Using DeltaCopy to backup files with Unicode file names and long file names

DeltaCopy is an open source (free) program for backup files in Windows. I have seen it working on XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and I also believe it will run on all Windows server versions. Its most important feature is that it performs incremental backup: only the changed part of a large file will be backed up. DeltaCopy uses a client-server model so you can backup files to another computer as well as backup files to another hard disk drive on the same computer (a single computer acting as both the client and the server).

While on-line backup is gaining popularity, the main reason that you should stay away from it is the slowness of the data transfer speed over the internet. If you only want to protect your data in the case of a disk failure, and you don't need to:

1. backup the data to another part of the world, and
2. share the backup data over the internet

then you should stay away from on-line backup. You can easily use DeltaCopy to setup a good backup strategy on your home network.

DeltaCopy's website gives you two install options: you can download a Windows installer setup file, or you can download a zip-compressed file of the whole program. Since all of the necessary files are located in the DeltaCopy's folder, and there is no registry update and other additional processing to the setup I like to get the zip.

There are two limitations of the out-of-the-box DeltaCopy program:

1. It cannot handle Unicode file names
2. It cannot handle long file names (files which has more than 255 characters in its path from the root of the backup folder)

If you only have problem with the Unicode file names

One limitation of the out-of-the-box DeltaCopy is that it does not properly backup file names with Unicode characters. This is important to you if you have file names in foreign language, for example. The solution to this problem is posted on UTF-8 Cygwin. Simply put: replace cygwin1.dll in your DeltaCopy folder with one that is Unicode-enabled. Follow the link on UTF-8 Cygwin to get the file.

If you have both the Unicode file names problem and the long file names problem

I got the solution from reading this post and I'm really glad that it worked. Many of the files that are included in the DeltaCopy download are out of date. You can get the more up-to-date files by installing cygwin. You will need to get the following files:

chmod.exe - get the latest version
rsync.exe - get version 3.0.6 (version 3.0.7 does not work)
ssh.exe - get from the latest version of openSSH
cygwin1.dll - part of cygwin
cyggcc_s-1.dll - get the latest version

Next, copy these files into the DeltaCopy folder to replace the old files. You need to do this for both the client and the server.

Finally, add the following to the deltacd.conf:

uid = 0
gid = 0

That's all.