Using Robocopy to Back up LiveCycle on Windows Vista

In Windows Vista, Microsoft has shipped a really powerful backup utility called “Robocopy” (Robust Copy). It is built into the Command Prompt shell environment. To see its myriad of options, just type in robocopy /? at a command prompt.

The real utility of this tool is after the first full backup – all subsequent backups are incremental and therefore, faster.

Here’s the command to backup the LiveCycle install from the C: drive to a folder on the D: drive (The /E argument copies all subdirectories, including empty ones.):
robocopy C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8 D:\backups\Adobe_LiveCycle8 /E

Here’s the same command with a bit more control over retries (10 retries, each with a wait interval of 30 seconds)
robocopy C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8 D:\backups\Adobe_LiveCycle8 /E /R:10 /W:30

You can also choose to copy the directory timestamps, and also to copy all file information
robocopy C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8 D:\backups\Adobe_LiveCycle8 /E /W:30 /R:10 /DCOPY:T /COPYALL

This command can be saved as a batch file and then be run as a scheduled task, set to run every day at a certain time at night. This way, if you end up messing up your LiveCycle install (we all do), there is always hope.