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Second Copy Manual (PDF format)

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Common Questions \| Tips and Tricks \| Known Issues \|

Common Questions

Refer to the following answers to commonly asked questions (also known as frequently asked questions or FAQs). If your question is not answered below, please send your technical support related question by e-mail to support@secondcopy.com and we will respond as soon as possible.

Using Second Copy

		Does Second Copy 9 copy open files?
		Does Second Copy 9 work with Windows 11 and previous versions of Windows?
		How do I upgrade from Second Copy 8 to Second Copy 9?
		What kind of compression does Second Copy use?
		Can I use Second Copy to back up to a tape drive?
		Does Second Copy span copies across multiple disks?
		Does Second Copy make complete and interim backups?
		Does Second Copy work with CD-R/CD-RW drives?
		Does Second Copy copy all the files every time it is run?

Licensing

		How do I order Second Copy?
		What is the upgrade policy?

Common Questions

Does Second Copy 9 copy open files?

Second Copy 9 can copy open files on a local hard disk that is formatted with NTFS on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows. It cannot compress open files and it does not copy open files with FTP profiles.

Does Second Copy 9 work with Windows 11 and previous versions of Windows?

Second Copy 9 works with Windows 11. It also works with Windows 10/8.1/8/7/2012/2008/Vista/XP (32-bit as well as 64-bit Windows.) You can download it from our download page.

Common Questions

How do I upgrade from Second Copy 8 to Second Copy 9?

Step 1:

Before you begin to upgrade to Second Copy 9, make a backup copy of your Second Copy 8 profiles.

Second Copy 8 stores its profiles and settings information in a hidden file called "profiles.dat" under "\Users\\AppData\Local\Centered Systems\Second Copy" folder. (where, is the currently logged in username.

In Windows XP, profiles.dat file is stored under "\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Centered Systems\Second Copy" folder.

If you do not see the profiles.dat file in Windows Explorer:

1. Open Windows Explorer and go to the directory where Second Copy is installed.
By default it is C:\Program Files\Second Copy.

2. On the Explorer's View menu, click Options.

3. Click the View tab, and then click Show All Files.

4. Uncheck the Hide MS-DOS File Extension.

Step 2:

Once you have made a backup copy of the Second Copy 8 profiles, uninstall Second Copy 8 from the Start menu.

Step 3:

1. Download the latest version of Second Copy 9 from the Download link.

2. Then run the downloaded installation file (sc9.exe) to start the installation of Second Copy 9.

The new installation will automatically recognize the existing Second Copy 8 profiles. If not, you can import the Second Copy 8 profiles into Second Copy 9 by selecting "Import" from the "File" menu. You can use the backup copy of the Second Copy 8 profiles for the import.

Common Questions

What kind of compression does Second Copy use?

Second Copy uses PKZip 2.04g compatible compression format.
Files compressed with Second Copy can be decompressed with PKZip, WinZip or other compatible programs. Second Copy also comes with a built-in unzipper for files compressed with Second Copy.

Common Questions

Can I use Second Copy to back up to a tape drive?

Second Copy offers an on-line backup of the files in standard format, conventional backup programs create an off-line backup in a proprietary format. When the backup is on-line, the backed up copies of your files are as accessible to you as the original files. When a backup is off-line, you have to go through some kind of restore procedure to make the backed up files accessible again. Disk drives are on-line and tape drives are off-line.

Second Copy copies files to any device that appears to Windows as a disk drive (hard disk, floppy disk, network drive, removable hard disks, CD-Rewritables etc) but not to a tape drive.

However, some tape drive manufacturers provide a special device driver that makes the tape act like an on-line hard disk. We have some customers using Second Copy with such devices. We have not done any testing with these.

Common Questions

Does Second Copy span copies across multiple disks?

Second Copy can span across multiple disks.

Even though Second Copy can span across multiple disks, they become harder to manage and slow. Since it is very difficult to track which files are on which volume and then update only changed files (and reclaim space for deleted files from the proper volume) we will have to rewrite the entire removable disk set every time a file changed.

This defeats the purpose of using Second Copy for automatic backups. The conventional backup programs may handle this in satisfactory fashion.

We recommend that you keep the backup profiles in smaller manageable chunks.

Common Questions

Does Second Copy make complete and interim backups?

Second Copy is designed to maintain a backup of the source files in the destination folder. Second Copy does this by comparing the source and destination files and folders every time it runs a profile. It checks the date and time stamps of the files in the two locations and decides which files need to be copied.

The first time Second Copy runs a profile, it copies all specified files from the source to the destination. After that it copies new or changed files. It also copies any files that are missing from the destination. So if you remove some files from the destination they will be recopied when Second Copy runs next time.

This is different than the conventional backup programs that do "full backup" and "incremental backup". The conventional "full backup" gives you a full set of all the files and the conventional "incremental backup" give you a set of only changed files.

Second Copy can handle conventional incremental backups by use of the archive bit.

Common Questions

Does Second Copy work with CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-RW drives?

Yes. Second Copy works with CD/DVD Recordable/ReWritable drives (CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-RW) if a proper device driver is installed and configured with your drive. The driver should make the CDRW behave like a large floppy disk.

Nero InCD (part of Nero 6 or later) and Roxio DirectCD (part of Easy Media Creator) are two such products that work with various optical drives and makes them look like large floppy disks. Check with your CD/DVD documentation.

One simple test to see if Second Copy will work with a CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-RW drive is to see if you can copy files from your hard disk to the optical drive using Windows Explorer. If Windows Explorer can copy files to the drive Second Copy can too.

Window XP and above is included with a "lite" version of Adaptec/Roxio's Easy CD and it does not make the CD-R/RW/DVD-RW look like a hard disk. You will need to install a packet writing software such as Roxio's DirectCD for Windows. DirectCD is included with Easy Media Creator for Windows. DirectCD allows your CD-R/RW/DVD-RW drive to appear just like any other drive volume. In other words, your optical drive handles files just like a hard disk or floppy disk. Once you have the packet writing software installed on your system, you can drag and drop files to the CD-R/RW/DVD-RW as well as use Second Copy to back up your files to the optical drives.

Common Questions

Does Second Copy copy all the files every time it is run?

The first time a profile is run, Second Copy copies all the selected files and folders from the source to the destination. The next time the profile is run, if the destination already has the files that have the same date and time stamp as that of the source, Second Copy does not copy those files again. It only copies new and changed files.

There are several options in Second Copy to change this behavior. For example, you can tell Second Copy to use the file's archive bit to determine which files should be copied instead of using the file's time stamp.

Common Questions

How do I order Second Copy?

You can order Second Copy over the Internet with a credit card via our ordering agents or send us a check or purchase order. See the Order page for details. When we receive your order, we will send you a serial number by e-mail. You can enter this serial number in the software you have already downloaded and installed on your system, and it will become a licensed version in your name.

To enter the serial number into the evaluation version of Second Copy, select "Enter License Information" from the Help menu.

A single user license of Second Copy costs US$29.95. For details on other pricing, see the Order page.

Common Questions

What is the upgrade policy?

The current released version of Second Copy is release 9 build 9.5.0.1016. Licensing this entitles you to all minor revisions (v.9.6, 9.7, etc.) at no additional cost. However, there will be an upgrade charge for major revisions (v10.0, etc.) in the future.

Registered users of Second Copy 8 will receive 50% discount off of regular price. Please go to the following link to validate your Second Copy 8 registration and get the upgrade pricing:
Validate registration

Note: You can look up your Second Copy registration by selecting About on the Help menu of the main Second Copy window.

Common Questions

Use Second Copy as your automatic backup software

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