Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

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tranglos
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:27 pm

Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by tranglos »

Backup4all Professional Edition 4.4 214 (registered user since 2006), Windows 7 Professional 32-bit.

I was using the program under XP for a long time, and one of my favorite features, a great timesaver, was that I could drag and drop files and folders from a file manager directly onto the Sources pane in the backup properties dialog box. Now after installing the latest version on Win7, the pane does not accept dropped object. Has this feature been removed, or is it something to do with Windows 7?

If possible, please consider bringing back the ability to drag and drop, because it makes adding folder much quicker than navigating the folder selection dialog. (Actually, the OS prevents certain folders from even showing up in the folder selection dialog, so the only way to add them is to type or paste the full path in the edit box, which is even less convenient).

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

That feature is still available.
If you create a new backup job, please make sure you pressed the "Advanced mode" button.
Try again to add the files using drag and drop on the Sources page.

Also please note if you use a backup plugin from the list, you cannot manually add more files.
Do you know you can monitor your backups remotely with Backup4all Monitor? You can read more here: https://www.backup4all.com/backup4all-monitor.html

tranglos
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:27 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by tranglos »

I am always using the advanced mode, and since installing Backup4All on Windows 7, drag and drop onto the Sources panel is not available. The screenshot shows the window which does not accept dropped files. The behavior is the same for a new backup and when modifying existing backup jobs. The mouse cursor is not captured in the screenshot, but it shows the black circle with a diagonal line crossing it, indicating that the object cannot be dropped here.

My guess is that since Backup4Al runs with elevated permissions, Windows may be blocking certain operations (just like it blocks system-wide hotkeys when an elevated application has focus). This is only a guess, though. The problem did not occur on XP.
Attachments
Cannot drag and drop files onto this window
Cannot drag and drop files onto this window
b4all-nodragdrop.png (77.26 KiB) Viewed 5182 times

tranglos
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:27 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by tranglos »

I think I've found the answer. In Windows 7 (as well as Vista, apparently), drag and drop operations cannot be performed between a regular and an elevated process. When I start Total Commander using the "Run as administrator" command, I can drag and drop files to Backup4All again. (Windows Explorer apparently cannot be elevated at all.) Further explanation here:

http://superuser.com/questions/59051/dr ... inistrator

So my problem now turns into a different question: why does Backup4All require the UAC elevation, and can it be changed to run without it? Perhaps the elevation request could come when a backup job is started manually, instead of when the program itself is launched? If Backup4All did not run elevated, drag and drop from file managers would still be possible. (This should not affect Backup4All jobs started by the Task Scheduler, since in that case it will run elevated anyway, as specified in the scheduled task properties).

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

The only solution to avoid UAC is to disable it.
Do you know you can monitor your backups remotely with Backup4all Monitor? You can read more here: https://www.backup4all.com/backup4all-monitor.html

Guest

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by Guest »

This is indeed a good piece of information. I never thought about it before. I have tried it a couple of times but it remains to be a something that hasn't met with some good solution that would indeed prove to be useful. I think that turning off the UAC would do the trick, though I wold love to give it a try and see how it works. Thanks for the information.

georgemm
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by georgemm »

In windows XP the ability to drag and drop in sources pane is missing.

What was the latest software version with this function ? Or do you plan to re-implement this again ?

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

That feature is also available under Windows XP too.
The latest version of Backup4all is 4.5.232 and it includes that feature.
Do you know you can monitor your backups remotely with Backup4all Monitor? You can read more here: https://www.backup4all.com/backup4all-monitor.html

georgemm
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Dec 10, 2010 11:30 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by georgemm »

Sorry but no. I installed the last version, and I couldn't drag and drop. Using the advanced mode in Source panel. And also my Windows has full rights and after testing a few other backup programs I found one with drag and drop capability. So the problem can't be from my windows since with other programs the drag and drop works.
I have windows XP SP2 32 bit.

Adrian (Softland)
Posts: 1914
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2009 12:46 pm

Re: Ability to drag and drop folders into "Sources" pane removed?

Post by Adrian (Softland) »

Hi,

Please open Backup4all, go to Sources page and try to drag and drop files here from Windows Explorer.
Please note you cannot add files and folders to a backup job created with a backup plugin.
Do you know you can monitor your backups remotely with Backup4all Monitor? You can read more here: https://www.backup4all.com/backup4all-monitor.html

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