No Timestamp for some folders

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gcollett
Posts: 4
Joined: 14 Oct 2021, 18:10

No Timestamp for some folders

Post by gcollett »

When backing up using the compression type of "No Compression" certain top level folders are not saved with a timestamp even though the log says they should be:

2021-10-14 15:07:45 The destination directory "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Documents 2021-10-14 15;07;45 (Full)" has been successfully created.
2021-10-14 15:07:45 Backing up the directory "C:\Users\123\Documents" to "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Documents 2021-10-14 15;07;45 (Full)"...
2021-10-14 15:08:33 The destination directory "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Profiles 2021-10-14 15;08;33 (Full)" has been successfully created.
2021-10-14 15:08:33 Backing up the directory "C:\Users\123\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles" to "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Profiles 2021-10-14 15;08;33 (Full)"...
2021-10-14 15:09:17 The destination directory "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Desktop 2021-10-14 15;09;17 (Full)" has been successfully created.
2021-10-14 15:09:17 Backing up the directory "C:\Users\123\Desktop" to "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Desktop 2021-10-14 15;09;17 (Full)"...
2021-10-14 15:09:18 The destination directory "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Downloads 2021-10-14 15;09;18 (Full)" has been successfully created.
2021-10-14 15:09:18 Backing up the directory "C:\Users\123\Downloads" to "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\Downloads 2021-10-14 15;09;18 (Full)"...
2021-10-14 15:09:26 The destination directory "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\PycharmProjects 2021-10-14 15;09;26 (Full)" has been successfully created.
2021-10-14 15:09:26 Backing up the directory "C:\Users\123\PycharmProjects" to "C:\Users\123\OneDrive\Backup\Laptop\Cobian\PycharmProjects 2021-10-14 15;09;26 (Full)"...

In actuality, the Documents, Desktop and Downloads folder do not have the timestamp as you can see from the screenshot.
Cobian-no_Timestamp.jpg
Cobian-no_Timestamp.jpg (26.96 KiB) Viewed 2435 times
Thanks!

Gerry
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cobian
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Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by cobian »

Exclude desktop.ini as a mask.
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mikmer
Posts: 6
Joined: 30 Apr 2022, 15:01

Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by mikmer »

This is useful and and should be in the FAQ since it occurs when "my documents" is not in the standard location...
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cobian
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Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by cobian »

:OK
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darius200754
Posts: 1
Joined: 28 May 2022, 09:48

Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by darius200754 »

Hi,
I' ve the same problem but if I see the folder containig the backups:
1) In the Properties/sharing panel and
2) Using the DOS command in the command prompt

THE NAMES OF THE BACKUPS CONTAIN THE TIMESTAMP
Last edited by darius200754 on 28 May 2022, 10:43, edited 2 times in total.
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cobian
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Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by cobian »

There is absolutely no problem with the names. It's all an illusion of Explorer showing a "pretty" name.
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JessieJ
Posts: 2
Joined: 07 Jun 2022, 10:37

Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by JessieJ »

It's true that there's some illusory behavior going on when it comes to File Explorer in Windows 10 and 11.
I've just been testing Cobian Reflector on Windows 11 and I can see a problem that I've seen before in Gravity running on Windows 7 and 10.
If I set up a differential task and turn *Off* "Volume Shadow Copy" but make sure the following are enabled: 1) "Create new separated backups" 2) "Use archive attributes" (as they are by default) 3) "Include backup type in name" and 4) "Copy file attributes", the timestamps and the "Full" or "Differential" text shows up in File Explorer as we might expect.
But if I turn *On* "Volume Shadow Copy", the "Full" backups omit the timestamps while the differentials retain them as seen in
File Explorer - in a Terminal/DOS window however the files names all show up intact.
The solution seems to be to disable the volume shadow copy feature (which doesn't seem desirable to me) or to disable "Copy file attributes"
in Tools -> Options -> Engine.
Oddly, while the full backup is taking place, I can see the date and timestamp in the target folder/drive e.g., "Downloads 2022-06-04 13;16;21 (Full)". But as soon as the backup completes, the folder name reverts to simply "Downloads" - again as seen in Windows File Explorer.
As I see it, this behavior would make restoring more difficult than it need be as it isn't obvious which "Full" backup is the latest.
Hopefully this will help with what appears to be a subtle little bug.
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JessieJ
Posts: 2
Joined: 07 Jun 2022, 10:37

Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by JessieJ »

I've done some more testing and it does appear that excluding "desktop.ini" as a mask is the answer. All the backup folders then show their date and time stamps. It seems this problem only occurs in relation to 'system' folders such Pictures and Documents created for each Windows user. If a user creates personal folders such as, say, "My Camera Pics" under a system folder like 'Pictures' and then creates a task to backup that folder, 'desktop.ini' files are not created for that folder and therefore the problem does not occur.
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cobian
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Re: No Timestamp for some folders

Post by cobian »

This is a FAQ. Excluding the Desktop.ini file is the only way that works 100% as far as I know.
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