I downloaded the current version of AISBackup and installed it to a friend's Windows 2000 Server (I'm trying to convince him to buy it ). I tried to setup a full backup of the C: drive using the Quick Job button, first to a network drive and then to the local C:\Backups folder, neither of which worked for me.
The problem I am having is that the software always says there is nothing new to backup, even though I've never run AISBackup before on this machine. The Reset Backup menu option is also grayed out. I verified that the entire C: drive is selected in the backup job. Any suggestions?
After playing around with this more this morning, I noticed an unusual configuration. The machine's Drive D: partition is actually mounted under the C:\Program Files\Some Program directory. When I de-selected this folder, the problem I described above went away. Oh, and the machine was actually Windows 2003 Server.
The problem has been identified and is owing to a fault in getting information about the reparse point, unfortunately this is causing AISBackup to terminate prematurely and report ‘no files to backup’. A fix is been worked on however, this has caused a dilemma:
There is no data in the folder as it is a reparse point, or similar (but not the same as) to a shortcut pointing to another drive. The other drive (D:\ ) in this case contains the data. However, if the drive did not have a drive letter then it could not be backed up, except via the reparse point (the folder pointing to the disk).
Windows Vista makes a lot of use of reparse points to enable legacy applications that have hard coded links to 2000 and XP folders which no longer exist in Vista to continue to work. For Example C:\Documents and Settings is a reparse point of type junction pointing to C:\Users – and there are many more. AISBackup correctly handles these but does not backup data from Documents and Settings, only C:\ Users (or there would be duplicate data on the backup and the possibility of an infinite recursive loop when looking for data – e.g. a junction pointing to a parent folder)
The dilemma is: Do we backup data from reparse point junctions created by Users, e.g. the D: drive as in the case of you friends Server, or do we ask each time a junction is part of the backup but only if the data itself has not already been selected?
That is a fairly complex topic... If it is any help, as a user I did not *expect* that the D: drive was going to be backed up when I clicked on the C: drive. I would have been perfectly happy if only a blank directory (the mount point) were included as the backup. In fact, I intended to backup the D: drive on a different job anyway. That said, I can see where some people would want the actual data backed up if they had selected C: and D: was mounted on a directory.
Would it be possible to at least warn people if there is a hidden reparse point and tell them that they may need to select it manually (or offer to auto-select it?)
). I tried to setup a full backup of the C: drive using the Quick Job button, first to a network drive and then to the local C:\Backups folder, neither of which worked for me.