This document contains important information about Retrospect version 6.0 for Windows. Please read it carefully. The Retrospect family of backup software includes Retrospect Professional, Retrospect Single Server, and Retrospect Multi Server. Unless otherwise noted, all items in this document refer to all members of the Retrospect backup family.
The Dantz web site is constantly updated with the most recent support information for Retrospect and related products, including the following:
This document is divided into the following sections:
License Codes: Retrospect requires a license code to function. The first time you start Retrospect, enter the license code.
If you purchased your Retrospect software via electronic download, your license code should be e-mailed to you by your vendor; if you did not receive the code, contact your vendor. Write down or print your license code for future reference and keep the code in a safe place. Without this license code, you will not be able to use your Retrospect software.
Upgrading from versions of Retrospect prior to v5.15: If you are upgrading to Retrospect v6.0 from a version of the product released prior to v5.15, you may have to uninstall the old application before installing v6.0. If this is the case, you may lose your custom settings in the process.
Outlook Option: Retrospect has a new execution option that closes Microsoft Outlook to back up its data files, then relaunches it after copying is complete. Previous versions of Retrospect required an external script to close and relaunch Outlook. If you are using such a script, remove it before using Retrospect 6.0.
If non-message items, such as appointments or tasks, are open, Retrospect will not shut down and relaunch Outlook, even when the option to do so is selected.
Note: You can use Retrospect’s Open File Backup capability to back up Outlook data files without closing Outlook.
Disk Backup Sets: Retrospect, by design, does not show folders inside the Retrospect data folder on a disk Backup Set member.
Clear Archive Attribute: The Retrospect User’s Guide states that the default setting for this Windows System Option is on, but the default setting is actually off.
Note: Retrospect does not use the archive attribute to determine which files need to be backed up.
Disaster Recovery Catalog on Network: If, during a Disaster Recovery, Retrospect asks you to locate a Catalog File that you know is on a network volume, cancel out of the dialog and accept the warning about halting the recovery. When the computer restarts, it continues with the recovery and Retrospect again asks you to locate the Catalog File. This time, you may navigate to the network volume and select the Catalog.
ReportsWatcher on NT 4.0: In order to use ReportsWatcher with Internet Explorer on Windows NT 4.0, you must have Internet Explorer v4.0 or better.
Creating a Disaster Recovery CD: Retrospect’s Disaster Recovery preparation wizard can save a CD image file which you can later use with CD-R authoring and recording software to create a CD. The file is an image of a CD in the ISO 9660 format, which all popular authoring software can use to record, or "burn," a CD. Though most authoring software has the capability to burn a disc from an ISO image, some programs do not have an intuitive user interface for this feature and some programs poorly document this feature. The following is documentation for the most popular CD authoring software, detailing how to burn a disaster recovery CD from the image file saved by Retrospect.
Easy CD Creator (Adaptec/Roxio): Start Easy CD Creator and cancel any wizard that appears. From the File menu, choose Open CD Layout. In the file selection dialog, change the shown file type from Easy CD Creator to All Files, navigate to the disaster recovery ISO image, select it, and click Open. In the CD Creation Setup window which appears, select your desired CD recorder, leave the write speed and options as they are, and click OK to begin recording your disc.
CD Extreme (Sony): Start CD Extreme. At the default CD Starter window, click on the CD Extreme button/combo box in the lower right to go into the full application. From the File menu’s New Job submenu, choose Global-Image or Other Image. Click the ’...’ button at the far right of the Disk Image File area. In the file selection dialog, change the shown file type to Other Image, navigate to the disaster recovery ISO image, select it, and click Open. Click the Burn button to begin recording your disc.
Nero Burning Rom (Ahead Software): Start Nero and close the new compilation window, file browser window, and any wizard that appears. Choose Burn Image from the File menu. In the file selection dialog, change the shown file type to All Files, navigate to the disaster recovery ISO image, select it, and click Open. Click OK if Nero informs you it does not recognize the format of the image file. Nero presents its Foreign image settings dialog, which should have default settings of Data Mode 1, block size 2048 bytes, other values zero, and boxes unchecked. Click OK to work with these settings for the ISO image. Nero presents the Write CD window. Click Write to begin recording your disc.
B’s Recorder GOLD (B.H.A.): Start B’s Recorder GOLD and close or cancel any assistant or wizard that appears. In the main window, drag the disaster recovery ISO image to the lowest of the three panes (which says it accepts Image files). Click Record at the top of the window to start burning the CD.
MyCD Pro (Veritas): MyCD does not have the ability to record discs from ISO image files, but MyCD Pro does. Start MyCD Pro and close the Starter window to get to the main screen. Click the New Global-Image or Other Image button on the toolbar. A Global Image Job Setup window appears in the Job Setup pane. Highlight your CD-R drive in the Drive Status pane and select it by clicking the Select/Deselect as Recorder button on the toolbar. A red arrow appears on the drive icon to indicate it is selected. Click the Browse button from the Job Setup window. In the file selection dialog, change the shown file type to Other Image, navigate to the disaster recovery ISO image, select it, and click Open. (The path to your image file appears in the Job Setup pane.) Click the Record button to begin recording your disc. (The MyCD Pro online help includes icons in its instructions and the icons may help you better understand the steps to burn a CD from an image. Follow the help’s links from Using MyCD Pro to Global-Image Job and scroll down to Recording a CD from a Global-Image File.)
Best Practices: Dantz recommends that you perform a full backup of your line of business servers while all applications are closed before using Open File Backup for the first time. Although Open File Backup is designed to back up line of business servers while they are up and running, closing the servers down prior to performing the first backup adds an extra degree of safety. For the best results, schedule subsequent backups of up and running line of business servers for off-peak times.
Delays Before Copying: When using Open File Backup, you may notice a delay between when the backup is initiated and when copying begins. During this time, Retrospect is looking for a "disk inactivity threshold" on the disk it is backing up. Retrospect tries to meet the disk inactivity threshold from the time Open File Backup is initiated, until the "Retry timeout" period elapses. Thus, the delay before copying could be as long as the Retry timeout (the default is ten minutes). See the Retrospect User’s Guide for more information on specifying the Disk inactivity threshold and Retry timeout.
Administrator Privileges: If you are logged on to the backup computer and manually launch Retrospect, or if you are using the Retrospect Launcher service to automatically launch Retrospect for unattended operation, you must be logged on with administrator privileges in order to use Open File Backup to back up the local computer.
Windows Error Messages: Open File Backup requires a certain amount of free disk space on the disk that is being backed up. If you run Open File Backup in a low disk space environment, Windows may generate error messages, such as "The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable" or "Delayed Write Errors." If the error message includes the word "Snapshot," this indicates that Open File Backup was unable to back up the requested volume.
In these cases, no data is lost and the disk is not corrupt, rather the Open File Backup could not be completed. Freeing up disk space on the disk being backed up and rebooting the computer solves this problem. If you do not reboot, subsequent Open File Backups may also fail.
Virus Scanning Software: Dantz recommends not running active virus scans during Open File Backup. Anti-virus software can be installed and enabled, as long as there are no active scans during the backup.
Norton CleanSweep: There are known issues when using Open File backup with Norton CleanSweep. Dantz recommends uninstalling CleanSweep, or disabling the installation monitors, csinsmnt.exe and monwow.exe.
Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 Upgrades: If you are using Open File Backup and want to upgrade the backup computer or a client computer from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, follow these steps:
Microsoft Exchange Server 2000: As part of its default installation, Exchange 2000 creates a virtual drive and assigns it the drive letter M. If you have Open File Backup enabled when backing up an Exchange 2000 Server, Retrospect may report "Can’t use Open File Backup option for Exchange (M:), error -1017 (insufficient permissions)". You must manually exclude the Exchange 2000 Server virtual drive from the backup by one of the methods listed below:
Note: Excluding the Exchange Virtual Drive from backups has no effect on Retrospect’s ability to restore the server.
Open File Backup: Retrospect’s Open File Backup capability does not work with Windows client software versions prior to 6.0. To use Open File Backup, update Windows clients to the latest version with the Retrospect client update file, then restart the client computers.
Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000 Upgrades: If you are using Open File Backup and want to upgrade a client computer from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000, follow these steps:
Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall: By default, Windows XP’s built-in Internet Connection Firewall restricts network access to many networking services.
When you install the Retrospect client on systems with the Windows XP Internet Connection Firewall enabled, the installer automatically makes the required changes to allow Retrospect client communication.
However, if you enable Windows XP’s built-in Internet Connection Firewall on a computer already running the Retrospect client, you will need to run a Retrospect utility to enable client communication through the firewall. Run the "retfwset.exe" utility, found in the Retrospect client directory (by default C:\Program Files\Dantz\Client), to allow Retrospect client communication.
Microsoft Windows 95 TCP/IP Fix: A bug in Windows 95 networking software can cause Retrospect Client software to report a networking error. Microsoft has resolved this problem and a free fix is available from Microsoft. We strongly urge you to update your Windows 95 systems.
The hot fix for Windows 95 is installed by the client software Setup program. After installation, choose Run from the Start menu, then type "C:\Program Files\Dantz\Client\VTCPUPD" (or your different installation path) and click OK. Follow the instructions in Microsoft’s installer, then restart to complete the fix. Repeat for each Windows 95 computer to be used with Retrospect.
The problem can occur when Retrospect pauses then later resumes a TCP/IP network transfer. For example, it can happen when Retrospect requests media during the nightly backup and you insert a new tape the next morning. The bug can cause Retrospect to report error -519 (network communication failed) when it resumes a paused transfer.
Windows Socket 2 Update for Windows 95: Windows 95 clients require the Windows Socket 2 Update, available at no charge from Microsoft. Known as Winsock2, it is required only for Windows 95 and is available free from Microsoft’s web site.
Suspend: If a client user uses the "Suspend" function of Windows 95, which powers off a mobile computer without shutting it down, you must restart the client computer before Retrospect can access it. Microsoft has an update to address this problem, but Microsoft does not recommend updating unless you are severely impacted by it. For more information about this problem and the update, visit Microsoft’s web page.
Mac OS X Clients: Retrospect 6.0 does not work with the previous version of Mac OS X client software. To add existing Mac OS X clients to Retrospect 6.0, uninstall the old client software, then update the clients to the latest version by running the client installer on each Mac OS X client computer. Retrospect for Macintosh users will have to "forget" the old OS X clients and add the new OS X clients to the clients database, as well as to any scripts that included the clients. Retrospect for Windows users must update the client database. Choose Configure>Clients. Select the old client from the list and click Properties. Click the Access tab, click Change, then select the new client from the list and click OK. You do not have to update your scripts, since they will now automatically use the new client information.
Mac OS X Client Privileges: Before restoring or duplicating to a volume on a Mac OS X client, you must prepare the volume if you wish to retain its privileges. From the Mac OS X Finder, use the Show Info command on the volume. Choose Privileges from the info window’s menu then turn off the "Ignore privileges on this volume" option. For more information, see Apple’s release note.
HFS+ Volumes: If you update from Retrospect 5.6 to 6.0, the first time you back up with 6.0, all files on HFS+ volumes will get backed up.
AppleShare IP Clients: When backing up an AppleShare IP (ASIP) server as a client, the ASIP server may crash during the backup. Dantz’s investigation of this issue revealed that this is a problem with ASIP and we have reported the issue to Apple. For more information, search for "ASIP" in the Dantz Knowledgebase.
Energy Saver: Apple’s Energy Saver control panel can put a non-PCI client Macintosh into "sleep" mode, which may produce error -530 with network backups. Avoid this problem by using the Retrospect Client control panel’s "Wait at Shutdown" preference and shutting down the client to put it in the "waiting for backup" mode (Mac OS 7/8/9 only), or by setting the CPU sleep option to never sleep.
Mac OS Extended Format (HFS+) Time Zone: When the local time zone is changed in the Date & Time control panel, the Mac OS shifts the local creation and modification times of files on HFS+ (extended format) volumes. This affects Retrospect’s normal backups when it scans the volumes for files which need to be backed up. Because file date/time stamps are different, Retrospect marks every file for backup. Retrospect is simply performing an incremental backup as it usually would; the only abnormality is that every file appears to have been modified. For more information regarding HFS+ date/time stamps, refer to the Dantz knowledgebase article, "Effects of HFS+ on Retrospect when Standard or Daylight Savings Time Changes."
Mac OS Extended Format (HFS+) Daylight Savings Time: Under Mac OS 8.1, changing the Daylight Savings time setting shifts the local dates and times of files on HFS+ volumes. This affects Retrospect as described in the previous topic. Mac OS 8.5 solves this problem because it does not alter file date/time stamps when you change Daylight Savings in the Date & Time control panel. For more information regarding HFS+ date/time stamps, refer to the Dantz knowledgebase article.
Mac OS 7/8/9 clients don’t renew DHCP leases while waiting for shutdown: When a Mac OS 7/8/9 client has a DHCP-supplied IP address and its lease expires while the client is waiting for shutdown, the Macintosh does not renew its IP lease and continues using its old IP address. This can lead to a conflict when the DHCP server, thinking the IP address is now available, leases the IP address to a different computer.
There are two possible workarounds: leave DHCP-served Mac OS computers idle in the Finder instead of in the Retrospect client "Wait at Shutdown" mode and uncheck "Load Only When Needed" in the TCP/IP control panel; or, lengthen your DHCP server’s lease period. The likelihood of encountering this problem decreases as the length of DHCP leases increases.
Mounted Recordable Discs: Retrospect does not support recordable discs (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, or DVD+RW discs) formatted for use with software that allows you to mount the discs in Windows Explorer and use them like floppy disks. In addition, when the disc mounting software and Retrospect are both running on the backup computer, conflicts may occur.
To use disc mounting software when Retrospect is running:
To use Retrospect when disc mounting software is running:
DVD-RAM Devices: With some DVD-RAM drives, a drive may not appear in Retrospect’s storage devices window unless a writable DVD-RAM cartridge is in the drive.
Windows NT 4.0 and ATAPI Devices: Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 and later greatly improve compatibility with ATAPI storage devices. If you are encountering problems with an ATAPI storage device, contact the computer vendor for a new IDE controller driver.
Removable Storage Management: The Removable Storage management console of Windows 2000/XP allows you to manage tape libraries and other storage devices in conjunction with the operating system’s built-in backup utility. Because this interferes with Retrospect’s access of those same devices, Retrospect automatically disables the Removable Storage service when it scans the SCSI bus for devices.With the service disabled, you cannot use the Removable Storage management console.
DirectCD: Retrospect is not able to access a CD/DVD device if an Adaptec DirectCD-formatted disc is in the drive. Eject all DirectCD volumes from the CD/DVD drive before opening Retrospect.
Removable Disks: If you are using a removable disk drive under Windows NT, format your disks as NTFS, unless you need to keep them FAT to share data with others. Erasing FAT volumes for use with Retrospect takes longer than erasing NTFS volumes.
Imation LS-120 SuperDisk: Retrospect will not recognize a SuperDisk drive if a 1.4 M floppy disk was in the drive before Retrospect scanned for available backup devices. If the SuperDisk drive is not visible in Retrospect’s media request window, check whether Windows Explorer shows a drive letter for a removable disk in My Computer. If the SuperDisk drive has a letter in Windows Explorer but it is not in the media request window, click Environment, then click Refresh.
Auto-Ejecting Removable Disks: Windows 98 may give you a blue screen error message when Retrospect automatically ejects a removable disk. To prevent this, go to Configure>Preferences>Media>Handling and turn on the Don’t eject removable disks preference.
The Dantz web site has a searchable database of backup devices qualified for use with Retrospect. Check the database for specific information about your device.
Dantz adds support for devices by releasing a new driver update, a "plug-in" file you place in the folder with Retrospect. When circumstances permit, Dantz includes the latest driver update with Retrospect and it is automatically installed when you install Retrospect. (To reinstall the Retrospect Driver Update, reinstall Retrospect.)
To see which version of the Retrospect Driver Update you have, view the operations log. It lists the version of the driver update, if present, each time it logs the launch of Retrospect.
If you have no driver update, or your driver update version is too old for your device, you can get the latest Retrospect Driver Update from the Dantz web site.
Certain drives require specific versions of firmware, the drive’s built-in controlling software. To determine your drive’s firmware version, click Configure>Devices, and click the Environment tab. If your firmware is an earlier version than is required, contact your drive vendor.
Retrospect supports all drives which are accessible from Windows Explorer. This includes removable cartridge drives from Iomega, Imation’s SuperDisk, DVD-RAM drives from Hitachi, Panasonic, and Toshiba, and magneto-optical drives from Epson, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi Chemical, Olympus, Philips, Pinnacle, Ricoh, Sony, and others.
Copyright © 2002 Dantz Development Corporation