Backup question

[Preypacer]

I will soon be upgrading to a larger hard drive on my computer and was wondering if there is a way to backup my messages in POL, my macros, and the points/notes on maps I have made in the game (and anything else I might need that I have forgotten)? There are a lot of folders in both POL and the game, so I am unsure which files I want to keep or even what folders they may reside in.

Any help would be appriciated! ^_^

[Jei]

Re: Backup question

depends, there are many levels you can back up :D

If all you want is macro, go into playonline/square-enix/final fantasy XI folder and back up the USER. Macro and chat filters are kept in there.

I usually back up my entire FFXI folder including POL. What I do is rename the entire folder to something let's say BBB
Then I install a whole new FFXI including all expansion into playOnline folder
Then before I run the game for the first time i'll delete the playOnline Folder.
And rename BBB back to playOnline.
This way you don't have to download the entire patch. You still need to do full file check however.

If you know how to back up registry, you can even get FFXI to run without having to reinstall at all. check out his thread if you're interested.
http://ffxi.archbell.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3266

[Preypacer]

Re: Backup question

Wow! thanks for the quick response! ^_^ yeah, I would most certainly prefer not having to redownload ALL the updates over again. But how do you do a file check?

[Jei]

Re: Backup question

before downloading any patch FFXI will file check itself.

[bside]

Re: Backup question

if it's just a matter of adding/swapping to a larger hdd within a same pc, u can alternatively use one of those hdd backup softwares, many of which offer so-called "hdd clone" feature. w/ this u don't have to backup anything, and it even copies the entire OS along w/ drivers, registry, and applications, so u won't have to sit and wait hours for re-installation of all the softwares.

many of them have free trial versions, and they r often fully functional w/ the only limitation being the duration for which u can use them, so if it's just a one-time thing, u won't have to but them.

fyi, the one i use is this.

[Preypacer]

Re: Backup question

thank you both! ^_^

I do have an extra harddrive that use for media only so I am planning on using that to place my backup stuff on after I clean it up up a bit. I collect too media ^_^; making a copy does sound interesting. thanks for the link!