How to back-up custom

Could some kind people tell me how to back-up all the items that I have downloaded plus all the routes that I have created so that if my hard drive explodes I can restore them all in my new and improved drive when I get it...You will have to explain in words of one or less syllables as I am mostly computer illiterate....
By the way I have a plug-in separate hard drive and I will back up everything into that...Both trs 2004 and 2006 please

Also in the manuals for trs 2004 it states that I can download gMax free off the download station.Is this still so or is it now defunct.I can't find it anywhere to download..

ta from old fossil...






Thank-you to all who have helped me with the back-up question...I have already backed the files successfully and I will see if I can get the backup utility as well ..
once again ...thanks..

TRS04: Copy the folders C:\ProgramFiles\Auran\TRS04\world\custom and C:\ProgramFiles\Auran\TRS04\world\dispatcher to a safe place. 'Custom' contains many sub-folders which in turn contain content of your own creation; routes. paintshed skins etc. 'Dispatcher' contains all DLS downloads.

TRS06: Copy the file C:\ProgramFiles\Auran\TRS06\local which contains all content.

gMax - to the best of my knowledge never on the DLS - search the content creation forum, there are several threads on the subject.

Andy

umphies

I have a similar setup to you, in that I have TRS2004 on an internal drive and my backups on an external drive.

Manual backups can be done by simple copying -and I used to do it that way myself - but when your asset collection becomes big, a copy can take a long time, even on modern systems. It's also inefficient in the sense that you are backing up many files that don't need it, since most will not have changed in between backups.

Someone here on the Forum had the same problem and did a bit of a survey of available backup software. His favourite (and now mine also) was a freeware utility called Solway's Plain Backup. You can download it from here; http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/ It's not the only one out there of course, but I'll describe what I think are important features.


After the first backup, it only copies files that are new or that have been changed since the last backup. This makes it faster and doesn't thrash your drives as much as a full manual copy. Once set up, backup becomes a 1-click operation.

Dermmy has already listed the folders with your active content, so at a minimum, they are the ones to backup. I have Solway's setup so that I can choose various degrees of backup, from 'maps and sessions only' all the way up to a full backup of all my Trainz-related files on my C: and D: drive partitions.

Solway's uses a compare-and-copy method rather than a database so the folder structure and filenames of your source files are replicated in the backup. This means you can easily see what you've got in the backup folders without needing any software to unscramble it from a database. I guess the disadvantage would be the backups are exactly the same file size as the originals.

There is a separate Solway's utility available (also free) if you want to schedule your backups automatically. I'm not using that, so can't say much about it.

The other thing I'd suggest is that you keep all the CDP files you download. Re-installing assets from CDP's will return them to their original state so any changes you made to them will be overwritten. At least you won't have to download them again.

Hope this helps, and good luck with backups!

~Deane

Thanks

Thank you both Andy and Deane... I have tried both and they seem to work well..

Umphies..

Hello Umphies,

I also have an external drive, connected via USB, that I use to backup all important files in case of an explosion :hehe:

I made a little batch file that contains this line
xcopy "C:\Program Files\Auran\TRS2006\local\*" "E:\@TRAINZ\local\" /s/q/d/y/v/i/r/h
amongst others.
I just hit the shortcut to my batch file before shutdown, and always have backup of all my files that way.

PS: Since you said you weren't too familiar with computers, here's how to create a batch file for that purpose:

First you create a folder on your external drive (let's call it "E:" but it might be a different drive letter on your PC), called "TRAINZ", then a subfolder under that called "local".

Then you make the batch file: goto "start", "all programs", "accessories", and you'll find a little program called "notepad". Open that.
In the notepad you write this line: (you can copy and paste it from here)

xcopy "C:\Program Files\Auran\TRS2006\local\*" "E:\TRAINZ\local\" /s/q/d/y/v/i/r/h

then you go "file" and "save as..", and then save it as "backuptrainz.bat" for example. Name is not important, but it has to be ".bat", and needs to be saved as a text document (default option). It's also not important where you save it, as long as you remember where you put it. Then you can create a shortcut on your desktop for that file.

(I assumed here that your trainz is installed in c/program files)

This is fast and easy, and no need for extra software.

Hi jytte

May I chip in here with a question about that method of backup.

My downloads are now up to 25gb, what happens with the batch file method with larger folders?

I have tried copying the whole floder before but it stops at around 20gb and will not put any more into that folder.

Because of this my backups are split into smaller folders, but, if ever I need to copy them back into Trainz, they will not all go in anyway.

Is there a way around the 20gb folder limit?

Dennis

http://www.turbosquid.com/gmax

This is the link to get Gmax. Also download "vulcans" tutorial it is easier to use and understand.

http://www.ianztrainz.com.au/tutorial.htm

this is the link for the tutorials.

DeRiCo said:

Hi jytte

May I chip in here with a question about that method of backup.

My downloads are now up to 25gb, what happens with the batch file method with larger folders?

I have tried copying the whole floder before but it stops at around 20gb and will not put any more into that folder.

Because of this my backups are split into smaller folders, but, if ever I need to copy them back into Trainz, they will not all go in anyway.

Is there a way around the 20gb folder limit?

Dennis

Click to expand...

Hi DeRiCo,

I'm not sure what problem you have with copying more than 20GB, never had that problem myself, maybe because my folders aren't that big yet?

Anyways, XCOPY only copies NEW files (that's why it's a fast way, providing you use it often enough, or at least use it every time you know you have new stuff), so I don't imagine you'll ever have a problem with that.

As far as copying your backup back into trains if you need to, I don't see a problem here either. If for some reason you cannot get the whole "chunk" to copy in, then just copy one part, then the next part and so on.

Maybe I don't understand you right, but I don't see a problem here. Anybody else with a similar experience?

Hi jytte

That's the problem, once a folder has reached near 20gb, no more stuff can be copied into that folder, either in small or large chunks.

CMP seems to be able to keep installing downloads into it, but try copying something in with Windows and it will not because it is over 20gb.

Is there ayone out there with a local folder over 20gb that has found a way of getting it all in?

Dennis

Ok, you have me baffled now. There shouldn't be a size limit to folders? You also said your assets were 25GB now, and they all sit in the same folder, right? I'm checking on this right now, but I still may not see exactly where your problem lies.
What version of windows are you running?
Might your disk be quota enabled?

DeRiCo, I just ran a test, just to be absolutely sure. I just copied 26GB to another folder, no problems at all. I'm on Win XP by the way.

The thing is, there should not BE any folder limits. So why you are having problems, I cannot begin to imagine without some more information. Are you running an older PC or windows? Are you using windows explorer when you try to copy?

How on earth did you manage to collect 25GB in your local trainz folder anyways???? I thought I had downloaded a lot, and I have only 1.5GB so far.

Anyone else with good ideas, feel free to jump in here too!

Hi jytte

I am running on WinXP Pro. Computer is only a couple years old.

I have tried with explorer and also my favourite Directory Opus program. Both ways it stops at 20gb.

Any computer people more savvy than me able to help?

I'll try it again as I have not tried for a while. Might have been just a glitch that time. here's hoping.

Dennis

This is really weird. Give it another try and let me know what happens.

And by the way, where or what are you trying to copy TO? (an external drive?)

if you have room enough, try to make a folder on your harddrive (call it say copytest) and copy something else from your harddrive into that folder (whatever as long as it's more than 22GB) and see if it will do it. It's gonna take you a while (took me an hour), but give it a shot. (you just delete it later)

there cannot possibly be a "limit" on your folders, cause then you wouldn't be able to have your 25 GB of trainstuff in there in the first place, so whatever the problem is, it's somewhere else.

have you checked the actual size of that "local" folder of yours with explorer-properties?

I'm rambling and grasping at straws here, getting tired
let me know what happens

oh, and by the way, if it doesn't work for you, check what error messages you get, that'll be interesting to hear

Success jytte

My silly fault after all. Must be part of growing old.

All 3 drives are internal and there was plenty of room for it, so I assumed it was some sort of limit.

Then after running your batch file and the copy stopped at 21g with only 21844 folders out of the 27080 that should have been there, I decided to try the other drive.

It copied the whole thing over.

That is when the light bulb lit up.

Slap forehead, DOH!

One of the drives is fat32, the others are NTFS.

That's where it is, fat32 doesn't like large folders.

So when I finish calling myself a silly old fool I might re-format that drive to NTFS also.

Ok, now my backups are safe it's back to Trainzing.

Dennis

P.S.
Thanks for the batch file, I had not used one of them since the Win98 days.

DeRiCo said:

Success jytte

My silly fault after all. Must be part of growing old.

All 3 drives are internal and there was plenty of room for it, so I assumed it was some sort of limit.

Then after running your batch file and the copy stopped at 21g with only 21844 folders out of the 27080 that should have been there, I decided to try the other drive.

It copied the whole thing over.

That is when the light bulb lit up.

Slap forehead, DOH!

One of the drives is fat32, the others are NTFS.

That's where it is, fat32 doesn't like large folders.

So when I finish calling myself a silly old fool I might re-format that drive to NTFS also.

Ok, now my backups are safe it's back to Trainzing.

Dennis

P.S.
Thanks for the batch file, I had not used one of them since the Win98 days.

Click to expand...

Don't forget, you can upgrade the drive without reformatting it!

Just type this into the command prompt:

convert [drive letter]: /FS:NTFS

Great Dennis!

Just because it's old doesn't mean it's useless. That goes for people and software both

Yea, batches are from the "good ol" dos days, and maybe I'm oldfashioned that way, but they still do the job. No need for extra software (to clutter up my PC) and I can do whatever I want. I do all my backups via one batch file, to an external drive (I do recommend that), and I like to run them manually, just takes a few secs before shutdown (when done frequently). You can run them automatically as part of the shutdown as well, via windows scheduler, providing you use passwords for windows.

I still would like to know how you got 25GB in that folder? Are there that many routes out there??

Glad you're up and running. Good luck down under :wave:

jytte, As far as I can tell from other posts on this forum i am not the only one with large local folders.

I have seen many mentions of over 20gb sizes.

One of the reasons for lots of downloads would be the excellent work by Ben Dorsey, just can't stop downloading his content.

And of course being an Aussie, one just has to have any Australian stuff available.

There probably is a lot of stuff that I have never even used, but when you are looking for an item in surveyor, it does help to have lots of choices.

To Collinsl:
Thanks for that suggestion. But not till I have backed up all the data. The said drive is my RAID system with 2 x 120gb drives where all of 'My Documents' are stored. Contents are at 52gb that will be copied over to an external drive then I can do the conversion.

Thanks all for your assistance.

Dennis

Yea, I just read in some other post somebody mentioned that there are more than 2,000 routes in DLS, WOW. I can see how that folder is gonna grow over time.

Funny, now that you mention it, our favorite route (we don't have too many yet) is the Razorback Classic that comes default with 2006. That's just SO nice. I've been thinking about getting a couple of new routes to drive, but is so hard to know what to look for. But now I'm gonna try to look for Ben Dorsey and see what that looks like, thanks.

I too have downloaded routes that I haven't driven, but I like to scour thru routes to find ideas and stuff for my own landscaping.

Just got a new PC with 500GB HD, and I thought that was overkill, but then again, maybe not