[Release] Gotcha! Data Backup

[ProfessorCPU]

Gotcha! Data Backup​

UPDATE: Gotcha! Data Backup is now featured in Computer Power User Magazine! Issue January 2013 on page 72!!

This is my latest invention. It's actually been in the works for many years. I've been using it in my internal Computer Repair company for a long time now.

It is used to backup user data from a system before reinstalling a computer... or to transfer the data to another computer. I've built in many of the much needed areas that Technicians tend to need to backup.

It can be used on a system running windows. It can also detect multiple Windows Drives and ask you which drive you wish to do backups from. This is helpful when you attach a customers drive as a slave drive on your system by connecting their drive internally in your computer or through USB. It also will work on WinPE.

Another useful feature it has is the ability to Move Files to your backup location instead of copying them. This is a great feature if you wish to quickly move all of their important data into a folder on the same drive that you will be reinstalling the system. Since all of the data is being relocated to a spot on the same drive backups will be much faster.

Here are some of the things Gotcha! can backup:
Windows Product Keys
Office Product Keys
Drivers
Shared Docs
Fonts
Desktop
Favorites
My Documents
My Pictures
My Music
My Videos
Downloads
Firefox
Google Chrome
WinMail
Outlook Express
Microsoft Office
WiFi Profiles (Windows Vista and newer only)
Mapped Network Drives


Please let me know what you think! Let me know if you come across any bugs! Let me know if you have any ideas you wish me to add as well!!

*** This is still in Beta... so use at your own risk ***
Download and Review @ FileForum.com

v2014.7.8.1
Improved: Long File Path Support
New: dated versioning
v0.5.0.8:
NEW: Windows 8 Product Key Backup.
NEW: The ability to Backup/Restore while logged into a Limited Account. UAC was causing issues because it would forward all read write tasks into the Admin account that Gotcha was being run with instead of the currently logged in user.
NEW: Progress Bar now shows progress when Copying Large Files.
NEW: Graphical Interface Update. Looks much nicer.
NEW: Windows WiFi Profiles Backup/Restore! (Works for Vista + Operating Systems. Will add XP support soon)
NEW: IE Favorite sorting order is now Backup/Restored.
NEW: Mapped Network Drives can now be Backup/Restored.
NEW: Desktop Icon Layout is now Backup/Restored.
Changed: Product Keys are now backed up to an ini file (SystemKeys.ini).
Changed: Windows and Office Keys now specify whether they are x86 or x64 installs.
Changed: Detect if OEM Product keys are Royalty Keys or not. (Only Windows 7 is checked for now)
Fixed: Backing up some features while running Gotcha within a Preinstallation Environment (Like LiveXP or MiniXP) would be unsuccessfull. Now all options that are possible to backup within a live environment can be backed up in a WinPE.

Still To Do...
Ability to Restore Product Key to OS if the same Windows is detected.
XP support for WiFi Profiles.
Convert XP WiFi Profiles to Vista + Profiles and Vice Versa if needed.

 

[Easy PC]

Looks good. Will give this a try and get some fed back to you.

 

[glricht]

There are two other data backup tools that get used quite a bit by techs here on TN: Fab's Autobackup 4 (http://www.fpnet.fr/) and D7's Datagrabber feature (http://www.foolishit.com/).

Can you compare Gotcha! to those two?

 

[ProfessorCPU]

I haven't really used either one. I used Fabs Autobackup utility many years ago... but it didn't do some things that I needed for my own uses. So I designed my own program. I've been using my program for a long time and it has worked great for what I have needed it for. I only recently decided to prepair it for public release.

I can not compair it with DataGrabber because I was unable to use DataGrabber a few weeks back when I tried to check it out. Not sure why it would not work on my system.

I'm sure each utility has it's usefulness. But Gotcha DB has been great for my own personal needs.

I can also say that Gotcha will be getting many updates in the near future. There are many great things I have planned to add to it. This is only the first public release.

I almost decided to never release it because Fabs Autobackup was such a great utility in itself. But I decided to go ahead anyways. Then when I found out about DataGrabber I once again almost did not release my backup program. They are all simular programs... but each programmer will put their own touches on each utility.

My main idea when I was going to go public with it was that I wanted to include Driver backup. My DriverGrabber program was created many years ago and was very popular... but it could not backup drivers in a WinPE. So I never released my Data Backup utility to the public. Not until recently did I decide to update DriverGrabber so that it could grab drivers from within WinPE. Since that was a success I decided it was time to add the capability to my Gotcha program and made a public release.

 

[Easy PC]

ProfessorCPU.. I have noticed it has an option for backing up Office 2010..can it backup Office 2007?

 

[eric76]

Just finished using Gotcha! I like it a lot. The fact that is backs up the drivers and the product keys is really nice. Nice tool!! Only thing that I could add would be to backup the static IP address (if any) and maybe info on mapped drives and computer name and workgroup.

 

[Larry Sabo]

Maybe it's just me, but "Gotcha!" doesn't instill a lot of confidence in a product I might consider buying/trying.

 

[ProfessorCPU]

Just finished using Gotcha! I like it a lot. The fact that is backs up the drivers and the product keys is really nice. Nice tool!! Only thing that I could add would be to backup the static IP address (if any) and maybe info on mapped drives and computer name and workgroup.

Those are going to be in an upcoming update. As well as many other things. Thanks for having an interest!

Maybe it's just me, but "Gotcha!" doesn't instill a lot of confidence in a product I might consider buying/trying.

The confidence in the product may come from other user reviews I guess.

ProfessorCPU.. I have noticed it has an option for backing up Office 2010..can it backup Office 2007?

Yes it can. It will show you any versions of Office that it detects on the system you are backing up.

 

[3ft]

Looking forward to giving this a spin tomorrow, thanks!

 

[stevenamills]

Prof,

It seemed to deal well with moved files when they are not on the boot drive. (I boot from an SSD and have placed all files I can on the data drive.)

I did note it said "Preinstallation Environment" when it wasn't. I'm on Win7 Pro 64 Bit.

Looks good.

 

[grayfoxcomputing]

Works very well - easy to run. I think we can all use different utilities. Each person has different needs.

Thanks for sharing Prof!!

 

[FoolishTech]

edited for clarity, content.

 

[ProfessorCPU]

Wasn't putting you down. I just said I couldn't get it to work. I messaged you about it.
I still have the PM I sent you with your reply. In my message to you I even stated it may be something I was doing wrong. Never accused your program.

Calm down buddy.

Hi FT,
So I am trying to use DataGrab on a Win7 X86 system....

I keep getting an error that I need permission from SYSTEM.

How do I go about doing this? Sorry... I'm sure it's a lame question... but I've never had something ask me to do this.

No lame questions, only lame answers, which is this: I'd like to see a screen shot of that because I can't think of a reason why you would get such a message.

DataGrab should work fine without system access, however gaining system access is often a good practice as it allows you to bypass NTFS file system permissions. You can gain system access in D7 by clicking on the D7/Main menu, and choosing Get System Access. D7 will relaunch with a +SYSTEM ACCESS message in the title bar, so then when running DataGrab it will ignore protected areas of the file system e.g. a user's profile directory you don't have permission to access, etc.

FYI I got your other message but you didn't attach or send a link to your backup app.

Besides... I had planned to update DriverGrabber way back in 2007 with the ability to get drivers from within a PE:
http://www.911cd.net/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t19266.html

I don't know when you coded DataGrab... but I do know Fabs 2.0 was in like 2005 or 2006... because I originally coded Gotcha back in 2007.

I first hinted at a release of my Data Backup program in 2010 to the public where I also stated I was holding off releasing it until I could implement Driver Backup in WinPE. In the same thread I also hinted to some extra features I have planned to add as well:
http://siginetsoftware.com/forum/showthread.php?938-Coming-Soon-IT-techware-Backup-amp-Restore

I said I didn't want to compare programs... because that is not something I like to do. Every developer has their ideas and implement them in their own way into a program. I'm sure your program is great. I'm sure it has many features that mine doesn't. I've just been one to code my own programs for a long time and I always code things in a way that benefits my own needs. My programs have been long thought out. I just kinda dropped out of the coding scene for a while due to my personal life. Updating DriverGrabber 6 years after it's initial release was something that sparked new life into it for me. I've liked making useful tech tools for a long time. But I hate the online drama. I want to stay away from all that. People tend to read way between the lines on forums and it gets sick and annoying sometimes.

I have no hard feelings for you FoolishTech. Sorry if I offended you. I by no means meant to. No BS! LOL!

You can spell check me again... I'm sure my english can not compair to yours...

 

[ProfessorCPU]

Prof,

It seemed to deal well with moved files when they are not on the boot drive. (I boot from an SSD and have placed all files I can on the data drive.)

I did note it said "Preinstallation Environment" when it wasn't. I'm on Win7 Pro 64 Bit.

Looks good.

Yeah I need to change that... it should say Offline if you select a hive that is on a different drive than your system drive. Actually I think I should disable the Move option if anyone is backing up on a live system.

Thanks for the input!!

 

[markcuk11]

Just tried this 2 things

Could it be possible to choose files from other locations ie c:\

when i manually typed in a network share ie \\server\share it backed up the files to c:\gotcha! instead

Cheers

Mark

 

[FoolishTech]

Wasn't putting you down. I just said I couldn't get it to work. I messaged you about it.
I still have the PM I sent you with your reply. In my message to you I even stated it may be something I was doing wrong. Never accused your program.

I jumped the gun a bit yes. I misread your post plain and simple, it got my panties in a bunch, I connected some dots that didn't need to be connected, and I overreacted. I apologize! In fact there's no one here that needs to see my rant regardless, so I'm editing it out.

I'm remembering that PM now, but I'm still perplexed that you, out of thousands of people who have used DataGrab, would get such an "error" (it was featured on LifeHacker of all places among other popular tech blogs, with lots of end users using it who generally make end user type mistakes, and I would think that I would get one email from one other person if this happened...) ...or why you didn't communicate with me further to get it resolved.

 

[stevenamills]

Prof,

I've noticed both your app and autobackup refer to "DefaultAppPool".

Would you be so kind as to explain what this encompasses?

Thanks!

 

[ProfessorCPU]

Just tried this 2 things

Could it be possible to choose files from other locations ie c:\

when i manually typed in a network share ie \\server\share it backed up the files to c:\gotcha! instead

Cheers

Mark

Sorry I'm not understanding the question exactly. Can you be more specific. I want to make sure I understand what exactly you are trying to do. I haven't tested much for network paths. But I do want to make sure it works with network paths. I'm not sure if I have enabled the ability to paste a path in the input box for location. I'll enable this ability in the next version.

I jumped the gun a bit yes. I misread your post plain and simple, it got my panties in a bunch, I connected some dots that didn't need to be connected, and I overreacted. I apologize! In fact there's no one here that needs to see my rant regardless, so I'm editing it out.

I'm remembering that PM now, but I'm still perplexed that you, out of thousands of people who have used DataGrab, would get such an "error" (it was featured on LifeHacker of all places among other popular tech blogs, with lots of end users using it who generally make end user type mistakes, and I would think that I would get one email from one other person if this happened...) ...or why you didn't communicate with me further to get it resolved.

It's fine buddy. Like I said earlier. No harm done. I want to squash any drama between us. I've got respect for any fellow programers like yourself. I understand how my post could have offended you. But It was never intended to do so. You are right I should have further asked for help when I had the issue. Things just got busy on my end and I felt like it was user error on my part. It was probably an issue on my computer. Maybe something to do with dotnet. I don't use dotnet very often.

I welcome you to utalize drivergrabber in your program as well. Please just credit me in your program for my work on drivergrabber.

It's funny... If I would have never found your DataGrab program... Gotcha's original name realy was going to be called DataGrabber! Since it was originally one in the same with my DriverGrabber program.

Prof,

I've noticed both your app and autobackup refer to "DefaultAppPool".

Would you be so kind as to explain what this encompasses?

Thanks!

Honestly I'm not sure exactly what it is either. LOL! I don't recall coding anything that deals with it. Where do you see Gotcha reffering to it?

 

[bytes]

When I try to run the app I get error: There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive\device\Harddisk1\DR1

I click continue and get the message again, then click continue again and it launches.

Win 7 x64

 

[ProfessorCPU]

When I try to run the app I get error: There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk into drive\device\Harddisk1\DR1

I click continue and get the message again, then click continue again and it launches.

Win 7 x64

I have gotten reports of this. I'm going to work on fixing it in the next release. It only happens in certain situations. Thanks for reporting.