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File mysteriously skipped during backup

SyncBackFree is the freeware version of SyncBack. It is *not* an evaluation version of SyncBackPro/SE.
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gebjon
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Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:24 am

File mysteriously skipped during backup

Post by gebjon »

Apologies if this has come up before, I have searched the forum but can't find other with the same problem.

I've been using SyncBackFree for several years for backup of my PC hard disk to a USB hard disk, and usually works fine.
Last night I ran a backup which successfully backed up over 19,000 files to a new backup folder.
A single file was skipped, and I can't work out why.
When I re-run the backup, that file is still skipped.
Other files in the same folder (some larger, or with longer names) are backed up OK.
The file in question is a PDF file that hasn't been opened for years.
The file properties aren't unusual (not read-only).
I tried renaming the file - still skipped.
I tried copying the skipped file - the copy is also skipped.
If I move the copy to another folder, even the root directory, it is still skipped.
I zipped the original file to a compressed file (ie same name but file ext .zip) - and that was backed up OK.
But why is the original file skipped? Any suggestions?
mmullins_98
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Joined: Wed Jun 05, 2019 11:40 am

Re: File mysteriously skipped during backup

Post by mmullins_98 »

My first thought is that you have a filter setting causing the problem.
My second thought is the file is locked.
gebjon
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Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:24 am

Re: File mysteriously skipped during backup

Post by gebjon »

I tried installing the evaluation version of SyncBackSE so I could get it to log the rerason why the file is skipped. The same file is skipped when using the same profile by SyncBackSE. The log comment is: "File to be copied/moved is a temporary file (Source)". Now I'm puzzled by what that means (this file is not in a temp files folder).
gebjon
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Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:24 am

Re: File mysteriously skipped during backup

Post by gebjon »

PROBLEM SOLVED: the problem was occurring because SyncBack does not backup file with the Temporary File attribute set. This attribute is not shown in the Windows "File Properties" dialog, but can be seen in Explorer if you set it to view Attributes: the affected file had attributes "ATC", the "T" indicating Temporary File attribute. It seems that a previous version of Windows Print to PDF set the Temporary File attribute, which I might have used.
Solution is to clear the Temporary File attribute for the affected file. Although there are various ways of doing this (modify file and re-save, use PowerShell, file utilities), I found by chance that if you put the file into a zipped folder and then take it out again, the Temporary File attribute is cleared, with no other change to the file. After doing that, the problem is solved and SyncBack behaves as expected.
Details of the Temporary File attribute here (Microsoft):
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/window ... -constants
A page which helped me find the answer here:
https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/sear ... int-to-pdf
joergmerkle
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Joined: Thu May 14, 2020 4:46 pm

Re: File mysteriously skipped during backup

Post by joergmerkle »

I stumbled upon this "feature" yesterday. In my case it relates to PDF files that came thru email. Only these files are skipped. I wondered if this is for some security reason.
The default settings of SyncBackFree seems not to display the files that are skipped and i found it by chance.

After registering to this forum i directly found your thread -- actually the T attribute is set with my files. I still don't know for what reason the attribute is set but anyways i know how to deal with it now. I just wanted to inform that propably files stored from emails are affected. Maybe it helps...

Thanks for posting your resolution and keep safe!
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