Backup issue: Retrospect Express is VERY slow

[fizzogg]

Hello,
Having bought an Iomega External drive (NTFS) on which to do back-ups of my C: disk (system files) and E: disk (data, music, pictures etc), I also downloaded the free Retrospect Express software that came with it. I successfully programmed "scripts" to do regular back ups, and the backup of my C: disk (which is NTFS and contains my system files) went fine and is rapid (3 hours the first time, less than one hour for subsequent back-ups). However, the back-up of my E: disk (which is FAT32 and contains music, data and image files) took FOREVER (3 days, and counting, it never actually finished the back up as my computer just "froze"). When I checked, I noticed that SOME of my files had in fact been backed up, but not all. It was just so SLOW. It's the same when I do a simple "duplicate" ie. really slow, and freezing the computer before it finishes. Is this due to the fact I'm trying to back-up from an older FAT32 type drive to an NTFS one?

My system is Windows XP SP3. My C: disk is 80 Go, my E: disk is 250 Go and my Backup disk is 1 To.

The Dantz website is hopeless, there's no help for my problem there. Does anyone have advice? I don't have huge amounts of data to back up, it's not totally essential but would be a pain to lose it. Can I just do occasional simple "copies" of "My documents" that I "send to" my back up disk instead of using a backup programme?
Many thanks for any enlightenment.

[JDB1984]

I haven't used the software before but I'll throw in my 2 cents,

1 ) Nobody should be using FAT32 on a Windows XP SP3 system unless they have a specific requirement. It's an obsolete file-sytem and one of the major drawbacks is 4GB contiguous file limit and it is very easy to upset i.e. corruption.

2 ) CheckDisk (chkdsk) the 250GB (E

How to perform disk error checking in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

3 ) Convert to NTFS

How to convert a FAT16 volume or a FAT32 volume to an NTFS file system in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307881

How much data (file size amount of files/folders) are being backed up on the E:\ volume?

Definitely backup before you upgrade the file-system of the volume even if it is a manual backup which would be easy considering type of content mentioned. Just as a precaution.

If you're happy doing all this then I would try running the software again and see if you encounter errors, hopefully not

[fizzogg]

Thank you, Josh B, for your advice. My E disk is hardly full at all (only about 10% I think). It's "old" ie. from 2004. I didn't realise I could/ought to convert it. I try out your suggestion, backing up first to be on the safe side. Is there much chance that the data files on it will be damaged or altered by conversion?

[JDB1984]

Is there much chance that the data files on it will be damaged or altered by conversion?

I always backup and do a chkdsk on the volume before doing the conversion even though it will do a chkdsk itself from memory during the conversion. I've never had it cause issue with disks that have sufficient free space available.

Considering you're using 10% of the available space you'll have no troubles. It advises of the approximate space requires before converting too.

[Medico]

Thank you, Josh B, for your advice. My E disk is hardly full at all (only about 10% I think). It's "old" ie. from 2004. I didn't realise I could/ought to convert it. I try out your suggestion, backing up first to be on the safe side. Is there much chance that the data files on it will be damaged or altered by conversion?

Back in my XP days I converted all my files to NTFS without so much as a hiccup. I admit this was during initial XP installation, not after SP2 and SP3. The conversion usually runs very smoothly and gives a more responsive system. After the conversion it would be a good idea to clean out all temp folder and defrag the system as well.

[fizzogg]

Thanks to all for your advice. Conversion worked fine, and now Retrospect Express is backing up great. The problem was clearly related to the FAT32 file system I was trying to back up from.