Forgive me if there have been replies to this.
 I've not seen them.
My estimate of backup programs is that I find the Windows backup does just
fine.
One problem you may be experiencing is that if you do a complete backup, the
program will try to backup itself.
  I've found that if you schedule backups and
be specific as to what you want to backup, i.e.. check the drive letters all
but
the drive you're backing up to, Windows backup does just fine.

Be sure to include the "system state" in you backup.

I use a WD"Combo" USB 2 (120GB) drive and do backups three times
a week.  I overwrite the previous backup for each day the backup is done.
i.e.  I have created three backup jobs with each a name to correspond to the
day of week.  Sunday overwrites "Sunday" and Tuesday overwrites "Tuesday"
etc.

I have also ran into a problem if I leave a portable USB drive plugged in
and reboot.
The backup does not run because the drive gets renamed.  For instance,  if
the
WD Combo drive is normally  I:  it may become J: and this will screw up the
backup.
So, don't reboot with an additional key-chain drive plugged in to a USB 
port.

Again, sorry if there have been responses and you've figured out your
trouble.
Just thought that I would pass along my experiences.

William
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Will Stephenson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 9:31 AM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Network drives


> Hello all!
>
> I have a client with a peer-to-peer Windows XP network. A year or so ago,
> we
> got a Buffalo LinkStation network drive to host their business files for
> all
> users (especially the data file for GoldMine, which requires a mapped
> drive
> designation to work correctly). We also bought a Western Digital external
> hard drive that connects directly to the Buffalo via USB and acts as a
> backup for the Buffalo. Everything is connected through a 4-port Linksys
> router (internet is through Verizon DSL through the router) and a hub off
> the router.
>
> The setup works reasonably well except for the backup. After multiple
> configuration changes and phone conversations with Buffalo, I cannot get
> the
> backup to work consistently. One example: if you manually start the backup
> (through software installed by Buffalo on a desktop), it refuses to ever
> end, as the process never actually stops unless you turn off the Buffalo
> and
> the WD drive. Setting the Buffalo to do automatic backups most times
> results
> in a failed backup. (If anyone has any suggestions about this, I'd be very
> grateful.)
>
> The client is tired of messing around with this setup, so I came up with
> the
> idea of getting another network drive, attaching it directly to the
> network,
> and doing backups with a real backup program. And finally the question(s):
> is this a reasonable concept and, if so, what backup program would you
> use?
> Would you have any suggestions as to possible pitfalls or gotchas?
>
> Thank you for your time and thoughts about all this.
>
> Will Stephenson
> Acadia Technologies Inc.
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
>
> - Ideologies are ways of organizing large swaths of life and experience
> under a set of shared but unexamined assumptions -
>
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