Backup: Difference between revisions
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== Safety of your knowledge stored in SuperMemo == | == Safety of your knowledge stored in SuperMemo == | ||
Knowledge you store in SuperMemo might belong to your most precious data on your hard disk! After all it has cost you months or years of editing and repetitions. You must continue your repetitions indefinitely to make sure you do not forget what you have learned. This is why backup skills are so vital! | Knowledge you store in SuperMemo might belong to your most precious data on your hard disk! After all, it has cost you months or years of editing and repetitions. You must continue your repetitions indefinitely to make sure you do not forget what you have learned. This is why backup skills are so vital! | ||
'''Everyday you should pause for a moment and imagine the consequences of losing your work since | '''Everyday you should pause for a moment and imagine the consequences of losing your work since you made your last backup'''. Each time you invest lots of work in your collection, you should use '''[[File menu|<font color="#0066cc">File</font>]] '''''': Copy collection''' (''Shift+Ctrl+C'') to copy your learning material to some new location. You should copy to a different computer, to a flash drive, or to a DVD-R from time to time to prevent losing your work in case of a hard disk crash. | ||
'''Remember to retrieve and review your backup from time to time to make sure your backup files are stored correctly! Some users backed up only their KNO files for months thinking their backups are safe and complete!''' | '''Remember to retrieve and review your backup from time to time to make sure your backup files are stored correctly! Some users backed up only their KNO files for months thinking their backups are safe and complete!''' | ||
'''Example:''' to backup your collection to a network drive ''F:'', you could press ''Shift+Ctrl+C'', type "''f:\my_July5_backup''" and press ''Enter''. Naturally, it would be nicer to backup to a dedicated folder, e.g. "''f:\ | '''Example:''' to backup your collection to a network drive ''F:'', you could press ''Shift+Ctrl+C'', type "''f:\my_July5_backup''" and press ''Enter''. Naturally, it would be nicer to backup to a dedicated folder, e.g. "''f:\SM2008\backup\July5''". | ||
== | == Quick backup == | ||
The fastest way to quickly backup your collection, e.g. before a major rework, is to use ''Shift+F12'' (or '''[[File menu|<font color="#0066cc">File</font>]] : Tools : Quick backup'''). Quick backup will skip some less important files. It will also name your backup with the date on which it was created. To prevent a confusion (e.g. learning with a backup instead of the original collection), SuperMemo will warn you each time you try to open a backup collection. To eliminate the warning, once you restore a backup, remember to change its name back to the original name. For example, if your collection's name is ''YouTube.kno'' your backup might get named ''(((Backup of YOUTUBE created on 2009-04-28 15-15-55)))''. When you restore the backup, name it back to ''YouTube.kno'' or similar. You can restore the backup by opening it and using '''[[File menu|<font color="#0066cc">File</font>]] : ''''''Copy collection '''(''Shift+Ctrl+C''). You should copy the backup to your collections folder within the SuperMemo folder (e.g. ''c:\sm2008\systems\''), and name it as the collection you are restoring (e.g. ''c:\sm2008\systems\YouTube.kno''). | |||
== Using WinZip, PKZip, etc. == | == Using WinZip, PKZip, etc. == | ||
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*remember to '''preserve the paths in archiving'''. If you fail to do this, you will most likely be unable to reassemble hundreds of files into appropriate folders | *remember to '''preserve the paths in archiving'''. If you fail to do this, you will most likely be unable to reassemble hundreds of files into appropriate folders | ||
== | == Learning process backup == | ||
If you are using a commercial collection available on CD or DVD, you can save lots of space if you backup only the learning process. You can do it with '''[[File menu|File]] : Export : Learning process'''. Note that this will not preserve changes you have made to texts in your collection. In case of a mishap, you can reinstall your commercial collection and restore the learning process with '''[[File menu|File]] : Import : Learning process : Text file'''. For example, the full semi-copy of Advanced English takes nearly 50 MB while the learning process backup takes from 0.1 to 3 MB depending on how much work you have put in repetitions. | |||
== Example: Archiving with Total Commander == | == Example: Archiving with Total Commander == |
Revision as of 02:28, 31 May 2009
Safety of your knowledge stored in SuperMemo
Knowledge you store in SuperMemo might belong to your most precious data on your hard disk! After all, it has cost you months or years of editing and repetitions. You must continue your repetitions indefinitely to make sure you do not forget what you have learned. This is why backup skills are so vital!
'Everyday you should pause for a moment and imagine the consequences of losing your work since you made your last backup. Each time you invest lots of work in your collection, you should use File ': Copy collection (Shift+Ctrl+C) to copy your learning material to some new location. You should copy to a different computer, to a flash drive, or to a DVD-R from time to time to prevent losing your work in case of a hard disk crash.
Remember to retrieve and review your backup from time to time to make sure your backup files are stored correctly! Some users backed up only their KNO files for months thinking their backups are safe and complete!
Example: to backup your collection to a network drive F:, you could press Shift+Ctrl+C, type "f:\my_July5_backup" and press Enter. Naturally, it would be nicer to backup to a dedicated folder, e.g. "f:\SM2008\backup\July5".
Quick backup
The fastest way to quickly backup your collection, e.g. before a major rework, is to use Shift+F12 (or File : Tools : Quick backup'). Quick backup will skip some less important files. It will also name your backup with the date on which it was created. To prevent a confusion (e.g. learning with a backup instead of the original collection), SuperMemo will warn you each time you try to open a backup collection. To eliminate the warning, once you restore a backup, remember to change its name back to the original name. For example, if your collection's name is YouTube.kno your backup might get named (((Backup of YOUTUBE created on 2009-04-28 15-15-55))). When you restore the backup, name it back to YouTube.kno or similar. You can restore the backup by opening it and using File : 'Copy collection (Shift+Ctrl+C). You should copy the backup to your collections folder within the SuperMemo folder (e.g. c:\sm2008\systems\), and name it as the collection you are restoring (e.g. c:\sm2008\systems\YouTube.kno).
Using WinZip, PKZip, etc.
If you would like to use archiving tools to reduce the size of your backup, remember to do the following:
- copy the file <your collection>.kno and the folder <your collection> into one archive. Many users make a cardinal mistake of archiving only the kno file which is useless without the files in the accompanying folder. For example, remember to copy the folder BIOLOGY-CLASS when backing up biology-class.kno
- remember to preserve the paths in archiving. If you fail to do this, you will most likely be unable to reassemble hundreds of files into appropriate folders
Learning process backup
If you are using a commercial collection available on CD or DVD, you can save lots of space if you backup only the learning process. You can do it with File : Export : Learning process. Note that this will not preserve changes you have made to texts in your collection. In case of a mishap, you can reinstall your commercial collection and restore the learning process with File : Import : Learning process : Text file. For example, the full semi-copy of Advanced English takes nearly 50 MB while the learning process backup takes from 0.1 to 3 MB depending on how much work you have put in repetitions.
Example: Archiving with Total Commander
To archive your Physics collection with Total Commander by Christian Ghisler do the following:
- find physics.kno (e.g. with Alt+F7 search)
- in the panel displaying physics.kno, select physics.kno and [PHYSICS] folder (e.g. with Ins or with Ctrl+click)
- choose Alt+F5 for Files : Pack...
- make sure Also pack path names (only recursed) and Recursively pack subdirectories are checked (to preserve paths and folders)
- choose OK. Your newly created archive should appear as a ZIP file with the default name <collections folder>.zip (this is systems.zip by default)