Image backup using Drive SnapShot?

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

This is a dos batch menu for DS for restoring full and differential images in dos to c. it should make it easier, put it on a floppy disk, usb or inside a disk image on bootable cd along with snapshot.exe. you will need the command choice.com which isn't always on every dos disk. download choice.com here ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/Services/TechNet/Windows/msdos/RESKIT/SUPPDISK/CHOICE.COM

perfect your restore before you use this so you know exactly the right system partition letter. if the partition you restore from is ntfs then you will need ntfs4dos which is on the snapshot network disk.

i can confirm theres a good possibility when you run ntfs4dos your drive letters skip along one so your d: becomes e: so in dos find out where your backup image folder. you notice i specified e: under setfolder= but d: while taking the backups. alvira ntfs4dos lets you assign your c as c and not as d by using /lc in the command line.

if you use this then make sure your backup image filenames are C-$weekday-ful.sna and C-$weekday-dif.sna because dos only supports 8 characters.
important: rename your existing backup folder to 8 characters or less so dos can see it correctly.

change d:\backups to whatever you use. specify 8 characters or less for the backup too and add on your own snapshot options.

for the backup
snapshot c: d:\backups\$disk-$weekday-$type.sna -hd:\backups\C-$weekday-ful.hsh

for the differential
snapshot c: d:\backups\$disk-$weekday-$type.sna -hd:\backups\C-$weekday-ful.hsh

change the 2nd line - set folder=e:\backups in the batch to your image folder where you backup and restore from (rename it to 8 characters or less)

change 3rd line p=c corresponds to the partition letter c - you have to change the snapshot restore lines as probably won't be ideal.

@echo off
set folder=e:\backups
set name=
set p=c:
:menu
cls
echo.
echo (1) Restore
echo.
echo (2) Exit
echo.
choice /C:12 /N Please choose a menu option.
IF ERRORLEVEL == 2 goto Quit
IF ERRORLEVEL == 1 goto Restore
goto menu
:Restore
echo.
echo (1) Restore Differential Backup
echo.
echo (2) Restore Full Backup
echo.
choice /C:12 /N Please choose a menu option.
IF ERRORLEVEL == 2 goto Full
IF ERRORLEVEL == 1 goto Diff
goto menu
: Diff
echo.
echo 1 - Restore Mondays differential backup
echo.
echo 2 - Restore Tuesdays differential backup
echo.
echo 3 - Restore Wednesdays differential backup
echo.
echo 4 - Restore Thursdays differential backup
echo.
echo 5 - Restore Fridays differential backup
echo.
echo 6 - Restore Saturdays differential backup
echo.
echo 7 - Restore Sundays differential backup
echo.
choice /C:1234567 /N Please choose a menu option.
IF ERRORLEVEL == 7 goto SunD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 6 goto SatD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 5 goto FriD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 4 goto ThuD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 3 goto WedD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 2 goto TueD
IF ERRORLEVEL == 1 goto MonD
goto menu
:MonD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Mo-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:TueD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Tu-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:WedD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-We-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:ThuD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Th-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:FriD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Fr-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:SatD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Sa-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:SunD
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Su-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:Full
echo.
echo 1 - Restore Mondays full backup
echo.
echo 2 - Restore Tuesdays full backup
echo.
echo 3 - Restore Wednesdays full backup
echo.
echo 4 - Restore Thursdays full backup
echo.
echo 5 - Restore Fridays full backup
echo.
echo 6 - Restore Saturdays full backup
echo.
echo 7 - Restore Sundays full backup
echo.
choice /C:1234567 /N Please choose a menu option.
IF ERRORLEVEL == 7 goto SunF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 6 goto SatF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 5 goto FriF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 4 goto ThuF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 3 goto WedF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 2 goto TueF
IF ERRORLEVEL == 1 goto MonF
goto menu
:MonF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Mo-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:TueF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Tu-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:WedF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-We-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:ThuF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Th-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:FriF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Fr-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:SatF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Sa-ful.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot %folder%\%name% %p%
goto Quit
:SunF
for %%A in (`dir/b *C-Su-dif.sna*`) do set name=%%A
snapshot.exe %folder%\%name% %p%

:Quit
Exit

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

markymoo

What a champ. Thanks for helping and believe you me i bet i'm not the ony one who will find this helpful.
In Windows 98 i was quite a guru at one time in DOS but since XP all that command-line lingo is been removed from my memory banks.

Perhaps it's time to get reacquainted with it again.

EASTER

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Mark,

Amazing. Does it work if d:\dsbackups is in a NTFS partition?

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

fine, if you find this useful that's great. i haven't tested but it looks right now. i had done a better dos menu before this one and using enhanced dos command set in xp that don't work with ms-dos i had to pull for now. getting user input set to variables in dos is so very poor, nearly non existent without using another util. if i find anything wrong with it i update it.

Hi Brian , thanks

yes if you run ntfs4dos first. i not got it as d:\dsbackups anymore because its more than 8 letters and dos puts the tilde ~ character in there so it shows as d:\backup~1 - so i now have it as d:\backups - so to not get any issues rename your backup image folder to 8 letters or less OR you have to put the tilde character in there in set folder= and possibility you forget at a later date.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Ah. Very clever again.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Hey guys, with DS able to run so well from a "WinPE" environment (other than my check-box problem when running in BartPE), why mess with DOS at all? Is there some advantage to running DS from DOS that I don't see? Besides having to cope with cryptic commands, DS takes noticeably longer to backup and restore when running in DOS than in Windows!

....So tell me, am I missing something here, or is it just a challenge (or game) for you guys?

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

I didn't know that myself so thanks for the heads up. I suppose looking on the brighter side of matters concerning restoring a DS image with DOS is that irregardless of the "noticeably longer" time it'll need, at least (hopefully) it restores 100% as well as i does in Windows across partitions. I get a real charge out of this app and at least in my camp it's tops in the speed department over even Paragon. I don't use ShadowProtect but then again i'm content to wait awhile longer before turning attention away from what's on board ATM.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Dos is fine using it with small partitions or for who just prefer it. osipi backs and restores small partition to dvd in dos. The restore is easier with IFD over DS. It has it's uses. I am trying out the different incarnations of Winbuilder. It alot easier to customise than BartPe and support is better. When i tried to restore recently with DS in dos it said the image size was bigger than the partition and couldn't be restored back.

Here is a selection of dos frontends you can easily customize to your liking to run programs like DS.

http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/menu.html
http://home.att.net/~short.stop/freesoft/menu.htm - great utils on this site also.

@Brian
Have a look at PicoXp in Winbuilder. It boots up xp with just a cmd shell and is only 13mb total.
This is astonishingly fast as it very bare. You could include DS and IFW and run them in bat files.
it also mean my batch dos menu above would work, giving it long filename support with no need to run ntfs4dos.

@Jo Ann, All

fast recovery cd with DS integrated and for when no suitable xp cd or alternative when you get errors.

this way is way too easy

1. Download microsoft server 2003 cd1 img it's a big download 500mb http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/5/C/E5C2CA69-28C9-492A-8F57-BDA0010616E5/X13-05665.img

2. Unpack ms server img file to the folder 2003 on your desktop using Winrar.

3. Download Winbuilder. Unpack and run Winbuilder.exe http://winbuilder.net/request.php?7

4. Click on Download tab and select LiveXP in the list and then expand Apps and then tick Backup and click Download button at bottom...wait till it finished downloading.

5. Select Scripts and click on the tab Paths and browse 2003 on your desktop as the Source Directory.

6. Select Tools button top right and in location box no.1 select LiveXp Apps and highlight Backup, at no.2 type Drive Snapshot. Click Add Files and browse your drive to add snapshot.exe to the list and in the white space replace all with this:

[main]
Title=Drive Snapshot
Description=Image Backup
Selected=True
Level=5
Version=1

[variables]
%ProgramTitle%=Drive Snapshot
%ProgramEXE%=snapshot.exe
%ProgramFolder%=Drive Snapshot

[process]
Add_Shortcut
Add_Shortcut,Desktop
unpack


7. Click Create at bottom and click the red X top right to close the scripts.

8. Click the big blue play button top right.

9. Wait...if no errors.. watch qemu emulator load your built recovery to test it working and you see DS on desktop and start menu. press ctrl escape so you can close qemu.

10. Get blank cd and burn your success to cd.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

markymoo, thanks for the Winbuilder info. - just a couple of questions...

Based on your instructions, can I presume that all of the other boxes (other than Backup) under LiveXP>Apps can be unchecked?

Also, under Backup there are two subfolders - should they be checked or unchecked?

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

@markymoo~ I thank you as well, but I am also confused.

Under LiveXP, all of the Winbuilder boxes are checked (by default). To make for a fast DS boot CD, which boxes should be unchecked?

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Jo Ann,

My experience with LiveXP was different from Mark's. LiveXP took almost twice as long to boot as VistaPE.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Brian~ I suspect (but I really don't know for sure) that would depend on the particular boxes that one checks/unchecks in Winbuilder.

 

Re: Image backup using Drive SnapShop?

Hi,

Leave all the other tick boxes checked as they were. Ticking 'Backup' if it wasn't checked already ensures Snapshot gets created in that folder. You can stick DS where you want at no.6 it doesn't have to be in Backup. A DS desktop icon gets created with that script. The help was to get a recovery cd working. There be alot things you won't want or want customization later on. Once you become familiar...you can go through all the selections and decide again when you make another recovery cd. Leave as default for now. I suggested you use 2003 because i tried 4 different xp's and they all gave me errors and 2003 did not. The xp's i did got working had start menu missing and other anomalies after playing around with the options for hours. Good Luck.

The LiveXp booted up in 1min:20 i thought that was good. I have a 20x speed dvd.