Because I needed it and because I wanted to teach myself program in Delphi, I made me a program to backup directories to other directories. To help the "Vereniging
Dierenopvangcentrum POLDERWEG te Amsterdam", who gave me the most wonderful cat in the world, Chita I dedicated the program to them.
The "Vereniging Dierenopvangcentrum POLDERWEG te Amsterdam" is a foundation that takes care of abandoned pets, mostly cats and dogs, but also parrots. To see more of the wonderful work they're
doing, visit:
Polderweb, where you can also verify the account number.
If you see the photographs of these lovely animals, and if you like using my program, you'll agree with me that you can't let them down. Their bank account no. is 69.67.12.148 of ING-bank in the
Netherlands.
Check for the latest version at :
PolderBackup
The steps to make a backup:
Making a new template
Adding directories to the template
Compressing your backup files
Why is everything kept in seperate zip files, instead of one big file?
Filtering
Excluding files
Making all sub directories of a directory part of the backup as well
How to avoid that everything is copied all the time
Where does it keep the backup ?
How can I see what needs to be copied?
Problems with Adaptec DirectCD
What backup path can I choose ?
How to restore files
Save the template for later use
Redundant files
The actual act of backing up
Tips and tricks
Today is different form yesterday
I don't want to backup my documents anymore
I don't need this template anymore
I want a backup to be made, but this file is not necessary today
When I add a filter to a directory or change any of the options, the program seems busy for a while. Is this normal?
The command line option
Version history
I like this program a lot !
I don't like this program
Do I really have to give money to this foundation? I don't even like animals!
Can I have the source code of PolderBackup?
Bugs
I want more support
Making a new template
Click 'New template'. A name for your new template will be asked for. Give it any name you like.
Your new template will now appear in the 'templates' list.
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Adding directories to the template
Push the 'Add item' button to add a directory you want to backup.
You can also right click the directory window and choose 'Add directory'.Back to top
The compression level combo box lets you choose the how you want to store your backup. With 'No compression', it just copies the files. Anything other compresses all your back up files to zip
format. You can open the files with any zip compatible program, like winzip. The higher the compression level, the smaller your back up becomes. The process of compressing takes time, so that a
higher compression level generally takes more time. However, if you back up to CDRW, the process of writing takes up most of the time, so that in that case, the less PolderBackup has to write,
the faster it goes, in which case the loss in compression time is outweighed by the gains you get in writing less bytes.
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The reason that PolderBackup packs every file in its own zip file, is safety:
If everything were stored in one big zip file, and that file got damaged, you would lose your entire back up. With every file in its own zip file, the risk is spread.
Another reason is speed: If you make an incremental back up, the entire zip file has to be rebuilt. With a zip file of 100 MBytes, this takes longer than with a couple of small zip files.
Especially on a CDRW, updating a couple of files in a big zipfile takes ages. Replacing that couple of zipfiles is a piece of cake. Back to top
Filtering
With the filter box you can choose to backup only those files that are within the range of the filter.It accepts wild cards, so *.* covers anything. An example: If you put a filter like '*.doc',
in this directory ( and it's sub directories ) only files with the extension 'doc' will be copied. The filter will be applied as soon as you leave the filter combo box. You can also use it
without wild cards to copy specific files instead of directories: If you choose to add the directory 'C:\' to the list, and you filter on 'Autoexec.bat', only the Autoexec.bat file will be backed
up. In this case, it's best to set 'Recursive' to 'No', so that the program will not search the whole C: partition for files with the name 'Autoexec.bat'.
Every time you type in a new filter and press the tab key, it is added to the drop down list.
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Excluding files
With the 'exclude' box you can exclude certain extensions from the backup.
Double click on this field, and a popup will appear in which you can type which
extensions you want to exclude. Start every extension with the '.'.
Example: type '.exe.tmp.txt' will exclude files with the extension 'exe', 'tmp'
and 'txt'.
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Making all sub directories of a directory part of the backup as well
If you check the 'Recursive' check box the sub directories of that directory will be backed up as well. Back to top
How to avoid that everything is copied all the time, even when hardly anything has changed
If you check the 'Incremental' check box only changed, newer and added files will be backed up.
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Where does it keep the backup ?
Choose a directory where you want to store your backup by clicking the 'open' button on the right of the 'Backuppath' window.
This can be any directory on any drive.However, if you choose a drive that is smaller than your backup, making incremental backups will not work properly.
Example:
If I want to make a backup of the directory
"C:\documents\" in "D:\Backup",
the backup will be made in
"D:\Backup\C_\documents\".
The 'C_' stands for the driveletter of the originall filename.
This way, you can always recover files that are lost or destroyed. Back to top
If you push the 'Report' button on the first tabsheet, Polderbackup will
check what files need to be copied, which files are redundant etc.
I you want Polderbackup to update these lists immediately whenever you make
a change in the template or select one, choose the option 'Immediate update' in the options
menu.
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You can choose any backup path that is on a directly writable disk. A hard disk, a floppy, a zip disk. Even a CDRW will do, as long as you use it with a program like 'Packet CD', or 'Direct CD',
so that windows sees the medium as a writable disk.
Tape streamers are not supported.
If you have several templates, choose a different backup path for each template,
otherwise the templates will read each others files and get confused about
which files are redundant.
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Adaptecs DirectCD, a pogram that makes it possible to treat a CD as a harddisk, reacts different to writing actions. This caused problems with earlier versions of PolderBackup.
From version 2.3 on, PolderBackup is completely compatible with DirectCD.
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The 'Restore' tabsheet contains 3 optiongroups.
'Show' lets you choose which files in your back up you want to see.
'Restore' lets you choose which files to restore:
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'All' restores all files in your backup back to where they were originally backed up.
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'Selected' restores the files that you selected in the list.
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'Missing' restores all files from your your back up that are missing in the originall directory. Ofcourse you can see which files they are if you choose 'Missing' in the show option box.
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'When file exists' instructs PolderBackup wether to prompt when a file that you wanted restored is allready present in the originall directory.
The 'Restore' button in the 'template' group starts the restoring.
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Save the template for later use
When ready, push the 'Save template' button to save the template for later use, so that you don't have to choose all directories and options again later.
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I've removed some documents from my computer, but they're still in my backup.
How do prevent my backup from getting larger and larger every time?
Check the 'Delete non existing' box if you want files that don't exist anymore in the source directory to be deleted from the backup. (This option is not saved as part of the backup template
because of safety reasons.) They will be moved to the recycle bin while processing the backup, unless you uncheck the 'move redundant files to recycle bin' option in the options menu, in which
case they will be deleted permanently
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The actual act of backing up
Push the 'Back up' button to start the backup.
The focus will change to the 'Files copied' tab sheet, so that you can follow the progress.
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If you click the 'Install file extension' button in the option menu, template files, with the extension '.ger', will be associated with PolderBackup. The result is that when you
create a shortcut to a templatefile, you can perform a quick backup by double-clicking the shortcut to this
template file, and PolderBackup will automatically perform the backup for that template.
Today is different form yesterday
If, for a reason, you have a predefined template, but you decide you want to do it different today, maybe because you want a full backup instead of an incremental one form time to time, you can
just change any option. After pushing the 'Update' button, the result will be visible on the tab sheet 'Files to be copied', and the program will make a backup according to the options visible on the screen. The
options are not stored in the template unless you press the 'Save' button.
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I don't want to backup my documents anymore
You can delete a directory from a template by selecting it and press the delete button on the screen or the keyboard, or selecting it, click right and choose 'delete item'.
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I don't need this template anymore
You can delete a template by selecting it in the 'Templates' list and push the 'Delete' button on the screen or your keyboard, or selecting it, click right and choose 'Delete template'. The
template file will be moved to the recycle bin,unless you uncheck the 'move redundant files to recycle bin' option in the options menu, in which case it will be deleted permanently.
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I want a backup to be made, but this file is not necessary today
On the 'Files to be copied' tab sheet, you'll find a list of all files that will be copied. If you select a file, then right click it and choose 'Remove from list', the file will be removed from
the list and will not be backed up. Back to top
If you check the 'delete not existing files' check box, the list on the tab sheet 'Files to delete' will be filled with the superfluous files. Select one, click right and choose 'remove form list
to prevent it form being deleted. Back to top
When I add a filter to a directory or change any of the options, the program seems busy for a while. Is this normal?
If you have checked the 'Immediate update' otion in the options menu,
every time you change an option, the program starts calculating immediately
which files should be copied considering the options and the current state
of your files. This can take a while, depending on the number of files and
directories that are involved.
To avoid this, uncheck this option. Back to top
PolderBackup can also be used as a command line utility. This way you can schedule backups by using windows task scheduler or any scripting program. Example:
"C:\program files\PolderBackup\PolderBackup.exe"[Space]"C:\program files\PolderBackup\Example.ger"
will perform the template 'Example.ger'. Unfortunately, the complete path to the template is necessary because PolderBackup is not directory aware. Instead, you can switch to the PolderBackup
directory before you give the command, in which case the name of the template (+extension!) is enough. Example for a batch file:
'CD PolderBackup'
'PolderBackup.exe[space]Example.ger'
A second switch is provided: If you add 'Y' (not case sensitive) after the template name, redundant files will be moved to the recycle bin.
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I keep a version history from version 2.00 on.
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2.0: Added zip functionality.
Compatibility problems with Adaptecs DirectCD solved.
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2.02: Improved detection of redundant files: Now it doesn't only detect
non existing files, but also files that are not part of the backup
template anymore. General overhaul of the file searching routines.
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2.03: Added option to update filelists by user or automatically.
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2.1: Solved problem with very large number of backup files.
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2.2: Added excluding filter.
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2.3: Solved some bugs and implemented some suggestions from users
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2.5: Revised interface.
Check for the latest version at :
PolderBackup
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I have more questions
If you have more question about PolderBackup or the Polderweg foundation, mail me, and I will answer them. Back to top
Tell your friends! Back to top
Tell me ! Back to top
Do I really have to give money to this foundation? I don't even like animals!
No you don't have to. But even if you don't like animals, remember that this foundation also takes care of stray cats and dogs so that they don't bother you anymore. Back to
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No you cannot, unless you donate to the Polderweg foundation. Send me the receipt and your email address and I will send you the source code. Back to top
The program is always in development, and not all bugs are cleared yet.
If you find any bugs, please report them to me:
Gerwin
E mail support is only available to users who donate money to:
Dierenopvangcentrum Polderweg.
Keep checking this web site for upgrades and bug fixes.
So start using this program before windows screws up your computer and it's too late. And if you like it, SEND MONEY to the animals. Here's the account number again:
69.67.12.148 of ING Bank in the Netherlands. Mention 'PolderBackup Gift'. Remember that it's officially tax deducible.
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