Simon H Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 When I am copying a folder to a backup location where a folder already exists with the same name, windows 7 always asks if I want to merge the folder "Yes" "No" There is no option to copy and replace the folder like you get with individual files. This means that the backup folder contains a copy of everything even old files that I have deleted and no longer need. I know I can delete or rename the old backup folder but this is a bit of a pain. Is it possible to copy and replace the whole folder like we used to be able to do with windows XP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beyond_Life Posted January 6, 2012 Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Why don't you use Ctrl+A to select all the files in the specific folder, go to the backup folder and Ctrl+v. You will get the "replace" question and can answer yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon H Posted January 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2012 Why don't you use Ctrl+A to select all the files in the specific folder, go to the backup folder and Ctrl+v. You will get the "replace" question and can answer yes. Thanks for the suggestion but I just tried it and it only gives the replace option for individual files. For the folders themselves it will only merge them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Steve Krause Posted April 28, 2012 Solution Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 Hi Simon, If I understand your question fully, what you are looking to do is keep a backup and have the backup match the source. First option would be to just use an app for this and keep it in sync automatically: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/freeware/microsoft-releases-synctoy-2-1-freeware-download/ Use the SYNC option and it will keep the source and destination copies of each other. Second option is to use Robocopy. It's built into Windows 7 and if you use the /MIR command, again it will keep the folder in SYNC. Command Usage Example: ROBOCOPY source destination /MIR One nice thing about Robocopy is you can also script it and launch it with a batch file or scheduled task to say keep it updated daily or weekly etc... Thanks Simon! -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon H Posted May 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Hi Simon, If I understand your question fully, what you are looking to do is keep a backup and have the backup match the source. First option would be to just use an app for this and keep it in sync automatically: http://www.groovypost.com/howto/freeware/microsoft-releases-synctoy-2-1-freeware-download/ Use the SYNC option and it will keep the source and destination copies of each other. Second option is to use Robocopy. It's built into Windows 7 and if you use the /MIR command, again it will keep the folder in SYNC. Command Usage Example: ROBOCOPY source destination /MIR One nice thing about Robocopy is you can also script it and launch it with a batch file or scheduled task to say keep it updated daily or weekly etc... Thanks Simon! -Steve Cheers Steve, Excellent solution, just what I wanted for backing up my most important directories on an add-hoc basis without starting my backup software. I have batch files all set up for my chosen directories and its much much much faster to sync rather than copy and replace them. Nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.