Fab's AutoBackup 7 Pro - a must have tool for techs

[fabs]

That would be great! Not having this information is like having a battery indicator that doesn't show the percentage and only tells you when it's completely dead. I don't know how difficult this would be to implement but maybe you could also have a notification in the corner that shows a warning when there are 30 days or less left on the license (with an option of "don't notify me again" of course for customers who don't intend to update their license when it expires). Not only would that be helpful for your customers, but it might encourage them to renew before their license completely expires, making sure you don't lose customers and that they don't accidentally allow their license to expire. Just a thought. I once accidentally let my license lapse for 6 months before I realized that I wasn't getting updates.

I'll try to do that soon

 

[allanc]

This broken updater has been fixed a while back. You need to grab full package from website and overwrite your files with the new ones

That seemed to fix the issue. Thank you.

 

[Larry Sabo]

@fabs, I searched but couldn't find an answer to the following:

What causes the error "Copied file's date does not match with the original" during the back-up process? I mean, why are they not the same?

 

[fabs]

@fabs, I searched but couldn't find an answer to the following:

What causes the error "Copied file's date does not match with the original" during the back-up process? I mean, why are they not the same?

One of the reasons would be that the file has changed between the moment it was listed for copy and when it was actually copied

 

[HCHTech]

What causes the error "Copied file's date does not match with the original" during the back-up process?

I've seen this occasionally as well, when I wasn't doing anything to the source drive - I thought at the time it must be a side effect of Fabs using VSS. I've always ignored these errors.

 

[fabs]

I've seen this occasionally as well, when I wasn't doing anything to the source drive - I thought at the time it must be a side effect of Fabs using VSS. I've always ignored these errors.

Yes, this happens most of the time when using VSS. Just be sure that everything runs fine with restored item

 

[britechguy]

Yes, this happens most of the time when using VSS. Just be sure that everything runs fine with restored item

And just as a data point, I've never had the restored item be anything other than exactly what I expected it to be and, where applicable, to behave exactly as I expected it to behave.

I consider those messages "background noise" and falling into the class of "normal errors" which are not, in reality, errors.

 

[fabs]

That's why these are qualified as warnings, not errors

 

[britechguy]

That's why these are qualified as warnings, not errors

True. I'm using the phrase "normal errors" to constitute any kind of message flagging a potential irregularity that is not, in reality, an irregularity. If you look at the Windows system log, for instance, and took everything at face value you'd believe the proverbial sky is falling, but that is actually how things work under normal circumstances.

There are warnings, and even sometimes non-fatal errors, that you learn are spurious and can safely be ignored.

 

[fincoder]

One of the reasons would be that the file has changed between the moment it was listed for copy and when it was actually copied

It actually happens if the file copy didn't work at all, and the same filename already exists. E.g. those warnings are in my post above about Edge files not copying because they're open.

[WARNING] "G:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\History" (5/2/2024 8:00:09 AM)

[WARNING] "C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\History" (4/23/2024 11:41:42 AM) @fabs I think the reason we see these warnings so much is that the copy failure isn't being detected or logged properly.

 

[fabs]

It actually happens if the file copy didn't work at all, and the same filename already exists. E.g. those warnings are in my post above about Edge files not copying because they're open.

[WARNING] "G:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\History" (5/2/2024 8:00:09 AM)

[WARNING] "C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\History" (4/23/2024 11:41:42 AM) @fabs I think the reason we see these warnings so much is that the copy failure isn't being detected or logged properly.

Then I need to fix that
Edit: there was no "lock" check on target file. I've added this.
Also, I have added expiration date to welcome screen beside the "check for updates" link when the program has the information in the autobackup.ini file.

 

[fabs]

Hello,
Fab's AutoBackup 7 Pro and Fab's AutoBackup 7 Home & Office 7.13.3.6475 have just been released.

Here is the change log for both versions:

Added:
- If information is available, updates expiration date appears on welcome screen.

Fixed:
- Pro only: a debug message was still appearing in transfer mode while processing Microsoft Edge data and Edge was running.
- When trying to overwrite a locked file, the log used to used to say that there was a date mismatch between source and target file. Now, it tells that copy failed because target file was locked instead.

Grab it from your orders history's details on the shop's website at https://archive.fpnet.fr/account.php (ordered before May 1st 2022) or https://store.fpnet.fr/en/order-history for newer orders. You can also use the bundled updater tool (click the "Download Fab's AutoBackup 7.X" link within the program and get the updated files).

 

[sapphirescales]

If information is available, updates expiration date appears on welcome screen.

Awesome, thanks Fabs! That's super helpful!

 

[sapphirescales]

the log used to used to say that there was a date mismatch between source and target file. Now, it tells that copy failed because target file was locked instead.

Yeah but how do I fix that? Fabs does this even when I'm using it to back up a drive plugged into my external enclosure. Why would Chrome have locked files that you can't even access when it's not running? Heck, even the host operating system isn't running! I just assumed the date mismatch was just normal behavior but the files are actually locked and don't get transferred? Is this why Chrome always complains and asks to reset your settings when you go into Chrome settings after a restore? I always just say no and it's fine, or so I thought.

 

[fabs]

Yeah but how do I fix that? Fabs does this even when I'm using it to back up a drive plugged into my external enclosure. Why would Chrome have locked files that you can't even access when it's not running? Heck, even the host operating system isn't running! I just assumed the date mismatch was just normal behavior but the files are actually locked and don't get transferred? Is this why Chrome always complains and asks to reset your settings when you go into Chrome settings after a restore? I always just say no and it's fine, or so I thought.

This is not that obvious.
The thing I fixed is copy errors on target files while locks were not monitored. If you still get those warnings while backing up, then this probably comes from using VSS Feature. I can still look around that.
Chrome complains because of its data encryption which is tied to source Windows user profile (my bet is on the unique GUID/SID that hides under the hood). Because of this, when Chrome data is restored to a new machine or a new user profile, that GUID/SID is not the same so, Chrome detects that restored data's encryption key does not match with expected current encryption key. Then, it thinks data has been corrupted by some third party thing and it wipes out sensitive data like passords. This is not a Fab's issue

 

[sapphirescales]

it wipes out sensitive data like passords.

Okay but that's not a big deal because the user just signs into their Google account where their passwords are stored and all their saved passwords are preserved that way. I just always say no to Chrome asking me to reset everything and I've never had a problem. Should I be doing something else?

I can still look around that.

Please do! I hate error messages when I'm backing up client data. It makes me feel like I'm not doing something right or that they're going to be missing data. The date mismatch warning I always get is unpleasant but I've gotten used to it. Now it's going to show up as an outright error? Which one is it? Is it an actual problem that I have to be concerned about or can I safely ignore it?

 

[fabs]

Okay but that's not a big deal because the user just signs into their Google account where their passwords are stored and all their saved passwords are preserved that way. I just always say no to Chrome asking me to reset everything and I've never had a problem. Should I be doing something else?

Nothing else to do about that. You are doing it right

 

[fabs]

I hate error messages when I'm backing up client data. It makes me feel like I'm not doing something right or that they're going to be missing data. The date mismatch warning I always get is unpleasant but I've gotten used to it. Now it's going to show up as an outright error? Which one is it? Is it an actual problem that I have to be concerned about or can I safely ignore it?

I'm seeing that despite using a VSS snapshot, Chrome still locks some files (how is that possible as VSS is just a flat file copy regardless of any lock???) so they error out. I am looking for a workaround for this

Edit: I guess I am getting why I still have locks : the VSS Snapshot code in Fab's uses WMI instructions and it looks like Microsoft has removed them from Powershell. Then, the symlink that looks and smells like a real VSS snapshot link is in fact a stupid shortcut to the current drive.
So, Fab's cannot take real VSS snapshots for now. I need to find another method for that before going further.

Edit 2: The MWI instructions for VSS are removed from Powershell 7. 5.0 (which is the one almost everybody have) is still fine with this.
My problem was because Fab's used 32 bit Powershell and apparently, this one cannot make VSS snapshots anymore. So, I have changed the Powershell exe path detection code to use 64 bit version if operating system is 64 bit. Now, it makes VSS snapshots again. Let's now investigate on how to deal with date and size errors that can occur.

 

[fabs]

Things are going well. Now that VSS is fixed, I do not get any error or warning while copying from a VSS snapshot

 

[Metanis]

Things are going well. Now that VSS is fixed, I do not get any error or warning while copying from a VSS snapshot

Bravo! Keeping up with arbitrary Microsoft code changes must be frustrating work!