How do I backup files with Robocopy instead of Synctoy

JunJay · 22 Apr 2019

Try3 said:

I also use DCopy:DAT
- It is shown in the RoboCopy.txt I suggested [i.e. in the built-in Help].
- I had not noticed its omission from the SS64 guide. They probably regard both the DA items as irrelevant and I think they are probably correct. Windows stopped taking any notice of folder attributes years ago [Win7, I think] and I do not know what the D actually means for folders or for files. Perhaps the D meant something in WinXP and I have just carried on using it ever since.
- If SS64 are correct, DCopy:T is sufficient.

Denis

Ok great, thanks

Try3 · 22 Apr 2019

I have managed to dig out an XP guide to RoboCopy and it implies, but is not entirely clear, that the D [Data] bit in Copy:DAT refers to the file's contents.

A folder does not, of itself, have any data other than its date-time stamp so the D seems irrelevant.

Perhaps, when DCopy was introduced later on, the RoboCopy /? explanations just copied most of what had been written for Copy without being fully reviewed. And only SS64 have looked into it properly.

Denis

lx07 · 23 Apr 2019

Try3 said:

That is not what /CopyAll means. /CopyAll is not a file selection switch.

I regard /CopyAll as inappropriate for a backup.

No, indeed. It isn't a file selection switch - it defines what properties to copy. /COPYALL means the same as /COPY:DATSOU. If you don't use it you are excluding security ACLs, ownership and auditing information.

Why would you think these these are not relevant to a backup? I always include them as I want all information backed up.

If you only wanted /COPY:DAT and /DCOPY:DAT you can leave out the switches as that is the default anyway : robocopy | Microsoft Docs

Try3 said:

A folder does not, of itself, have any data other than its date-time stamp so the D seems irrelevant.

I'd agree the D seems odd for a folder - I don't know what it means but apparently it means that directory stream data (whatever that is) will be copied.

A folder can certainly have attributes like hidden though so you'd probably want the A. I always leave /DCOPY out and take the default.

JunJay · 23 Apr 2019

So, to summarize, I need both /DCOPY and /COPYALL, the first one is for folders and the latter for files.
I will go with /DCOPY:DAT though, I want the folders to be an exact replica.

Try3 · 23 Apr 2019

lx07,

If you only wanted /COPY:DAT and /DCOPY:DAT you can leave out the switches as that is the default anyway

No, the dcopy default is only DA.

Why would you think these these are not relevant to a backup?

Merely because I might restore them after, say, a clean installation when the system would not recognise the new user account I'd set up as being the same as that in use when the backup was mode so the additional saved data would need to be undone. Restoration during the current Windows installation does not present any problems even without those parameters.

A folder can certainly have attributes like hidden

I agree with you. I never use RoboCopy with any hidden folders & have not considered that before. So continuing with blindly using DCopy:DAT is not wholly a waste of time.

Denis