Backing up files (aren't map disks enough?)

You have several other files on the unit that are not on the discs you mentioned, the language and help files for example.

In the event that you inadvertently delete a file you wanted to keep, it is good to have a backup.

Hopefully we wouldn’t get to the point of losing everything on our GPS receiver. But anything can go wrong. As a precautionary measure it would be wise to have everything copied from your GPS to a folder so it may be placed on disk. You just never know when you need that particular file you once had.

. . . it's always best to do periodic backups.

To gpfoster:
If the language and help files are not on my 2009 disc where did they come from?

To bandaid and DznyFan:
I know I should backup stuff I don't have elsewhere, but what would that be. What would be on my GPSr that is not on the 2009 disc or Map Source? I have a few favorites but most of my POIs are on a SD disc.

AS you can surmise, I'm not real knowledgeable with this technology.

The 2009 disc is a map update, not the operating system and other files that were on the device. The other files are updated with the firmware updates. However, if you ever have trouble with an update, you will be glad you did a backup when you find it difficult to step back.

There have been instances when the Nuvi hasn't booted up with some operating system files being corrupt and people have recovered from those situations by formatting their Nuvi and then restoring the files from the backup they did.

If your unit is under warranty, you can send it to Garmin for repairs ... they will ship you back another refurbished unit. However if your warranty is over you are SOL.

Would someone please tell me how to backup the files on my GPSr? I just did a "Backup" search and found a thread "How Do You Backup Your Garmin Files to the PC" dated 1/17/08. However I don't think it told a novice how to do this. One person said "Copy and Paste". Does this work? I really need some help if a backup is important.

Thank you.

You haven't filled in what type GPSr you have, but, assuming your unit acts like a mass-storage device, once you plug it into the PC, you can cut and paste the drive onto your PC HD or an SD card. Or you can drag it onto the other drive. You don't need any special backup s/w or procedure.

An easy way to back up your device is using cut-and-paste (on a Mac or on a Windows machine). This is essentially what I do for my Garmin Nuvi (so things may be slightly different for other brands).

You need to be sure you have enough room on the disk you're using -- at least 2000 megabytes.

Create a new folder on your computer

Connect your GPS to the computer. For a Nuvi, a USB device named "Nuvi" usually appears. On the Mac, it appears on the desktop. On a Windows machine, open "My Computer" to see it listed.

Open your GPS device. You should see a folder full of files and folders.

Under the Edit menu, choose "Select All" then "Copy"

Now open your target folder, click in it, and select "Paste"

This will start copying things from the GPS to your computer. This could take a while!

You can also use "Select All" and drag all the items from your GPS folder to the destination folder.

If you don't know about making backups, you should -- talk to your friendly local computer geek.

Computer disks are like tires -- they will fail; it's just a matter of what you're going to do when it happens.

Thanks everyone.

I was going to copy and paste I just didn't know if this would work properly. The operating system is what I am concerned about. As stated before, I have the map on a disc. Two .img files are very large. Are these the map files? Do I need to copy them?

Thanks everyone, pairajays is not the only one who needs this kind of info. It'll help me too.

can anyone tell me how long the backup should take?

Just in case you computer hard drive craps up, to be on the safe side, make a DVD copy of the Nuvi backup files too. You can never be too careful.

Definately. Also once your data is copied into a folder of your computer - you may also want to 7-zip the files (compress them), and store the archive on a cd or dvd. 7-zip is like a zip file except with a much higher compression ratio. 7zip.org should anyone be interested.

--Rob

I believe that it takes about 45 minutes, depending on the speed of your processor and connection.