Archiving/Backup files to 2nd local disk (upon edit)?

That Random Guy · 29 Nov 2018

Hello,

I just did a quick Google search on how I could archive files to a second drive and nothing conclusive came up.

So, either I suck at Google-Fu or I'm not understanding this correctly.

To elaborate, I'm trying to devise a way so that I can backup particular files to my second hard drive on my main machine and thereafter have those same preselected files be backed-up whenever I make a change to them.

Is this possible somehow?

P.S. - For inquires on my system, please view My Specs.

EDIT:
********IMPORTANT********
While I selected SyncToy as my particular solution, there were several other prime solutions that users might want to look at instead. I will link you to the posts describing them below:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

dalchina · 29 Nov 2018

Something like this? (Still works, apparently, last I knew).
Download SyncToy 2.1 from Official Microsoft Download Center

roy111 · 29 Nov 2018

Another option could be to use "File History":

Enable or Disable File History in Windows 10

dalchina · 29 Nov 2018

File History proves to be a bit dodgy- research threads on this.

MS was at one point said to be going to replace it with Timeline, I believe, although these seem to be quite different things. Could be wrong on this..things change.

E.g.
Windows 10 File History backup feature makes a welcome return in Insider Build 16226
File History to be removed? Solved - Windows 10 Forums

https://www.howtogeek.com/348122/wha...w-do-i-use-it/

roy111 · 29 Nov 2018

I think timeline has nothing to do with file history, they have totally different purposes.
I use file history since windows 8 and I think it does it's job, what I found to not be reliable is to use it with an external USB drive as a source drive, but if you need to backup "Documents" folder it works.

I never found evidence of file History being deprecated by ms, so I assume it is not (?)

dalchina · 29 Nov 2018

If you read the above there was a belief it was, then it wasn't. It disappeared for a bit, then came back. That's why I quoted those to show where my comments came from. Seemed a lot of confusion for a time. I've read a few threads where it seemed a bit problematic.

roy111 · 29 Nov 2018

I can't be sure it is 100% reliable, but I seldom delete the wrong file, and I can recover using file history.
For a bulletproof reliability there may be more professional tools, like rsync.
Anyway i'm not trying to sell anything, just some options

That Random Guy · 29 Nov 2018

I had considered File History but I understood that it did routine checks to backup files even though they hadn't been updated. I verified this after looking at the Advanced Settings for it and saw there wasn't a way to not have it save copies every day.

SyncToy looks pretty simple but will it ever break?

I appreciate the feedback and I think both solutions look well but I would prefer something that is efficient. Will File History always copy files even though they haven't changed? That's what I'm getting just from looking at the settings. Is it also true File History will only work for Libraries and not any other preselected folders?

dalchina · 29 Nov 2018

I've seen a couple of users comment favourably on Synctoy. I expect there will be other 3rd party solutions not subject to the limitations MS places on File History.

Download the Latest Version - FreeFileSync
Best Free Folder Synchronization Utility | Gizmo's Freeware

roy111 · 29 Nov 2018

That Random Guy said:

... Will File History always copy files even though they haven't changed? That's what I'm getting just from looking at the settings. Is it also true File History will only work for Libraries and not any other preselected folders?

No, it will not make duplicate (as a rule), if the file is unchanged; you can customize the folder/s.