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    I have this huge folder with many files in it... and once in a week I copy a backup of it in my External Hard Drive... Now, everytime I do that, I have to copy paste the entire thing and it takes hours to do that while the only data I really need to copy is merely 5-6 GBs. and I cannot go thought each small folders and subfolders looking for only the new files, u understand what I mean, there must be a simpler way... ??? help!!!!
    Thursday, September 22, 2011 2:58 PM

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    The easiest way to do a backup is to use the Windows Backup tool. It lets you choose individual files and folders and select your external hard drive as destination:

    Back up and restore: frequently asked questions

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-and-restore-frequently-asked-questions

    Other alternative is to use robocopy /MIR command, so only the modified files since the last backup are copied:

    robocopy C:\MyData D:\MyBackup /MIR

    Microsoft MVP Windows Expert Consumer | http://blogs.msmvps.com/dmartin/ | http://www.wintecnico.com

    • Marked as answer by Sten2020 Friday, September 23, 2011 7:04 AM
    Thursday, September 22, 2011 3:29 PM
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    If you would not like to delete files on the external disk which are no longer present on the local one, it seems ok. In other case, the /MIR should serve better than /copyall.

    I also suggest you to preview the changes before you really use the command - see the Logging options in the command-line help. For example /L switch to the preview mode which just lists the changes which would have been made, but still not touching anything.

    • Marked as answer by Sten2020 Friday, September 23, 2011 7:04 AM
    Thursday, September 22, 2011 8:42 PM

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    The Windows 7 Backup and Restore feature does not fit you? You can manually select folders to backup on schedule.

    You can also study options of the xcopy command-line tool. For example, /D switch might help you.

    Thursday, September 22, 2011 3:21 PM
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    The easiest way to do a backup is to use the Windows Backup tool. It lets you choose individual files and folders and select your external hard drive as destination:

    Back up and restore: frequently asked questions

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-and-restore-frequently-asked-questions

    Other alternative is to use robocopy /MIR command, so only the modified files since the last backup are copied:

    robocopy C:\MyData D:\MyBackup /MIR

    Microsoft MVP Windows Expert Consumer | http://blogs.msmvps.com/dmartin/ | http://www.wintecnico.com

    • Marked as answer by Sten2020 Friday, September 23, 2011 7:04 AM
    Thursday, September 22, 2011 3:29 PM
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    Can I setup multiple backups with Windows Backup and Restore?.. at different locations and of different folders??? like, suppose, I have a huge chunk of photos.. AND... videos... AND... my work related files.

    NOW, i want all my Work related files to be in Drive1, Videos in Drive2, and photos in Drive3??? .. can i do that?

    AND, im afraid, robocopy is new to me, and i read abt it on wiki, sounds extremely helpful for me.. Can u please suggest me some link to read about it in detail? thanks. :)

    Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:07 PM
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    No, Windows Backup and Restore supports only one backup plan, schedule and target location.

    Thursday, September 22, 2011 4:12 PM
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    For Robocopy: will this work for my purpose? plz check:

    robocopy "source" "destination" /copyall /e

    ????

    OR will I have to add anything else at the end to get what I want, i.e, to only copy the changed and new files...??

    Thursday, September 22, 2011 6:52 PM
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    If you would not like to delete files on the external disk which are no longer present on the local one, it seems ok. In other case, the /MIR should serve better than /copyall.

    I also suggest you to preview the changes before you really use the command - see the Logging options in the command-line help. For example /L switch to the preview mode which just lists the changes which would have been made, but still not touching anything.

    • Marked as answer by Sten2020 Friday, September 23, 2011 7:04 AM
    Thursday, September 22, 2011 8:42 PM
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    well, i created a batch file for robocopy ".." "..." /copyall /mir, tested it a couple of times... i think it's just what I needed.

    Thanks guys, great help!!!!

    Friday, September 23, 2011 7:04 AM