Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Verifying backups

May 10, 2004 12:19PM PDT

I always back up my important files on floppy disks, but do not know how to make sure the back ups are ok.
Is there a way to confirm that the info is backed up?
W98SE, I.E.6.0, sp1.

TIA.

Shirley

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:Verifying backups
May 10, 2004 12:40PM PDT

Shirely,

Check the floppy by viewing the disk on another computer. That should tell you if the copy was made correctly.

That said.....Floppy disks are NOT a good source for important back ups. They can be damaged easily and lose all the important data. A better way to backup your data would be to use a CD Writer which allows you to make permanent backups on CD-R disks. The internal models are recommended and usually cheaper but if the computer doesn't have room, an "external" CD-RW will do the job and works fine. Watch for sales and it can be done quite economically.

Hope this helps.

Grif

- Collapse -
Re:Verifying backups
May 10, 2004 11:44PM PDT

Devices like a floppy unit, cd writer, HD do what is called a blind write.

What that means is the data is sent to the device and it is assumed it was written correctly.

The only way to be sure is to read the data from the output device.

The backup util I use has a verify function which means after the file is written it compares the input file to the output file.

If what your backing up is important to you then floppies may be your worst choice of media.

CD's (once thought to be permanent) are much better but even those can suffer from media rot.

As a short term fix at least make sure you can read the copy that was made after a backup.

- Collapse -
(N/T) Tks. Grif & Bob for advice.
May 12, 2004 9:54AM PDT

N/T