Theo Todman's Web Page - Notes Pages

Website Documentation

Website Generator Documentation - Backups

(Work In Progress: output at 03/05/2025 13:13:41)

Previous VersionsNote ReferencesNote Citations

This document covers1 the following functions performed by clicking buttons on the front screen:-

  1. Backups (cmdBackup_Click)
To see the Code, click on the procedure name above.

File locations & Backup Strategy
  1. Introduction (Plan & Notes to Self)
    • More than just an exercise in Technical Documentation, this Note will allow me to think through by backup strategy and where my various files should be located for security and ergonomic reasons. This is a – hopefully brief – project. When it’s completed I’ll remove then unnecessary verbiage from this Note.
    • Firstly, I need to describe how files are distributed across my:-
      • PC & Laptop
      • OneDrive & iCloud
      • Emails and iPhone
      • Live and Test Websites
      and where the master copies are held.
    • A particular point of interest is my Thesis pdfs. While those available for public view will always be on my Website, those for private view – publicly unavailable for copyright reasons – won’t. There’s also the wider question of where they are located. Finally, many have not yet been imported into my database (and therefore won’t be mentioned on my website). I need a plan for sorting out this mess!
    • Mentioning ‘master copies’ raises an issue. It would be best to only hold one copy of any file (suitably backed up) but there are ergonomic reasons why this is not the case. I will review why this is not so and eliminate those that are unnecessary.
    • I then need to describe the MS Access Linked Database structure of my Website Generator (and list the sizes – using a Functor)
    • I note that not only do I need a fully-functional backup drive, but also a backup for the backup drive. Otherwise, what would I do if the backup drive failed and I’d cleaned up my Laptop and Desktop hard drives? I have purchased & commissioned a 5Tb WD drive for this purpose.
    • Finally, I note here that the files generated by the backup system are utilised by the Spider2. The two processes need to be synchronised, especially as the Spider as currently architected only works under Windows 10 – so only on my Laptop.
    • Plan: I need to proceed in an orderly manner, so:-
      1. Document the current situation to the level needed to support later activities; maybe iterative.
      2. Document the Backup System, iteratively with …
      3. Fix the Backup System so that it works in my current operating environment. Allow it to back up the Laptop and Desktop separately and independently.
      4. Back up my Laptop and Desktop before tidying up and de-duplicating the data.
      5. After the ‘tidying up’ the database structures may well change. Therefore, before doing this, I should ‘archive’ this Note and then update it to reflect the new structure and contents.
      6. Sort out my Transfer drive (OneDrive) and back it up. This will probably be a manual copy.
      7. Look into purchasing – and integrating – a second backup drive.
      8. Sort out my pdfs.
      9. Sort out and tidy up the various other files on the various drives on both Laptop and Desktop. Decide whether to continue with parallel (ie. duplicated) file structures
      10. Document and thoroughly check out the De-Duplication routines. In particular, check out the ease of restoring (by manual copying) therefrom! Also, finding stuff therein.
  2. Hardware
    • Desktop PC:
      • Palicomp - ASUS Prime A520M-K A520; AMD RYZEN 5 5600G - 3.9/4.4Ghz Turbo - 6 Core - 12 Threads - RX VEGA 7; 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz - CORSAIR- Vengeance LPX; 1TB Samsung 980 M.2 NVMe - 3500MB/s(R)-3000MB/s(W); Windows 11 professional. This is a gaming PC I purchased in November 2022 (for £482 + £88 3-year extended warrantee – up to November 2025 therefore) to run my Website regeneration in an acceptable time (currently – August 2024 – around 7 hours). I didn’t buy a network card, but it’s connected to the EE Internet Hub via Ethernet) and to the Epson printer via USB cable.
    • Laptops:
      • Lenovo ThinkPad T530 15.6in Laptop i5 3rd Gen 16GB RAM 480GB SSD Webcam Win 10 Pro. Purchased – refurbished – for £400 from Amazon in June 2019, so it’s getting on a bit. It can’t be upgraded to Windows 11, so will need to be replaced when Windows 10 goes out of support on 14th October 2025. However, it seems you’ll be able to pay for Extended Security Updates (ESUs) thereafter. Details to be supplied in October 2024 allegedly.
      • Toshiba Laptop purchased – refurbished – in February 2014 for £220. It runs Windows 10 and is excruciatingly slow. Also, I tipped coffee over it in 2019. It now has a USB keyboard. Its use is restricted to reading old emails.
      • Julie has a laptop purchased for £380 in April 2018. It had water tipped on it so also has a USB keyboard. I have little to do with this. Connectivity to my PCs is either via email or OneDrive. Julie keeps her files on OneDrive, which is the only backup.
      • There are sundry old laptops and desktops handing about the house (mostly in the attic). I ought to dispose of them. They are defunct.
    • Backup Drives:
      • My main backup is a Toshiba HDTB320EK3AA 2 TB Canvio Basics USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive. Purchased in February 2016 for £70. It still seems OK, but maybe could do with an upgrade. I thought of doing this - rather than embarking on my ‘De-duplication’ project – during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the device filled up, but replacements were either not available or were exorbitantly expensive. After the de-duplication exercise (and some subsequent backups – the de-duplication hasn’t been re-run as I hadn’t fully checked that it worked! – the disk is about 50% full. I have ‘compression’ switched on.
      • I have a 32Gb SanDisk pen-drive that is only used for transferring files between my Desktop and Laptop when going via OneDrive is too slow. It cost £8 in May 2016.
      • I have an ancient 1Tb Elements drive that I first used for backups. All its data has been copied across. When I attached it to my Laptop just now it wasn’t recognised. The same goes for my Desktop.
    • Printers & Scanners:
      • Laser: I have a workhorse black & white Brother HL6050D laser with a duplex unit and a 500-page tray. Purchased in March 2004 for £390, so good value. It works fine, mostly and is cheap to run. It’s attached to my Laptop via an extended USB cable. The queue has to be cleared down manually.
      • Inkjet: I’ve recently – July 2024 – purchased an Epson SN850 Ecotank colour inkjet printer. It is network-enabled and I use this method to print from my Laptop. Printing from the Desktop is via a USB cable. It cost £290 including a spare set of ink bottles. It’s very cheap to run. It has a duplex unit. Unfortunately , it doesn’t have a feeder tray but uses a hopper, so the paper would get dusty if left in. It’s a bit of a nuisance on that account. Also, the font on the control panel is tiny. It has a flatbed scanner which I don’t use because I have a more convenient alternative …
      • Scanner: In November 1996 I purchased a Brother LC-970BK colour inkjet printer and flatbed scanner. It cost £890! I no longer use the printer (it has no duplex unit) but regularly use the scanner which is quick – especially on ‘greyscale’ setting.
    • Internet:
      • I have two internet connections – one to the main house and one to the outbuildings. Coxes Farm is too spread out to allow a stable Wi-Fi connection from the main house, even with ‘extenders’. (and the electrics too complex to use the electrical wiring). I’ve tried various things over the years and nothing worked adequately. I’m happy to pay an extra £30-ish a month for a reliable connection.
      • The line to the outbuildings is supplied by EE. There’s no land-line phone. Speeds: Contractually, 2 Mbps upload, 12-14 Mbps download. Contract renewed in August 2024 for 24 months. Adequate for me, and – in any case – currently the best available in my road (a single-track country lane). It’s a little bit of a constrains for the monthly upload of my website – takes a couple of hours. The upload – using the free FileZilla – used to fail periodically with ‘too much activity’ complaints from my ISP, which required continual monitoring, but no longer, so I can just leave it to ramble on.
      • The line to the main house is also supplied by EE. It has a land-line phone, but I intend to drop this when the contract comes up for renewal in December 2024. It’s used by my daughter for ‘working from home’ when she’s here, and for enabling certain services on my FreeSat-assisted TV, but is otherwise irrelevant to my concerns here. I have a new EE Hub in the outbuildings, but it still won’t reach across the courtyard.
    • Network:
      • I don’t really have a home network, for the reasons given above: the electrical cabling goes via too many switchboards. However, everything I need for my work in my office is connected – either wirelessly or wired – for it to work seamlessly. Communications across the courtyard is via email or OneDrive.
    • Phones:
      • As noted, we have one land-line phone in the main house, but this will be dropped when the EE contract renews in December 2024. Old technology.
      • Both Julie and I have iPhones. Mine is SIM only and Julie’s will go likewise when her 24-month contract expires in November 2024.
      • The only relevance of the iPhones to the question of backups is the photos. These are backed up on iCloud (we each pay an extra £1 / month for extra storage.
      • I’ve had some issues moving photos around, either via email or via iCloud for Windows, and some of my Timelines3 have been left hanging incomplete (for years) on this account.
    • ISP & Email:
      • My ISP is NamesCo. I have a priority 2 item (#546) in my Development Log to consider migrating from EE / NamesCo to Zen Internet, but I think this would be too disruptive to consider in the near future.
      • I now use New Outlook (which comes with Windows 365) as my email client. It seems to work fine. I used to use POP, which downloaded emails to my Laptop, but I now use IMAP. I believe these emails are backed up my Microsoft to enable them to be visible across my various devices.
      • I need to prune my emails to avoid exceeding capacity on NamesCo. I have 2Gb storage, and it’s fine at the moment. I get a warning when it’s nearly filling up, but should monitor things. New Outlook allows the deletion of attachments which is useful to save space after they have been stored elsewhere.
      • I read emails on my iPhone, but try not to send emails therefrom. Typing is awkward. I used to think they didn’t ‘save’ properly within NamesCo / Microsoft. However, I’ve just found some – but only going back to February 2023 – in a ‘Sent’ folder that’s subordinate to my ‘Inbox’ folder. Odd. I need to follow this up.
      • I have sundry other email addresses – Gmail, cantab.net, King’s, ISPE, … but don’t use any of them.
    • Desk & Work Environment:
      • I work in a converted ‘cart lodge’ that has a library of 6,000 books, my IT equipment, a Yamaha electric piano, an Infiniti rowing machine and sundry amenities for drinks.
      • My desk is a massive faux-antique affair with a roll-down cover that’s never rolled down.
      • I have a comfortable and expensive mesh-backed swivel-wheelie-chair like the one I had at HSBC that enables me to work simultaneously on my Laptop (on my desk) and my Desktop (situated on a nearby table. I had to buy some reading glasses with a 1m focal length so that I can see what I’m doing easily on both without having to shuffle the chair around.
      • So, both my Laptop and Desktop are easily accessible. So are my laser printer and scanner. The inkjet isn’t so easy to access, but I don’t use it every day.
  3. Functional Areas
    • General Note:
      • I divide my activities between my Laptop – easier to type, as it’s on my desk – and my Desktop – which is more powerful. This potentially leads to backup issues. Currently my backup software is expecting to back up from one PC. It used to cope with two PCs – and also with restores – but it has all got into a bit of a muddle and doesn’t reflect my current situation.
    • Philosophy:
      • I write my philosophy – and most other things – on my Laptop, but the generation of pages on my Website is controlled from my Desktop.
      • Consequently, my Test (off-line) website is only up-to-date on my Desktop, copied to the live site daily. I have cunning routines that transfer only changed pages. Periodically, I copy the test website from my Desktop to my laptop using the backup drive after a full website regen and a full backup. This copy ought to be performed monthly, but the Test website on my Laptop is rarely used.
      • Pdfs associated with my Philosophy are scattered around the place. This is discussed below.
      • The MS Access structure of my Website Generator is also discussed below.
    • Bridge:
      • The regeneration of my Bridge Results website – and that of the surviving ‘Small System’ – used to run from my Desktop, because the processing is quicker. In principle, it still should.
      • However, on Tuesday 27th August I started having problems with the MS Access database (Bridge_Web_Generator.accdb). It complained that it was locked by the Administrator. Currently when I open the database it complains that ‘The active content of this file is blocked. Review your Trust Centre settings …’. I can ‘accept’ this, but when I try to run any process it complains ‘Cannot open any more databases: Run-time error 3048’. Then the database won’t close and has to be zapped by Task Manager. I think the error message is misleading.
      • It is presumably possible to fix this (and the underlying problem), but for now ….
      • I copied the database over to my Laptop, where it works fine, if a little slowly.
      • I have a bundle of bridge convention cards and numerous other bridge-related stuff scattered about. This needs sorting.
    • Chess:
      • My chess results are held in the above Bridge database, from which my Chess results page is generated.
      • I’ve sundry other chess-related files which I need to review.
    • Music:
      • I run MuseScore on my Laptop.
      • My Enigma Ensemble music pdfs are also held there.
    • Others?:
      • Nothing to report at the moment!
  4. Directory Structures
    • Currently, my C:Drive directory structures are the same on both my Laptop and Desktop. The contents of the directories started off the same when I set up my Desktop from a Laptop backup, but will have diverged since. I note below which device contains the primary source of the files contained therein.
    • Significant C:Drive directories (all subordinate to C:\Theo’s Files\) are:-
      • 1. Backups: I fairly regularly zip various collections of my most critical files and store these in this directory, from which they are backed up to my Backup drive when the process is run.
      • Accounts: Laptop.
        1. While there is a ragbag of account-related files, which are static, though get added to periodically, this directory contains three critical files that are maintained on a daily basis:-
          1. Accounts_YYYY.accdb (YYYY for each year)
          2. Accounts_YYYY.xls (YYYY for each year)
          3. Health.xls
        2. There’s also a sub-directory ‘Non-Current’ which is supposed to hold older files of historical interest only. However, I rarely move files across. I ought to do this at the annual accounts roll-over at the end of the year.
        3. There’s a zipped file of the Coxes Farm Survey.
      • Birkbeck: Desktop.
        1. This directory contains my timesheet spreadsheet and the MS Access databases needed for generating my Website. These are discussed later.
        2. There are sundry historical versions of spreadsheets and databases that need sorting out.
        3. There are various sub-directories, listed below, which also require consideration …
        4. BA_PDF_Conversion: This contains a cascade of sub-directories. I’m not sure whether all that’s worth recording from my philosophical writings while an undergraduate at Birkbeck has been imported into my database.
        5. Code_Archive_Regen: Contains Archive.accdb. No idea what this is for! Hails from 2016.
        6. Philosophers_Index: The database claims to be from 2015, but I’ve not had access to the PI since I was at Heythrop in 2010.
        7. Spider_Test: Lots of text files from 2014.
        8. Yale: A collection of saved open on-line courses from Yale (2007):-
          → Astrophysics (see "Bailyn (Charles) - Frontiers and Controversies in Astrophysics")
          → Death (see "Kagan (Shelly) - Death")
          → Hebrew Bbile (see "Hayes (Christine) - Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)")
          → Physics (see "Shankar (Ramamurti) - Fundamentals of Physics")
          → Political Philosophy (see "Smith (Steven B.) - Introduction to Political Philosophy")
          → Psychology (see "Bloom (Paul) - Introduction to Psychology")
      • Bridge: Laptop.
        1. The root directory has a collection of convention cards and other stuff that needs sorting through. Additionally, there are the following sub-directories ….
        2. Butler: Looks like a collection of files – possibly test data – for conversion of session results from Butler IMP-scored County events. Work I did for the ECBA. No longer relevant.
        3. ECBA: Stuff related to my time as Webmaster for the ECBA, including Eve Goblets calculations. No longer of any use.
        4. Hutton: Stuff related to my time as Webmaster for the Hutton bridge club, which expired some year back (and had, in any case, moved on to Bridgewebs).
        5. Joint-Project: Stuff related to investigations into forming a combined bridge-club (Hutton, St. Edith’s, Mayflower and Mountnessing). The project failed (as did the later one to combine Mayflower and Mountnessing). All clubs but Mayflower are now defunct. May contain some interesting historical data.
        6. Marc_Chawner: Files from the ECBA bridge guru.
        7. Mayflower: Files related to my time as Secretary & Webmaster of Mayflower DBC. Still active.
        8. Mountnessing: Files related to my time as Secretary & Webmaster of Mountnessing DBC. Now only of historical interest.
      • Chess: Laptop.
        1. The root directory has a random collection of stuff, including what seem to be formatted files for importing my games. I forget and need to investigate! There are also sundry sub-directories …
        2. Arena201: A chess-playing program. Of little use since I subscribe to Chess.com. Needs deleting?
        3. Bases: Looks like various files associated with ChessBase Light.
        4. Blitz_Games: Output – text or pgn – from Chess.com blitz games. Of no value now, but the idea of analysing (and playing!) blitz games is a good one – recommended by ChessMood.
        5. Books: looks like the video files from my DVD "Martin (Andrew) - The Basics of Winning Chess". Seems to work and may be worth watching.
        6. There are also zip files for:-
          → Arena201 (see above)
          → pgn4web
          → Rybka
          Only pgn4web is useful – used to display my games (somehow …!)
      • Coxes Farm Repairs: Laptop.
        1. There were actually 3 directories, but I’ve subordinated two of them to this one.
        2. The root directory has various files – including the invoices and plans from Bakers – that could probably form a sub-directory, or belong to other sub-directories, but I need to sort them out.
        3. Also, the root directory ought really to be simply named ‘Coxes Farm’.
        4. Additionally, there may be an overlap with various other top-level directories, such as ‘Accounts’ and ‘Photos’. That’s not to mention attachments to emails.
        5. Anyway, the sub-directories are …
        6. Bakers Photos: Taken while we were away on holiday during Phase 1 of the project in September 2018. They are on my Website4.
        7. Basildon Council: Approvals for Bakers Phase 1 developments.
        8. Bathroom_Loo: Photos of its innards. Since replaced? Delete?
        9. Coxes Farm - eon Next: A few supporting documents for the controversy over a misassigned bill. Most are on OneDrive. Needs sorting.
        10. Coxes Farm - Post: Intended for post for people using my address. Most that I’ve bothered with will be on OneDrive. Sort!
        11. Equity Release: Proposals for funding the repairs to Coxes Farm It all came to nothing. Thankfully, HSBC came to the rescue.
        12. General_Temp_Import: Looks like the photos from March 20195 and thereabouts.
        13. HSBC Mortgage Application: Looks like supporting documentation.
        14. iPhone Photos: Mostly used, I think. Random collection.
        15. iPhone Photos - pre-Crack: As above, some overlap.
        16. iPhone Photos - pre-Crack - Compressed: May be useful as an example of how photos find their way onto my Timeline Pages6.
        17. Litigation: Remains of wasted time and money spent with Birkett Long.
        18. LPOC Insurance: Historical stuff – now with a new insurer.
        19. Photos_Import_Garden: Most of these are on my website7. However, this looks like a working directory with only a few items.
        20. Photos_Import_PreRepairs: Most of these are on my website8. Comment as above – only one photo!
        21. Photos_Import_Repairs: Another working directory … a few recent repairs, mostly covered elsewhere. NOTE: I may be able to – and, indeed, should be able to use my de-duplicated backup database to see precisely what is the case here.
        22. Survey: The photos from the survey. Most of these are on my website9. This page needs its jump-table improving!
      • LRB:
        1. This is a repository of the 2,319 papers I printed off from the London Review of Books while I had 3 month’s free access to their archive.
        2. My intention is to import ‘them’ – that is their authors and what the articles are about – somehow – into a table preparatory to some of them being imported as Papers.
        3. The basic idea will be to back them up and then use the file names from the Backup_Site_Map Table.
      • Music: Laptop
        1. The root directory contains the usual ragbag of stuff, some of it misplaced. It requires sorting out! There are sundry sub-directories, which all require considerable attention, a sub-project all on its own …
        2. Bach Violin: pdfs of sheet music – Probably copied from "Bach (J.S.), Szeryng (Henryk) - Sonatas and Partitas: For Solo Violin".
        3. Dave: Stuff Dave produced for me using Sibelius before I got the hang of MuseScore. Some for me, some for the Enigma Ensemble.
        4. Enigma Ensemble: Sheet music pdfs. For the oboe, the violin, and occasionally for other instruments.
        5. MuseScore: Various files related to pieces I’ve processed using MuseScore. All a bit of a mess as it includes ‘trial versions’ of various pieces. Needs sorting out.
        6. MuseScore PDFs: Currently only includes Faure’s Pavane. Probably ought to include those from the above directory, and to be subordinate to it.
        7. Oboe - Own Audio: Various mp3s from 2019. I did many more than these, so need to investigate.
        8. Oboe Lessons: pdfs of pieces set for me by my oboe teacher. I’ve probably now got originals for most of them.
        9. Oboe_Duets: pdfs from "Oosthuizen (Jemima) & Oosthuizen (Amanda) - The Excellent Oboe Book of Wicked Duets for Intermediate Oboes" and "Oosthuizen (Jemima) & Oosthuizen (Amanda) - Intermediate Classic Duets for Two Oboes".
        10. PDF: The – very extensive – ‘sleeve notes’ that came with my 160-CD ‘Mozart Complete Works’ boxed set. Must have come from the CD, so not essential.
        11. Piano: pdfs of Bach’s first Prelude (and fugue) – from "Rhodes (James) - How to Play the Piano" – and Satie’s Gymnopedie 1-3. Should be re-housed?
        12. PlayScore2: Trialled – but rejected – software input / output from my Music Score OCR & Editing Software10 project. The trial software has expired, but I created xml files which can be read into MuseScore. Indeed, some have been! Includes various items for the oboe (from my lessons) so that I can hear how they are supposed to sound. Also various Enigma items that might have been useful for John. Not sure if any really were. Needs following up!
        13. Recorder: pdfs of "Telemann (Georg Philipp), Michel (Winfried) - Six Sonatas for Two Treble Recorders Without Bass (2 Volumes)". Presumably I was going convert them to oboe + violin.
        14. SharpEye: Trialled – but rejected – software input / output from my Music Score OCR & Editing Software11 project. Similar to PlayScore2, above. A few have been converted to xml and read into MuseScore. Not sure if the others are on any use. There may be overlap with PlayScore2.
      • Notes: Laptop.
        1. About 1,000 random items.
        2. The idea was originally to store some of the MS Word documents in which I create and maintain my Book and Paper Abstracts and Notes. I suppose the vast majority of them are unnecessary as they are already stored in my database (and maybe out of date, or superseded by items elsewhere).
        3. However, some database items with large embedded Functor text are worth keeping in this way (without the embedded text).
        4. Needs sorting. There are – or may be – differing versions on my Desktop and on OneDrive.
      • PDFs: Both: the directories on the two PCs need to be unioned and de-duplicated.
        1. This is one big mess, but it’s the reason I’ve undertaken this project!
        2. The root directory has nearly 3,000 pdfs, many of which are presumably just parked here awaiting further action. It also contains 3 zipped books.
        3. There are various sub-directories …
        4. To Be Processed:. Itself subdivided into
          1. Books – Logged: 125 items. I need to check where they have been logged! Check out "Various - Papers & Books Yet To Be Logged".
          2. Books – Low Priority: 23 items of doubtful relevance.
          3. Cambridge Core: All in sub-directories:-
            → APA: 15 items from the American Philosophical Association
            → Books: 16 zipped books
            → Canadian J P: Empty!
            → Philosophy: : The RIP Journal – 11 items.
          4. Papers - Low Priority: 4 items in the root, then the following sub-directories:-
            → Philosophy: 38 items
            → Religion: 147 items
            → Resurrection: 53 items
          5. Papers - To Be Processed: 14 items.
          6. Papers+Books - 'Various' Logged: 149 items and one zipped book. Where logged? Check out "Various - Papers & Books Yet To Be Logged".
      • Photos: Laptop. Nearly 5,000 items in 80 folders. There is doubtless a lot of duplication, and some may already have been used. Important for timelines, though I need to complete the Timeline Software Documentation12 first. Important directories include:-
        1. Algarve 2008: Holiday.
        2. Becky+Tim's Wedding
        3. Coxes Farm: 743 photos in a mass of sub-directories. I suspect anything of any use is already on my website.
        4. Crete May 2012: Holiday.
        5. Crete Sept 2009: Holiday.
        6. Cyprus 13Jun: Holiday.
        7. Devon 07Aug: Holiday (but rather dull).
        8. Gran Canaria 2011: Holiday.
        9. Henry: From 2012 – when a puppy. Add to his Biography13.
        10. India: Three directories for 3 visits.
        11. Isle of Wight 2008: Holiday (but rather dull).
        12. Julian's Photos: Items from my mother’s family photo album. To be used for a timeline.
        13. Leandro Nov 2010: There are several sub-directories that are misplaced by the look of things. Should be a level up. Investigate!
        14. Madeira 07October – 1/2: Holiday.
        15. Mallorca June 2017: Holiday.
        16. Mum’s 90th + Funeral
        17. Rome 04Oct: Holiday.
        18. Spain 07Jul: Holiday.
        19. Venice Oct 2009: Holiday.
        20. XMas 2021/2: Some interesting photos – used or shortlisted for the Xmas Newsletters.
        21. Luper - The Cambridge Companion to Life and Death: Zip file … what’s this doing here?
      • PID_PDFs:
        1. Nothing in the root directory, but there’s a sub-directory PID_PDFs_Processed that looks like it has a selection of pdfs that are now on my website. Needs checking out.
      • Websites: Both. See comments against sub-directories.
        1. Documentation: Laptop. Some useful guides. Check they are incorporated in my documentation.
        2. JSpider: A commercial alternative offering for my Spider. Delete.
        3. OBT: Defunct – Delete.
        4. Old Stuff: Rubbish – Delete.
        5. Theo’s Website: Mostly Desktop. This is where my Test (Local) website gets regenerated to (though it contains static files (pdfs and images) in the Root directory and various others). When viewed on the Desktop for the websites for Bridge & Chess will – in general – be out of date. Likewise for the other regenerated pages on my Laptop. I need to cross-check the Test sites on my Laptop and Desktop against one another, and also against the live site. Directories not regenerated (but maintained manually) – or otherwise peculiar – are:-
          1. Acts: Both. Looks like a copy of the directory ‘Petes_PhD’. Only one should be there, unless one is supposed to be the test site for the other. Both are on my Live site. I need to investigate. See below for more detail.
          2. Bridge: Laptop.
            → Generated by my Bridge database, which is currently restricted to my Laptop.
            → The root directory contains the static files referenced by my Bridge Page14.
            → Most of the sub-directories are ‘Small Systems’, only one of which – Hutton Union – is active.
            → The anomalous sub-directory is Mountnessing. This is my conversion of Alaric’s original Mountnessing website for the – now defunct – bridge club.
          3. cgi-bin: Both. Just contains the defunct ZoomSearch search page. The live site contains this and much else. It – and anything else associated with ZoomSearch – should be deleted from all sites.
          4. Chess: Laptop. Generated by my Bridge database, which is currently restricted to my Laptop. However, the ‘chess’ aspect has not been run since before the Pandemic. I imagine it’d fail.
          5. Documentation: Both. Contain pages generated by the Documenter both for my main Thesis database and my Bridge database. The latter hasn’t been run since 2020, but will need to be run once I’ve made the changes necessitated by the MS ‘too many databases’ bug.
          6. EnigmaEnsemble: Desktop. Hand-crafted. The website is here.
          7. PDFs: 4,329 items. Almost all of them are only viewable on my Test (Local) site. The Live site has 37 items only.
          8. Petes_PhD: This seems to be the same as the ‘Acts’ directory. See above.
            → This was originally the test site for Pete’s PhD Appendices.
            → The live site has been taken down, so this is now effectively the live site.
            → The page is here.
            → A sub-directory contains the Code Documentation, accessible from the above page.
            → I’ve forgotten how all this is generated – but see below under directory ‘Petes_PhD’. It’s now static.
          9. pgn4web: Looks like software that enables the display of my chess games. I’m not sure why it’s situated here as it’s no on my Live site.
          10. Photos: Both. 24 in the Root directory, then 3 sub-directories. I need to document how this works. So, the sub-directories (mirrored on the Live site) are:-
            → Coxes_Farm: 8 items
            → Notes: This is a very important directory, used by my Timelines15 (and maybe other pages). It has sub-directories: Audio16 and three that look like working directories for photo compression (which are not on the Live site).
            → Pets: 2 items.
          11. Secure_Jen: This was instituted so that comments by Jen Hornsby on my PhD essays would be password protected. However, I think this ‘passwording’ failed years ago and I didn’t fix it. I need to do so.
          12. Sophie Test: This used to be the Test site for Sophie Botros (who now has a professional site: Sophie Botros). See here. It’s on both my Local and Live sites. It ought to be removed from Live.
          13. Test: Desktop. This isn’t for testing, but contains:-
            → The output from Visitor Stats17, generated on my Desktop.
            → The output from the Spider18, generated on my Desktop (though the external-links Spider only works under Windows 10, so the data is out of date). This requires fixing – or at least a work-around.
        6. Training Material: Laptop. These educational books on HTML etc shouldn’t be here!
        7. Transfer: Both. Working directory – items for upload via FileZilla to the live site are re-generated here. Both for my Thesis and for Bridge; hence from both Desktop and Laptop (currently).
        8. Visitor_Stats: Desktop. The work-files needed to generate my Visitor Stats page (documented, with links, here19).
        9. Zapped_Items: Both. No idea what these are for. 436 of my web pages from June 2021.
        10. ZoomSearch_Website: Both. I used ZoomSearch to search my website for a while, but eventually moved to Google which does all the heavy lifting for you automatically. It won’t be 100% up-to-date, but then – practically-speaking- nor was ZoomSearch. Looks like I restricted it to the ‘usefully searchable’ sections of my site. I think I gave up because it took too long to regenerate the indexes. All this is ancient history, so can be deleted.
    • There are also various directories that are of lesser significance, but are still important:-
      • Harvard CS50: Files associated with "Harvard University - CS50 Introduction to Computer Science" (only weeks 0-3)
      • Harvard CS50W: Files associated with "Harvard University - CS50W Web Programming with Python and JavaScript" (only weeks 0-1)
      • Heythrop: Files associated with Heythrop – MA Philosophy and Religion20.
      • Islam: Contains pdfs of "Arberry (Arthur), Badawi (Zaki), Qur'an - The Koran" and "Arberry (Arthur), Badawi (Zaki), Qur'an - The Koran"
      • Judaica: Contains lots of useful stuff some of which was – I think – pirated on an antisemitic site as ‘evidence’ of what the horrid Jews thought. That site no longer has these works, but I found another very useful site ‘Come and Hear’ which still seems to be in existence. I need to ensure all these works are referenced in my database. So …
        1. Mishnah: pdfs of
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume I - Order Zeraim",
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume II - Order Moed",
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume III - Order Nashim",
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume IV - Order Nezikin",
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume V - Order Kodashim", and
          → "Mishnah, Blackman (Philip) - Mishnayoth: Volume VI - Order Taharoth",
        2. Talmud:
          → Huge website of the ‘Come and Hear’ version.
          → pdfs of "Mishnah, Talmud - The Soncino Talmud", plus some pdfs of the Hebrew/Aramaic text on its own.
        3. Targums: (as sub-directories) English translations of:-
          → Jonathan (HTML)
          → Lamentations (MS Word)
          → Onkelos (HTML)
          → Psalms (MS Word)
          → Ruth (MS Word)
          → Song of Songs (MS Word)
      • Languages: Laptop. A host of stuff. The root contains a 2014 British Council stab at the top 10 languages people in the UK need to know. I was glad to see I’ve studied all of them. Otherwise, directories by language:-
        1. Amharic: FSI Basic Course. Student texts Vols 1 & 2 and 221 mp3 files (Vol. 1 only).
        2. Arabic: Berlitz Arabic Guaranteed: 5 pdfs to back up the 4 CDs.
        3. Aramaic: Pdfs of 5 rather old and scholarly grammars of the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud.
        4. Armenian: 6 rather elementary pdfs.
        5. Chinese: Berlitz Chinese Guaranteed: 4 pdfs to back up the 4 CDs. Also my summary of pinyin.
        6. Coptic: 4 documents on the Gospel of Thomas, including the Coptic text.
        7. German: 20 rft files for Deutsche Plus.
        8. Hebrew: FSI Hebrew Basic Course manual.
        9. Italian:
          → Berlitz Italian Guaranteed: 5 pdfs to back up the 4 CDs.
          → HSBC Linguarama course book & 20 ppt files.
        10. Japanese: Berlitz Japanese Guaranteed: 5 pdfs to back up the 4 CDs.
        11. Korean: 25 audio files from "Go (Billy) - Korean Made Simple: A beginner's guide to learning the Korean language: 1".
        12. Ling: This directory contains the files extracted from Ling and now all imported into my Ling Database.
        13. Portuguese: Two main items:-
          → A book – A Mesa Voadora – in Portuguese (jpg and pdf).
          → Pimsleur Brazilian Portuguese course: mostly mp3s. Incomplete.
        14. Spanish: Three items:-
          → BBC España Viva: 3 disks (mp3)
          → BBC - Mi Vida Loca: 29 pdfs
          → Berlitz Spanish Guaranteed: 5 pdfs to back up the 4 CDs.
        15. Swahili: FSI Basic Course. Student Text (pdf).
        16. Thai: Not much use. Mostly the audio files from "Juyaso (Arthit) - Read Thai in 10 Days", which are on my website.
        17. Turkish: FSI Basic Course. Student texts Vols 1 & 2 and 55 mp3 files (covering both volumes).
      • Letters: Laptop. This was originally to hold the MS Word originals of letters sent. These are rather rare in the days of emails, and this directory seems to have become a depository of all sorts of stuff. Needs sorting out.
      • PDFs – Maths: Back in July 2007 I was – thankfully briefly – considering re-taking a maths degree to rehabilitate myself in the light of my execrable performance at King’s Cambridge, but decided it would take too long and be too expensive. I looked at what was available on-line at various institutions. Doubtless there’s more now following Covid but even then there was lots of really useful stuff. So:-
        1. Cambridge: I downloaded a lot of stuff (the link-pages are there) covering course descriptions, study skills, exam papers and course notes + example papers. Covers a wide area. All completely incomprehensible from a quick squint. Also incomplete. The study skills section contains a couple of amusing papers on Lectures and Supervisions. I should read these.
        2. ICL: Quite a lot, but mostly random examples sheets and notes on special topics. Not systematic.
        3. KCL: Covers a wide area. Mosly exercise sheets – but – usefully – many with solutions! Occasionally course notes.
        4. LSE: Covers a narrower area than KCL, but also has exercises + solutions.
        5. Maths: This shouldn’t be here! It looks like files associated with King’s maths problems21.
        6. Open University: The OU is naturally protective of its stuff, so just a few ‘tasters’.
        7. Oxford: A wide coverage of subjects and levels (Moderations and Parts A, B, C; doubtless corresponding to Cambridge’s 1A, 1B, II and III). Variable usefulness. Some notes, but mostly example sheets. The section on Moderations looks the most useful for me!
        8. UCL: Very limited and quirky set of notes + exercises (with some solutions) on Mathematical Methods and ‘Applied Mathematics’ (which looks like a survey, including probability).
      • Pete’s PhD: Laptop.
        1. Contains the working files – including numerous versions of the MS Access generator – for Pete’s PhD Appendices Website (see above under the ‘Theo’s Website/Acts’ and ‘Theo’s Website/Petes_PhD’ directories). Historical interest only?
        2. Also contains a misplaced directory: ‘PDFs – Computing’, with 54 books in pdf format. Need to check these are logged in my database. I’ll move this when I have my general tidy-up.
      • Podcasts: 30 mp3 files. Some will be logged in my database, some not. I need to check.
    • There are also various insignificant directories that I list here lest I forget about them. Some I may delete or merge:-
      • Crosswords: Contains around 60 Sunday Times Crosswords from 2014 when we subscribed, mostly untried.
      • Hi-Q: A couple of very sparse directories for ISPE and Mensa. Stuff lodged elsewhere probably ought to be here.
      • Library_Seconds_files: Contains a single file: ‘filelist.xml’. This presumably relates to a program I wrote to address a King’s maths problem22 (prerequisites for Ken Moody’s retirement do that I didn’t attend, having got stuck on the problems!).
      • Mum’s Probate: This is Julie’s Mum! The probate for my mum is only in hard copy.
      • OCR: Temporary directory for my Scanner.
      • Setup: Looks like sundry files I used to instal software on my Laptop when setting it up. I doubt I used them for my Desktop. Need to check.
      • Sophie: 29 files related to Sophie Botros’s now retired website. Pdfs, JPEGs & MS Word. Not sure it’s worth the bother investigating.
      • Tomtom: 3 files from 2011 related to a long-deceased SatNav. Junk.
      • Website_Fixes: A – presumably generated – control document and 16 Notes pages that presumably needed fixing. I imagine this is no longer relevant as they hale from 2009!
      • Will: Files related to our wills – from 2020. There are – I think – printouts in my filing cabinet. The first page of the pdfs won’t print – missing font! Investigate.
      • WindowsLiveMail: The exported files from Windows Live Mail in August 2019. I think I was unable to import them anywhere. Maybe have a look.
    • My OneDrive contains an unstructured ramble of stuff. It needs pruning and generally taking in hand. It duplicates – to some degree – recent work stored elsewhere. Recently – end March 2025 – I’ve found how to map it to an (invisible) Windows drive letter (documented in Map_OneDrive_to_Windows_Drive_Letter_Summary.docx, stored on OneDrive), and have created a Sub Backup_OneDrive that will read it and debug.print all the files on it. I should be able to integrate this process into my backup routines, though it’ll need careful work.
  5. MS Access Databases & associated MS Excel Spreadsheets
    • Basically, my main database – together with the subsidiary databases – is on my Desktop, and my Bridge / Chess database is on my Laptop, for reasons rehearsed above.
    • The slave databases are required because of the MS Access 2Gb limit.
    • There are, however, usually out-of-date – copies on the reverse PCs.
    • The databases are:-
      1. Web_Generator_Prototype.mdb: The main database. Requires frequent Compacts & Repairs. This, together with its Slave databases, is in the Birkbeck directory.
      2. Study_Plan.xlsx: Contains my timesheet and is linked to the above database to import time into the database.
      3. Study_Plan_Old.xlsx: A copy of the above at Year-End (end September) to enable roll-over. This – and processing above – are described in Recalculation & Housekeeping23.
      4. Notes.mdb: Contains the Notes & Notes_Archive tables.
      5. Code_Archive.mdb: Used in Documentation24.
      6. Site_Hits.mdb: Used to record the hits to my website in Visitor Stats25.
      7. Backups.mdb: Used in this very process!
      8. Ling.mdb: A small database holding Languages: Comparative Database Summary Page26.
      9. Spider.mdb: Used by Spider27 (of course). The ‘external links’ Spider only works under Windows 10, so only on my Laptop, but the spider-processing as such should work on my Desktop. Contains the Spider_Control, Spider_Scurry_Log and Spider_Scurry_Log_Timings tables and Raw_Links_Temp.
      10. Web_Generator_Performance.mdb: Contains the main Raw_Links, Raw_Links_Temp and Raw_Links_Temp_Temp tables. Also used by the Spider.
      11. Backups_Prune.mdb: As it says. I need to document it fully and check it out before running it again.
  6. Thesis PDF Plan
    • This is complicated, and will take a while to sort out.
    • I might add that there are pdfs in my file system that are not related to my PhD, but which also ought to be easily accessible via my website – the local copy thereof in the case of copyrighted items.
    • Firstly, I need to create a list of all areas in which to look, and then a list of items that have not already been incorporated.
    • Before performing the incorporation, I need to complete documenting the process in Thesis Technology28, to ensure I do things correctly and efficiently.
    • So, the places to look are:-
      1. OneDrive: needs tidying out. First, integrate it into my Backup system so that duplications are easy to determine.
      2. MS Outlook Emails: Academia folder. Much duplication.
      3. C:/ … /BA_PDF_Conversion
      4. C:/ … /PDFs and many subdirectories
      5. C:/ … /PID_PDFs
      6. C:/ … /Theo's Website/PDFs
    • Analogous processes – of lower priority – are required for other subject areas and other file types: Computing, Islam, Judaica, Languages, LRB, Mathematics, Music, Photos …
  7. Backup Plan
    • I seem to have a choice:
      1. Back up from each PC separately, or
      2. Back up from one PC (my Desktop) but copy over files from the Laptop to the Desktop before running the backup.
    • It’s important to get the choice right in order to simplify the processes and make them as fail-safe as possible. The choice also influences what I do where.
    • It looks safest to run the backups on each PC individually. Indeed, in order to effect the alternative, we’d need to copy all the relevant files over, and the only sensible way of doing this would be to run a backup!
    • However, there are downsides:-
      1. I’ll need to update the software so it knows which PC it’s running for and records this on the database.
      2. The relevant databases need to be copied over from the Desktop to Laptop prior to running the backup of the Laptop. After the backup they then need to be copied back.
      3. The backup on the Laptop would take longer. However, there would be no need to back up the test Website from there, which is what takes the Time.
    • I’ll leave it there for the moment …

Backup: Technical Description
  1. There are four options:-
    1. Back-up the System: This is a complex procedure that backs up my C:drive to a 2Tb flash drive29. It also has procedures for restores that need reviewing. There are options to back up changes-only since last backup and to back up the website as well as avoiding certain files, using the following parameter tables:-
      → Backup_Control
      → Backup_Directory_Structure
      → Backup_Site_Map
      All this is fully documented below. The control-sub is Backup_Ctrl.
    2. De-duplicate the Backup Disk: This is a complex procedure that became necessary when my 2Tb backup disk filled up. It indexes the disk and determines which files are duplicates (based on name, size and last-edited date) and deletes all but the earliest and latest, logging what it has done. The procedure is fully explained below. The control-sub is Backup_Prune_Ctrl.
    3. Search the Backup_Site_Map table: uses Backup_Site_Map_Search. Searches requested string in file name.
    4. Search the Full_Backup_Site_Map table: uses Full_Backup_Site_Map_Search. Searches requested string in file name.
  2. Back-up the System:
    1. The processing is controlled by settings on the Backup_Control table, which has to be set up before the backup is initiated. Columns:-
      • Last_Run_Date: Currently 27/02/2025
      • Backup_Changes_Since_Last_Run: Yes → Only back-up files changed since last back-up
      • Stop_Backup: A toggle that can be set in another copy of the database. The processes check this flag periodically and STOP if it’s set. Note: I don’t know if it still works (and it may run into the ‘too many databases’ problem).
      • Last_Run_Duration: In hours. 6.83 hours last time, of which 351.6 minutes were spent copying files.
      • Files_Backed_Up: Count (of files indexed if not a backup run). 212,41630 last time.
      • Input_Root: Root directory of files to be backed up. Set to ‘C:\Theo's Files\’.
      • Output_Root: Root directory of backup disk. Set to ‘D:\Theo's Automated Backups’
      • Index_Only: Yes → No backups. Set to ‘No’.
      • Block_Backup_Size_Mb: Size (in Mb) above which to check Backup_Site_Map whether to back-up the file. Set to 100 Mb.
      • Database_Filename: Path + Filename of the master database. So that the process doesn’t try to back itself up. Set to ‘C:\Theo's Files\Birkbeck\Web_Generator_Prototype’.
      • Back_Up_Website: Yes/No toggle. Set to Yes.
      • Website_Root: So that if the above is set to ‘No’, the process knows where to stop. Set to ‘C:\Theo's Files\Websites\Theo's Website’.
    2. Tables used are:-
      → Backup_Control
      → Backup_Directory_Structure
      → Backup_Directory_Structure_Temp
      → Backup_Directory_Structure_Zapper
      → Backup_Errors
      → Backup_History
      → Backup_Site_Map
      → Backup_Site_Map_Temp
      → Backup_Site_Map_Zapper
    3. Queries used are:-
      → Backup_Directory_Structure_Zapper_GEN
      → Backup_Site_Map_Add
      → Backup_Site_Map_List
      → Backup_Site_Map_Prune
      → Backup_Site_Map_Updt
      → Backup_Site_Map_Zapper_DirectoryGone_GEN
      → Backup_Site_Map_Zapper_GEN
      → Backup_SiteMap_ChangeDrive
    4. Control-sub: Backup_Ctrl
      • The following temporary tables are emptied:-
        → Backup_Directory_Structure_Temp
        → Backup_Site_Map_Temp
      • The solitary row on the Backup_Control table is read and the values of its columns stored in internal variables.
      • The system used to check the first character of the Output Root Directory. If this was ‘C’, then it’s assumed we’re doing a restore. As of March 2025, I’ve decided to abandon this processing, so have removed the processing and not documented it.
      • The input and output root directories have ‘\’ added to them if missing.
      • The backup root directory (to which the backup will be made) is set to the output Root sub-directory ‘Backup – YYMMDD’ (taken from Now()). This is just a variable at this stage.
      • Checks are made that the backup is from the C:drive and the backup drive is a different drive.
      • The parameters taken from Backup_Control table and any warning messages are displayed and the user has the opportunity to cancel the run.
      • If it’s not an ‘Index Only’ run (ie. files will be physically copied to the Backup drive), the Root directory is created on the backup drive from the variable set up above (using Scripting.FileSystemObject).
      • Because – theoretically at least – we may not be backing up the whole of the ‘C:Theo’s Files\’ directory, but start at a sub-directory, the intervening sub-directories are created on the backup disk, subordinate to the Root.
    5. To be completed in due course …
  3. De-duplicate the Backup Disk:
    1. Control-sub: Backup_Prune_Ctrl
    2. Other Subs used:-
      → Backup_Prune_Scurry
      → Compact_Repair
      → Flag_For_Deletion
      → Zap_Duplicate_Files
    3. Tables used:-
      → Full_Backup_Directory_Structure
      → Full_Backup_Directory_Structure_Temp
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Temp
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Dups_Temp
    4. Queries used:-
      → Full_Backup_Directory_Structure_Add
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Add
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Dups_Temp_Gen
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Temp_Delete_Control
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Temp_Delete_Failed
      → Full_Backup_Site_Map_Temp_Delete_Flag
    5. Important Note: Full_Backup_Directory_Structure only contains directories up to the backup of 19th November 2022. This must be when the Pruning process was last run (the only time). Indeed the latest timestamp on the table is 7th December 2022. It ran from 21:40 – 00:51. Doesn’t time slip by! I need to check carefully that the process is re-runnable. Full_Backup_Site_Map doesn’t have timestamps for when the rows were logged.
    6. Summary:-
      • The aim is to scan the backup drive and maintain its directory structure and contents. As noted above, the intention is to retain only the first and last copies of identical files.
      • While the files backed-up are on the backup drive, the full record of what has been backed up lies on the “Backups_Prune” database, while the record of the latest backup, together with the record of the backup runs (and the parameters used) – in table Backup_History – are in the “Backups” database.
      • The first job is to maintain the directory structure of the backup drive as held on the “Backups_Prune” database. To save space, each directory of the Backup disk is given a unique long integer ID, incremented as directories are added. These IDs are used in the tables that record the ‘Site Maps’. Note that while the contents of the directories on the Backup disk may be deleted piecemeal by the pruning process, the directories themselves are (currently) retained. The very first job is to determine the next Directory Id to allocate. New directories are loaded to a temporary file before merging with the full directory structure.
      • Once the directories have been brought up to date, their contents are likewise brought up to date. Again, using a temporary file before merging with the full site map.
      • The next step is to flag for deletion those items on the full site map other than the first and last for each item. Note that as this process has been run before, items already deleted are ignored.
      • Note: A VERY IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION
        • It is possible for files to be manually deleted from the Backup disk without going through the Backup system. In that situation the database and the disk would be inconsistent and files the system thinks are present wouldn’t be, and we might delete files not held elsewhere on the disk.
        • In practice I don’t do anything like this, so it shouldn’t be a problem; but I need to check for attempts to delete non-existent files and flag this up.
        • The system is safe from deleting files from the source systems provided they are backed up before deletion.
        • It is possible that junk is backed up – but I shouldn’t ‘tidy’ the backup disk to remove them, but create a process for doing this that keeps the disk and database in sync.
      • Finally, those items flagged for deletion, but not already deleted, are deleted.
    7. Backup Directory Structure Maintenance
    8. Backup Site Map Maintenance
    9. Flagging Site Map Items for Deletion
    10. Deleting Site Map Items Flagged for Deletion
  4. Backup Disk Contents
    • The 2Tb Toshiba disk is compressed to save space. It contains sundry old backups as well as the automated ones. These can probably be cleared out or moved to my newer WD Disk. I’ll leave them there until I’ve completed my investigations. They are:-
      1. Backup – Emails\130717: Windows Mail file (243k) from July 2013. I have no idea how to access the emails therein.
      2. Backup – Julie’s PC: A long-dead PC. Looks like transfer files to a newer PC. Contents:-
        • An automated backup from 14th May 2014 (2.23Gb, 1.31Gb on disk))
        • Julie’s Files: Sundry Julies; work + personal (10 files, 4Mb)
        • Photos: An old copy (taken 8th July 2017) of the Photos Directory (5.81Gb, same on disk). Files presumably held elsewhere.
        • Theo’s Files: Copy of directory from 8th June 2014 by the looks of things. 18Gb (14.5Gb on disk).
      3. Backup – OBT Website: Site is defunct. 74Mb.
      4. Backup – Theo’s Laptop: This is an earlier version of the current technology (‘Theo’s Automated Backups’). 44Gb (32.7Gb on disk). Backups from 070924 to 140504. No overlap with the current version.
      5. Birkbeck – Old PC: Only 2.9Mb of the ‘Birkbeck’ directory. Not sure when taken. Not sure why directories are empty. Need to check.
      6. Theo’s Automated Backups: The directory used by the current backup system. Files from 140523 to date (250227). 1.24Tb (983Gb on disk); 5,590,121 files in 347,685 directories. This directory also contains two mail directories, neither of which I know what to do with:-
        → Windows Mail: 428Mb; 2,947 files in 499 directories. Probably created on 15th February 2016.
        → Windows Mail Export: A single file (Outlook.pst; 450k) from 9th June 2014.
        When reconciling with the Backup system tables, I’ll need to take these into account by subtracting them from the full directory totals (I assume).
      7. Transfer: 449 Mb (285Mb on disk) – looks like a manual copy between PCs on 28th July 2023.
      8. 3 zip files of Web_Generator_Prototype_YYYYMMDD from 2023 and 2024. 169Mb, 549Mb, 193Mb (all same on disk).
    • The 5Tb WD disk is maintained manually and has 1.28Tb used and 3.26Tb free (4.54Tb in total, the 5Tb name comes from it holding 5,000,945,201,152 bytes). Compression is not set on but it is set to ‘index contents as well as file properties’. I’m not quite sure what that means and need to investigate in case it’s wasting space for no good purpose. It contains the following:-
      1. A copy of the contents of my 2Tb Toshiba backup drive, taken on 25th October 2024: it took around 22 hours using a simple Windows file manager copy. Note: Copy of a few ‘Morioka’ files to the new 5Tb drive failed because the file names were too long: they are all very long htm file names. I should probably try to fix this. I suspect another copy would fail with the very long LRB file names.
      2. A copy of the ‘Birkbeck’ directory of my Desktop, taken on 24th October 2024.
      3. A copy of the ‘Birkbeck’ directory of my Laptop, probably taken on the same date, but the timestamp of the newest file (Web_Generator_Prototype.accdb) is 19th October 2024.
      I presume I’d intended to do a comparison.
This Note is awaiting further attention31.


In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 1: Footnote 29: Footnote 30:

Previous Version of this Note:

Date Length Title
16/02/2025 21:47:31 48889 Website Generator Documentation - Backups


Note last updated Reference for this Topic Parent Topic
03/05/2025 13:13:42 1456 (Website Generator Documentation - Backups) Website Generator Documentation - Control Page

Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Awaiting Attention (Documentation) Coxes Farm (Gardens) Coxes Farm (Pre-Repairs) Coxes Farm (Repairs) Henry
Heythrop - MA Philosophy and Religion King's Maths Questions Languages: Comparative Database Summary Page Music Score OCR & Editing Software Theo Todman's Bridge Page
Website Generator Documentation - Audio Website Generator Documentation - Code Documenter Website Generator Documentation - Recalculation & Housekeeping Website Generator Documentation - Spider Website Generator Documentation - Thesis Technology
Website Generator Documentation - Timelines (Photos & Blog) Website Generator Documentation - Visitor Stats      

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.



Summary of Notes Citing This Note

Status: Priority Task List (2025 - May), 2 Status: Summary (2025 - March), 2 Status: Summary Task List (YTD: 24Q4 - 25Q2), 2, 3 Status: Web-Tools (2025 - March), 2, 3, 4, 5 Website - Outstanding Developments (2025 - May), 2, 3, 4
Website Generator Documentation - Control Page Website Generator Documentation - Spider      

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.



Text Colour Conventions

  1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
  2. Red: Highlighted text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025



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