Frequently Asked Question
I like nnBackup (nnCron, nnCron LITE) very much. How can I help the developers?
There are several ways you can help us:
Please, don't hesitate to contact us with your suggestions. :) Your help is greately appreciated!
Files with names in Unicode are not copied!
nnBackup supports files whose name include Unicode characters starting from version 3.01. We are strongly recommending to update your nnBackup version.
nnBackup doesn't copy empty directories. Why?
By default, empty directories are not included into the list of files to back up. Add option -e to the command line in order to copy empty directories.
Is it possible to use variables in the command line?
Yes. You can use variables with macrosubstitutions (%...%) in WinNT/2000/XP command line, but the string containing variables must be in quotation marks, otherwise the substitutions will be processed by the command interpreter. Of course, one shouldn't use in command line variables %crlf%, %QUOTE% and %PERCENT%.
Here are the examples:
nnbackup.exe dump 0 -i c:\data\ -o d:\backup -dn "%DumpLevel @%_my_data" nnbackup.exe ver -n 7 -i c:\data\ -o d:\backup -sdn "my_data_%DD%-%MM%-%YYYY%"
If you are trying to use variables with macrosubstitutions in batch-files or in Win9*/ME command line, you need to surround the string containing variables in quotation marks and use double-percent symbols:
nnbackup.exe dump 0 -i c:\data\ -o d:\backup -dn "%%DumpLevel @%%_my_data" nnbackup.exe ver -n 7 -i c:\data\ -o d:\backup -sdn "my_data_%%DD%%-%%MM%%-%%YYYY%%"
I run 'nnbackup.exe -i c:\data\ -o d:\' and got an empty D: drive as a result. Why?
In earlier versions of nnBackup (up to v. 2.14 inclusive), nnBackup was started by default in the mode of backing up directories to stack (ver command), unless a user explicitly specified a different mode. By the way, that was mentioned in documentation. The command mentioned in the questions start nnBackup in the stack backup mode, but doesn't specify the stack depth (-n). In this case the directory stack is not created and an exact copy of the source data is placed right into the target directory. I would like to remind you that in this mode nnBackup clears the target directory before copying the files. Therefore, the root directory of D: drive was cleared and now it contains only the copy of data from folder ñ:\data.
Starting with version 2.15, nnBackup has a new default mode: copying files mode. In this mode, files are just copied to the target directory without clearing it first.
I try to start nnBackup from nnCron (nnCron LITE), and it says that it doesn't see any network drives. Is it a bug?
No. This happens because under Windows NT/2000/ÕÐ, nnCron (nnCron LITE) is started as a system service run by SYSTEM (this is a built-in user account). And user SYSTEM doesn't have sufficient rights to access network drives.
There are several ways to solve this problem:
Are there any plans to create a graphic interface for nnBackup?
Yes. In one of the future versions nnBackup will acquire a graphic user interface that can be used to change program settings and start backup sessions.
Is it possible to combine command line options and use them without spaces between them, like in Unix (e.g. -svc instead of -s -v -c)?
No, you cannot unite options in command lime, but you can set an alias for a group of options in backup.ini. For example:
: -svc -s -v -c ;
Having done this, you can use option -svc in command line as a synonym of -s -v -c:
nnbackup sync -i xxx -o yyy -svc
The line added by you to backup.ini is a tiny example of programing in Forth.
Exactly in the same way you can create aliases for single options. For example, if you would prefer to use option -help instead of -h, you can "rename" it by adding the following line to file backup.ini:
: --help -h ;
Now you can access help by using this command:
nnbackup.exe --help
Q: My antivirus program reports that there are viruses/troyan horses in nnCron/nnCron LITE/nnBackup distributives! WTF?!!..
Please, don't worry - there are no viruses/troyan horses in our programs. This is just an unfamous antivirus program 'false alarm'. Just an example: it seems the NOD32 antivirus program thinks that there is a virus in every program, which is written in Forth (SP-Forth) programming language. I'm pretty sure it's a good idea to send a link to our program to the developers of your antivirus program reporting such a false alarm and asking to fix it.
Can nnBackup handle folders with blank spaces in their name or path?
Yes, just surround the name/path of such a folder by double quotes. For example:
nnbackup.exe copy -i "c:\program files\my_prog" -o d:\backup -s -v nnbackup.exe sync -i "c:\my documents\my folder" -o "d:\my backups\another folder" -v
Folders are not deleted in sync mode when -da option is used without the -s option!
This is pretty normal. Without the -s option only the files in the root of the input/output diretories are taken into account. The folders are simply ignored. Just use the -s option in your command line or add these two lines into your backup.ini to force the deletion of absent directories even when there is no -s command line option:
: DELETE-ABSENT2 ['] DEL-ABS-DIR ['] DEL-ABS PASS-TREE-DST ;
' DELETE-ABSENT2 ' DELETE-ABSENT JMP
Will nnBackup 3.01 and higher work in Win95/98/ME?
No, there is a lack of Unicode support in Win95/98/ME and Unicode enabled nnBackup will not work in these operating systems. Install the latest non-Unicode nnBackup 2.28 if you are forced to use Win95/98/ME.