A question about backing up.

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shadowfax

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« on: June 15, 2020, 05:26:29 PM »
Hi, Just been backing stuff up and always do it as so...select all folders drag them to the previous backed up folders and select copy here, after a while it says some of the files have the same name to you want to replace them? I say no and it proceeds to copy folders to the destination that were previously not there, however, I've suddenly had a thought..if I've changed a file within a folder but the file has the same name then presumably it hasn't copied it to the backup location..is this correct? if so I've been doing it wrong for yonks...any puter expert out there please to put me right?

best, Kevin :)
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Cawproductions

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« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2020, 09:19:17 PM »
Hi kevin
I am running a windows machine after moving from mac.

I currently have a 1 tB drive setup to use windows backup, which is backing up selected folders.
Also I have a 1Tb cloud account with my broadband that is backing up as I work, (hopefully).

if you are running mac, I used to have a 1Tb drive used a time machine drive, that worked well.

Hope this helps.
Andy

CaliaMoko

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« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2020, 11:17:56 PM »
I would choose "yes" instead of "no".

Another alternative. Have more than one backup. I used to do pretty much the same as you are doing. I copied over the folders I wanted from my "libraries" to my backup drive.  But I had more than one set. On the first day I dragged over (copied) everything I wanted. I put them all in a folder called Backup 2020-06-01. The next day (or week or whatever), I made a new folder called Backup 2020-06-02. Third day, Backup 2020-06-03. So now I have three full backups of my data. At this point I might change the name of the first folder to the current date and say "yes" to all those files that have the same names. Or I might delete the folder and everything in it and make a new one with the current date.

The reason I say "yes" to files with the same names is that I may have updated them since the last backup, and I want the latest version to be backed up.

Currently, I don't worry about any of this. I use Macrium Reflect. I told it which folders I want backed up and it just does it for me every day. Plus I use iDrive the same way. So I have two daily backups, one on an external drive and one in the cloud.

That's the long answer. The short answer, in my opinion, is you should say "yes"

Boydie

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« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2020, 08:17:57 AM »
@shadowfax

From what you have described Kevin I think you would need to double check the backup location - as clicking “No” to replacing files would usually result in Windows creating a “copy” version (same file name but with something different at the end) OR it will not have copied anything

Coincidentally I have just finished backing up ALL of my family photos and videos to ONEDRIVE (Cloud)

It took AGES to upload but I do have a sense of security if the worst were to happen

The reason I mention this is that ONEDRIVE allows you to chose any folder to be your “OneDrive” folder for syncing with the cloud. I was able to put this folder on an external drive so that I have everything backed up in 2 places (external drive and cloud)

I then use Microsoft SyncToy to sync this folder to ANOTHER external hard drive - so I have an exact copy of the data in 3 locations

SyncToy is free and easy to set up “folder pairs” to keep folders in sync (an automatic way to do what you are currently doing manually)

I also recommend Macrium Reflect for doing backups of drives

There are lots of ways (and tools) to create a workflow that suits you so it is worth spending the time to figure out EXACTLY what you want and then identify the appropriate tools - bearing in mind data is not considered safe unless it is in 3 separate locations
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shadowfax

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« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2020, 08:29:38 AM »
Hi and thanks for the reply's..I do have 3 separate backups and it appears that I've been doing it wrong by not copying the files with the same name so today I will just copy everything over to the 3 locations, thanks guys.. :)
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