OneNote SP1 Failing to make Timed Backups (for me anyway)

[Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]]

I don't want to be alarmist but I have just noticed this morning that
OneNote SP1 appears not to have made *any* scheduled backups since I
upgraded to SP1.

I have had OneNote set to do daily backups, of which I keep 6, for
over a year. There are six timed backup folders in my OneNote backup
folder. But the last timed backup folder in my OneNote backup folder
is timed for just before I upgraded to SP1.

It is possible that only my machine is affected by this problem. But,
equally, others may also be relying on automatic timed backups which
haven't been made by SP1. And, given that many of us increasingly rely
on OneNote to store valuable data, it seems to me prudent to mention
this so that you can be sure that OneNote SP1 is backing up correctly
for you.

An easy way to check when your last automatic backups were made is to
select Open Backup from the File menu which opens the OneNote Backup
folder. You can then browse without opening any file.

Depending on whether you have 1 (the default, if I remember correctly)
or more time backups scheduled then you should have one or more
folders labelled something like
OneNote Backup - Friday, August 20, 2004 1.58.24 PM
inside your OneNote backup folder.

The expected time and number of such scheduled backup folders will
depend on the options you selected for automatic backups in Tools |
Options.

Inside such folders should be a complete backup of all the OneNote
files in your notebook.

I would be grateful for feedback about whether anybody else is having
problems with the creation of scheduled backups in SP1. Hopefully it
is only affecting my machine (which has had assorted betas on it). But
if you are also affected you may want to take the opportunity to
manually create a backup of your OneNote files.

I have, for obvious reasons, just backed up all my OneNote files
manually to CD.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath

 

[Benoit Barabe \(MS\)]

Andrew,

I suspect that all is well, but let's verify. We made a subtle but important
change in SP1 in the structure of the backup. We used to create a new folder
for each backup, but now we instead mirror the Notebook hierarchy entirely
only once and instead keep a number of file updates.

If you check the content of your backup directory, you should have a few old
backup directories (which you can eventually delete), and duplication of
your notebook. This notebook should have all the backups, with each modified
files present "n" copies for the number of backups set in your options.

As a side note, OneNote's backups are not a replacement to
out-of-the-computer backups. They are a convenient layer of protection for
your data, but not a replacement for real backups. Hard drives always die
eventually and they generally don't warn you!

Hope this help,
Benoit [ms]

 

[Andrew Watt [MVP - InfoPath]]

Benoit,

Thanks. It does help.

I have spent some time today checking out how well the automatic
backups are made. And all seems to work in SP1 as you describe.

It would have been nice if the Help files had provided information
about the change in how automatic backups are made. Can you arrange
that the Help files be updated with information about backups, where
to find them and how they are made? I think it would help users who
very possibly will be stressed when they need to access a backup and
may find the current approach confusing and the Help files unhelpful.
The new approach is certainly less transparent than the former
approach of having clearly time-labelled backup directories inside the
Backup directory.

I take your point about the need for out-of-computer backups. I have
only had a hard disc fail twice on me in the last 20 years, once on a
computer I was using. The need for out-of-computer backups is
something that usefully bears repetition to users of any data store,
such as OneNote.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath

Andrew,

I suspect that all is well, but let's verify. We made a subtle but important
change in SP1 in the structure of the backup. We used to create a new folder
for each backup, but now we instead mirror the Notebook hierarchy entirely
only once and instead keep a number of file updates.

If you check the content of your backup directory, you should have a few old
backup directories (which you can eventually delete), and duplication of
your notebook. This notebook should have all the backups, with each modified
files present "n" copies for the number of backups set in your options.

As a side note, OneNote's backups are not a replacement to
out-of-the-computer backups. They are a convenient layer of protection for
your data, but not a replacement for real backups. Hard drives always die
eventually and they generally don't warn you!

Hope this help,
Benoit [ms]

I don't want to be alarmist but I have just noticed this morning that
OneNote SP1 appears not to have made *any* scheduled backups since I
upgraded to SP1.

I have had OneNote set to do daily backups, of which I keep 6, for
over a year. There are six timed backup folders in my OneNote backup
folder. But the last timed backup folder in my OneNote backup folder
is timed for just before I upgraded to SP1.

It is possible that only my machine is affected by this problem. But,
equally, others may also be relying on automatic timed backups which
haven't been made by SP1. And, given that many of us increasingly rely
on OneNote to store valuable data, it seems to me prudent to mention
this so that you can be sure that OneNote SP1 is backing up correctly
for you.

An easy way to check when your last automatic backups were made is to
select Open Backup from the File menu which opens the OneNote Backup
folder. You can then browse without opening any file.

Depending on whether you have 1 (the default, if I remember correctly)
or more time backups scheduled then you should have one or more
folders labelled something like
OneNote Backup - Friday, August 20, 2004 1.58.24 PM
inside your OneNote backup folder.

The expected time and number of such scheduled backup folders will
depend on the options you selected for automatic backups in Tools |
Options.

Inside such folders should be a complete backup of all the OneNote
files in your notebook.

I would be grateful for feedback about whether anybody else is having
problems with the creation of scheduled backups in SP1. Hopefully it
is only affecting my machine (which has had assorted betas on it). But
if you are also affected you may want to take the opportunity to
manually create a backup of your OneNote files.

I have, for obvious reasons, just backed up all my OneNote files
manually to CD.

Andrew Watt
MVP - InfoPath