1. When my database is backing up with this plugin, it shows there to be 5.3 mb total, but when the download finishes, it shows the size as 1.5 mb. (Is this because it was zipped?)
What has me even more perplexed is that on my server's database, it shows that the total size is 40mb??? Why would there be such a difference?
2. When I schedule back ups, they never go, the date is set right, and I hit "schedule backup", but it only will go if I hit "backup now" manually.
3. Once I have it backed up to my computer, if I ever have a lost post (which happened recently), how do I retrieve it from the file that was backed up to my hard drive?
1. When my database is backing up with this plugin, it shows there to be 5.3 mb total, but when the download finishes, it shows the size as 1.5 mb. (Is this because it was zipped?)
Where do you see the 5.3 mb? I'm not sure what you're referring to.
What has me even more perplexed is that on my server’s database, it shows that the total size is 40mb??? Why would there be such a difference?
It's quite possible that MySQL files that take up 40mb could be backed-up to a file only a couple of mb. That's because (depending on your database engine) the files might be optimized for speed rather than size.
A backup file contains only the data, and since it's plain text with a lot of white space, there's great room for compression. For example, the database for this site is 110 mb uncompressed; 14mb compressed.
3. Once I have it backed up to my computer, if I ever have a lost post (which happened recently), how do I retrieve it from the file that was backed up to my hard drive?
The backup is designed more for restoring an entire database, but it's possible retrieve a single post and restore it.
First, you need to unzip it using one of the free gzip applications (you can try your existing zip application, but many of these usually fail to extract the database completely).
Then, open the file with your favorite text editor and search for text to identify that post. You should see the complete text of your post, which you can then copy and paste into your WordPress post editor.
You asked where I see that it says "5.3 mb" - as it's downloading the box will show the progress, "downloading ____kb of 5.3 mb" - something like that. But the weird thing is that every time I back up, it has a significantly different amount of data saved. The first time I ever backed up a couple weeks ago, it showed 5.21 mb saved. One day recently it showed (in the download progress box) that it was saving ____kb of 2.3 mb, and the final amount saved was only 943kb. The next day in the progress box it showed that it was saving ___kb of 2.2mb, with a final downloaded/saved amount of 156kb! I'm so confused and worried that everything isn't getting backed up.
You're so sweet to help me with this, thank you for your time and knowledge. :)
At the link you gave for free gzip applications, which one do you recommend if I'm using Vista - that site wasn't easy to figure out which I should use.
You asked where I see that it says “5.3 mb” - as it’s downloading the box will show the progress, “downloading ____kb of 5.3 mb” - something like that.
Don't pay any attention to the number when your browser says "downloading x of y"; often that can be off. Instead, look at the final size of the file after it's finished downloading to get its true size.
Also, it's not unreasonable for your database size to fluctuate. For example, there could be a significant difference between the size of your database before deleting all spam comments and afterwards.
If you're really concerned that everything is being backed up, unzip the file with one of the gzip extractors and open it with a text editor. At the very end of the file you should see be able to see something like "End of data contents of table wp_users", assuming wp_users is your last database table alphabetically (the tables are listed on the admin backup page).
At the link you gave for free gzip applications, which one do you recommend if I’m using Vista - that site wasn’t easy to figure out which I should use.
Download the first one, for Windows, under "Executables." I haven't tried it, but it should work.
You must get tired of technical idiots like myself...
OK, I downloaded the "executables" one for windows at the link above, then extracted the files. But now I can't get the application to open OR get the backup to decompress/open up WITH that application, either. I click all the obvious things, but nothing happens to open anything up. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
I can't wait to get in there and see if everything is being backed up correctly.
I backed up a few times yesterday out of curiosity to see what it would show for final file sizes that were downloaded to my computer after backing up...
Keep in mind there was nothing different about the size of my blog, only a few very small things that I worked on throughout the day, and these are the sizes I got at each different back up:
1.12mb
806kb
259kb
122kb
I haven't a clue why it would be smaller each time, but if you might know what I'm doing wrong when trying to open up the backed up file, I can go in and look around.
3 problems:
1. When my database is backing up with this plugin, it shows there to be 5.3 mb total, but when the download finishes, it shows the size as 1.5 mb. (Is this because it was zipped?)
What has me even more perplexed is that on my server's database, it shows that the total size is 40mb??? Why would there be such a difference?
2. When I schedule back ups, they never go, the date is set right, and I hit "schedule backup", but it only will go if I hit "backup now" manually.
3. Once I have it backed up to my computer, if I ever have a lost post (which happened recently), how do I retrieve it from the file that was backed up to my hard drive?
Thanks so much for your help!
Kelly
Where do you see the 5.3 mb? I'm not sure what you're referring to.
It's quite possible that MySQL files that take up 40mb could be backed-up to a file only a couple of mb. That's because (depending on your database engine) the files might be optimized for speed rather than size.
A backup file contains only the data, and since it's plain text with a lot of white space, there's great room for compression. For example, the database for this site is 110 mb uncompressed; 14mb compressed.
The backup is designed more for restoring an entire database, but it's possible retrieve a single post and restore it.
First, you need to unzip it using one of the free gzip applications (you can try your existing zip application, but many of these usually fail to extract the database completely).
Then, open the file with your favorite text editor and search for text to identify that post. You should see the complete text of your post, which you can then copy and paste into your WordPress post editor.
Regarding question #1 above:
You asked where I see that it says "5.3 mb" - as it's downloading the box will show the progress, "downloading ____kb of 5.3 mb" - something like that. But the weird thing is that every time I back up, it has a significantly different amount of data saved. The first time I ever backed up a couple weeks ago, it showed 5.21 mb saved. One day recently it showed (in the download progress box) that it was saving ____kb of 2.3 mb, and the final amount saved was only 943kb. The next day in the progress box it showed that it was saving ___kb of 2.2mb, with a final downloaded/saved amount of 156kb! I'm so confused and worried that everything isn't getting backed up.
You're so sweet to help me with this, thank you for your time and knowledge. :)
Sorry, one more question.
At the link you gave for free gzip applications, which one do you recommend if I'm using Vista - that site wasn't easy to figure out which I should use.
Thanks a bunch!
Kelly
Don't pay any attention to the number when your browser says "downloading x of y"; often that can be off. Instead, look at the final size of the file after it's finished downloading to get its true size.
Also, it's not unreasonable for your database size to fluctuate. For example, there could be a significant difference between the size of your database before deleting all spam comments and afterwards.
If you're really concerned that everything is being backed up, unzip the file with one of the gzip extractors and open it with a text editor. At the very end of the file you should see be able to see something like "
End of data contents of tablewp_users", assumingwp_usersis your last database table alphabetically (the tables are listed on the admin backup page).Download the first one, for Windows, under "Executables." I haven't tried it, but it should work.
You must get tired of technical idiots like myself...
OK, I downloaded the "executables" one for windows at the link above, then extracted the files. But now I can't get the application to open OR get the backup to decompress/open up WITH that application, either. I click all the obvious things, but nothing happens to open anything up. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?
I can't wait to get in there and see if everything is being backed up correctly.
I backed up a few times yesterday out of curiosity to see what it would show for final file sizes that were downloaded to my computer after backing up...
Keep in mind there was nothing different about the size of my blog, only a few very small things that I worked on throughout the day, and these are the sizes I got at each different back up:
1.12mb
806kb
259kb
122kb
I haven't a clue why it would be smaller each time, but if you might know what I'm doing wrong when trying to open up the backed up file, I can go in and look around.
Thank you again so much,
Kelly
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