Cobian Reflector • Re: Restoring all backup data from disk

Hello Luis Cobian.

Only today I had the availability to take up this subject again.

First of all, my apologies for having rushed to ask questions and doubts without first having dedicated the necessary time to study and test the software.

After installing it, I studied all the menus and fields in order to understand its functionalities.

I did several backup tests, with different configurations and the software is really versatile. Not choosing to create backups separated by time, the backup replaces the previous files with the updated ones, without touching the rest. That's what I intended. So, just choosing incremental backups and problem solved. The backup stays up-to-date without versioning or rewriting existing data.

I also created a task with the “Mirror Task” selected, for when I have done a disk cleanup and want to delete those files in the backup as well. And I created the “Safe Mirror” folder on the backup disk.

One of these days, if I have availability, I will even make a video for Youtube clarifying these aspects, as I didn't find anyone talking about them and I saw several videos in English and Portuguese. I even asked the question in one of these videos and got no response.


Now a question.
After scheduling the backup, I noticed that repeating the same task (incremental backup) a few minutes later, without any change in the data, the log indicates that 294 folders were created, even without having copied any files as would be expected, what are these folders?

2023-04-15 20:29:42 ** O backup para a tarefa "BACKUP2" terminou **
2023-04-15 20:29:42 ** Ficheiros processados: 88584. Ficheiros do backup: 0. Criaram pastas: 294. Tamanho do backup: 0 bytes. **
2023-04-15 20:29:42 ** Número de erros: 0. Tempo decorrido: 0 horas, 1 minutos, 15 segundos. **

After this previous task, I executed the second task that I created and which is a copy of the previous one, only choosing "Mirror Task". I thought it just compared the data already in the backup and just deleted the ones I had erased at source. But since it was the first time the task was executed, it performed a complete copy again.

2023-04-15 21:03:13 Alterando o tipo de backup para completo. Razão: primeiro backup da tarefa.

2023-04-15 22:06:29 ** O backup para a tarefa "BACKUP2 (Mirror)" terminou **
2023-04-15 22:06:29 ** Ficheiros processados: 88585. Ficheiros do backup: 88585. Criaram pastas: 294. Tamanho do backup: 336,81 GB. **
2023-04-15 22:06:29 ** Número de erros: 0. Tempo decorrido: 1 horas, 3 minutos, 16 segundos. **

But strangely, it deleted the files that I had deleted in the source and put them in the folder (Safe mirror).
If it was possible to notice this difference in the data, it could have avoided making a new copy of the same ones.

2023-04-15 21:59:19 Operação espelho. Verificando se existem ficheiros não existentes na fonte...
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0001.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0002.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0003.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0004.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0005.jpg". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-161122-0005.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:21 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\E\LM\As minhas imagens\Scan-171110-0001.pdf". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.
2023-04-15 21:59:28 O espelho foi feito.

If instead of creating a copy of the task to activate the mirror field, I had done it in the first task, and run it again, what would happen? Would it copy everything over again as if it were a new task or would it recognize the data from the previous copy and just delete the data deleted at the source?

If we intend to regularly make incremental copies and only occasionally use a backup to clean files deleted at source, what is the best option? Create two tasks like I did, or use just one in which you choose the mirror field when desired?

Another strange situation was having created an empty "Outlook Files" folder in the Safe Mirror folder.

H:\Backup2\Safe Mirror\H\Backup2\D\LM\Documents\Outlook Files

Note that throughout this process I have the machine only running Cobian Reflector. I was careful to restart it before this whole procedure.

I think it was for this reason. But I don't know why this file exists and why it was deleted, as I didn't use Outlook during the whole process.

2023-04-15 21:04:44 Apagar o ficheiro "H:\Backup2\D\LM\Documents\Ficheiros do Outlook\~Outlook.pst.tmp". Razão: o ficheiro já não existe na fonte.

After writing this post, I ran the same Mirror task as before, and the result was the following:

2023-04-15 23:28:48 ** O backup para a tarefa "BACKUP2 (Mirror)" terminou **
2023-04-15 23:28:48 ** Ficheiros processados: 88585. Ficheiros do backup: 2. Criaram pastas: 294. Tamanho do backup: 2,36 GB. **
2023-04-15 23:28:48 ** Número de erros: 0. Tempo decorrido: 0 horas, 1 minutos, 43 segundos. **

Where did these 2.36Gb come from? And why were 294 new folders created? If I did nothing on the PC except writing this post?

When I tested the software, with just a few files, it was simpler. I need to better understand how it works.

Note: I'm Portuguese, you can write in Spanish if you want, as I'm fluent in Spanish.

Thanks

Statistics: Posted by LUISSM — 15 Apr 2023, 22:01

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