Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : Broken backup files - woe is me


peteb1951
05-26-2005, 02:58 PM
I'm not sure if this is a general file format query or a a Psiwin issue - so sorry if this is the wrong forum.

After having my netBook stolen (watch out for a cheap 64MB Netbook in the South Yorkshire area) I was able to replace it through eBay - thanks Costas!

Unfortunately I've not been able to retrieve the backup which I thought would make this only a temporary inconvenience. Some of the files come over OK, but a lot seem to have been corrupted or not properly recorded when I backed them up (using Psiwin 2.3.3 on a Windows 2000 machine to store the backups on the network server). On trying to access them on the netBook I get "Unexpected end of file" from most, or "Corrupt" from programs. With contacts I get "Resource file problem". Looking at them on the PC it does seem as though the files have something missing at the end.

So can anyone help with:

1) How do I resurrect a damaged contacts file (I presume it is the contacts.cdb file) - its the only one which is causing me real difficulty, everything else I can find somewhere, but its going to take ages to sort out?

2) How did this happen, and how can I prevent it in the future?

I'll certainly be checking the backups more thoroughly in the future. I think I was lulled into a false sense of security by the ease with which I restored a 5mx which had to repaired after being zapped when we were struck by lightning.

Pete

Steve Moore
05-26-2005, 03:38 PM
Hi

Oh dear - I hope it works out. I stopped using PsiWin long ago for a variety of reasons - slow/flaky connection/unreliable and ALWAYS use CompactFlash. Just buy a 64MB flash card (v cheap nowadays) and do a complete wipe on it and copy two things 1st, the OS, and 2nd the whole netBook drive OS stuff, files etc. etc. - JUST A STRAIGHT COPY onto the flash card.

Make sure that the OS is in the root directory of the flash card so it can boot from the card and the OS can be restored if needed, then just write the whole directory over the netbook directory.

Very fast. Lose nothing. Competely stable.

If you are Captaiin Safety (Capt. Paranoid maybe) like me, you'll do it every weekend and archive a couple of generations on the PC or mac just to be extra safe (just use a PCMCIA adaptor).

AND CARRY THE BACKUP WITH YOU IN THAT LITTLE POCKET ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE OF YOUR JEANS - fits perfectly and next time your back-up battery connection fails you only have 7 days of swearing to do.

Good luck

donkeyontheedge
05-26-2005, 05:06 PM
Are there several backups on your PC? Have a look, maybe one of them is not corrupted.

If you are unlucky and can't find a good copy I don't think you will be able to repair the file. Your best bet will be to try to decode the info and manually re-type the entries into a new file. Try opening it in Word on your PC with the "recover text from any file" option.

Good luck

John

Colin Messer
05-27-2005, 04:47 AM
My recommentation is always to re-install software on different machines and copy over data. Certainly some software is UID specific and will not work unless a new activation key is provided. I reserve restore for recovering to the same machine.

Is it possible that corruption occurs when restoring the backup? You could try installing the EPOC Emulator to see if the backed-up files are OK before restoring.

Colin