SonyBug

I have tried many different brands of backup software and finally solved the problem I have with them. I found a program in Win10 that will do just what I want. Back up the whole drive, copy over files if they are outdated and copy in new files or directories.

Want to know what it is? A batch file command named "robocopy". A high level copying program that will take less than 10 minutes to set up, the calling batch file resides on the Desktop and it just did a 2nd backup in under 10 minutes. The first did take 5 hours, but that backed up 410GB of data.
Here is the command in the batch file if you want to use it.

robocopy c:\ d:\ *.* /s /R:1 /purge /mir /w:0 /xd "C:\users\dk\onedrive" "C:\windows"

I could set this up as a cron job, and have it back up continuously thru the day, but it is just as easy to hit the icon on the desktop every so often and then be sure it is working.

joanloy Loc: St. Louis, MO

Watching this

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

FWIW: if robocopy works for you, set it to run automatically on a schedule. Backups should be set it and forget it, not needing a user to run it each time.

Just be sure that you can restore any file at anytime or backups are worthless!

NJFrank Loc: New Jersey

How did you come up with the command thread? Was is something you figured out, or was it something that appear once you typed robocopy? I hope I am asking the right questions

alabau Loc: Ft Lauderdale, Florida

A guide to Robocopy - https://adamtheautomator.com/robocopy-the-ultimate/

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

It's good to have a program that backs up your files whenever they have changed, but there is one thing lacking.
If a file gets corrupted, it is changed. Overwriting the old file with the new file will destroy the uncorrupted file.

I have been using CrashPlan, and it will save things as versions. If a file gets corrupted, the corrupted file gets backed up, but the old uncorrupted file is still available as an older version.

PS: it's not a "Robotic Copy" script as I first thought from the name, it's "Robust File Copy for Windows"

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

from robocopy /?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ROBOCOPY :: Robust File Copy for Windows
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Started : May 22, 2020 08:41:04
Usage :: ROBOCOPY source destination [file [file]...] [options]

source :: Source Directory (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
destination :: Destination Dir (drive:\path or \\server\share\path).
file :: File(s) to copy (names/wildcards: default is "*.*").

::
:: Copy options :
::
/S :: copy Subdirectories, but not empty ones.
/E :: copy subdirectories, including Empty ones.
/LEV:n :: only copy the top n LEVels of the source directory tree.

/Z :: copy files in restartable mode.
/B :: copy files in Backup mode.
/ZB :: use restartable mode; if access denied use Backup mode.
/J :: copy using unbuffered I/O (recommended for large files).
/EFSRAW :: copy all encrypted files in EFS RAW mode.

/COPY:copyflag[s] :: what to COPY for files (default is /COPY:DAT).
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).
(S=Security=NTFS ACLs, O=Owner info, U=aUditing info).


/SEC :: copy files with SECurity (equivalent to /COPY:DATS).
/COPYALL :: COPY ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU).
/NOCOPY :: COPY NO file info (useful with /PURGE).
/SECFIX :: FIX file SECurity on all files, even skipped files.
/TIMFIX :: FIX file TIMes on all files, even skipped files.

/PURGE :: delete dest files/dirs that no longer exist in source.
/MIR :: MIRror a directory tree (equivalent to /E plus /PURGE).

/MOV :: MOVe files (delete from source after copying).
/MOVE :: MOVE files AND dirs (delete from source after copying).

/A+:[RASHCNET] :: add the given Attributes to copied files.
/A-:[RASHCNET] :: remove the given Attributes from copied files.

/CREATE :: CREATE directory tree and zero-length files only.
/FAT :: create destination files using 8.3 FAT file names only.
/256 :: turn off very long path (> 256 characters) support.

/MON:n :: MONitor source; run again when more than n changes seen.
/MOT:m :: MOnitor source; run again in m minutes Time, if changed.

/RH:hhmm-hhmm :: Run Hours - times when new copies may be started.
/PF :: check run hours on a Per File (not per pass) basis.

/IPG:n :: Inter-Packet Gap (ms), to free bandwidth on slow lines.

/SL :: copy symbolic links versus the target.

/MT[:n] :: Do multi-threaded copies with n threads (default 8).
n must be at least 1 and not greater than 128.
This option is incompatible with the /IPG and /EFSRAW options.
Redirect output using /LOG option for better performance.

/DCOPY:copyflag[s] :: what to COPY for directories (default is /DCOPY:DA).
(copyflags : D=Data, A=Attributes, T=Timestamps).

/NODCOPY :: COPY NO directory info (by default /DCOPY:DA is done).

/NOOFFLOAD :: copy files without using the Windows Copy Offload mechanism.

::
:: File Selection Options :
::
/A :: copy only files with the Archive attribute set.
/M :: copy only files with the Archive attribute and reset it.
/IA:[RASHCNETO] :: Include only files with any of the given Attributes set.
/XA:[RASHCNETO] :: eXclude files with any of the given Attributes set.

/XF file [file]... :: eXclude Files matching given names/paths/wildcards.
/XD dirs [dirs]... :: eXclude Directories matching given names/paths.

/XC :: eXclude Changed files.
/XN :: eXclude Newer files.
/XO :: eXclude Older files.
/XX :: eXclude eXtra files and directories.
/XL :: eXclude Lonely files and directories.
/IS :: Include Same files.
/IT :: Include Tweaked files.

/MAX:n :: MAXimum file size - exclude files bigger than n bytes.
/MIN:n :: MINimum file size - exclude files smaller than n bytes.

/MAXAGE:n :: MAXimum file AGE - exclude files older than n days/date.
/MINAGE:n :: MINimum file AGE - exclude files newer than n days/date.
/MAXLAD:n :: MAXimum Last Access Date - exclude files unused since n.
/MINLAD:n :: MINimum Last Access Date - exclude files used since n.
(If n < 1900 then n = n days, else n = YYYYMMDD date).

/XJ :: eXclude Junction points and symbolic links. (normally included by default).

/FFT :: assume FAT File Times (2-second granularity).
/DST :: compensate for one-hour DST time differences.

/XJD :: eXclude Junction points and symbolic links for Directories.
/XJF :: eXclude symbolic links for Files.

/IM :: Include Modified files (differing change times).
::
:: Retry Options :
::
/R:n :: number of Retries on failed copies: default 1 million.
/W:n :: Wait time between retries: default is 30 seconds.

/REG :: Save /R:n and /W:n in the Registry as default settings.

/TBD :: wait for sharenames To Be Defined (retry error 67).

::
:: Logging Options :
::
/L :: List only - don't copy, timestamp or delete any files.
/X :: report all eXtra files, not just those selected.
/V :: produce Verbose output, showing skipped files.
/TS :: include source file Time Stamps in the output.
/FP :: include Full Pathname of files in the output.
/BYTES :: Print sizes as bytes.

/NS :: No Size - don't log file sizes.
/NC :: No Class - don't log file classes.
/NFL :: No File List - don't log file names.
/NDL :: No Directory List - don't log directory names.

/NP :: No Progress - don't display percentage copied.
/ETA :: show Estimated Time of Arrival of copied files.

/LOG:file :: output status to LOG file (overwrite existing log).
/LOG+:file :: output status to LOG file (append to existing log).

/UNILOG:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (overwrite existing log).
/UNILOG+:file :: output status to LOG file as UNICODE (append to existing log).

/TEE :: output to console window, as well as the log file.

/NJH :: No Job Header.
/NJS :: No Job Summary.

/UNICODE :: output status as UNICODE.

::
:: Job Options :
::
/JOB:jobname :: take parameters from the named JOB file.
/SAVE:jobname :: SAVE parameters to the named job file
/QUIT :: QUIT after processing command line (to view parameters).
/NOSD :: NO Source Directory is specified.
/NODD :: NO Destination Directory is specified.
/IF :: Include the following Files.

::
:: Remarks :
::
Using /PURGE or /MIR on the root directory of the volume formerly caused
robocopy to apply the requested operation on files inside the System
Volume Information directory as well. This is no longer the case; if
either is specified, robocopy will skip any files or directories with that
name in the top-level source and destination directories of the copy session.

The modified files classification applies only when both source
and destination filesystems support change timestamps (e.g., NTFS)
and the source and destination files have different change times but are
otherwise the same. These files are not copied by default; specify /IM
to include them.

SonyBug

Depending on the switches I set in the command, I can save multiple versions of a file. I actually have two backups, so I don't save a copy of a changed file to save space on the backup drive.

SonyBug

I have trouble running Cron, which automatically runs jobs. For me the documentation is lacking in Win, and it fails to run, then I have to go look every day to see if it did it. It was as much trouble as the backup software I paid for.

This way, the job sits on the desktop, I click it, it runs in the background and I am more confident of the job. It also allows me to look at any file just like it was on the main drive. If I want it back, I just copy it back to the main drive, either a file or a directory. Since I am going ssd to ssd thru a 3.2 connection, it is really fast.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

FWIW:

For my Mac, I run Time Machine, built into OS X, runs incremental backups every hour, simple to set up and forget about, easy to restore from, very efficient with disk space.

I also use Chronosync to backup my images monthly and to maintain a clone of my startup SSD in case of failure. Easy to configure, set & forget, easy to restore from.

I keep a backup of my images also on Amazon Prime photo storage. Automatic backups, but more work to restore from if needed.

SonyBug

I wish Win 10 had that as I would use it.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have several external drives, which I manually alternate - something I learned at my first employer who did suffer seriously when a corrupted system resulted in ruining all backups before they realized they had a problem.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Thanks for that.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Absolutely! Test a restore from whatever backup you use. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen restores from commercial grade backup SW fail when they were really needed - doesn’t happen often, but it does happen (like double drive failures). And when it does, all hell breaks loose. All the users go home and productivity comes to a halt, the CIO calls EVERYBODY - backup SW salesperson and system engineer, storage salesperson and system engineer, etc. - it isn’t pretty.

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia