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SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

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Nico Morris
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SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Nico Morris »

Is there an option to skip all files before a certain date (= copy only those on/after a certain date)?
Conrad Chung
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Conrad Chung »

Yes, there are a variety of ways to ignore files, based on Last Modification Date/Time stamp, file size and/or based on file attributes.

For Date & Time stamp ignore options, you can find them under

Modify > Expert > Compare Option > Date & Time

Do read the contextual Help on that section for more info.
Nico Morris
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Nico Morris »

So it's not possible to do this simple task then?

What a pity.
mickyj
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by mickyj »

As Conrad explained above, it is possible.
bearsfeat
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by bearsfeat »

Actually, I don't think it is possible. Ironically, I am trying to do this exact thing today. The option that Conrad mentions only has the option to:

Ignore files that "have/have not" been modified "within the last / since" blah blah...

There needs to be an option to "Ignore files that have been modified before"

If I understand the selections, you can only ignore files after a certain time - not before...

Am I missing something? I am sadly reaching the same conclusion as Nico. I'd read some suggestions elsewhere that pitch "robocopy" as a solution. Anyone with experience using that utility?

Thanks!
Nico Morris
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Nico Morris »

I want to backup files on/after 01st Nov 2012.

How do I do it?

I cannot find any "filter by date" or similar.
Conrad Chung
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Conrad Chung »

To back up files modified within a certain date range, you can use the setting found in

Modify Profile > Expert Mode > Compare Options > Date & Time

settings page, where there is an option to:

Ignore files that [have/have not]
been modified [within the last] XX [seconds/minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years] OR [since] [calender date][calender time]

By tweaking the settings [have/have not] in combination with [within the last/since], you would be able to set conditions to ignore files that were modified within a certain date range, e.g. within the last x days, or since January 1st 2004.

Note that the Date & Time setting in SyncBack bases its decision on the files last modification date & time, and not the file creation date & time. You have to ensure that files you are trying to copy from Source retain accurate date/time last modified information.

Additional note about Days setting - Fractional days do not count. For example, if a file was modified 2 days, 13 hours, 31 minutes, and 32 seconds ago, and you want to ignore files that have been modified within the last 2 days, then it will ignore the file, i.e. the hours, minutes, and seconds are not used in the comparison.

You could also get fine-grained control by setting the Ignore value to [hours or minutes] instead. For example, [360 hours or 12600 minutes.]

Bear in mind that the field value only accepts ranges of 0 - 65535 units.

Please take some time to review the information in the contextual Help file (at the Date & Time settings page, press F1 or click on the Help button).
Conrad Chung
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Conrad Chung »

Nico Morris wrote:I want to backup files on/after 01st Nov 2012.

How do I do it?

I cannot find any "filter by date" or similar.
Ignore files that [have not] been modified [since] [1 Nov 2012][calender time of your choosing]
Conrad Chung
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Conrad Chung »

bearsfeat wrote:Actually, I don't think it is possible. Ironically, I am trying to do this exact thing today. The option that Conrad mentions only has the option to:

Ignore files that "have/have not" been modified "within the last / since" blah blah...

There needs to be an option to "Ignore files that have been modified before"

If I understand the selections, you can only ignore files after a certain time - not before...

Am I missing something? I am sadly reaching the same conclusion as Nico. I'd read some suggestions elsewhere that pitch "robocopy" as a solution. Anyone with experience using that utility?

Thanks!
By using [have/have not] with [since], you can simulate options for [before/after] time period.
Nico Morris
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Nico Morris »

How do I copy only those files that have been added to a folder after a certain date, whatever their own file date may be?

Example: I have a folder which is 2 terabyte
c:\My Pictures

I have a partition backup of the the whole hard drive c:. The partition backup is on an external hard drive, not connected to the computer. I made this partition backup on 1st Jan 2014.

Now I want that whenever new pictures are added to the folder c:\My Pictures that only the new pictures are backed up by syncbackpro, even when the date of the pictures is from the 1990s.

Is that possible?
Conrad Chung
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Conrad Chung »

Nico Morris wrote:How do I copy only those files that have been added to a folder after a certain date, whatever their own file date may be?

Example: I have a folder which is 2 terabyte
c:\My Pictures

I have a partition backup of the the whole hard drive c:. The partition backup is on an external hard drive, not connected to the computer. I made this partition backup on 1st Jan 2014.

Now I want that whenever new pictures are added to the folder c:\My Pictures that only the new pictures are backed up by syncbackpro, even when the date of the pictures is from the 1990s.

Is that possible?
As stated, the Compare Options will only base its decisions on the Last Modification date/time stamps of files. Thus, if your files last modified date are in the 1990s, which you have only recently added them, then it's not possible, since Compare Options will see the Last Modified date/time of the file as 1990s.
steve0990
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by steve0990 »

i need the files to be backup only which is modified in last 3 weeks , on daily scheduled backup up basis . And main thing is i need to remove the old files which is older than 3 weeks (can we do mirror or sync? to get backup deleting old files which is older than 3 weeks). can anyone please help me figure out
Swapna
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by Swapna »

Hi,

You can achieve this by creating 2 profiles in SyncBack:

- First profile to ignore older files and backup only files that are modified within the last 3 weeks. Please read this forum post on how to configure it:

viewtopic.php?t=12435&p=47561#p47561

- Second profile to ignore newer files and delete older files that are not modified within the last 3 weeks. Please read this forum post for additional details:

viewtopic.php?t=11761&p=45310#p45310

Thank you.
MorpheusControl
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Re: SyncBack: Backup files on/after DATE

Post by MorpheusControl »

Swapna wrote:
Thu Jun 01, 2017 6:36 am
You can achieve this by creating 2 profiles in SyncBack:
Hi, my concern with this approach is that what happens if the first profile fails and you don't notice, you end up wiping all backups. Do you know a way to check profile one worked and then remove file? (I guess I'm really saying to be safe this needs to be done inside the same profile as the backup)
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