backing up folders to Lacie USB

I have a 250GB internal HD in Windows XP. Been having computer problems and want to back up folders of key files and program info on external storage. Then I need to deal with Netscape 7.0 and replace a missing profile, then remove the program and replace with Sea Monkey-which I have already been instructed her how to do.

Have a Lacie 500GB external USB storage originally formatted to FAT32. Copying folders stopped when approaching 4 GB in size. So I plugged it into my Mac and reformatted to MacOS Extended which allows disk to be read by both machines and partitions the disk into 4 128GB partitions and was indeed readable on the XP computer. I started copying folders and the same thing happened approaching 4 GB.

What am I doing wrong? How can I back up if the backup quits at 4GB?

Zenith

 

The file size limit for FAT32 is 4 gigs -2 bytes. You will need to format your drive with the NTFS file storage system to handle larger files.

Please see this table for further reference.

 

Thanks for the valuable information. I do not care about saving what I have already transferred to the Lacie but I would like to get rid of the 4 partitions that appear as separate drives before converting to NTFS. How do I do that on the XP machine and eliminate the 128GB partitions?

Elmer

 

Take a look at the drive in Disk Management of XP. Right click each partition and select "Delete Partition. "

If it won't offer to do that because they don't register properly there, you can use the method that created the partitions to delete them.

I'm not too hep on Mac but it shouldn't be much of a hassel to repartition the drive to a single again.

Post back if you hit a snag.

Another tip, if when you attempt to format the drive in XP with the NTFS system, you are not offered that option, go to Device Manager and double click on the listing for your usb drive. Click the "Policies" tab and change the option to "Optimize for Performance. OK out of there. Now you can format the drive with the NTFS file storage file system.

With this new setting, you should dismount the drive properly before unplugging it or risk losing data.

Good luck.

 

Great advice! Folders are copying perfectly!
Thanks abain!
Elmer

 

I'm glad you got it spanked down. Was XP Disk Manager able to delete and redo the partitions (I doubt it) or did you have to use the Mac (very likely) for the job? I have to ask so that it may provide an answer for someone in the future who reads this thread.

Dude.

 

Well, I had to go back to the Mac and with Disk Utilities, erase the Lacie drive. Now in order for the XP computer to recognize the drive when mounted, I then reformatted (on the Mac) the Lacie to the MS DOS option using my 3rd party program Speed Tools and the Drive PC option within it. This time I chose no partitions.

Once that was done- about 15 minutes, I unmounted the drive from the Mac and mounted it on the PC and it was recognized. I then used the NASF directions on the page you gave me for formatting the Flash drive and applied it to the Lacie. This took over an hour, probably because my PC is sick, but once it was done, everything was working properly.

I did notice that when trying to copy an Application Data folder, the process stopped because one of the files "ntuser" was "being used ". When I encountered this again, I just copied the My Documents, Mozilla, and other folders that would transfer. I am doing this for each user profile and it is working.

If I did a legit "complete backup" is it likely that I would encounter this prompt again?

Thanks again for your help.
E

 

No, unlike the basic copy command method, backup programs are programmed to either disable active files that need to be copied or else ignore the ones that don't need to be copied. The file you mentioned can't be copied using the copy command on a logged in user.

IMHO, You can save yourself a lot of time and trouble by abandoning your present method of backup and go to a disk imaging software that can image the entire drive. The better ones also have the ability to perform incremental images that make for a very fast and complete backup of the entire drive.

I use Acronis True Image but there are others such as Norton Ghost that are equal. The process takes less than 3 minutes to make a daily incremental and I store the last 90 days of those on a small 60 gig drive with plenty of room for other things. Beyond being able to restore the complete system, there is a great feeling of security to be able to go into any drive image made within the past 90 days and pull out some individual file that has been long gone.

Do some research and I'm sure you'll see the possibilities. There are some low priced deals available on these softwares so do some price shopping if you decide to buy.

All the best, Dude.