Errors occuring when making a full backup.

[bradley002]

I am copying my username folder to an external hard drive and errors are popping up like "cannot copy _____. Failed to create symbolic link". Another one popped up right away so I said "yes to all". I am making the backup so that I can restore linux to its current state after I wipe it out and install windows on this laptop. Will these "symbolic links" be necessary to a proper installation?

I am using the GUI - is there any reason I should be using the terminal for this? Thanks.

[drummingpariah]

It sounds like you don't have permissions on the remote location. You may want to try just using SCP or even backing up using Clonezilla (I highly suggest keeping backup images archived).

[bradley002]

Darn it, I wouldn't have bought an external HD if I knew about clonezilla.

Anyway, linux newbie here. The remote device is the external HD, right? Wouldn't I not be able to copy any files if I didn't have permission?