mem'ries that ne'er will fade

April 7, 2006 7:29 AM

How can I backup my USB memory stick automatically?

I lost my USB memory key yesterday. Fortunately I had backed it up recently so I really only lost a few documents. I'll be getting a new stick today, and I'd like to find a solution so that whenever I plug in my USB memory stick, any new files are backed up to hard drive.

I assume there's a piece of Windows software out there that can listen for when new devices are plugged in and automatically synch changes to the local hard drive. Any other useful USB memory stick advice is also appreciated.

posted by furtive to computers & internet (6 comments total)

You could make an autorun.inf file that would run a script or batch file on the stick that copies all the files to a specific directory on your computer.

You will want to set it up so that it checks what the hostname of the computer is, otherwise you will be backing up your stick to every computer you plug it into (probably not what you want to do). You also might want to save a record of the last time you backed it up so that you can check the timestamp and only backup every few hours or so.
posted by jduckles at 7:43 AM on April 7, 2006

Autorun doesn't work with most USB drives under Windows - it's part of the way Windows is designed, so the autorun.inf idea isn't likely to work, unfortunately.

My suggestion is to use the built-in Windows briefcase. Create a new briefcase (right-click on the desktop, select new, then briefcase), copy all of your files to it, and then copy the briefcase folder to your PC (or to your usb drive). When you insert the drive, just right-click on the briefcase and select "update all". It'll sync the files/folders in the briefcase with what's on your PC, and therefore making a backup. It isn't totally automatic, but it's close.
posted by gwenzel at 8:38 AM on April 7, 2006

Handy Backup will do this for you completely automatically. The only thing you have to do is remember to have your USB key in the drive when the scheduled backup is to take place.

It's a great program, and cheap.
posted by BackwardsCity at 9:56 AM on April 7, 2006

Just tried the Briefcase method on my thumb drive. Seems really painless - drag thumb drive contents into briefcase, then when things change right-click the briefcase and ask it to update. It confirms changes to ensure that you're happy with it before deleting or overwriting.

As an alternative, you can run the Microsoft SyncToy. Like the briefcase thing, but with a few more options. I use it to run backups at home, moving files from my Documents folder onto an external HDD. In other words, I know that it works well with removable media.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:23 AM on April 7, 2006

SyncToy rules! It may be the best and most useful single piece of software ever to come out of Redmond. I use it to back up the My Documents folder to a flash drive and an iPod. It has a few flaws (deselecting a subset of folders is tedious). Not sure if it can be automated through command line or not, but from the GUI it works great.
posted by lhauser at 11:14 PM on April 7, 2006

Checkout Replicator at Karenware, I think it will do the job and her tools are free and very well designed. She has a good many other tools that are worth taking a look at. No adware, nada, just excellent software.
posted by phewbertie at 5:20 AM on April 8, 2006