Windows 8.1 built-in abilities to back up your Trainz data

[deneban]

Here is a discussion and screenshots showing how Windows 8.1 has a built-in facility which can easily make periodic backups of your Trainz data without you ever interrupting your game. You can restore any or all files from any backup if you need to.

There are two methods, 1) "File History" (found in Control Panel > System and Security), and b) "System Image Backup" (launched from a link within "File History")

Method 1

1. The "File History" facility backups up Win 8.1 "Libraries" (among other user items, like the user document folder). So first you must create a "Trainz Library" in Win 8.1, which is a lot simpler than it sounds. A library is merely a predesignated collection of independent folders that have the same type of data, and are in complete control of the user. Although the system comes with libraries for Pictures, Music, Documents, etc..., you can easily make one for Trainz. Just go to the file explorer, left click on the "Libraries" icon, and create a new library called "Trainz Library":
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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2. Add to the Trainz Library your user-specific folders (or even your entire Trainz folder if you like). In this example for TS12, only the "userdata" folder is being designated:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

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   3. Next bring up the File History module from the Control Panel:
   
   
   
   
   
   and set it up for your backup drive and the frequency of backup (you can set there from the Advanced Settings link at the left).

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4. After you have completed a backup (made by the scheduler or made by clicking on "Run now") you can view each backup by clicking on the "Restore personal files" link and then selecting the Trainz Library among the backed up elements:

You will not be required to interrupt your activities while the backup is made in the background.​

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5. Here is a backup from an earlier time still available that has the ENTIRE TS12 folder:

If you click on the green button at the bottom, all those files will overwrite the working copy of your files.

To just restore an individual file or folder (such as a KUID folder) at a lower level, just navigate to the file(s) or folder(s) you want to restore, select them with the mouse, and then click on the green restore button.

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Method 2: System Image Backup

If you have Win 8.1 Pro, and want to initiate a backup manually, you also have the System Image Backup facility available from a link in the "File History" dialog box. You can keep working (or playing) while the image is being made and you'll be able to select exactly what files or folders to restore from the backup..

You can still create an image with a non-pro version, but you won't be able to select individual folders for backup. Therefore, if you have a non-pro version, you would not use this method to restore Trainz because you can only restore your entire drive(s) as an all or nothing process.

In this method, you be backing up the entire drive that Trainz is on, and your boot drive (if separate) and emergency partitions as well.

1. Here is the backup dialog box obtained from clicking the "System Image Backup" link in "File History":

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2. The backup will make a folder called "WindowsImageBackup" on the backup drive:

You'll notice there are other folders on this drive with a similar name. If you rename the image folder after backup, you can retain multiple images from different capture times!

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Continued on another thread with same name (exceeded image count!)

 

[deneban]

Continuation of post "Windows 8.1 built-in abilities to back up your Trainz data" :

3. Drilling down into the image backup folder, you'll see contents like this. Select the image that your Trainz folder is on. You can recognize the image by its size relative to the other images captured. In this example, the Trainz folder is on the drive with the most data, so the largest image is selected. If you proceed and guess the wrong image file, just revert back to this step.

Now start the Windows Disk Manager by right clicking on the Start Button, selecting "Run" from the contextual menu, then typing "diskmgmt.msc" in the dialog box, then hit enter or click "ok:"

The highlighted drive is the one mounted from the disk image. You will know this because it will be a large drive with no drive letter. Here it was recognized as such because it was 699 Gb and had no assigned drive letter. Initially when the Disk Manager comes up, it will not be assigned a drive letter (like "G" above), but you now assign it one by right clicking and selecting "Change drive letters and paths..." Using the next dialog box that comes up, assign it a drive letter.

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4. Once you assign a drive letter and mount it, a File Explorer window will open up displaying the contents of the drive image. You can then navigate to your Trainz folder as you would normally on your working drive:

You can then "drag and drop" anything that needs to be restored to your working Trainz folder!

To dismount this virtual drive, go back to the Disk Manager, right click on the drive's row in the first column (<--important) and select "remove VHD."

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Regards, Deneban