Tricks: How I worked around Mozy’s NAS device limitation

So the other day I went ahead and signed up for the MozyHome backup subscription, and when I began setting up what I wanted to have backed up I immediately found out that I was unable to back up any files are located on my NAS (Network Attached Storage) device.  Now, I use my NAS box has the central point where I store all of my shared files on my Home Network.  I have a USB drive attached two my NAS box that automatically backs up all of my files on this device, locally, but I also wanted to have offsite backup of these files as well.

My primary interest was in my digital photographs, I have never lost any pictures but I don't want to ever have to suffer that anguish.  So I was looking for simple way to work around this problem and I came up with setting up the scheduled task that runs xcopy with a few switches after it to make it functional and quick after the initial transfer.  Luckily, Mozy works with USB drives that are attached to your computer, and I currently have a 1 TB USB drive attached to my system that I haven't filled up yet so I setup a simple xcopy command that will back up any files that have not changed in my picture directory to my USB drive.  This also gives new one extra copy of my picture files locally as another backup.

xcopy L:\share\pictures\*.* e:\Pictures /d /s /v /c /j

Switch Definitions I used…

• /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date. If no date is given, copies only those files whose source time is newer than the destination time.
• /S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
• /V           Verifies the size of each new file.
• /C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
• /J           Copies using unbuffered I/O. Recommended for very large files.

XCopy command structure and full set of switches:

Copies files and directory trees.

XCOPY source [destination] [/A | /M] [/D[:date]] [/P] [/S [/E]] [/V] [/W]
                           [/C] [/I] [/Q] [/F] [/L] [/G] [/H] [/R] [/T] [/U]
                           [/K] [/N] [/O] [/X] [/Y] [/-Y] [/Z] [/B]
                           [/EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...]

  source       Specifies the file(s) to copy.
  destination  Specifies the location and/or name of new files.
  /A           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               doesn't change the attribute.
  /M           Copies only files with the archive attribute set,
               turns off the archive attribute.
  /D:m-d-y     Copies files changed on or after the specified date.
               If no date is given, copies only those files whose
               source time is newer than the destination time.
  /EXCLUDE:file1[+file2][+file3]...
               Specifies a list of files containing strings.  Each string
               should be in a separate line in the files.  When any of the
               strings match any part of the absolute path of the file to be
               copied, that file will be excluded from being copied.  For
               example, specifying a string like \obj\ or .obj will exclude
               all files underneath the directory obj or all files with the
               .obj extension respectively.
  /P           Prompts you before creating each destination file.
  /S           Copies directories and subdirectories except empty ones.
  /E           Copies directories and subdirectories, including empty ones.
               Same as /S /E. May be used to modify /T.
  /V           Verifies the size of each new file.
  /W           Prompts you to press a key before copying.
  /C           Continues copying even if errors occur.
  /I           If destination does not exist and copying more than one file,
               assumes that destination must be a directory.
  /Q           Does not display file names while copying.
  /F           Displays full source and destination file names while copying.
  /L           Displays files that would be copied.
  /G           Allows the copying of encrypted files to destination that does
               not support encryption.
  /H           Copies hidden and system files also.
  /R           Overwrites read-only files.
  /T           Creates directory structure, but does not copy files. Does not
               include empty directories or subdirectories. /T /E includes
               empty directories and subdirectories.
  /U           Copies only files that already exist in destination.
  /K           Copies attributes. Normal Xcopy will reset read-only attributes.
  /N           Copies using the generated short names.
  /O           Copies file ownership and ACL information.
  /X           Copies file audit settings (implies /O).
  /Y           Suppresses prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /-Y          Causes prompting to confirm you want to overwrite an
               existing destination file.
  /Z           Copies networked files in restartable mode.
  /B           Copies the Symbolic Link itself versus the target of the link.
  /J           Copies using unbuffered I/O. Recommended for very large files.

The switch /Y may be preset in the COPYCMD environment variable.
This may be overridden with /-Y on the command line.

Comments

[MPC]

Excellent idea. I was doing almost the exact same thing between my Linux desktop and my Windows XP machine to backup pictures. I would run xcopy on my XP machine every night to sync the files between the XP desktop an the Linux desktop. I have since switched to SyncToy to do the same thing instead of the xcopy.

[John]

Matt, you might also be glad to know that MozyHome STILL does not support backup from NAS. But the link that you provided is a nice little scam to capture Mozy users. It guides you to a signup page with NO MENTION of the limitations of NAS. Only after you sign up and find that NAS isn't supported, Mozy will gladly upgrade you to MozyPro for a hefty fee.

I'm still shocked that online backup companies still categorize NAS users as BUSINESS users. I'd much rather pay higher fees for backup space and longevity instead of where I choose to organize it on my personal network.