backup

russellhltn · #11

jdlessley wrote:In Windows, USB devices are assigned drive designations by dynamic drive assignment. What you describe is actually caused by the number and order of USB devices connected to the system and not the physical location. The change in drive letter probably occurred because another USB device was plugged into the system before the thumb drive being used for backup was plugged in.

I know plugging in a device into a different USB port causes Windows to see it as a new device. I believe that Windows tries to get the same drive letter to the same thumb drive - if it's not already in use. I'm not sure what happens if you use a different port.

I'm sure there's may factors involved, but let me simplify it this way: Being consistent in your USB ports will promote consistency in the way Windows behaves.

#12

RussellHltn wrote:I believe that Windows tries to get the same drive letter to the same thumb drive - if it's not already in use.

A lot of people wish this were so. Getting Windows to assign a drive letter to a USB device has been a topic of much discussion in other internet forums. The methods people have come up with to keep a drive letter assigned to a specific USB device only lasts for each Windows session. As soon as a user logs off everything is reset and the dynamic drive assignment rules are in effect.

Dynamic drive assignment is a design feature of the USB standard. The design is patterned after the way networks function. A device can be pugged into the network at any access point and be recognized by the server - in the case of USB, the USB controller. This is a tiered star topology.

The only thing that windows recogizes about the USB device is what kind of device it is. A thumb drive (flash drive) reports to the USB controller that it is a mass storage device and Windows then assigns the next available drive letter to the device.

A more detailed explanation and description is available here.

RussellHltn wrote:Being consistent in your USB ports will promote consistency in the way Windows behaves.

Being consistent in the number of devices and the order in which you connect them is all that can be done to affect the way Windows behaves. For the purpose of a clerk making MLS backups, then I would say the consistency would be to only have one USB storage device, the backup thumb drive, connected when backup operations are to be accomplished.

farwest · #13

Thanks for all the input. What the clerk said that was interesting that the other wards thought they were backing up to a disk or flashdrive but it was actually backing up to C: and they was not aware of it.

#14

farwest wrote:Thanks for all the input. What the clerk said that was interesting that the other wards thought they were backing up to a disk or flashdrive but it was actually backing up to C: and they was not aware of it.

This is easy to do. When the same operation is performed over-and-over again most people really do not read the interactive dialogs and just click the first button that moves them through to the next step. This is where recurring training can help break those bad habits and make people aware.

russellhltn · #15

jdlessley wrote:This is easy to do. When the same operation is performed over-and-over again most people really do not read the interactive dialogs and just click the first button that moves them through to the next step. This is where recurring training can help break those bad habits and make people aware.

I think we can also blame MLS. If I'm not mistaken, when the old destination isn't available, it simply defaults to the C drive. It doesn't trigger a dialog to find it. But once saved, it becomes the new default. You carefully watch where it saves each time, or it will trap you.

By putting in a folder "Do not save here" in the default directory, you can give a visual clue that something isn't right since that will show up during the save dialog.

#16

RussellHltn wrote:II think we can also blame MLS. If I'm not mistaken, when the old destination isn't available, it simply defaults to the C drive. It doesn't trigger a dialog to find it. But once saved, it becomes the new default. You carefully watch where it saves each time, or it will trap you.

I have to agree. Boy, way back when, if you didn't have a floppy in the drive (or it was full), you would get all sorts of dialog boxes and error messages and it took effort to get it to use any other drive. With today's flash drives it may be a tad more difficult to program that same kind of response in, but I don't think it would be impossible. How about if MLS sees it's going to save a backup to a C: drive (or D: drive in the case of Desktop 5.5) it throws up a dialog box explaining this is not a "proper" drive to backup to and allow the user to change it, if desired? That can't be too hard to slip in the code.

We need something, because I see the practice of not putting in a flash drive, then just hitting Enter at the backup location pop-up all the time.

#17

Even scarier is the recently called clerk who asked me Sunday, "Remember when we used to rotate the six diskettes for backups? Do we need to do that any more, or is the backup automatic?"

Gotta love these training opportunities.

greggo · #18

Mikerowaved wrote:How about if MLS sees it's going to save a backup to a C: drive (or D: drive in the case of Desktop 5.5) it throws up a dialog box explaining this is not a "proper" drive to backup to and allow the user to change it, if desired?

I think it's perfectly "proper" to back up to the C:/D: drive, so long as it's not the only backup. My practice has been to back up to the C: drive and also to a removable drive after I'm through with MLS for the day. This way, the C: drive was the primary backup for easier retreival, and the removable would only be needed in case the C: drive fails.

mfmohlma · #19

Greggo wrote:I think it's perfectly "proper" to back up to the C:/D: drive, so long as it's not the only backup. My practice has been to back up to the C: drive and also to a removable drive after I'm through with MLS for the day. This way, the C: drive was the primary backup for easier retreival, and the removable would only be needed in case the C: drive fails.

I've been doing this each week after processing donations. It seems like good paranoia to me and it only takes a few seconds longer. With "unlimited" space on both the hard drive and removable memory sticks, it only makes sense to make more backups "just in case" rather than not to have one when you need it.

#20

Greggo wrote:I think it's perfectly "proper" to back up to the C:/D: drive, so long as it's not the only backup.

Fair enough. I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone from making multiple backups. I think that's great. My issue is with clerks week after week just clicking Enter, seeing the backup process complete and think this all they need for a "proper" backup, when of course, it's not. My wish is for MLS not to stop people from saving to the local HD, but somehow warn people of what they are doing.