Author Topic: Anyone familiar with Oops!Backup? (Read 62367 times)

Darwin · « **Reply #50 on:** October 12, 2010, 08:21 AM »

Ah... thanks for the explanation, merleone. I hope that future builds add some more flexibility.

MerleOne · « **Reply #51 on:** October 12, 2010, 08:43 AM »

I think that this relative lack of flexibility makes it an easier to use software.

Armando · « **Reply #52 on:** October 12, 2010, 10:41 AM »

I spent some time at their forum this morning.

I erased a 200gb folder on my second ext. hard drive, installed Oops!Backup, and my first backup started 5min later. Nice, especially that this is in line with what I've read in reviews, here, etc.

The OopsBackup folder will be compressed (NTFS compression).

Not sure yet how I'll manage the versionning aspect yet. SyncBack allowed me to treat versionning as a completely separated aspect... And I could archive versions on DVDs (instead of just deleting them). Wonder if a similar strategy could be used with Oops!Backup or if I'll need to still use SyncBack to make sure some older file versions are kept, long (years) after being replaced by newer ones... It happened once that a very old file was deleted... Had to dig 2 years back to find it, and it was there, on a DVD !! (for plain archiving, DVDs are ok. I generally dislike them I must say)

Apart from that, I noticed that RAM usage is on the high side -- a bit too high for my taste, considering that SyncBack would use about 4 MB while resting, and 45 MB while copying big files. It hovers between 140 (resting) and 175 MB (at work) it seems. Yes, I know that unused RAM is wasted RAM, etc. but still... cleverly used RAM is better than unduly used & wasted RAM. Let's hope that it's the first case here. I'm guessing that there's progress to be made in this area. Will see if that becomes a show stopper or not...

[Edited : made my post more readable]

Darwin · « **Reply #53 on:** October 12, 2010, 11:04 AM »

I think that this relative lack of flexibility makes it an easier to use software.
-MerleOne (October 12, 2010, 08:43 AM)

Good point. I haven't tried the multi-drive backup feature because it would be overkill for me (I mainatin a secondary backup of my documents, music, video, ebook, and outlook files via Super Flexible File Synchronizer). I do love how simple it is to use; I'd hate that to be "messed up"!

Armando - I just checked and Oops!Backup is using a total (spread over two processes) of 73 MB/129 MB RAM (Private/Working Set) on my system (Win 7 64-bit with 4GB RAM) during a scheduled backup. FWIW, it's never slowed my system down (that I can tell). It's now at rest and those numbers really haven't changed significantly.

Curt · « **Reply #54 on:** October 12, 2010, 11:15 AM »

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Darwin · « **Reply #55 on:** October 12, 2010, 11:41 AM »

I really LIKED GTL, when it was working. It's odd, because it was a MUCH larger download than Oops!Backup, yet it felt a bit lighter, in some indefineable (ie I can't justify this observation) way. Also, I found it to be even simpler to use the Oops!Backup. It certainly isn't as "pretty" (WRT GUI) as Oops!Backup...

My bottom-line: download the trial, backup one small folder and see how stable it is. Even better, see if you can download an earlier build, set it to watch/backup one small folder, and then try to use the notification area tray icon to update it and see what happens.

Darwin · « **Reply #56 on:** October 12, 2010, 12:18 PM »

Doh! After the latest backup, Oops!Backup is using 168 MB/180 MB (Private/Working Set) memory on my system... I've noticed no adverse performance hit or anything, and can't say what usage went to during the backup. I only noticed this because when I checked before I left TM open in the background with the OopsBackup.Engine.exe process highlighted and noticed the huge increase in memory usage when I maximized TM to shut it down.

Personally, I'm not really bothered/worried about this, but though Armando should know!

Armando · « **Reply #57 on:** October 12, 2010, 12:24 PM »

Thanks Darwin,
Yes this is more like what I'm seeing.
In any case, if oops performs really well and doesn't bother me otherwise, RAM usage shouldn't be too much of a problem. Still it's a lot of RAM to be constantly taken (oops runs all the time in the background).
CPU usage -- a much more important variable in my case -- is minimal though, which is great.

Armando · « **Reply #58 on:** October 12, 2010, 11:41 PM »

So far I like it. No problems whatsoever. A rare thing in computer land.

Now, like I said in a previous post, I just need to know if it'd be possible to somehow archive versions on DVDs (instead of just deleting them). I'd really really doubt so...

Anybody has some element of answer ? Otherwise, I'll directly register to the forum and ask...
(And if nothing is possible, I might do some home brewed versionning with syncback.)

MerleOne · « **Reply #59 on:** October 13, 2010, 04:14 AM »

If you use the Reverse Delta feature, I guess that would be difficult (old version don't exist any longer, just the delta with the last version - or maybe it's incremental). And it you turn it off, you lose one of OB main feature !

MerleOne · « **Reply #60 on:** October 13, 2010, 04:25 AM »

BTW, about SyncbackPro, could you tell us if it now supports multisession on CD/DVD ? Thanks !

Armando · « **Reply #61 on:** October 13, 2010, 09:46 AM »

Ok, I just made my first really annoying mistake with oopsbackup. I erased a portion of code in one of my current project, so I thought : ok, I'll use Oops.

So I went into the restore section of the program, clicked on the 9am tab at the left to restore a folder. It restored it, but for some reason (VSS didn'T work) it didn't backup the exact files I needed and so reverted to an older version and I now lost 3h of work, just like that, in a split second. Cool.

So I thought, maybe the guys at Altaro clever enough to put the erased files to the recycle bin. Nope. They were just wrote over.

I admit I've been stupid and I should've been more careful, but it's a really rough first restore experience...

MerleOne · « **Reply #62 on:** October 13, 2010, 09:49 AM »

You may want to try an uneraser such as Easeus Data Recovery, or Recuva. The chances to recover your files are low, but one never knows.

Armando · « **Reply #63 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:30 PM »

Thanks for the suggestion. I just finished retyping my code.

One hour, and tt's even better than last night.

I still think that Oops could use the recycle as an option (in small restore cases). SyncBack does that (as an option) when files are deleted during sync operations.

BTW, about SyncbackPro, could you tell us if it now supports multisession on CD/DVD ? Thanks !
-MerleOne (October 13, 2010, 04:25 AM)

Good question. The answer is, AFAIK : nope.

I know I said that I archived files versions on DVDs but this is really a "Grab the files and burn them" approach... I wait until my HD approaches death by suffocation and then I dump everything I can on DVD's. It's usually 2h of work until next time....

Armando · « **Reply #64 on:** October 13, 2010, 12:45 PM »

I just posted something in the Altaro Forum. Hopefully I'll get an answer soon.

Hello,

I bought Oops!Backup Yesterday. Things started smoothly... and Oops seems like it could fit the bill but I'm already experiencing a few "problems", unfortunately.

[ I owned a few backup solutions over the years. I've been using SyncBack for many years and it's been extremely reliable, but I wanted something to backup my files frequently without any interventions on my part and preferably using some delta technology. ]

Problems :

1- After doing a first backup, I decided to create a few special folders because I saw that some files didn't need to be backed up that often and were taking a LOT of space (Windows Search index, Archivarius Index, etc.), and others could've been backed up a bit more frequently than I thought (documents, programming projects, code, etc.). To my surprise, Oops created extra folders beside the main one (Main Module), instead of just applying the changes to the folders already backed up (in the main module)... My 500gb hard Drive is now completely full.

Is that how it's supposed to work ? Special folders are getting backed up fully 2 times, once in the main module and an extra one (fully, for the second time) in extra folders as the Main Module folder's siblings?? I thought that special folders would just affect how often and how they would be backed up, nothing else...

Am I missing something ?

Hopefully, I'm missing something as I won't be able to use Oops otherwise. I want all my files in the same folder hierarchy, not in several folders all over the place, and only fully backed up *once*.

2- I proceeded to make my first restore this morning, and I inadvertently erased something very important -- partly because a file didn't get backed up properly because VSS didn't do its job, and partly because I was too stupid to blindly trust the time stamp Oops put on the last backup (9am, but for some files it was truly 10 pm yesterday) -- I unfortunately didn't see that and think that Oops shouldn't put a 9 am stamp on a folder containing a file that wasn't backed up properly since 10 pm the day before (I know that this is what happened as I lost 3 hours of work and I double checked the backed up files, when they were backed up, the time stamp, etc., and it didn't correspond.)

My first reflex was to go check in the recycle bin... But nope, it was definitively gone.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I think that Oops :

a- should offer the option to move the "original" files to recycle bin (or somewhere else) as an extra safety net. It's way to easy to completely adversely modify some files without any way to go back to their lost original state.

b- shouldn't put an erroneous "backed-up" time stamp (I'm talking about the tabs in the restore window) when the version is actually much older than that.

Thanks in advance for any help/information.

(My priority : would really like to have my Hard Drive space back -- i.e. : no files duplication)

tomos · « **Reply #65 on:** October 13, 2010, 01:54 PM »

So I thought, maybe the guys at Altaro clever enough to put the erased files to the recycle bin. Nope. They were just wrote over.
-Armando (October 13, 2010, 09:46 AM)

Tough one

I had a similar experience with FileHamster - I was pruning the backups manually and happened to delete one that I needed about 1/2 an hour later. Likewise they hadn't used the recycle bin - they do now though ;-)

Armando · « **Reply #66 on:** October 13, 2010, 03:15 PM »

Ah! So you see. Maybe Altaro will do the same. (Still early, but waiting for a response.)

I was such in a good mood last night. Everything was working fine... And then, this morning, I inadvertently erased something in some code (noticed only 30 min. later and couldn't undo it). It would've been 10-15 min. to fix by hand but I thought... "Oh, I've got this new toy! Let's use it..." And BAM!

Armando · « **Reply #67 on:** October 14, 2010, 04:41 PM »

I exchanged a few messages with Julian from Altaro. I'm not sure I'm going to use Oops after all...

It's the RAM usage... and a few drawbacks that are really annoying me... I mean 140-180 MB that's continuously taken by an app is certainly annoying.

Armando · « **Reply #68 on:** October 14, 2010, 04:43 PM »

Will see if bvckup (for syncing exclusively) + syncback (for basic versionning) + autover (granular versionning for some very specific folders) could be a nice partnership.

J-Mac · « **Reply #69 on:** October 16, 2010, 11:05 PM »

I just read your "thread" at the Oops "forum". (Quote marks are because their so-called forum is actually on Get Satisfaction, which IMO is not the best format for a user/support forum. Personal non-preference, I guess!

).

Very educational indeed. It was probably one of the more productive postings I have seen in a while on there. You definitely have some valid concerns, Armando. At the same time I was kinda impressed by the developers willingness to discuss it all as fully as he could. Nice exchange, and he didn't poo-poo your suggestions at all but said that all were put on the list for their team to discuss. I didn't get the feeling that he was just mollifying you, but that they will take a decent look at your comments and concerns.

Thanks!

Jim

Darwin · « **Reply #70 on:** October 17, 2010, 10:53 AM »

I just read your "thread" at the Oops "forum". (Quote marks are because their so-called forum is actually on Get Satisfaction, which IMO is not the best format for a user/support forum. Personal non-preference, I guess! )
-J-Mac (October 16, 2010, 11:05 PM)

Jim, you are not alone! I'm heading over there to read the thread now...

Darwin · « **Reply #71 on:** October 17, 2010, 11:35 AM »

Grrr...

The thing I hate most about GetSatisfaction is trying to find something specific. Frig, finally found it by searching for "recycle bin". Here's the link:

http://getsatisfacti...ms_recovery_problems

Reading it now...

Armando · « **Reply #72 on:** October 17, 2010, 01:17 PM »

Yes, it was a pretty long exchange. We'll see if something happens because of it. As far as I'm concerned, there are 3 things that finally mean that I won't be using it (but I don't think I'm a "typical" user -- more geeky than most, I have very specific needs and high expectations)... At least until the next version :

- RAM usage (... Especially that this software needs to be always ON to be useful)
- Inflexibility of some features (the "special folder" case which will fill up your hard drive in a flash if you're not careful)
- Can't store older version instead of just deleting them... but that's just a consquence of the technology used. It as good and bad aspects.

However, my girlfriend is interested... So is my daughter.

Curt · « **Reply #73 on:** October 17, 2010, 02:10 PM »

I just posted something in the Altaro Forum. Hopefully I'll get an answer soon.
Hello,
I bought Oops!Backup yesterday. Things started smoothly... and Oops seems like it could fit the bill but I'm already experiencing a few "problems", unfortunately. ..........
-Armando (October 13, 2010, 12:45 PM)

HINT:>>

The more people who report this problem, the more it gets noticed.
-Altaro Forum

http://getsatisfacti...ms_recovery_problems

Edited:
To me, their answer was really very helpful,
in fact, I think every O!B user should study this answer! :-)
http://getsatisfacti...oblems#reply_3707461

Armando · « **Reply #74 on:** October 17, 2010, 07:57 PM »

Thanks Curt ! Yes, Julian (form the Altaro team) is a nice person and he took the time to answer thoroughly.