Bye, bye, File History


Haydon

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The outstanding value proposition of File History for me was the hourly backups that ran in the background, that's gone.

I reviewed my File History records of the past 2 weeks and there were intervals longer than 1 day without backups in spite of the 'every hour' setting (which is the default setting) I have run out of ideas on how to correct the issue, read my numerous love/hate posts on File History.

(I will manually run RoboCopy on a daily basis and Macrium Reflect on a weekly basis)

How can such a marvelous concept have such a less than marvelous implementation <shaking my head in disbelief> I will revisit you in a year or two, hope to find you on your way up (y) and not on your way down (n)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Hmm. I wonder if there are other settings elsewhere affecting this. I mean, it would make sense to update only when a file itself has been updated, but a the samer time, a hard "always update every hour" should still be allowable. Wonder what Microsoft did to change it, and more importantly, why?
 

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    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
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    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
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    Dell Latitude E5470
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    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
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    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
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    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
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    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
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    Dell
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File History on my older Win 10 system saves files only when they change and Win 11 on my laptop is the same. Both are on the default setting of every hour but have never actually done so. I'm not seeing anything has actually changed :confused:
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lafite 14
    CPU
    i7
    Memory
    16Gb
    Internet Speed
    150Mbps/39Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
  • Operating System
    Win 11 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    PC Specialist
    CPU
    i5
    Memory
    8Gb
    Internet Speed
    150Mbps/39Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Other Info
    Incompatible device, upgraded to Win 11
File History on my older Win 10 system saves files only when they change and Win 11 on my laptop is the same.
Mine is set for 'daily' but like Fixer it only saves anything when there are changes to a file. If there are no changes in a day then it will be skipped. This was always the way in W10 and is the same after the upgrade to W11.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
File History on my older Win 10 system saves files only when they change and Win 11 on my laptop is the same. Both are on the default setting of every hour but have never actually done so. I'm not seeing anything has actually changed :confused:

Mine is set for 'daily' but like Fixer it only saves anything when there are changes to a file. If there are no changes in a day then it will be skipped. This was always the way in W10 and is the same after the upgrade to W11.

Exactly what I would have thought. Only save when file is actually changed.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
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    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
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    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
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    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
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    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
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    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
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    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
Exactly what I would have thought. Only save when file is actually changed.
If only File History did that, I have nothing against differential or incremental backups. For example, my Outlook receives hourly emails (at least during business hours) and File History is MIA.
------------------------
FWIW, I have a theory why File History has taken a backseat compared to OneDrive.

File History is:
1) a stand alone app that has to do the heavy lifting on a billion computers.
2) MS earns nothing from File History, it is part of the OS.

And here is the twofold contrast:
1) the OneDrive app on the computer is merely a client OneDrive app to the server OneDrive app on MS servers. The server OneDrive app does the heavy lifting but even MS has far fewer than a billion servers.
2) MS earns $$ from OneDrive, e.g. renting out OneDrive storage space, providing OneDrive storage space as an incentive to take out MS365 subscriptions, etc.

In other words, if I revisit File History in a year or two, chances are that I will find it on its way down (n)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
Interesting. There is something 'odd' in File History that I've noticed over the years and can't explain. This current install was clean for 22H2 so only a few weeks old.

I keep some records that get updated with a new sheet every weekday. So over the course of a month there are perhaps 22 new sheets (they are LibreOffice spreadsheets). Every month those go in a folder, one folder for each month.

File History when I look at the raw data on the File History drive has apparently stopped adding new sheets and the folders in a correct form. Novembers folder is 'missing' and some of the individual spreadsheets for both November and December are showing but in an incorrect layout and grouping.

If I go to Control Panel and open 'Recover Files' they all appear correctly and bang up to date with all the folders and layouts reflecting how they are in the parent folder in My Documents. So all good.

I've noticed this before. It saves the raw files correctly for a few weeks and then something happens but ultimately when accessed via control panel all is good. There is another folder in File History that seems to split file groups and stores them in some unknown sequence but they are all pulled together when needed.

Don't know if that helps or not...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W11 Pro x64 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 7760 Mobile Precision 17"
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    8Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Hard Drives
    2 x 256Gb SSD
    PSU
    Dell 240 watt
    Mouse
    Dell Premier Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    50Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Default Microsoft Security
Interesting. If they are there in Control Panel, then that suggests that the File History UI itself is having issues showing all of the actually saved data....
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
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    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
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    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
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    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
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    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
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    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
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    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
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    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
This shows the File History user interface. All correct. This mirrors how it looks in Documents.

Interface.jpg

This shows the Myriad individual folders created elsewhere in the File History location. Each contains just a single spreadsheet from the November folder. I see they all have the same 'modified' date which I don't understand.

Lots of Folders .jpg

And this is the raw data in File History which doesn't match how the user interface (correctly) groups it all. December and Novembers individual sheets are interleaved here despite Novembers being in separate monthly folders in the parent documents folder.


Raw Data.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W11 Pro x64 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 7760 Mobile Precision 17"
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    8Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Hard Drives
    2 x 256Gb SSD
    PSU
    Dell 240 watt
    Mouse
    Dell Premier Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    50Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Default Microsoft Security
@Mooly Also check the File History events in the console, good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro
@Haydon thanks but my File History works fine (when used via the proper interface).

No errors showing. These three are just files that were open and in use when File History happened to run. All good.

Screenshot 2022-12-19 061618.jpg
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W11 Pro x64 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 7760 Mobile Precision 17"
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    8Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Hard Drives
    2 x 256Gb SSD
    PSU
    Dell 240 watt
    Mouse
    Dell Premier Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    50Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Default Microsoft Security
The last error in the screenshot corresponds to the same date as the modified date, though the times are different. Interesting. Why was file history modifying folders over 1.5 hours before and yet still running at that time when you opened a file?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I'm afraid I've no idea on that, until this thread came along I'd just left File History to its own devices and let it get on with it. Ultimately it seems to know what its doing and for a user just accessing it from the intended interface its is fine, everything is a perfect copy in its right place.

I have no explanation beyond being aware that it behaves in this non intuitive way.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    W11 Pro x64 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell 7760 Mobile Precision 17"
    CPU
    Intel i5
    Motherboard
    Unknown
    Memory
    8Gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Internal
    Hard Drives
    2 x 256Gb SSD
    PSU
    Dell 240 watt
    Mouse
    Dell Premier Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    50Mbps
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Default Microsoft Security
Well, no worries. It's a start. Now that this has been documented, perhaps more users can chime in on what they've noticed as well.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I searched File History and I got "File History is turned off"
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64 23H2 v22631.2861
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built Myself in 2013
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 1800X 8-Core @ 3.60GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus Crosshair VI Hero
    Memory
    16GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB Series
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB GDDR5
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 27" , PLANAR 22", eMachine 22"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ~ P34A60 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen3x4 M.2
    ~ 3TB WD Red HDD (extra storage)
    ~ SanDisk 250GB SSD
    ~ 2 X 1TB HDD
    ~~~~~~~~~~
    PSU
    Corsair RM850 Fully Modular (850watts)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 630 CA-PH630-W1
    Cooling
    CORSAIR iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT
    Keyboard
    Logitech K860
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master
    Internet Speed
    752Mbps (Download) / 537Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    *This is my Main Computer That I use*
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD A10-5700 APU @ 3.40Ghz
    Motherboard
    Asus CM1745
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R7 350x GDDR5 4 GB
    Sound Card
    On Board
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual Monitor Setup ONN 22" Monitors
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    ~~~~~~~~
    250GB SSD

    500GB HDD
    ~~~~~~~~
    PSU
    350Watt PSU
    Cooling
    Air Cooling
    Mouse
    MX Master
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Ergonomic 4000
    Internet Speed
    752Mbps (Download) / 537Mbps (Upload)
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    *Computer for Weather Software*
For example, my Outlook receives hourly emails (at least during business hours) and File History is MIA.
Perhaps File history can only capture Outlook.pst files when Outlook is closed.
That certainly applies to trying to copy psts using other utilities [such as RoboCopy].

I run a RoboCopy backup hourly to a local SD card and I include a test of Outlook in the script. If Outlook is running, I skip the pst files.
My SD card slot would otherwise be sitting there doing nothing so I bought a big card for it & I back up selected 'core' files within its size limit.


Denis
 

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    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
Perhaps File history can only capture Outlook.pst files when Outlook is closed.
That certainly applies to trying to copy psts using other utilities [such as RoboCopy].

I run a RoboCopy backup hourly to a local SD card and I include a test of Outlook in the script. If Outlook is running, I skip the pst files.
My SD card slot would otherwise be sitting there doing nothing so I bought a big card for it & I back up selected 'core' files within its size limit.


Denis
FH is supposed to run in the background every hour and in the console would appear a warning that .pst is not backed up in this run and FH would try to back up that .pst file in the next run. But FH does not run every hour and as I remarked in the OP, the intervals wihout backups can be longer than 1 day. That happens without any pop up windows, without any notifications, and you will miss the intervals without backups if you don't go looking in the console. That's insidious in my book.

I am saying the above merely as a caution for other FH users.

Some RC GUI apps run VSS before RC, but MRHFF (Macrium Reflect Home File and Folder backup) has integrated VSS which works much better, IMHO. Nonetheless, any backup app works better right after a restart, with only a minimum of services running.

Copy and paste doesn't look all that bad, after all :-)
 

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    Windows 10 Pro

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Copy and paste doesn't look all that bad, after all
That's right as long as
- You don't run large copying operations or you don't care how long they take to run. RoboCopy can run multiple copying threads in parallel & drastically reduce the time that it all takes. See my ditty - Using RoboCopy threading [post #10] - TenForums
- You don't care about preserving file creation dates.


All the best,
Denis
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home x64 Version 23H2 Build 22631.3296
I still have a Copy of my 'irreplaceables' on USB sticks, it's from an era when the biggest USB stick non-inflated money could buy was a proud and threshold-breaking 1 GB. I still use copy and paste, of course, but generally only for smaller on-the-fly jobs.

By and large, I look at MRHFF as a GUI version of RC (and also as a redundancy, if one is MIA then there is the other although so far neither has gone MIA)

So, to provide an upswing from the thread title/topic, if anyone here is looking for an alternative to FH, I can recommend MRHFF or RC equally well.

Edit:
MRHFF = Macrium Reflect Home File and Folder backup
RC = RoboCopy
 
Last edited:

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    Windows 10 Pro

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