Looking for a Simple file-by-file Backup Program for Documents Folder

roy111 said:

I don't think this is true, never found info about file history being dropped (?).
Also I find it to be one of the most useful features of windows 8 & 10.

As an insider, I saw it disappear (or stop working) on some releases, and read news to that effect, but it seems fine now so I am sticking with it. If they do drop it they had better have a good reason (and a replacement)!

It could have been a couple of years ago tbh, File History being replaced by Timeline or some such. Backup and Restore was the other one.

Quite a few hits on the forum, some saying it was being dropped, then some indicating it had been dropped (I think on insider builds), then it re-appeared again. So lots of confusion back then, and that is when I dropped it in favour of AOMEI.

It was really just the uncertainty over it all.

[QUOTE=Mooly;1636063]It could have been a couple of years ago tbh, File History being replaced by Timeline or some such. Backup and Restore was the other one......

I have sampled File History but its file listings seem chaotic. For example, if I get it to display the backup made today (I have set it to act once per day) I find three Names called Documents (along with a lot of other clutter). When clicked on, all three switch the list to the previous day and list the docs for the previous backup! So I can't view the latest backup. This is strange bahaviour for a piece of software. I find other quirks.

I don't think I want to rely on such an odd backup program.

Its a few years since I used it but I did find it basically OK. As I recall, every time you altered a file a new copy was made so that you could then view at a later date all changes to that file and restore any version. It didn't overwrite or replace the original, it kept them all.

Where I found it quirky was that the the File History copies were all 'read only' and had to have their properties changed back to allow you to continue working with them. Also if you happen to restore the C drive back to an earlier date (disk imaging) then File History index had a missing time period although the backup files were still in place of course. That meant you had to manually browse the backup files anyway to restore (copy) them back if needed. AOMEI doesn't seem to have that issue which makes me think it has a hidden index file along with the backup copies.

After my crash, having found FreeFileSync again, which I have used for years, I will stick with that.

My C drive (an SSD) holds programs only. Documents, pictures etc. are all held on an internal spinning HD called "D".

For many years I have had two external hard drives: one drive "Very old" holds a byte-by-byte copy of "Not very old" ; "Not very old" drive holds a later byte-by-byte copy of Drive D. Every few days "Not very old" is copied on to "Very old" and Drive D is copied on to "Not very old". Because FFS updates a file only when necessary rather than making a full copy of every file every time, each of these operations is quick: between 10 secs to a few minutes depending on whether I have made a big change in Drive D (not often). Also, each backup being a file-by-file copy of Drive D, each document, picture etc. can be examined indivdually or copied back on the Drive D if Drive D's version has got corrupted. A backup formed as a disc image of a drive is also effective but is slow and very clumsy to use after a fault compared to the above. All this sounds complex but is very easy to do.

I use a disc image to back up Drive C (using Macrium Reflect free) because I don't think it would be wise to simply copy back one of its programs because programs, being code, set all sorts of things up in the computer and an old copy of the program might crash.

I have around 11,000 backed up files using AOMEI and it only takes a couple of minutes at most to do its daily run and amend any changes found. Disk imaging is quick using an SSD. A full disk image for me takes around 3 minutes to make and perhaps 5 minutes to restore back. Daily differential disk images take a couple of minutes.

I only really use the backed up files if:

1/ I have to restore back to a disk image made more than a day or so back and I know there is some important file I need and that would have been created in that 'missing' time slot.

2/ I work with a lot of temporary stuff and don't normally save any of that on my C drive. Occasionally, weeks later I need some file or pdf and can remember having downloaded it in the past. File History or its equivalent will have a copy.