Personal Backup © 2012, J. Rathlev, IEAP, Kiel University

Version 5.2.0.3

Version 4.5.5.1

Version 5.2	Version 4.5	Utilities	License	Donate
FAQs	Translations	Online help	Help as PDF file

New in Version 5.2

• Program function for verification of backed-up files
• Junctions (hard links for directories) can optionally be evaluated during backup to save disk space
• Reduction in Windows resources usage (this allows a backup to be initiated using a shutdown script - more details ..)
• Note: The file extension for encrypted gzip files has been changed to gze, because the used file format used is not compatible with the standard (more details ..)

New in Version 5.1

• New clearer desktop design for task settings
• Extensive revision of German and English texts
• Several bug-fixes (eg. synchronizing files, FTP transfer)

Release notes (German only)

From Version 5.0 Personal Backup has been created using the IDE of Delphi 2009 which has full Unicode support and overcomes the ANSI (ISO-8859) filenames limitations on copying files. Also pathlengths may be longer than 260 characters.

The most important enhancements:

• Display file and directory names using other than ISO-8859 characters (e.g. Greek or Cyrillic)
• Backup such files as gzip and zip
• Backup such files via FTP provided that the server supports UTF-8
• Mail delivery in UTF-8 format
• Save, restore and delete files with path lengths > 260 characters

Note: Windows 98/ME are no longer supported.

The program package contains the following additional tools:

• PbPlaner: Create alternating backup schedules using Windows Task Scheduler
• PbRestore: Restore single files from backup (even compressed and/or encrypted files)

The program at a glance

Personal Backup is a program for saving personal data to any destination folder. This folder may be located on a local fixed or removable drive, on a Windows network server or on an FTP server. It runs under Windows 7 (32- & 64-bit), Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003/2008.
You can configure and store as many backup tasks as you wish. The selection of the files to be backed up is made on a by-folder basis. All subfolders are included automatically, but the user can exclude or include any subdirectories from or in the backup by selection or by filter. Additional criteria are the selection by file type, file age and/or file name filter.
At the destination folder the original drives (C:, D:, etc.) appear as subdirectories named LwC, LwD, etc. The original directory structure remains unchanged beneath these folders. All files may be compressed in gzip, either in toto or separated by subfolders as zip files. Optionally all data can be AES algorythm-encrypted.
Performing the backup can be done manually or automatically. During the backup the program checks whether the file to be saved is newer than one already backed up. Only files with newer timestamps are saved. An alternate criteria is the archive bit of the files.
Automatic backup can be started on logon, at a selectable time of day, on logoff or on shutdown. You can make scheduled backups with destination paths changing daily or weekly.
For individual schedules it is easy to start a backup using the Windows Task Scheduler and the command line options of the program.

Note: Personal Backup cannot be used to save and restore system files.

• Restore of single files or zip files (single or folder-separated)
• Selection dialog for files on restore or cleanup with folder tree and find function
• File preview on selecting or deselecting subfolders

• Wizard for the creation of new backup tasks
• Unlimited number of configurable backup tasks
• Backup of complete directory structures
• Start backup on demand or run automatically
• Backup via FTP (optionally with proxy and FTPS (FTP over SSL))
• Backup options:
• Into single files:
• Copy files with or without data compression (gzip) using the original directory structure and drive identifier
• do. without drive identifier
• do. separated by root directory
• do. into one directory without root directory
• Into zip files:
• One zip file (supports files > 4GB)
• One zip file per subdirectory
• One zip file per root directory
• One zip file per directory without drive identifier
• Include or exclude selected subdirectories
• Filter settings for filenames (optionally regular expressions), file attributes, file age and file size
• Selection of file types
• Optional encryption using AES (zip compatible)
• Adjustable time gap for timestamp comparison
• Running of external programs or scripts before and after backup
• File preview to check filter settings
• Placeholders for date in target directory and zip filename
• Optional log file with printout
• Optional mail delivery after backup, restore and cleanup with status report and log (also TLS)
• Internal backup schedules:
• 8 individually-configurable automatic tasks are supported at different times, on logon or logoff or once per week on logon
• Several types of alternating backups
• Wizard for using Windows Task Scheduler for backups
• Extra tool PbPlaner to create and configure alternating backups using Windows Task Scheduler
• Comprehensive command line options to automate actions e.g. using the Windows Task Scheduler
• Automatic check for updates on starting the program
• Internal restore function of saved files:
• From backup into single files
• From backup in zip files (single or separated by folders)
• Dialog for selecting files for restore
• Restore using FTP connection
• Automatic decryption
• Extra tool PbRestore to restore single files (even compressed and/or encrypted)
• Function for deletion of files and/or directories:
• Selection by filters and/or age
• Synchronize backup directories
• Function for verification of backed up files

Download Windows setup:

Version 5.2.0.3 released 2012-01-25

from server at Kiel University	from rathlev-home.de (6.48 MB)
(MD5 Checksum: e5fd1c009d5bc5d3bdf0365860d6c040)
Update as zip file
Older versions

More Information

Languages: German, English

Translations:

• English and German: J. Rathlev

Further information

Compressing as gzip

The existing standard for the gzip format (RFC1952 of 1996) calls for the filename to be stored in the file header using the ISO-8859-1 character set. I could not find any recommendations as to how to handle Unicode filenames.

The current Linux version of the program gzip used for creating and reading gz archives differs from the above standard and stores filenames in UTF-8 format. The OS byte in the header is set to 3 (Unix).

Until now, Personal Backup has set this byte to 0 (FAT) and saved the filename per ISO-8859-1. To be compatible with previous versions and also to support Unicode, two variants are used in Version 5:

• The filename consists only of characters contained in ISO-8859: OS = 0 (FAT) => Filename is stored in ISO-8859-1
• The filename also contains other characters: OS = 11 (NTFS) => Filename is stored in UTF-8

Hence the problem arises that other programs (such as WinZip or WinRar) will correctly detect the stored filename only with the first variant. This has, however, no effect on the unpacking of the files.

It would of course be better to use the unused bit 5 of the FLG byte as a criteria for the coding of the filename. The current zip format does it in this way (see below).

Creating zip archives

The current zip format specification version: 6.3.2 dated September 2007 defines how Unicode filenames are to be processed: if bit 11 of the "general purpose bit flag" is set, filename and comment are in UTF-8 coding. Personal Backup uses this convention. Unfortunately not all file-compression programs currently support this new format. Among those that do are WinZip Version 12 and WinRar Version 3.80, whereas Windows Explorer does not yet support the new format even under Windows 7.

Passwords

All passwords for FTP, for SMTP and AES encryption must be coded per ISO-8859-1.

Length of file paths

For filenames (inc. path), the 260-character limitation still applies to certain Windows versions (more info). This limitation appears no longer to apply first of all under Windows 7. Under older operating systems, e.g. XP, all applications using Windows shell components, such as Explorer, cannot process longer file paths.
Everywhere where Personal Backup refers to shell components (e.g. in a directory- or file-selection dialog), the path length limitation applies even for Version 5 except with Windows 7.
Internally, the program uses UNC paths (e.g. when copying files) which may have a maximum length of about 32000 characters. With Version 5 it is therefore possible to backup, restore and delete files with paths exceeding the above limit, even when most file managers (including Windows Explorer) will fail on scanning such a directory tree. One file manager that supports long filenames is Total Commander Version 7.5 .

Version 4.5

Version 4.5 works with all current Windows systems and Windows 98/ME. It supports only the West European character set (ISO 8859) and pathnames up to 260 characters.

Note: There will be no further development of this version! Version 5.1 is recommended for use with current operating systems.

Download Windows setup - Version 4.5.5.1 released 2011-04-15

from server at Kiel University	from rathlev-home.de (5.54 MB)
Update as zip file

More Information

Utilities

This package contains programs useful for automating backup processes and to rescue data from damaged zip archives.

• Wait
  Insert this program into your batch file to wait for a specified time (in ms):
  Wait 2000
• SetExitCode
  Insert this program into your batch file to set the ExitCode (read from batch command if errorlevel ..) to a specified value and to overwrite any exit codes from applications called beforehand:
  SetExitCode 5
• Eject
  This is a small, free program to open the tray of your CD/DVD/Blu Ray drive from a batch file.
  A short manual by WebGeek, Inc. is included.
• Checkdrive
  You can use this program in a batch file to check whether a removable drive (e.g. USB or CD burner) is available or not.
  Note: It is no longer necessary to start this program as external program before backup, as its function has been integrated into Personal Backup 5.
  Calling the CheckDrive program:
  CheckDrive <Drive|Volume> [/prompt] [/user:name|pwd]
  
  <Drive> : Destination drive to be checked for
  <Volume> : Volume name of a destination drive
  /prompt : Prompt the user to insert a medium
  /user:name|pwd : Network logon name & password
  The program generates an ExitCode which can be checked in a batch file using the command if errorlevel .. or by any calling program:
  ExitCode = 0 : OK
  = 1 : drive not available
• SplitZip
  This program splits a large zip archive into several small files. The maximum size can be set. Each split file is a fully-functional zip archive.
  Without any command line parameters, the program starts in interactive mode. To use it for batch processing, the command line must contain at least the name of the zip archive.
  Command line parameters:
  SplitZip <ZipName> [Directory] [Size] [/quiet]
  ZipName : Name of zip file to be split
  Directory : Location for split zip files (default: Temp)
  Size : Maximum size of each split file (default: 700 MB)
  /quiet : Do not show progress status
  The program generates an ExitCode which can be checked in a batch file using the command if errorlevel ..:
  ExitCode = 0 : OK
  = 1 : Zip file not found
  = 2 : Destination directory could not be created
  = 3 : At least one file in the archive is larger than the maximum size
• UnZip
  Use this program to restore data from damaged zip archives. It scans a zip archive without using the directory. All recognized files can be extracted. A test of integrity of the compressed files can be made on scanning.
• Plugin for WinMerge
  This plugin allows gz and enc files generated by Personal Backup during backup to be unzipped and/or decrypted and displayed with WinMerge.
  This facility is very useful if you wish to check the differences between a backed-up text file and the current version prior to a Restore. The Restore function of Personal Backup offers the option of using WinMerge for this purpose. If files have been zipped and/or encrypted during backup such a comparison is not directly possible. The plugin will unzip and/or decrypt these files automatically prior to loading them into WinMerge. Files with extensions other than gz or enc will be loaded by WinMerge directly.
  Installing the plugin
  Create a subdirectory MergePlugins in the installation directory of WinMerge and copy the file PbUnpack.dll from this package into that subdirectory. Select the option Unpack automatically in the Plugins section of the WinMerge main menu. On loading, WinMerge will recognize, and automatically unzip and/or decrypt and display all gz and enc files.
• Personal Backup for BartPE
  There is a plugin to integrate Personal Backup into a BartPE environment. Using this system you can create a bootable Windows XP CD to access the system drive in emergency cases (e.g. to recover data).

Downloads

All utilities

WinMerge-Plugin

BartPE plugin

Many thanks to Jim Scharfenberg Jones for proofreading my English

Last modified: 2012-01-25, J. Rathlev

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