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#1 User is offline   markus_GE 

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Posted 17 September 2014 - 12:08 PM

http://www.elvastowe...eenshot&id=1928
File Name: DeLorean Backup Creator (DLBC) V1.0
File Submitter: markus_GE
File Submitted: 17 Sep 2014
File Updated: 17 Sep 2014
File Category: Computer Utilities

With permission by Hermann Schinagl


Contents

1 Introduction
1A What it Will do
1B What it Will not do
2 Installation
2A System Requirements
2B Additional Required Downloads
2C Set-Up Notes
3 Usage
3A How to Create a DeLorean Backup With DLBC
3B How to Restore a Backup Created With DLBC
3C How to change the setup of DLBC
4 Known Problems
5 Additional Recommendation
6 Legal
7 Contact



1 Introduction

Quick DeLorean Backup Creator (DeLorean Backup or DLBC) is a backup utility that helps you keep multiple backup sets of a folder. In orrder to do so, DLBC is based on the principle of DeLorean copies. What the heck is that?

In a nutshell, a file on your HDD consists of two parts: The actual data and a reference entry that tells the computer where on the physical drive to look for the data and where in your file explorer to show the file. The files you usually create, copy, move and delete on windows all consist of one reference entry and one set of data.

The NTFS 5.0 and higher file systems, however, allow for a special type of file, so-called links. Long story short, a link is a way to let an existing file sow up in another place without duplicating it´s contents, the actual data. This is done by creating a new reference for another location in your file explorer, that points to the same physical location on your HDD as the original file - a second reference is created.

Such links can be of various types, and in fact, they are even possible for directories - but we are only interested in so-called hardlinks of files.

A hardlink duplicates whyt you see as a file in you file explorer to another location in the directory tree, without duplicating the file´s actual data. So, you actually get two files for one, saving a lot of disk space.

Usually such hardlinks are of little use, if you change the file in one directory, it will change in all other directories that have a hardlink to it, too, at the same time. But if a file usually doesn´t change, hardlinks can come in handy, such as in backups.


1A What it Will do

As already mentioned DLBC uses the principle of so-called DeLorean copies. Still, what the heck is that?

A set of DeLorean copies is a disk space saving way of keeping incremental backups (think: snapshots of what a directory looked like at a specified point in time). The space saving effect will not be seen at the first of the four stages a DeLorean backup goes through, however.

STAGE 1: Initially, a normal copy of the folder structure and files of the directory to be backed up is created - much in the way you do it with copy and paste, only the name of the folder is ammended with a time stamp in the backup location.

STAGE 2: Doing a second backup, another folder with the current time stamp added behind it´s name is created in the backup location, and the directory structure of the previous backup is mirrored to this folder. No files are copied, however. Instead, they are hardlinked to the previous backup. In a following step, the source folder (that is to be backed up) is compared to the new backup containing the hardlinks and if a directory was removed / added this is done in the backup too. The same goes for files: If a file has changed since the last backup, the hardlink to the previous backup is removed and replaced by and actual copy of the file from the source directory.

STAGE 3: When any more backups are done, STAGE 2 is repeated, with the difference that all hardlinks will point to the previous directory, instead of the original one. That way, starting from the second backup you get a complete backup of the source directory, with entries for every file (changed or not since the previous backup) at only the "weight" on you HDD of the files actually changed.

STAGE 4: At one point, the maximum count of hardlinks to one set of data for a file on the physical disk will be reached and no more hardlnks can be added. This count is 1023 reference entries to one data entry on the physical disk, but it is recommended to stop adding more below 1000. Anyway, once the limit is reached, the oldest backup will be removed. That is, it´s main folder will be deleted, threby removing all reference from the files threrein to their data. Only the references will be deleted, so the data is still available to the remaining reference entries of the hardlinks in later backups. Only when the last reference entry to a data set is removed will the data set itself be deleted.

As you can imagine, while you need 400 GB of disk space to keep 8 full copies of a 50 GB source directory, it´s likely that with DeLorean copies you only need 100 GB for those 8 Backups, depending on hpw many files are changed / added / removed during the backups.


1B What it Will not do

This is simple to explain: Since DLBC uses DeLorean copying, it will not copy files fully, as is the "traditional" way, except for the intial backup and for files changed between backups.



2 Installation

DLBC itself is installed rather quickly. However, you hardware must meet certain requirements and you will have to install two other programs, in order to ensure proper functionality and usability.


2A System Requirements

In order to ensure DLBC can operate on your system at all, please ensure your harddrive is using at least the NTFS 5.0 file system. FAT or other format drives will not work.

If you are sure about the file system, and it works flawlessly with your computer, you can also be sure to have a suitable oerating system on your computer. Anything starting from Windows XP should be OK, including XP64, but there´s a slight possibility that NTFS 5.0 or higher doesn´t work correctly with 32-bit XP.


2B Additional Required Downloads

All additional programs are hosted at http://schinagl.priv.at/ adn are free of charge. After using them for nearly a year, I have not had any virus problems at all, so the downloads likely are safe.

LN.exe
This program is the backend of DLBC and actually does all the work.
Download: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/ln/ln.html
Instalation: Downlaod the right version for your operating system (32 or 64-bit), save to a temporary directory, unzip, copy the LN.exe file to C:\Windows.

Link Shell Extension
This software suite provides the same functionality as LN.exe does, but with a user-friendly interface, implanted into the standard Windows Explorer right-click drop-down menu. It is required in order to ensure you can properly recover your backups.
Download: http://schinagl.priv...nkshellext.html
Installation: Downlaod the right version for your operating system (32 or 64-bit), save to a temporary directory, unzip, lauch the provided auto-installer and follow the instruction given therein.


2C Set-Up Notes

In order install up DLBC, just download the ZIP, save to a temporary directory, unzip the contents and copy them to wherever you want the program to reside. It is recommended to install to a folder like C:\BackupCreator\XYZ , where you replace XYZ by some indication fo what this install of DLBC will back up.

Before it can operate properly, you need to set up the proper information file for DLBC to use. The file is called DeLoreanBackup.ini and is located in the same folder as DeLoreanBackup.exe. Open the .ini file using a text editor (for example, standard Widnows Notepad.exe) and follow the instructions therein. A good call for the max backups number to be kept is 100. As the instructions in the file state, they must actually be overwritten by the paths you add. Please don´t add any blank lines, as this will also break things.

If you want to change the set-up, but don´t know what to do becasue you were told to overwrite the instruction in DeLoreanBackup.ini, simply delete the .ini file and run DeLoreanBackup.exe. A new, "virgin" DeLoreanBackup.ini file will be created, containing the instructions.

If you want to use DLBC to backup more than one directory, you need to create another install of DLBC. Either you copy the existing install to another directory (see 2C) and delete the DeLoreanBackup.ini, then launch DeLoreanBackup.exe to create a new .ini file and set that up. Or you use the LinkShellExtension to in another folder create a hardlink to the existing DeLoreanBackup.exe (read the manual for Link Shell Extension how to do that, please) and again delete the DeLoreanBackup.ini file and let DeLoreanBackup.exe create a new, "virgin" one. In both cases, you need to set up the .ini file then, as described in 2C.

It is recommended to create shortcuts to the according installation of DLBC in the folder of whatever you want to back up. In order to do so, right-click the DeLoreanBackup.exe file in the installation that will back up the folder you want to have a shortcut for DLBC in. In the drop-down menu, click "Create shortcut" and a file "DeLoreanBackup - Shortcut.lnk" will be created. Copy that file to the folder you want to have the shortcut in, and rename ht .lnk file to something like for example "Backup".



3 Usage

How to use DLBC.


3A How to Create a DeLorean Backup With DLBC

Assuming you have properly set up DLBC according to the instructions in 2C, all you need to do is double-click the DeLoreanBackup.exe file and wait. If it throws any errors, please keep to the instructions shown with the error message.


3B How to Restore a Backup Created With DLBC

In order to restore a backup created with DLBC, just open your file explorer, navigate to where DLBC created the backups, select the backup from the time you want to go back to, copy it and paste it whereever you want to restore it. Then remove the timestamp DLBC added to the folder. Probably, you will have to delete the original folder first, or rename it if you maybe want to go back to it. Alternatively, you can use DLBC to do a backup of the current original folder, before restoring an older version.

If you have wondered what Link Shell Extension (LSE) needs to be installed for, resotirng an old backup is what it is needed for. LSE simply provides the tools that enable Windows Explorer´s copy tool to properly deal with hardlinks in the source to be copied (so if you see another window appear, additional to the standard copy window when copying from a DeLorean backup, don´t worry - the Smart Copy window just takes care of the hardlinks).


3C How to change the setup of DLBC

If you want to change the set-up, but don´t know what to do becasue you were told to overwrite the instruction in DeLoreanBackup.ini, simply delete the .ini file and run DeLoreanBackup.exe. A new, "virgin" DeLoreanBackup.ini file will be created, containing the instructions.



4 Known Problems

DLBC actually is nothing else than a Windows Batch (.bat) file that was compiled into an Executable (.exe) file. As cuh it inherits the limitations fo Batch files regarding special characters in paths. Thus, DLBC will likely throw errors if the paths given in DeLoreanBackup.ini contain any of the following characters: ! § $ % & ( ) = ? ² ³ { [ ] } @ € ~ Not all of these were tested on paths, but if you have on of these on a path given in DeLoreanBackup.ini, and DLBC does not create backups or throws errors, it´s likely one of these special character putting a wrench into how DLBC prcesses the paths.



5 Additional Recommendation

It is recommended that whatever you back up using this program, you let the backups be created in an empty, "virgin" folder and not save anything to it that has nothing to do with the backed-up content (IE, back-ups of the registry of MSTS could for example reside along in the backup folder, while no actual installer should go there outside of the backup). This is just for keeping things clean and will not affect the program or backups.

However, with larger backups (say, over 20 GB) or really important things, it is recommended you let the program create them on a designated separate partition of an external hard-drive, that partition containing nothing but backups. This will keep things clean and easier to keep an overview of, as well making it possible to remove your backups from your computer´s (and possible viruses') direct view, while leaving more access capacity of the internal disc for other use during backup creation.



6 Legal

DeLoreanBackup.exe is a reworked and compiled version of DeLoreanCopy.bat included in the download archive of LN.exe. It has been used with permission by its original creator, Hermann Schinagl.

The DLBC suite is provided as freeware and is to remain that way. You may re-distribute it privately, but only free of charge. You may not re-distribute it publicly, which includes that you may not upload it to any website for public / semi-public (e.g. on forums) download without prior permission by the author(s).

DLBC has been tested extensively and was found to be working satisfactorily. It should not do any harm to you computer or files, but if you are afraid of it doing that, it is your decision to use DLBC or let it be, which I am not liable for.



7 Contact

In case anything goes wrong with DLBC, you need help installing it or with some error, or if you find a bug, feel free to cantact me:

Email: gelbmann.markus@gmail.com
Elvas Tower forum: markus_GE
Traimsim.com forum: markus1996
Website: http://mgelbmann.jimdo.com/ (find the support section under MGProduction)

On forums, please either post a public topic enquiring for help, stating the name of the program you need help with in the title, or contact me via private message (PM). Please do not post help requests on my profile pages - they will be deleted unread.



Markus Gelbmann
Leoben, Austria, SEP-17-2014

Click here to download this file

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