[X-Unix] Newbie hard drive backup dilemma

[Phillip Burk]

Ethan,

A -50 error indicates that there are files with illegal characters in  
them.

I would back up my personal files first (anything in ~/Documents,  
~/Desktop, ~/Pictures, ~/Movies, and ~/Music plus anything scattered  
elsewhere like in /Documents) then work on Preference files.   
Everything else is superfluous and can be reinstalled.

What to do about the -50 errors?  Boot the machine into OS 9 (or put  
the machine into Firewire Target Disk mode and connect it to another  
box running OS 9) and copy the files throwing the error.

After your backup initialize the drive and reinstall.  Good luck.

On Mar 30, 2004, at 12:11 PM, Ethan Rips wrote:

> On 3/30/04 8:48 AM, Phillip Burk <philburk at mac.com> wrote:
>
>> DW allows you to copy data off of the drive using the "Preview"  
>> button.
>> ...  Sometimes you'll get errors - in one
>> extreme situation I received both -37 and -43 errors (essentially,  
>> file
>> not found) on certain files.   Those I had to recover from a
>> traditional backup.
>
> Phillip--
>
> Yes, I've gotten a lot of -50 errors? Any idea what they are?
>
> Adding to the fun, I haven't been able to get the OK for purchase of an
> external HD yet, so I'm backing up piecemeal to jaz disks (ugh!). Any  
> advice
> on which files are crucial and which can be ignored will be very  
> helpful,
> needless to say.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
----------
Phillip Burk
Exigent Systems
Systems and Networking Planning, Implementation, Support
317.698.8528
phil at exigentsys.com