Tip #3582 - Travel With Your Backups
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Travel
With Your Backups
We all try to do regular
backups of our files, don't we? (I mean, just wait until your computer
crashes unexpectedly and you'll see the results if you don’t!)
But, even though we
do that, the problem is that in most cases, the backup you have is the
current version of the file you have been working on. Now, that is fine,
but say you would like to have a look at a previous version before you
made any revisions. Maybe you made some changes in the latest, but now,
you would like to see what you did originally. Wouldn’t it be nice
if you could "travel back in time" to get to those older files?
Yeah, I thought you might agree.
Well, now you can
with a free utility called File Hamster! It's possible
and it's very simple to do.
Allow me to explain
the steps to take.
The first is, of
course, to download a copy from File Hamster's Web site, which can be
found here. This is
the screen you will be greeted with:
Go immediately to
the Download page, which is where I need to point a few things out first.
The first is that
you need .NET Framework 2.0 for this program to operate. Now, most new
computers will come with this installed already, but if you don't have
it, just head across to the Microsoft download site and get a copy for
yourself right here.
(Actually, more and more applications are using this, so it’s a
worthwhile investment in time and effort to install it on your computer
anyway. Plus, it’s free!)
Secondly, you are
offered a choice of downloading File Hamster as an .exe file or a .zip
file. To keep it simple, select .exe. That way, you won’t have to
get involved in installing files in the right places.
Thirdly, if you scroll
down a little ways, you will see a list of plug-ins that are available
for this program. This article will not deal with those, but I have circled
several in which you might like to investigate once you are more familiar
with File Hamster.
The installation process
is straight forward and should present no problems, after which the following
screen appears:
You will be asked
to select a directory in which you want your revisions to be stored. You
can safely select the defaults offered, unless you have any strong reasons
not to.
If you are using a
firewall (and if not, why?!), you may see a warning appear (see below).
It is quite safe to allow this program permission. I promise!
So, if you have installed
File Hamster correctly, you will then see this screen appear:
Now, it is worth taking
the “QuickStart” tour. That will show you the basics of the
operations.
However, to clarify
exactly how it works, just continue below.
The next screen you'll
see is this basic one:
Right click on the
Default Backup Library (or whatever else you may have
called it) and select Add Directory Watch.
(If you have a very limited number of files that you wish to monitor,
you can go for the Add File Watch instead).
This will then give
you an Explorer view of your computer, enabling you to select which directories
you wish to monitor. (I have blocked out some of my own directories for
the sake of confidentiality).
At this point, you
may either select the whole disk or just specific folders, like this:
You will also be asked
to specify which types of files you want to monitor. (If, let’s
say, it’s just Word files or Excel files you wish to monitor).
Here’s the screen:
As you can see, you
can choose to watch everything in this folder, watch this type of pattern
(I have chosen Word .doc files as an example) or you can even choose the
"Ask me as I go" option, which means you will be asked each
time if you want to keep the revisions the same.
When you click OK,
File Hamster will then take your directory and build a database of relevant
existing files, like this:
You are now just about
good to go, but let’s make one or two fine adjustments for your
convenience.
First, let’s
go to Option, Preferences and have a
look at the screen that appears:
Make sure that at
least the box of Autostart is selected, so that it will
start every time you start Windows and it will keep monitoring in the
background.
Also, right click
the folders you are monitoring and select Options.
Now, on the box that
appears (see below), go to MaxRevisons and change that
to the maximum number of older copies of the files you want to keep.
That’s about
it!
But, what happens
when you want to go back to an older revision?
It's simple.
Go to the list of
folders and files in the File Hamster window and scroll until you find
the file in question. Click the little + (plus) sign
and you will see all the available copies.
Select the one you
would like to view and right click it. Then, select Open
from the drop down menu.
The program will then
open a Read Only copy for you to look at.
That’s it!
Yes, there’s
a lot more you can do and plug-ins you can use, but this will at least
give you a working overview of an excellent program that will undoubtedly
"save your life" on more than one occasion!
~ David Woodford
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