Backing Up Entire PC

[richk]

Thanks to all of the sage advice I have received here to write the scripts that will automate my specific backup needs, I have been successful in backing up my complete PC system with Terabyte. Still on the trial package, I plan to purchase this software just after the first of the year! Since I struggled a bit to get where I am today, I would like to post my scripts here with the hope that it will be able to help others to help getting their backups going quicker and without fail.

I have three scripts (one for each hard drive I am backing up) that are triggered by a fourth script. The destination drive is my S: DRIVE, a conventional internal SATA drive mounted in an external USB 3 caddy.

The first script backs up a USB 3 flash drive permanently attached to my PC, entitled BBACKUPTOS:

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite\imagew64.exe" /wait /b /d:w9 /f:"S:\Backup-w9-B DRIVE-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$" /v /comp:22 /ckfs

The second script backs up a conventional internal SATA data drive, entitled DBACKUPTOS.cmd:

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite\imagew64.exe" /wait /b /d:w1 /f:"S:\Backup-w1-D DRIVE-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$" /v /comp:22 /ckfs

The third script backs up an SSD internal SATA data drive (my boot drive), entitled CBACKUPTOS.cmd:

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite\imagew64.exe" /wait /b /d:w2 /f:"S:\Backup-w2-C DRIVE-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$" /v /comp:22 /ckfs /rb:8

Please note that CBACKUPTOS.cmd ends with /rb:8, which tells the PC to shut down after this script completes.

The script that commands the order that my hard drives are backed up is entitled BACKUPTOS.cmd:

CD /d %~dp0
call "BBACKUPTOS.cmd"
CD /d %~dp0
call "DBACKUPTOS.cmd"
CD /d %~dp0
call "CBACKUPTOS.cmd"

So if I run BACKUPTOS.cmd, my PC backs up B, D and C drives that order and then shuts down the PC. These are full image backups that use the ZSTD-Fast compression algorithm, are validated, and send me an email after each script completes (letting me know success or failure).


***CAVEAT*** I first tried backing up B, C and D, in that order, but for some reason my PC wanted to back up B, D and C, which caused the PC to shut down after the second backup! I don't know what caused the PC to disobey the command in the BACKUPTOS.cmd file, but when I changed the file back to where it is now it ran just fine.

Comments? Questions?

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYOJNE THAT HELPED ME AUTOMATE MY BACKUPS USING TERABYTE!!

[richk]

As a caveat to my December 28, 2025 post above, this arrangement does not always go as planned...as I am confused about the correct way to write a script to automate multiple-drive Terabyte backups. I never was taught how to write such scripts, so I have been following examples and taken advice from users here who know how to write scripts, I have found that apparently the way I have written them causes the hard drives to be backed up either in or out of order from session-to-session. Here is an example of scripts that I have written to backup E:Drive, then backup F: Drive, and then have my PC shut off. All three scripts have been saved in my \Documents folder and the script to initiate the whole process has been copied as a shortcut to my Desktop. When I ran the script yesterday from my Desktop, F:Drive was the first to be backed up (even though I believe the script calls for E:Drive to be backed up first), and the script calls for my PC to be shut down after F:Drive is backed up. However, I wanted E:Drive to back up first! If I did not intervene, only F:Drive would have been backed up and my PC shut down!
Here are the scripts:

EBACKUPTOZ.CMD

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite\imagew64.exe" /wait /b /d:w2 /f:"Z:\Backup-w2-E DRIVE-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$" /v /comp:22 /ckfs

FBACKUPTOZ.CMD
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\TeraByte Drive Image Backup and Restore Suite\imagew64.exe" /wait /b /d:w3 /f:"Z:\Backup-w3-F DRIVE-$~YYYY$-$~MM$-$~DD$-$~HHMM$" /v /comp:22 /ckfs /rb:8

BACKUPTOZ.CMD
CD /d %~dp0
call "EBACKUPTOZ.cmd"
CD /d %~dp0
call "FBACKUPTOZ.cmd"


So can anyone explain why this is not working according to my understanding? Did I enter something wrong in the script(s)? I have written similar such scripts for my B-C-D Drive backup routines, and these as well backup in a random fashion from session-to-session.

HELP!!

Thanks in advance!!

[TeraByte Support]

add a delay after the first to ensure it starts first.

CD /d %~dp0
call "EBACKUPTOZ.cmd"
TIMEOUT /T 5
CD /d %~dp0
call "FBACKUPTOZ.cmd"

note that only works for two/first item. If you had more than that, you don't know which would go next, so you'd want to use "start /wait" so that the batch file pauses (just means a black command prompt box would remain on the screen).

[TAC109]

Insert a /wait parameter straight after the "" in the 'start' commands, i.e.

Start "" /wait …

This will ensure that the 'start' commands do not finish until the particular instance of IFW has completed.

Cheers

[richk]

Thanks to the both of you! I have re-written a number of scripts to conform with your directives and am pleased to report that they apparently work. So not only have I now automated my E-F Drive backups, but also my B-C-D Drive Backups!! I will continue to use these scripts during my normal backup routines (every 2 weeks--the next one coming up is Wednesday) and report back if I have further questions/problems!