Backup Bug or Desired?

I wanted to enable the backup feature (Settings -> Update & Security -> Backup) and when I selected "Add a drive", the drive I wanted to add wasn't listed. All other drives appeared in the list so I started looking on the drive that wasn't showing to see if there was something recursive that may be happening. Blindly I decided to move my OneDrive folder to another drive and guess what, the drive now shows up but the drive I moved the OneDrive folder to is not showing up. If the backups are going into the OneDrive folder, that is understandable to not allow the OneDrive folder to be picked but eliminating the entire drive from the selection? I don't get it... something I'm missing?

Hi ShiftySituation,

See if this helps.

Try going to Control Panel > Back Up & Restore. Off to the left pane there's a link titled "Create System Image." Click on that, which should bring up the drives which can accept the image. If your drive is not listed, then perhaps there's an issue with the way it's formatted?

Also, just so you know, that whatever you place within the OneDrive folder will be saved in a cloud, BUT, what you remove from that same folder will result in that data being deleted from the cloud. (I was just made aware of this myself).

Also, here's some free alternatives, which many of us prefer over what comes with Win-10.

Macrium Reflect Free
AOMEI Backupper Standard


b1rd

The drive shows up after I remove the OneDrive folder. Example;

Available drives:
D:\ (has OneDrive on it at D:\OneDrive)
E:\ (no OneDrive here)
- In the Backup -> 'Add a drive' list of available backup drive 'D:\' isn't a choice.

Now I swap where OneDrive is like;
D:\ (no OneDrive here)
E:\ (has OneDrive on it at E:\OneDrive)
- In the Backup -> 'Add a drive' list of available backup drive 'E:\' isn't a choice now.

What I want to do is backup into the OneDrive folder, something like 'D:\OneDrive\Backup' without using 3rd party software.

I think I understand what you're saying, but I don't have an answer as to why. However, you can sync your files, which might accomplish what you're trying to do. See HERE.

Windows 10 places OneDrive in every folder's Navigation Pane, where it's easily accessible. You can pick and choose which folders should live only on OneDrive, and which should also be mirrored — also known as synced — so they live on your computer, as well.

If that's not it, you might look at creating a shortcut to OneDrive, which you should be able to put onto any drive. I think there might even be a Copy / Move to option within the Context menu, but I'm going from memory, as I tweaked mine a bit and I no longer have it (if I ever did before).

Also, I'm not sure if you were looking at trying to store a system image onto OneDrive as a back-up, but if so, I'm not sure how that would work out. IMHO, it's better to have it on a second drive if possible.

What I mean is that you've indicted that you want to use the back up feature, however there's several. You have the ability to back up files & folders, but you can also back up your entire operating system- which is highly recommended. See the below link for additional.

How to Use All of Windows 10’s Backup and Recovery Tools


b1rd

I tried to follow the instructions from the first link and it basically told me to change the folder path when installing OneDrive, it doesn't show how to add additional folders that should sync with one drive, except 'Documents' and 'Pictures' (no place here to select any other folder). This makes sense why it isn't allowed because of 2 way syncing.

I want to sync my music to OneDrive but I don't want to move it to the D:\OneDrive folder. I guess I'm going to need third party software..

This idea does not sync the two folders, but you could just pop in a OneDrive shortcut into your Music Folder, then do some quick drag & drops into the OneDrive shortcut folder that way.

Or, maybe place your Music folder into your Documents folder, so that way it syncs like you want. Now, create a Music Folder shortcut and just use that as your main music folder. (Hope that made sense)

Yeah, I'll just drag and drop to an icon. It's really a select few folders that need backed up and they don't change that often... why over complicate it.

I did notice why they won't allow you to use the Backup onto OneDrive is because it is a full historical backup and they even duplicate the files even if the file hasn't changed. This filled up quickly and it was extra annoying because everything in my user folder (documents, pictures..) was automatically added to the Backup, only to come back when manually removed. A quick hack is to add those folders to the ignore list to stop them from backing up.

If they gave OneDrive a way to link to multiple folders, I'd be set... Here's to a dream!

Thanks for your help!