Am I the only one that finds the tree views confusing?
I have recently purchased downloaded version 5.5 for my new 64-bit Windows 7 laptop, and I have version 5.2 on my old 32-bit Windows 7 laptop. I'm backing up everything on the old laptop to a server, through a series of jobs of related files, and a couple of "special" jobs (Backup4all settings, Outlook, Firefox profiles). Because of the different operating systems and the huge number of installed programs (few of which have as yet been installed on the new laptop), including several that need to have identical settings to before the move, I'm restoring to an alternate location on the new laptop, then using Beyond Compare to compare to what is already on the new laptop and to decide what to restore or merge to the final locations.
The backups that I have are differential backups, for the most part, with one or two backups since the last full backup.
It's kind of a messy process, and it takes long enough that things change in between since I'm also trying to work and generating new files...
I love the idea of the folder trees on the backup view and the Explore view. But I'm confused by a few things. What I would like, is to be able to tell if the files in the most recent backup are newer than the corresponding files that I have already restored to the new laptop. Would I use the Explore view's tree to determine this? It seems like the Backup view's tree uses the same set of symbols to identify the status of files in the backup, at the time they were added.
The Help refers to icons being "pressed" -- e.g., "+ If pressed, files that will be added to the backup are shown in the three. All files with this status will have (+) picture in front of them." I don't see anywhere to press, which seems like it filters the tree. Where do I do this?
...OK, on further random clicking, I see there are right-click menu options that do the functions that are described in the Help as been done by clicking on icons. Maybe the Help needs to be updated?
For the Backup view, the icons used in the GUI do not match the ones described in the Help. The Help describes icons similar to the ones used in the Explore view. In the actual GUI, all of the icons are "+" signs of different colors. Blue for changed, green (not yellow) for additions, and actually it does have the red "-" for exclusions, but not the white "-" in a red ball as shown in the Help.
It can take a while for the tree to fully render, which led me to think it was broken when I expanded all folders as I was composing this post. Especially because when I was getting the jobs set up to match I screwed up, and sometimes the tree *didn't* ever fully render.
Sorry for the long-windedness. Bottom line is the Help for the tree views doesn't match the GUI, which made it difficult to decipher what was going on. My one remaining question: For files that show up as "changed" in the Explorer view, is there any way to tell which version is newer?
Rebeccah
The backups that I have are differential backups, for the most part, with one or two backups since the last full backup.
It's kind of a messy process, and it takes long enough that things change in between since I'm also trying to work and generating new files...
I love the idea of the folder trees on the backup view and the Explore view. But I'm confused by a few things. What I would like, is to be able to tell if the files in the most recent backup are newer than the corresponding files that I have already restored to the new laptop. Would I use the Explore view's tree to determine this? It seems like the Backup view's tree uses the same set of symbols to identify the status of files in the backup, at the time they were added.
The Help refers to icons being "pressed" -- e.g., "+ If pressed, files that will be added to the backup are shown in the three. All files with this status will have (+) picture in front of them." I don't see anywhere to press, which seems like it filters the tree. Where do I do this?
...OK, on further random clicking, I see there are right-click menu options that do the functions that are described in the Help as been done by clicking on icons. Maybe the Help needs to be updated?
For the Backup view, the icons used in the GUI do not match the ones described in the Help. The Help describes icons similar to the ones used in the Explore view. In the actual GUI, all of the icons are "+" signs of different colors. Blue for changed, green (not yellow) for additions, and actually it does have the red "-" for exclusions, but not the white "-" in a red ball as shown in the Help.
It can take a while for the tree to fully render, which led me to think it was broken when I expanded all folders as I was composing this post. Especially because when I was getting the jobs set up to match I screwed up, and sometimes the tree *didn't* ever fully render.
Sorry for the long-windedness. Bottom line is the Help for the tree views doesn't match the GUI, which made it difficult to decipher what was going on. My one remaining question: For files that show up as "changed" in the Explorer view, is there any way to tell which version is newer?
Rebeccah
Re: Am I the only one that finds the tree views confusing?
Oh, my goodness, how cool!
If I highlight a changed file in the Explore tree, the backup appears below, and if I right-click on the backup and choose compare with source, Beyond Compare opens up and does the compare for me! And I can add the last modified date to the columns shown for the backup. This will be a big help.
If I highlight a changed file in the Explore tree, the backup appears below, and if I right-click on the backup and choose compare with source, Beyond Compare opens up and does the compare for me! And I can add the last modified date to the columns shown for the backup. This will be a big help.