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[Mitch Sowden]

Hello All,
I have about 60 GB of MP3 data to manage, which appears relatively small compared to some of you. Been wondering about the best way to maintain file integrity and avoid corruption as well as back up methods etc.

I had some sort of file corruption a while back which forced me to start ripping all my music over again. It was somewhere in my S directory and could not fix it with checkdisk, diskeeper etc and eventually gave up and reformatted everything (XP on NTFS) I have recently backup up using Nero's Backitup util onto DVD and second HHD as worst case but would like to consider a better method including the sync to the second drive etc.

Also (as I'm sure we all do) I get offered other MP3's from other sources where I cannot always be sure of the quality and the integrity. I always feel that it is more likely to get a corrupt file/s from this way but that may not be true.

Any best practice advice on verifying, backing up & recovery greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mitch

[LonWar]

If you have a second hard drive, Use Retrospect to back up your files.

That's about the fastest that I have seen,....

Other people use Karens Replicator and they say that works very well, and It's free....

[hit_ny]

Check your existing mp3s with mp3utility[/u]

[AoXoMoXoA]

The 'mp3utility' program noted above by hit_ny checks the file headers, and not the actually file data.
This can still be useful, however there is also another called MP3Test (http://home.arcor.de/shivi/MP3Test/) which I believe actually checks the file data.
You may want to run it as well.

[modelmaker]

I can confirm that Karen's Replicator www.karenware.comworks very well and is pretty easy to set up for automatic backing up of your HDs. And it is free.

I use it manually, usually once a week or whenever I've added a batch of new files.

I have 3 200gig HDs, 2 of which are removable and are rotated between the tower and my car (IBM Notepad hooked up to the Aux in on my car stereo). This gives me 3-way redundancy and unless there's a nuclear attack, I can't imagine all 3 HDs failing at once.



Listening to: 'Free Hand' from 'Free Hand' by 'Gentle Giant' on Media Center 9.0

[LonWar]

I can confirm that Karen's Replicator www.karenware.comworks very well and is pretty easy to set up for automatic backing up of your HDs. And it is free.

I use it manually, usually once a week or whenever I've added a batch of new files.

I have 3 200gig HDs, 2 of which are removable and are rotated between the tower and my car (IBM Notepad hooked up to the Aux in on my car stereo). This gives me 3-way redundancy and unless there's a nuclear attack, I can't imagine all 3 HDs failing at once.


I had my main drive, and my back up drive die on me a few weeks ago....


Listening to: 'Free Hand' from 'Free Hand' by 'Gentle Giant' on Media Center 9.0

[hit_ny]

The 'mp3utility' program noted above by hit_ny checks the file headers, and not the actually file data.

Hmm...you sure about this..

i've used mp3utility mainly to find sync errors in mp3s. These are the typical errors that give skips etc.

mp3-utility indicates to me the exact position this occurs, how is this possible if it does not read the data.

[modelmaker]

imjustagamer:

I had my main drive, and my back up drive die on me a few weeks ago....

That's why I have the 3 drives, only 2 are connected to the same system at any time, so in your case I would still have 1 drive to restore from. And generally, I remove the backup drive once I've done the backups.

I use a removable tray system ($20 + $10 per HD tray/case). It's a good way to make use of older drives that you've outgrown. I have several no longer used 40, 60 & 80 gig HDs that I now use as
removable memory. 1 for photo backup, 1 for doc backup etc., and of course the 200 giggers.

[KingSparta]

I have Three 300 Gig Maxtor OneTouch I USB2\Fire Wire Drives
and One 300 Gig Maxtor OneTouch II USB2\Fire Wire Drive (3 days old)

That I Use To BackUp On Using "Karen's Replicator"

[lalittle]

I backup (sync) from one system to the other on a 2 system network.  This way, each system has all the pertinent files from the other one.  I use Smartsync Pro for my backup/synchronizing app -- it's easy to start using, but it also has a LOT of powerful advanced features if you need them.

Larry

[gpvillamil]

Get yourself an MD5 checksum generator (eg. www.fastsum.com) and build checksums for all your music. Whenever you do a large scale backup/move you can verify the integrity of your files.

I use a checksum generator, and so far have discovered that maybe 3-5 errors will pop up everytime I move 250GB or more of data.

Checksum generators are also a handy way to tell if files have changed or if extraneous files have crept into your music library.

[hit_ny]

I use a checksum generator, and so far have discovered that maybe 3-5 errors will pop up everytime I move 250GB or more of data.

What does one do in such a case ? Restore from backup.

Question is why do these errors occur in the first place, a move is usually a lossless operation.

[Louis]

In terms of checking mp3 file integrity I have tried the following and MP3 Utility has been the best overall

Mp3Test http://www.shivi.de/MP3Test/
   craps out (large no of files?)
   

MP3Checker http://www.mp3checker.com/
   DietK MP3 checker Kazza add-on
   100% hit, so far... v good
   Misses unplayable corrupt files, extremely leniant
   Can't subcurse directories, slow, awarkward test play

Mp3Utility
   No play function, very no frills
   Some false positives
   More lenient than MP3Test (finds different problems?)

MP3Trim http://www.logiccell.com/~mp3trim/

   
Encspot
   Passes as good corrupted unplayable mp3's    


See also "Best way to check lots of mp3s for corruption?"
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?showtopic=22031&

[lalittle]

I use a checksum generator, and so far have discovered that maybe 3-5 errors will pop up everytime I move 250GB or more of data.

How do you know it's an error with the copy and not an error with teh checksum generator/checker?  Statistically, wouldn't the possibility of an error in a few files exist here as well?

Larry