My Hard Drives Can't Backup!

[=MGN=RedEagle]

Hi guys,

I have 11,000,000 files on my main hard drive. When I try and backup the files, it says something about "this file cannot be moved" and asks me to "continue" or "skip". It seems I am loosing thousands of my files in my backup process, anyone seen this happen before? What do I do?

I am using two WD My Passport Drives.

 

[Adam Howard]

Hi guys,

I have 11,000,000 files on my main hard drive. When I try and backup the files, it says something about "this file cannot be moved" and asks me to "continue" or "skip". It seems I am loosing thousands of my files in my backup process, anyone seen this happen before? What do I do?

I am using two WD My Passport Drives.

It is possible that whatever you're trying to backup is an actual running process... I normally only see such an issue (error) with Microsoft Windows as Linux can safely copy things or unload & load if needed.

May want to boot up Linux and try making a backup with it. Even a Live CD (with no install) should help you.

 

[Biker]

Hi guys,

I have 11,000,000 files on my main hard drive. When I try and backup the files, it says something about "this file cannot be moved" and asks me to "continue" or "skip". It seems I am loosing thousands of my files in my backup process, anyone seen this happen before? What do I do?

I am using two WD My Passport Drives.

Is the total size of the backup bigger than your USB drive? If so, Windows backup isn't going to work. Either find backup software that allows you to backup to multiple drives, or get a larger USB drive that will hold the backup.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

Is the total size of the backup bigger than your USB drive? If so, Windows backup isn't going to work. Either find backup software that allows you to backup to multiple drives, or get a larger USB drive that will hold the backup.

Nope, it's only about 1TB in files.

 

[Ernest L. Defoe]

May need to try doing it in smaller batches.......

 

[Poltergeist]

If some of the files are very large the destination drive needs to be formatted in NTFS. I've seen the problem with drives formatted in Fat32.

 

[Walter]

it says something about "this file cannot be moved"

Why move?
A backup should be a copy.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

If some of the files are very large the destination drive needs to be formatted in NTFS. I've seen the problem with drives formatted in Fat32.

Any idea how I would do that?

 

[BirdOPrey5]

What files are you trying to backup? Your entire drive? Just your documents? Something else?

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

What files are you trying to backup? Your entire drive? Just your documents? Something else?

My whole drive.

 

[Biker]

And how are you trying to do this?

I can set a full backup of my hard drive to my USB drive with absolutely no issues at all. Are you trying to just copy the drive? If so, that will not work. If you want to create an image, there's specialized software that will do that. You can't just "copy" your hard drive to another.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

And how are you trying to do this?

I can set a full backup of my hard drive to my USB drive with absolutely no issues at all. Are you trying to just copy the drive? If so, that will not work. If you want to create an image, there's specialized software that will do that. You can't just "copy" your hard drive to another.

I'm copy and pasting the files.

 

[Biker]

No. No. No. No. That is NOT the way to do a backup. Either use the built in backup feature in Windows or get specialized software that does it.

If you're looking for something that allows you to take an image of your drive so all you need to do is re-image it in the case of a failure, you need something like Ghost or Clonezilla. (In your case, I'd recommend purchasing Ghost as it's easier to use for a novice.)

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

No. No. No. No. That is NOT the way to do a backup. Either use the built in backup feature in Windows or get specialized software that does it.

If you're looking for something that allows you to take an image of your drive so all you need to do is re-image it in the case of a failure, you need something like Ghost or Clonezilla. (In your case, I'd recommend purchasing Ghost as it's easier to use for a novice.)

Just a question. If I have two portable drives and i have ten files on one and copy all ten to the other, then my files are backed up... right?

 

[Luke F]

Just a question. If I have two portable drives and i have ten files on one and copy all ten to the other, then my files are backed up... right?

This only applies to non-system partitions, and even then it's not the best way to backup

 

[Biker]

If you're going to copy one file to another location, yes, it's backed up. If you copy ten files to another location, they're backed up. If you're going to backup your entire hard drive, use the built in feature of windows, or get backup software.

 

[=MGN=RedEagle]

I kinda treat my computers as disposable and never keep data on them other than installed programs. I put everything on external drives. But I am running into an issue even with those drives.

 

[Poltergeist]

Any idea how I would do that?

On a windows computer open My Computer and find the drive. Right click on it and select format. There will be a pull down selection for Fat or NTFS. On a Mac I don't know.

Also what everyone is saying about backup software is correct to a point. 1 problem with creating a backup like that is that the files are not accessable directly from Windows (I think the same is true of Macs). If you want to be able to use the files then what you are wanting to do it correct if they are just data files; pictures, mp3 etc etc.