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hello all, my query is if any members could provide suggestions regarding backing up my trainset folder.currently i have 1.91gb in the trainset folder, and thought of using winzip to compress and then split to multiple cd-rw's.how do other members go about this, appreciate any new suggestions, different methods etc, as interested to see what others are doing as far as backing up their own trainsets.regards marko
I back up the zip file as I dl them.I create a dummy folder and copy my trainset folder into it. I then run a search for eng and sd files. I back them up in a zip on a CD. If I lose my drive I can reinstall from my backup zip files, being a bit more selective this time and then restore the revised sd and eng file so I don't have to go through tham again editing my fingers off.Kevin Arceneaux DEFAULT IS FOR DUMMIES Cry havoc and Let slip the dogs of war. Lone Wolf Activities Forum and Activity Packs are on www.3DTrains.com
I'm with Kevin.As soon as I download enough .zips to fill a CD, I burn two CD's for redundancy.At work I have a DVD burner, so when I get enough CD's to fill a DVD, I take them in and burn to DVD.-Jeff
Gidday Marko,You are lucky, I have 10Gb in mine. I purchased another 80Gb disk and I use that as backup. I will in the future get a DVD writer (4.7Gb capacity)Derek
Hi Marko: After I install a piece of equipment or anything else I make sure runs properly. If it does, then it goes to a cd. I keep seperate CDs for Engines, Freight cars, passenger cars, MOW Equipment, Consists, Cabviews & Sound, Routes, Utilities. I have about 15 seperate CDs right now. Using Kevins method would probaly cut that down some. But whatever you do, BACKUP REGULARLY. My Trainset folder is 5 gigs, alot to redown load.Cyndi
Cyndi, I back up ALL the zips, pretty much the way you do. But I only back up the modified eng, wag, and SD files from the trainset folder itself.Kevin Arceneaux DEFAULT IS FOR DUMMIES Cry havoc and Let slip the dogs of war. Lone Wolf Activities Forum and Activity Packs are on www.3DTrains.com
Hi MarkoZipping it up is definitely the way to go, in my opinion.My standard is as follows:From the installed train-set folder: I zipped up the installed contents of the folder entirely into zip files, one file each for all folders beginning with the letter A, same for each of the 26 letters, plus a separate zip each for common.snd and common.cab folders, leaving me with an array of files on ca. 8 or so CDs, each of them clearly labelled (Trainset_A.zip, Trainset_B.zip, ... Trainset_CommonSnd.zip etc). That way the zips are still manageable when it comes to burning them on CD and cleverly using the space available, but it is fairly easy to find a specific engine or car provided you remember the first letter of the folder it installed into - a printed list of the contents of the trainset directory comes in handy here. Freshly downloaded rolling stock: After having backed-up all these (mostly edited / customized) files from the existing trainset folder, I follow Kevin's method for all fresh downloads (or repaints of my own, for that matter). I first install them into a temporary directory, where I test the files for integrity (ConBuilder, Bounding Box Editor, EngMod, plus manually, whatever you prefer) and customize them (name line, physics, couplers, uneven brackets check, custom sound references). That's quite some work, and I'd hate to redo that all in case I just had backed-up the original zip files as downloaded, without all these modifications. Usually, I do check and install a number of engines and cars in one session, and before I move them into the trainset folder, I do zip up all these freshly edited file into one zip file which I then call something like Upd_YYMMDD.zipNeedless to say that when a new finding / fix comes out that needs to be applied to previously installed rolling stock, too - the coupler damping physics come to my mind here - I need to restart the procedure and do a fresh set of back-ups from the already installed units in the trainset folder. Routes: After installing and running a route successfully, I zip up the entire, installed route. Some routes need you to copy one or two small items into them manually, or need you to install a patch. Zipping up the final & working version of a route instead of keeping the original download saves me the troubles of getting all the patches in again, plus saves the time of running dozens of batch files and terrain buffer rebuilts in case of a reinstall. Space is no constraint here, as even the largest routes will come down to no more than 250 or so MB when zipped up.And once we're talking about back-ups: Don't forget to save a zip of your current Global, Sound, and GUI folders if you did add anything to the default stuff there (Xtracks, New Roads etc. in Global, custom sounds for cars or track joints in Sound, modified displays for track monitor in GUI, and whatever else).Hope that helps and was what you were looking for. Cheers,Lukas a.k.a Swissie