Backup Strategy for 2009

[Paul_Bert]

I have been a long time user of 2004. Backing up all the downloaded kuids and routes was pretty straight forward using Explorer.

My question for 2009 is whether it is better to back up all my routes and down loaded assets using the CDP procedure or the archive procedure.

If I understand the database structure in CM2 all the assets reside in two areas: the down load station and the local section. The local section is made up of two parts: the built-ins and all the other assets which have been down loaded in addition to any local content created or modified.

So if I understand the process correctly to make a complete backup using archiving one would simply archive the local section. The archiving process will eliminate the built-ins and archive everything else.

By following this archiving process can I be assured that all the content that I have created and also all other content that has either been down loaded or imported from another site will be properly backed up and accessible in case I need to reload the 2009 program for example on a computer hard drive upgrade or replacement? This assumes that I am of course archiving to an external hard drive.

Thanks for any thoughts or comments. I have spent many hours importing content from 2004 and modifying many of the asset files to work better in 2009 and I don't want to loose any of this.

 

[JCitron]

I have been a long time user of 2004. Backing up all the downloaded kuids and routes was pretty straight forward using Explorer.

My question for 2009 is whether it is better to back up all my routes and down loaded assets using the CDP procedure or the archive procedure.

If I understand the database structure in CM2 all the assets reside in two areas: the down load station and the local section. The local section is made up of two parts: the built-ins and all the other assets which have been down loaded in addition to any local content created or modified.

So if I understand the process correctly to make a complete backup using archiving one would simply archive the local section. The archiving process will eliminate the built-ins and archive everything else.

By following this archiving process can I be assured that all the content that I have created and also all other content that has either been down loaded or imported from another site will be properly backed up and accessible in case I need to reload the 2009 program for example on a computer hard drive upgrade or replacement? This assumes that I am of course archiving to an external hard drive.

Thanks for any thoughts or comments. I have spent many hours importing content from 2004 and modifying many of the asset files to work better in 2009 and I don't want to loose any of this.

Hi Paul,

There are three ways you can archive:

1) Copy the Local folder to an external device or burn it in sections to removable media.

Simple enough, and I use this method all the time. Navigate to the directory where you installed Trainz like C:\Program files\Auran\TS2009\, assuming you have the program in the default location.

Find the Local folder and copy the complete folder. I recommend also backing up the World folder as well just in case you created some displacement maps.

Depending upon the number of assets installed, this process can take awhile. If you're burning to external media, you may have to burn the content in sections because of the size limit on each DVD or CD. This would mean opening the folder and copying out sections of the content to removable media.

2) Create a backup using CM2.

This will create zip files that will backup your content that you select for an archive. If it's a route, it will create an archive that will contain the bits and pieces that belong with the route. These files can become quite large.

3) Only backup your route to a CDP, or create CDPs of content.
I do this often with my route as it gives me a go-back point should I mess up something really bad in my editing. The caveat here is it only backsup the selected route, and the selected content and nothing else. So having said this, keep this in mind should your system crash and you need to download the assets again.

I hope you find this helpful.

John

 

[seeseeme]

All my 2006 content is backed up using Archives. These Archives are on a different Hard Drive that 2006 can still access. I also copy these archive files to a DVD.

In doing this there is one thing to remember for 2006 and I guess with 2009 (I do not have it yet) is that its best to to keep your Archive files around the 1GB mark. Anything more could create problems in the time to downloaded content again or to save more content to them.

Craig