 5:30 PM Subject: Re: [FO] Re: verified backups > Jim Wise <jwise@wvadventures.net> wrote: > > >I have seen the mention of "verified backups" on this list several times > >and have always ignored the suggestion because the only way I know to > >verify a backup is to restore it. This is something I would NEVER do to my > >main database. Is there some other way to verify a backup? > > The most obvious way to test a backup is to restore it. But you very > definitely do not want to restore a questionable backup on top of your > main database. But as Alfred mentioned, you do not need another > computer ... you merely restore it to a different folder than the one > your real database is in. As soon as you see the database restored in > the other folder properly, and you open it and find it good, you can > delete it. > Always make the effort to be reasonably sure you have a good backup. > > But there is a more efficient way to test a backup without all that > file creating and deleting. Both WinZip and PKzip will test a zipfile > for integrity ... they go through the process of unzipping the backup > but without actually extracting any of the files and will tell you if > there are any errors. > > PKzip has an extremely handy function ... it puts the test item in the > windows right click menu. So, if you have PKzip for windows installed > on your computer and you have just made a backup of your database then > go ahead and click on the restore item and find your new backup in the > file finder dialog ... but instead of restoring it, right click on it > instead. In the sub menu that pops up you will see the PKzip test > item ... click on it and PKzip will test your backup zipfile right > there on the spot ... you don't even have to leave FO to test a backup > that way. > > Wayne League > > ______________________________

> However if I did not have another computer or > at least a separate hard drive on which to do it I would still never use > Restore to verify one. That's exactly the same as saying that you will never save a Qucken file or an MSWord file to your hard drive because you're afraid that you'll ruin your FOW database. It is perfectly safe to restore a backup to check its integrity so long as you do the restore to a different (new) database. How do I know? Because Bruce says so and I trust him implicitly <g>. > BTW, looking at the backup in WinZip showed no apparent problems. The files > appeared to be normal in filenames, number of files and size. 'Nuff said. If you don't know for sure that your backup will restore then you don't really have any assurance that your data is protected. If you don't have a known good (restored) backup stored OFF-site. . .ditto. You've heard it a thousand times, rotate at least three disks for backups. Verify your backups. Keep a reasonably recent, verified backup off-site. Share (swap) your database(s) with other family members often - you verify theirs and they verify yours. Attach your known good backup to an email and send it to yourself at work. How about your documents? If the filing cabinet(s) go up in flames with the house, what's the damage? Every day you hear new horror stories. Your hard drive will crash - it's not a matter of IF but of WHEN. Are you protected? Good Hunting! -- Paul aka Graveseeker on Geocaching.com where YOU are the search engine.