Can This Be Done...

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 19, 17:29

First I would like to thank Nikos once again for this brilliant program. I have been using this Explorer, and the previous version, now for a long time. Each time I find new features and different ways to make my file managing job easier...

Now here's my question: Is it possible to copy a file to two different harddisks in one go. I have installed a second harddisk in my computer, for backup purpose. It would be ideal if I could just copy a file to my main harddisk, and in the background Explorer would copy that same file to the second harddisk. Can this be done in some way. By means of a macro or some other trick...

Thanks for your thoughts,

Jan Goedkoop
Switzerland

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Apr 19, 17:37

i suppose you could do it with a macro (script) but you would be copying with an external tool like xcopy -- which isn't bad per se but it will probably be slower. Use a template like:

Code: Select all

xcopy "$P" dest_1, xcopy "$P" dest_2

note that using a comma we can have 2 (or more) commands output for each selected item. The good thing about xcopy is that it can take various options to suit your needs (try xcopy /? in any command prompt) and it can be run both as windows or dos script

in a future version of x2 it should be possible to designate multiple destinations for a copy operation

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 19, 17:46

nikos wrote:in a future version of x2 it should be possible to designate multiple destinations for a copy operation

Thanks Nikos. Will this be in the near future, or will this be far from now...

Jan

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Apr 19, 18:08

i'm thinking about what will go in the next version as we speak!

however regarding this particular issue of yours wouldn't it be better to arrange the hard disks in a sort of RAID mode so that one is automatically ghosting the other?

(I know sh*t about RAID and what hardware it requires but i know that's the solution you need

)

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 20, 07:27

nikos wrote:i'm thinking about what will go in the next version as we speak!

however regarding this particular issue of yours wouldn't it be better to arrange the hard disks in a sort of RAID mode so that one is automatically ghosting the other?

(I know sh*t about RAID and what hardware it requires but i know that's the solution you need )

Yes, I agree, RAID would be the perfect solution. But I thought, if it could be done in a simple way, by means of a script/macro, this would solve the problem right now. I have been checking on RAID controller prices, they are not cheap. If there was an easy way with x2, I would go for that...

Jan

Post by **nikos** » 2005 Apr 20, 08:10

you need mirroring of all file activity, not only copying but also moving, deleting, renaming... there's no easy way to do that

however you gave me a good idea about another piece of software that could "emulate" RAID without requiring a RAID hardware

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 20, 09:56

nikos wrote:you need mirroring of all file activity, not only copying but also moving, deleting, renaming...

No, I need only a copy of critical data. This data will only be used in case of a disk failure. All that the program (x2??) has to do is copy certain data to a separate harddrive. The data on that harddrive will only be collected when the main disk would fail...

Jan

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2005 Apr 21, 15:05

Jan, maybe you should try Second Copy 2000 (Second Copy Home Page)

This can copy any set of folders files to any location and you can even make this copy periodically and when windows starts/stops.

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 21, 17:12

JRz wrote:Jan, maybe you should try Second Copy 2000 (Second Copy Home Page)

This can copy any set of folders files to any location and you can even make this copy periodically and when windows starts/stops.

Thanks JRz, I have just looked at their website. This looks interesting, I think I will download the evaluation copy to see if this does the job...

Bedankt, en groeten uit Zwitserland,

Jan

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2005 Apr 21, 19:34

Jan, Don't mention it, You're welcome

Graag gedaan,

Groet Jan

Demetris · Post by **Demetris** » 2005 Apr 21, 19:35

Hello, Jan,

You could also try Drive Snapshot for NT/2000/XP/2003:

http://www.drivesnapshot.de/

I have it run daily (via the Task Scheduler), take images of my critical partitions, and save them on a second hard drive. It works in the background without interrupting your work, it is very fast, and achieves a compression ratio between 40 and 50%. It can also mount the images it makes as virtual drives, so that you can explore them, copy files etc. (with x2, of course!).

It is just 130 kb and does not need installation. Restoring of partitions is done from DOS.

I use it for some months and it has never failed me.

Here is a short review/presentation:

http://tinyapps.org/drive_snapshot_review/

HTH.

Demetris

jancarel · Post by **jancarel** » 2005 Apr 21, 19:48

Demetris wrote:Hello, Jan,

You could also try Drive Snapshot for NT/2000/XP/2003:

http://www.drivesnapshot.de/...
Demetris

Thanks Demetris,

I just checked their website. This looks really interesting but... The probleme here is that I am working under Windows 98SE. The application I am using will only run under Winows 98. I am using this proffesionally and there is no way to get around this...

But thank you for your thoughts,

Jan

hsj99 · Post by **hsj99** » 2005 Apr 24, 00:08

I use a product called Batchrun from outer technologies.

It will do what you want on Win9x.

Hope this helps.

Howard