Backing up problems -- filename too long

[Bob]

I'm looking for ideas or better solutions for this.

I'm backing up my stuff to an external hard drive.  

Originally I had a huge sized folder of my stuff.  Simple.  Copy it over and save it on the eternal hard drive.  Done.  Nope... I get an error message that the filename is too long on several files, a couple hundred.  I found out the maximum name a file can be is 256 characters and that includes the complete name with the directory structure.  I'm using a Windows PC here.  

My solution is to go inside the large folder and copy out individual folders and save those to the root directory of the external hard drive.  The filename length is reduced that way.

Is there an easier way?  Or some kind of (free?) program that could look at my files and tell me which are too long?  The problem is I save the backup copy and it waits until the very end to tell me that a couple hundred files can't be saved.  So after waiting a few hours for things to copy over I'm back to scratch unless I want to risk losing those files.

...
I looked it up.  It's the entire filename that's too long.  (Directory name plus individual file name)  I hover the mouse over the folders and find the largest sized folder and go into those and pull out the largest folders  and save those on the root directory until the folder sizes are more manageable.  That way when I get an error message it's something that was saving itself for only a few minutes instead of an hour.  If there's a problem I can break that folder up into pieces, pulling out the folders inside the larger folder to reduce the overall fiilenme size.  It's a bit tedious and requires a lot more babystitting to back up files though.  I need to back things up more often and this wouldn't happen.

[oxy60]

With the luxury of being able to use long file names, it's easy for this to happen. You are not the only one with this problem.

If it's only for back-up consider "zipping" them up into a file with a short name. Don't forget to make a text file with the list of the contents of the zip file. You will end up with two files; *.zip and *.txt

Your speed of transfer seems slow. Do you have your ports set for the highest speed possible?

Good luck..

[Bob]

It was 50 GB.  I split it up into about 20 smaller folders.  I saw something about zipping them but I'd rather leave them normal.  I want to be able to search filenames and inside the files too in the future on the external hard drive.

Computer through usb cable to external hard drive. 

[oxy60]

Today's zip programs are a great improvement over the first ones with a command line interface. Even then I could browse the contents using the right switches. Now it is much easier. You might be surprised. You can still zip but not compress.

USB is slower than cat 5 through a router. I just realized so you are probably getting the best speed possible.

I sympathize with your issues. I run an old DOS program on the XP shell and I had to rename both the files and directories.

[richard black]

The peace of mind that comes from having a decent, automatic backup system is well worth a few $. I use Acronis and sleep at nights!

[Bob]

I did buy an external hard drive that was supposed to copy my whole computer with one click of a button.  That didn't work though so I just use it as a regular hard drive.

[silverwoodpianos]

Even better is to purchase a Seagate Free Agent 1.5T and use Clone Pro 3.8 This will make a ghost copy, or mirror image of your internal HD.

Then if crashing occurs, you take out the old HD, install the new one and presto you have a copy of all files AND programs ready to re-install.

If you do this immediately after purchasing a new PC and loading up your programs and files then you have a “fresh copy” of everything.

You can plug it in and save any files by drag and drop anytime……

[Bob]

I tried that once with a Maxtor hard drive.  It got messed up after a few hours or copying data.  I've heard Maxtor isn't that great of a manufacturer.

Thanks.  I might try that again someday, esp if I reformat the computer.