Incremental backup doing a full backup

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tifosi256
Posts: 10
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 17:57

Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by tifosi256 »

Hey,

I'm probably doing something daft, but I setup an incremental task. I did my initial backup and have all the folders with "(Full)" after them, as you'd expect. I then plugged in my USB backup drive again a few days later and told it to run all tasks again; getting additional folders with "(Incremental)" after them. So far so good.

However, when looking inside these folders, it's another full backup. Comparing them to the "Full" ones, the number of files and size is identical for folders which haven't changed in the days between the backups.

The History tab shows the full backup ran OK

Example bit of log output:

Code: Select all

    2021-10-25 16:03:12 The destination directory "E:\XXX\XXX\XXX 2021-10-25 16;03;12 (Incremental)" has been successfully created.
    2021-10-25 16:03:12 Backing up the directory "D:\XXX" to "E:\XXX\XXX\XXX 2021-10-25 16;03;12 (Incremental)"...
    2021-10-25 16:03:20 The directory "D:\XXX" has been backed up.
Folder on D drive (the source): 626MB, 3 files
Folders on E (backup USB drive):
"Full" version: 626MB, 3 files
"Incremental" version: 626MB, 3 files

The files haven't changed in years, they are video recordings.

Anyone got any ideas?
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cobian
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Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by cobian »

Are the files' archive attribute being cleared?
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Cobian Backup's creator
tifosi256
Posts: 10
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 17:57

Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by tifosi256 »

Thanks for the reply.

Going to a file at random (from the source of the backup set), the property "File is ready for archiving" is ticked. Should that be unticked?

BTW, I should mention this is under Windows 11, so I'm getting this from right clicking, Properties > Advanced > Advanced Attributes. Let me know if I'm looking in the wrong place.
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cobian
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Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by cobian »

So have you disabled this option in your task under the Advanced tab?
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tifosi256
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Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 17:57

Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by tifosi256 »

No, I wasn't sure what value was "good". Are you saying that I should select all files that are in my backup set and un-set the archive bit?
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cobian
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Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by cobian »

The option Clear the archive attribute must be on and should not be changed (it's in the advanced tab with a warning for a reason ;) )
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Luis Cobian
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tifosi256
Posts: 10
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 17:57

Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by tifosi256 »

Sorry, I can't see a "clear the archive attribute" (see pic). You say it must be on, the "files is ready for archiving" is on, but that sounds like the opposite of a clearing of the archive, so I'm a bit confused as to what it should be set to.
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cobian
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Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by cobian »

It's on the Advanced tab of your task.
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Luis Cobian
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tifosi256
Posts: 10
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 17:57

Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by tifosi256 »

Ah, thanks for the explanation. Mine is NOT ticked. Do you want me to tick it then and run the task again?
I'm actually low on space now, is it safe to delete the last incremental and the next one will do diffs from the full? Or will it not behave like that?
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cobian
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Re: Incremental backup doing a full backup

Post by cobian »

This must be ticked in order for incremental/differential to work.
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