I have tried to create a backup set that backs up up my c:\programs files directory. When I run preview it shows the loading "spinner" for a while at the top and then shows that there are no files to backup. I can manually add files by name that are in that directory and can add other directories on the drive but it just ignores that directory. I have even added new files and directories to c:\program files directory but it still ignores them. Is this by design that it skips that directory? If so how do I back it up then?
My about screen shows:
Product Name: Norton 360
Version: 4.2.0.12
Serial Number: DXVJT4383MWT
Media SKU: 20153075
Current SKU: 20153075
Family SKU: 20136046
End Point ID: {385557F6-92BA-11DF-BEE9-0013D42D93CE} I also noticed too that all the icons in my other directories that I have backed up, using a different back-up set, show that they have changed, the blue icon, and need to be backed up. I clicked on the preview button for that set and it said I needed to back 158.6 GB. I just backed up the drive last night so I know that all the data hasn't changed.
You could manually back up this directory with Windows Explorer but it would be of limited use because if something happened to your hard drive or some major problem with your OS which required you to reinstall Windows, you would also have to reinstall the programs. You could not just copy them back over from the backup.
If you want a complete backup solution I would recommend something like Norton Ghost or some other image backup program.
The problem I'm having is that some of the programs that I use keep my personal data files in the "program files" directory with the program and that is what I was trying to back up. I realize that if I lose the drive I will need to reinstall the programs but when the data is mixed in with the program and I can't back that directory up then I've lost my data. Therefore this is not a very good back-up program, which is why I bought Norton 360 over just the Internet Security program.
The more I use Norton the less I like it.
I don't like having to work around the program to do what I want. The program should be able to be configured to behave the way I want, not me having to adjust to it. If I say back up the "c:\program files" directory then back it up.
I'm not the guy that can fix this for you but I performed the same test as you described and I get the same result here.
So no files from c:\program files are being backed up.
(I'm using online backup for quite some time and I never noticed this.)
I even added some office files to the directory but as you already said, Norton ignores c:\program files completely.
I also tried to perform the backup and the system says : "Backup completed Nr of files backed up : 0"
I agree with you that this is not the behaviour one should expect.
It should have to be possible to add no matter what kind of folder to the backup set.
Is there someone else who could explain why this folder is automatically being excluded from backup, no matter what file type or could this be a (minor) bug in the software ?
Thanks for taking the time to verify that I wasn't the only one with the problem. I'd hope that there is a fix for this since I hate to have to use two methods to be able to back up all my data.
Also do you know if the back-ups of data are supposed to be incremental? When I back up a differnent directory it backs up all the file up regardless of whether or not they have changed since the last time I backed the directory up.
Thanks again for testing the backup process on your machine for me.
I was able to run some testcases and verified that the back up is doing incremental back ups as you thought. Only new/changes files are actually backed-up even though the preview panel shows all the potential file that will be examined to see if they are candidates for a being backed up.
I'm still having problems with the icons not showing the correct state for files that I know haven't changed since the last back up but I guess I can live with that as long as they are really being backed up.
I'm still hoping that there is a way to back-up the c:\program file directory without having to use a separate method to back it up.
Sorry I was away at work all day and am just now catching up on things.
I have the same question as SendOfJive. What types of files are we talking about? It would help to give some examples of file suffixes as well.
If as one example we are talking about say .qdf (Quicken data) or something then I can easily see your point that it should be allowed to be backed up.
I am still trying to locate a specific Symantec reference but I did run across the following link while searching around on this issue. I cannot attest to its accuracy but I thought it would be of interest. It shows the types of files that N360 should back up.
I will keep searching for a Symantec URL to validate this. Otherwise perhaps someone who has used N360 more than I have might know where such a list is documented by Symantec.
I've asked a Symantec rep if they can provide comment on this. Personally I do agree that any personal type documents located in Program Files should get backed up.
In my opinion a WORD doc, etc is a WORD doc regardless of where it is located.
That's my concern. Data I was expecting to get backed up isn't.
The first program I found that keeps the data in the program files directory tree was Quicken. I have 15+ years of data in there and I would realy like it to be backed up with the rest of my data when I schedule the backups. I have not found a way with the version of the code I am running to tell it to put the data somewhere else.
There are other programs that keep data there also. My tax program, DAZ Studio, Blender plus some of the games that my kids play keep the high score data in that directory tree. The high score data isn't a big deal, but my tax returns are.
I realize that from a Window perspective there are better places to keep the data but I can't contact every software company and tell them to change their program just so my backup program will work.
I think that if I've specifically gone in and configured a back up set to include a folder then it should include it, regardless of what the directory is and what type of data is in there. If they are concerned that the average user will hang themself using this option then put up a warning saying something like use this at you own risk, but please allow me to back it up.
Allen,
Thank you for the follow up with the Symantec rep.
Just an idea maybe? Can you make up a folder with the personal data from these program and then tell the program to back up these separate folders? I don't use N360, so don't know if this is possible or feasible if you have that much data to back up from the Program files. If you know the programs that store the data in the Program Files, maybe you can make up a separate folder for each programs data and have it backed up in that manner. Just an idea, don't know if it's helpful or not. Just trying here to help perhaps a little while Allen tries to find a solution from Symantec.
I've gotten one response from another Guru who is more familair with N360 backup than I am. He indicated that you can manually select files in this directory to back up but N360 does not automatically search for supported file types throughout the directory tree.
Earlier you said:
I have tried to create a backup set that backs up up my c:\programs files directory. When I run preview it shows the loading "spinner" for a while at the top and then shows that there are no files to backup. I can manually add files by name that are in that directory and can add other directories on the drive but it just ignores that directory. I have even added new files and directories to c:\program files directory but it still ignores them. Is this by design that it skips that directory? If so how do I back it up then?
If I'm reading this correctly, it sounds like you are already aware that you can select files manually for back up, correct?
I know this is not the real answer and I have made this suggestion to Symantec that basically any supported file type should automatically be backed up regardless of location.
I'll be sure and let you know when I hear anything back.
