Solved Backup OneDrive?

I'm trying to backup my OneDrive folder. I tried backing up the OneDrive folder with Macrium and only the folders were backed up. The folders were empty when I mounted the image with Macrium.. When I try to copy the folders in File Explorer to my D: drive, I get an error about the source and destination having the same name. I backed up my OneDrive folders years ago and didn't have any problems.

I had the very same problem with SyncBackPro and the solution in that app was to uncheck the option "Ignore NTFS junction points (reparse points)".

If i do a file and folder backup in Macrium i have the option under Advanced Options > Reparse Points to set the User Reparse Points to "Do not follow - Backup reparse definitions". It sounds similar, but i have not tested it in Macrium yet so i don´t know if it´s the solution. It´s worth trying though.

2112 said:

I had the very same problem with SyncBackPro and the solution in that app was to uncheck the option "Ignore NTFS junction points (reparse points)".

If i do a file and folder backup in Macrium i have the option under Advanced Options > Reparse Points to set the User Reparse Points to "Do not follow - Backup reparse definitions". It sounds similar, but i have not tested it in Macrium yet so i don´t know if it´s the solution. It´s worth trying though.

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Thank you! I have to run some errands so I'll try again later today.

A couple of possibilities
1 - Set up file history to make periodic copies
2 - Use a program called Cobian Reflector @ www.cobiansoft.com for windows 11, or Cobian backup 11 Gravity for Windows 10. I use both to back up OneDrive, and am very happy with the process.

Macrium Reflect Images will contain copies of OneDrive.

Winuser said:

I'm trying to backup my OneDrive folder. I tried backing up the OneDrive folder with Macrium and only the folders were backed up. The folders were empty when I mounted the image with Macrium.. When I try to copy the folders in File Explorer to my D: drive, I get an error about the source and destination having the same name. I backed up my OneDrive folders years ago and didn't have any problems.

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The files you are trying to backup must reside on the local computer. If OneDrive is set to leave all files in the cloud then your backup WILL contain empty folders (same thing with Cobian).

Copying folders from C: to D: shouldn't be a problem (maybe the files you can't copy are in the cloud?).

2112 said:

I had the very same problem with SyncBackPro and the solution in that app was to uncheck the option "Ignore NTFS junction points (reparse points)".

If i do a file and folder backup in Macrium i have the option under Advanced Options > Reparse Points to set the User Reparse Points to "Do not follow - Backup reparse definitions". It sounds similar, but i have not tested it in Macrium yet so i don´t know if it´s the solution. It´s worth trying though.

Click to expand...

I tried changing the setting and I got the same result.

@GaryW, I do understand what you posted. I have done this before in Windows 10. When I did the backup in Win 10 I just used copy and paste. This time when I tried copy and paste on the first try, I chose all the folders. The second time I tried the first two folders. The first folder copied Ok. The second folder gave me the error that the source and destination had the same name. The odd thing is that the name of the file it showed wasn't even in that folder. I did find out that my system backups had all of the folders and files that are in my OneDrive. Now that I know my OneDrive folder is in my Macrium full system images I'm not too concerned any more. What had me worried was that my Win 11 Dev build running in VMware showed that it was uploading to my OneDrive folder. I can understand if it had said that it was downloading. I guess it could be a bug in Win 11 that it shows uploading instead of downloading. I now know my Onedrive files are saved so I can rest easy.

OneDrive uses a feature of windows call junction points, which allows for "links" to the real files to be setup, so they aren't actually downloaded (they just look like they are). When you click on one to open it, it actually downloads it and replaces the file.

Earlier versions of OneDrive had this feaature, then when Windows 10 came out, they dropped it, and it took them a couple years to add it back.

The idea is, you might have a terabyte of files on OneDrive, but only 256GB hard drive.

So when you backup the folder, it's only backing up real files that are downloaded.

Why back this folder up anyways? OneDrive is already a backup. And it's versioned, so you can go back in time and get files that may have been altered or deleted.

I've used Second Copy for a long time to backup OneDrive. No need to tweak the settings, just point to the source, the destination, set the schedule and you're good to go.

Mystere said:

OneDrive uses a feature of windows call junction points, which allows for "links" to the real files to be setup, so they aren't actually downloaded (they just look like they are). When you click on one to open it, it actually downloads it and replaces the file.

Earlier versions of OneDrive had this feaature, then when Windows 10 came out, they dropped it, and it took them a couple years to add it back.

The idea is, you might have a terabyte of files on OneDrive, but only 256GB hard drive.

So when you backup the folder, it's only backing up real files that are downloaded.

Why back this folder up anyways? OneDrive is already a backup. And it's versioned, so you can go back in time and get files that may have been altered or deleted.

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What had me thinking about backing up my OneDrive folder was when I saw the Win 11 I have installed in a VM was uploading and not downloading files. I had no files to upload and I don't want to see my files get deleted. I don't completely understand how OneDrive works. Now that I know that my OneDrive files are in my Macrium system backups I feel much better. I'm still confused as to why doing a system image saves the files but doing a folder backup doesn't.

A system image is a bit for bit copy of the filesystem including junction point nodes, while a backup just copies the files, and if the file doesn't actually exist, it won't copy it.

I now have a better understanding of OneDrive and that if needed I can access my files in my Macrium system images. I'm going to mark this thread solved.

I no longer use Onedrive but when I did, I used Google Drive's selective sync function to sync my onedrive folder with google drive. That duplicated anything I put in onedrive into Google Drive. That way I never had to worry about trying to manually backup my onedrive folder.

glasskuter said:

I no longer use Onedrive but when I did, I used Google Drive's selective sync function to sync my onedrive folder with google drive. That duplicated anything I put in onedrive into Google Drive. That way I never had to worry about trying to manually backup my onedrive folder.

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I have been using OneDrive since before MS lowered the amount of free space. With my subscription of Microsoft 365 Family, I now have more storage space than needed. I like being able to access my OneDrive files from all of my devices. I also like that all the pics I take with my phone are automatically uploaded to OneDrive. Have I had problems with OneDrive? Yes! Was it me or OneDrive? Probably more me than OneDrive.