What file system do I use?

cshuman · 08-21-2003, 09:48 PM

I have a headless Win2k machine that I have at my neighbors house. I have set up a local lan and we share a DSL connection. I do nightly backups of my user folders, system library and applications. The problem I am having is with the Applications. When I try to bring them back to mac they show up as iTunes.app folders, not packages. This has caused me concern as I am not quite sure what would happen if I ever actually needed to grab my files.

What other problems could I have in trying to restore files to my Mac that have been sitting on an NTFS drive. I have thousands of pictures that could never be replaced should anything happen to them. I condiser this to be very critical. Is there another filesystem I can use on the Win2k's second and third backup drives that would be safer for backing up a mac?

As a LAST resort I can go to RedHat, but dread Linux. I consider myself an advanced "user", but just don't get many things in Linux.

What should I do?

Chris

yellow · 08-22-2003, 08:58 AM

How are you backing this data up? You are aware that Windows systems don't use data/resource forks, so this information gets stripped from the Mac when placed on a Windows box.

Craig R. Arko · 08-22-2003, 09:41 AM

I've had good luck with backing up files to disk images, and then copying the disk image files using smb networking over to a Windows box with an NTFS formatted drive. Of course, Windows doesn't know what to make of a .dmg so it leaves it with a generic icon.

Trying to mount the image directly from the smb share can cause the Finder to hang, so I copy the image back over first before trying to restore anything from it.

A little cumbersome, but it seems to work.

cshuman · 08-22-2003, 10:56 AM

I use PsyncX, which works great, but it doesn't have provisions for creating disk images first. I am using smb to transfer the files, no problems there.

Carbon Copy Cloner won't create and save dmg's to a network share, otherwise I would just use it.

Anymore options?

Chris

08-21-2003, 09:48 PM	#1
cshuman Prospect Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Goddard, KS Posts: 32	What file system do I use? I have a headless Win2k machine that I have at my neighbors house. I have set up a local lan and we share a DSL connection. I do nightly backups of my user folders, system library and applications. The problem I am having is with the Applications. When I try to bring them back to mac they show up as iTunes.app folders, not packages. This has caused me concern as I am not quite sure what would happen if I ever actually needed to grab my files. What other problems could I have in trying to restore files to my Mac that have been sitting on an NTFS drive. I have thousands of pictures that could never be replaced should anything happen to them. I condiser this to be very critical. Is there another filesystem I can use on the Win2k's second and third backup drives that would be safer for backing up a mac? As a LAST resort I can go to RedHat, but dread Linux. I consider myself an advanced "user", but just don't get many things in Linux. What should I do? Chris

08-22-2003, 08:58 AM	#2
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	How are you backing this data up? You are aware that Windows systems don't use data/resource forks, so this information gets stripped from the Mac when placed on a Windows box.

08-22-2003, 09:41 AM	#3
Craig R. Arko Site Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 3,988	I've had good luck with backing up files to disk images, and then copying the disk image files using smb networking over to a Windows box with an NTFS formatted drive. Of course, Windows doesn't know what to make of a .dmg so it leaves it with a generic icon. Trying to mount the image directly from the smb share can cause the Finder to hang, so I copy the image back over first before trying to restore anything from it. A little cumbersome, but it seems to work.

08-22-2003, 10:56 AM	#4
cshuman Prospect Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Goddard, KS Posts: 32	I use PsyncX, which works great, but it doesn't have provisions for creating disk images first. I am using smb to transfer the files, no problems there. Carbon Copy Cloner won't create and save dmg's to a network share, otherwise I would just use it. Anymore options? Chris