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Simon,
I am a 5 year user of TS. (first 3.5 then 4.0) I am running two old
P200s with 128mm Ram.My
pcs have two hard drives and an 8gb tape backup system.They are both
networked for file transfer.
I use a server size backup power battery (APC- UPS1250) I used to have
crashes all the time and
lost copious amounts of data until I started doing the following
religiously:
1. I use Norton Utilities , having installed only the Disk Doctor and
Speed Disk (plus whatever the
program required to install). These are Norton's versions of Scan disk
and Defrag.Norton actually
wrote the original versions of Scan disk and Defrag.
2. Every Friday, I shut down TS. Then I go to the dialog box (in W95- B
version) and shut off
every thing which is not essential for the PC to remain on. I turn off
all screen savers. This is on
instructions from both Microsoft and Norton. Then I run Disk Doctor to
clean up any hard drive
problems from the prior week. I run the full version which takes 3-4
hours. Then I run Speed Disk
to defrag the drive, which takes 20-30 minutes.
3. Having had problems with TS and running morning update every day, I
turned it off and only run
it on Friday in the Off line server.This can take up to 1-2 hours
depending on the size of your TS
files.
4. I then copy the entire Omega folder onto the other hard drive, making
a backup that can be
copied over in its entirety to replace the working copy if needed. Then
I copy the entire Omega
folder onto the tape through the tape backup system which takes about an
hour. Rather than try to
just copy some of the files, I think it makes better sense to copy the
whole thing, so you can have a
working copy immediately.
5. I do this routine for both pcs and have total redundancy.
My only other suggestion is to use more up to date technology in data
backup storage. You might
consider a 30gb digital drive. These are supposed to be more reliable
and much faster. This routine
has saved my hide plenty of times and has virtually eliminated crashes.
I once went away for a month
and came back to find both machines running, still collecting data.
Secondly, it is vital to have virus protection software and update it
frequently. Also, only download
files from people that you know and trust. Unless it is from a software
company, I do not open any
exe. files. As a TS geek, the only thing you should be interested in are
either ela. or omz. files. You
might also get the occasional gif. file. Better still, buy another pc to
use for the net only .
You must run this part of your trading like you are the tech support
part of a business. Disaster
recovery is the name of the game. Identify whatever holes there are in
your plan and implement
something to fix them- immediately. Hopefully this can save you from
having a catastrophic event
occurring. If you eliminate these issues then you can concentrate on
the important stuff - like trading.
Simon Campbell wrote:
Any other PC/OS related files that you recommend backing up as good
housekeeping? I'm sure that a few people have a backup routine that
they
follow weekly, monthly etc. An explanation of your routine in
"layman's
terms" would be very much appreciated. Aside from TS, the only things
I
care about are my Word, Quicken and Eudora (email) files.
Can you also recommend, best device to use (Iomega Zip?) and a web
site that
sells said device for a decent price?
Any advice is very much appreciated.
Simon.
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