Batch file experts

jester77

Hi

I currently have a simple batch file for backing up data to an external hard drive. It uses xcopy and overwrites whatever files have been changed. Some times I need to restore this data to another machine. However files that no longer exist on the original machine are still in the backup and get restored to the 2nd machine, this is a problem for me. I don't want to have to overwrite every file when backing as there is over 4GBs of data and this takes too long.

So how can I moidfy the batch file to remove files on the external hard disk that no longer exist on the original PC?

Was thinking of looking on the external drive first,
Is it possible to loop through all files and do something like
IF NOT EXIST ??? del /f ???

How would I get the file names?

Everything is on a windows env and I would be only using the available DOS commands, no 3rd party apps.

Thanks

ThreadKiller

I don't think you'll be able to do that to be honest, even using explicit backup software it's still going to be restoring everything you backed up.

Be interested in seeing your batch file though

Hobbes

You could look at the FOR command.

Random

There was a program I used before.. I think it was called SecondCopy97 or something similiar. It was a pretty basic program but it let you do what you're looking to do.

Not got a link to hand, google might throw up something for you.

Capt'n Midnight

Please specify exact OS !

Xcopy syntax and options vary a hell of lot.
eg:
in DOS / or win 9x in DOS mode you can't use /D
in 9X command prompt you can use /D
in NT you can't use Exclude where as in 2000 you can
in XP you have to use pipe the letter "A" (for all) to get it to overwrite files in batch mode - which you don't have to do in 2000

the FOR command is only native to NT/2K/XP

If you are doing a one off copy you could try this.
attrib *.* -a /s
remove backup attrib
xcopy *.* x:\*.* /s /m
copies only files not copied already and marks them as copied
Note there are other options for hidden / readonly / system files and even then you can't copy files in use

If you have XP home - look for NTBACKUP.MSI on the CD and run it
ya might as well take a snapshot of the system state.

NT - backup only to tape.
Dos/Win9x backup only with compression turned off and even then painfull
2K/XP - I think NTbackup is compat between these.

jester77

Thanks Capt'n Midnight,

OS is win2k

My file is currently something like this:
xcopy c:\xyz\*.* i:\XYZ\xyz /c /s /r /d /y /i > i:\XYZ\resync.log

That works ok for backing up files that were modified. But if a file was deleted on the machine it still remains in the backup. This is a problem for me when I restore as some of the "already deleted" files contain source code and this cause compilation errors.

I tried the following but didn't work,

FOR %%v IN (i:\XYZ\*.*) DO IF NOT EXIST c:\%%v del /f i:\XYZ\%%v

%%v is only the filename and not the path plus it doesn't recurse through the folders...

Alanm

Have a look at Robocopy - i think it's comes with the 2k resource kit (I can mail you a copy of it if you like - it's just an exe). It has a mirror option which will do exactly what need!

hth

jester77

Thanks Alanm,
That would be great, I'll PM you my email.

pickarooney

If you install a bash shell (like cygwin) it's a piece of piss to write a script for these kind of things. It might be hammers to kill mosquitoes for this job, but if you regularly do various file-copying jobs, it's well worth a look into.

If not, maybe check the IF command syntax on this page, usign dir/s to check the files on the external drive.

niallb

I'd agree with Captain Midnight on the incompatible xcopy#s.
Unexpected grief is a bad thing in backup software.
Using attrib creatively and sticking to simpler xcopy options might work.

If you do end up looking at other tools, take a look at rsync.
It's designed for remote synchronisation, but works very well
between two locations on the same machine.
http://heanet.dl.sourceforge.net/sourceforge/sereds/cwRsync_1.2.6_Installer.zip
looks like it has all required dlls included (and a copy of openssh in case you
want to go remote with it.)

NiallB

banbutcher

a little bit off topic im lookin for a batch file that will install all the esential apps on a cd like an auto play option! all i want is to put the cd in and then it will run the installers completly without me havin to touch it!! any ideas?

Capt'n Midnight

banbutcher wrote:

a little bit off topic im lookin for a batch file that will install all the esential apps on a cd like an auto play option! all i want is to put the cd in and then it will run the installers completly without me havin to touch it!! any ideas?

they are called viruses..

a cautionery tale: Screw up System ? [Y/N]
once upon a time I made a bootable CD to do something similar, unfortunatley the disk I used was a BIOS upgrade floppy for a laptop. CD booted up OK and without asking flashed the BIOS on the old desktop. Result - dead motherboard.

check the options on the app for silent installs - they are ALL different
sysdiff might be usefull - but in the Windows world you can't copy applications they must be installed...