drive snapshot differential help

I did a restore using Bart PE but when I try to do the differential restore selecting the file f:\c-diff.sna I get the message that "This will overwrite all data with F:\c-diff.sna". I selected yes and it reverted to the full backup and is proceeding to restore the full backup again. How do I restore the differential backup from Bart PE?

Thanks.
Marlau

 

Sounds to me as if you are doing it correctly. Remember that a differential backup complements the full backup with any changes that occured since the full backup. Therefore, the full and differential must be restored.

 

Does snapshot asks for the location of the full backup. Could you detail where the full and diff backup files are located. Also, is the snapshot version on the BartCD the same as the one you used. If not, just copy the latest download version to the location where your backup is, boot from BartCD then use the downloaded version for restore. And let us know how it works

 

Thanks Aaron Here and Merle One for the prompt posts. The Full Backup and Differential Backup are in the same folder on an external hard drive along with the Drive Snapshot that I used to backup both the Full and Diff. Also, the same Drive Snapshot is part of the Bart PE Boot Disk. Part of the problem I may be having is the documentation. I find it quite a challenge to decipher some of the instructions. The only mention that I can find for a Full and Differential Backup is to Drive C is:

"Restoring a differential image from REAL Dos (the recovery disk)
is done in 2 steps: simply restore both images (the full and then the diff) after each other." (Then a couple of lines on how to do it). This is under the heading Drive Snapshot - Differential Backup This led me to assume that first you restore the Full and after that is done you restore the Diff. But that doesn't seem to work for me as it always reverts to the Full with a warning that all data will be overwritten,even when I selected the Diff. As I have several Differential backups I would like to use the latest one but I can't seem to do it. Also, there is no mention of how to restore Differential backups when using Bart PE and Drive Snapshot (not from the prompt).

So if I have in the same folder c-drive.sna and c-diff.sna how would I restore both the Full and Diff?.

The other thought that I had is the possibility of dragging and dropping the files from the Differential backup from the virtual drive with Windows Explorer. In this present instance it would not be too big a task but down the road this is an unacceptable and tedious solution.

 

Thanks for the precisions. A working procedure is the following :

Boot from the BartCD, launch a file explorer, go to the folder where snapshot.exe is together with your files, launch snapshot.exe (*not* the one already included in the BartCD). Select from the GUI the c-diff.sna file, and C: (or the corresponding drive) as target, start the restore, you should see automatically the full then the diff restore. Snapshot may ask for the full backup.

If it doesn't work, try contacting Drive Snapshot support. They usually answer quite quickly.

 

marlau, I just did this to refresh my memory. You only need to select the differential image in the Snapshot restore menu. Click Yes for the "Snapshot - last warning" window. In the next window you will see your Full and your Diff image being restored. So easy. This is a standard procedure with differential restores.

(make sure the full and the diff files are in the same folder before you start)

 

Thanks MerleOne and Brian K. Now I can see what was happening when Snapshot reverted to the Full backup when the Diff was selected. I am up now to date and also better understand how the program works. I am most grateful to all of you who posted. Still, if Tom Ehlert ever reads these posts it may encourage him to refine the guide for the program. The program itself is excellent.

 

Actually, I have always found DS operations very intuitive when used with its Windows GUI. I can't speak for the DOS mode as I don't use it.

This small program is a marvel considering what it is capable of. Imho it would overtake most (if not all) competing software if Tom Ehlert included an iso for a WinPE Boot CD with DS (or the like).

 

Glad it works now. What was happening ?

 

What was happening was I selected the Full backup, which went well. Then I selected that Diff backup but I was warned that it would overwrite the entire C drive which I did not want to do and could not understand why that should happen. This was based on the only information in the guide that dealt with Diff restore which said that first you do a Full restore and then a Diff restore (from the command line). I assumed, incorrectly as it turns out, that it was the same sequence when working from the GUI. Which it is not, it is the opposite. First select the Diff and it will find the Full. Nowhere in the guide is this mentioned. But alas all has been cleared up. I agree BTW that with a BartPE disk this would make it a complete and very attractive program. Nevertheless, it has been worth working it out because the program is a marvel of both the small footprint and the powerful imaging. I also to use the "Exclude" feature when I backup as I have quite a few .avi files that keep changing (adding and deleting). This has to be from the command line. It took a few tries as it's been a looonng time since I used dos commands. But in the end it was relatively easy to work out and is an excellent feature.

Love the internet. Wonderful to get instant help and be in touch with people from all parts of the world. In other interests I have been in touch with people from Australia, Ireland, South Africa, Texas, India and now France.

Thanks again to all. It has been an education and a real pleasure.

 

Thanks for the explanation, I see now what was your problem ! If you start using command line, it's a powerful feature to automate things. When your script is ready, you can launch it from windows scheduler just by assigning the .bat to a scheduled job, so you will have regular backups Or just use script to keep the settings you want. Please note that there are more switches available than indicated in the help file.

To see them all, type :
snapshot /?
in a command line (from a directory where it is).

and for the extra switches, it is :
snapshot --?