Smart backup enhancement

[pt58]

I was wondering if it would be possible to enhance the Smart backup option to show a warning when a disk layout change has occurred.
If you attempt a differential backup when the disk layout has changed, then HBS necessarily performs a new Full backup rather than the expected differential.
It would be good if this was flagged up and the backup was labelled as a full backup rather than a differential.
The disk layout change seems to occur every 2 or 3 months when Microsoft enlarges the recovery partition as part of Patch Tuesday updates.
This usually entails shrinking the C:\ partition by a corresponding amount.
It has happened again following this months Windows update.
At least the smart backup option allows the backup to proceed following the layout change, whereas previously the backup would just fail.

[Froggie]

You should solve this issue by a 1-time change right before your next scheduled FULL image.

1. SHRINK your OS partition, using Windows DISK MANAGEMENT tool, by 1-gB (2gB optional).
2. Using a FREE Partition Mgmt tool (I use Minitool Partition Wizard), expand your Recovery Partition (usually located to the right of your OS partition) into the space made available by the OS partition shrink.
3. reBOOT your System.

The extra 1-gB added to your Recovery Partition will allow for many, many future updates to your Recovery Partition without experiencing any of the issues described in your post.  If you shrink your OS partition by 2-gB, you'll probably never ever see the issue again (even after an OS upgrade from W10/11-W<n>).

It has worked wonders for me...

[pt58]

You should solve this issue by a 1-time change right before your next scheduled FULL image.

1. SHRINK your OS partition, using Windows DISK MANAGEMENT tool, by 1-gB (2gB optional).
2. Using a FREE Partition Mgmt tool (I use Minitool Partition Wizard), expand your Recovery Partition (usually located to the right of your OS partition) into the space made available by the OS partition shrink.
3. reBOOT your System.

The extra 1-gB added to your Recovery Partition will allow for many, many future updates to your Recovery Partition without experiencing any of the issues described in your post.  If you shrink your OS partition by 2-gB, you'll probably never ever see the issue again (even after an OS upgrade from W10/11-W<n>).

It has worked wonders for me...

Thanks Froggie. I will probably take your advice and adjust the partition sizes to hopefully circumvent the regular misery inflicted by Microsoft.
I still think it would be useful if HBS could warn users that a layout change has occurred and a full backup will occur rather than a requested incremental or differential.

[Epictetus]

You should solve this issue by a 1-time change right before your next scheduled FULL image.

1. SHRINK your OS partition, using Windows DISK MANAGEMENT tool, by 1-gB (2gB optional).
2. Using a FREE Partition Mgmt tool (I use Minitool Partition Wizard), expand your Recovery Partition (usually located to the right of your OS partition) into the space made available by the OS partition shrink.
3. reBOOT your System.

The extra 1-gB added to your Recovery Partition will allow for many, many future updates to your Recovery Partition without experiencing any of the issues described in your post.  If you shrink your OS partition by 2-gB, you'll probably never ever see the issue again (even after an OS upgrade from W10/11-W<n>).

It has worked wonders for me...

Thanks Froggie. I will probably take your advice and adjust the partition sizes to hopefully circumvent the regular misery inflicted by Microsoft.
I still think it would be useful if HBS could warn users that a layout change has occurred and a full backup will occur rather than a requested incremental or differential.

I think we (I) have been here before, but how does all this play out if you don't have a recovery partition? I deleted mine long ago.

I am sure froggie can refresh my memory.

[admin]

@pt58, you mean you'd like to have tasks flagged up on the main page to indicate to users whether the disk layout has changed. Regarding this, the current program logic only checks for partition changes right before executing a backup task. If we were to flag them up on the main page, it would mean the program would need to perform a full check on all backup tasks in advance at startup, which could affect startup efficiency. The key question is whether this is really necessary.

On the other hand, the method proposed by @Froggie can indeed fundamentally and effectively prevent such issues from recurring.

[pt58]

@pt58, you mean you'd like to have tasks flagged up on the main page to indicate to users whether the disk layout has changed. Regarding this, the current program logic only checks for partition changes right before executing a backup task. If we were to flag them up on the main page, it would mean the program would need to perform a full check on all backup tasks in advance at startup, which could affect startup efficiency. The key question is whether this is really necessary.

On the other hand, the method proposed by @Froggie can indeed fundamentally and effectively prevent such issues from recurring.

No, I'm not asking for HBS to check each task for a layout change. All I'm asking is that when it has performed the backup, it would be nice to let the user know that a Full backup has occurred due to the layout change. Also, if a differential backup is attempted following a layout change, then HBS incorrectly labels the backup as a differential, when in fact it has created a Full backup.

[admin]

@pt58, you mean you'd like to have tasks flagged up on the main page to indicate to users whether the disk layout has changed. Regarding this, the current program logic only checks for partition changes right before executing a backup task. If we were to flag them up on the main page, it would mean the program would need to perform a full check on all backup tasks in advance at startup, which could affect startup efficiency. The key question is whether this is really necessary.

On the other hand, the method proposed by @Froggie can indeed fundamentally and effectively prevent such issues from recurring.

No, I'm not asking for HBS to check each task for a layout change. All I'm asking is that when it has performed the backup, it would be nice to let the user know that a Full backup has occurred due to the layout change. Also, if a differential backup is attempted following a layout change, then HBS incorrectly labels the backup as a differential, when in fact it has created a Full backup.

Thank you for the clarification. Simply notifying users that the backup type has changed should be easy to do.

[CDC9762]

No, I'm not asking for HBS to check each task for a layout change. All I'm asking is that when it has performed the backup, it would be nice to let the user know that a Full backup has occurred due to the layout change. Also, if a differential backup is attempted following a layout change, then HBS incorrectly labels the backup as a differential, when in fact it has created a Full backup.

Thank you for the clarification. Simply notifying users that the backup type has changed should be easy to do.

I really don't have a great concern about this issue but if I read pt58's reply as fact, the bigger issue is an incorrectly labelled backup type. If a Full was made, for any reason, then its label should call it a Full. Of course, proper labelling of any other type is necessary too.

[Froggie]

Thanks Froggie. I will probably take your advice and adjust the partition sizes to hopefully circumvent the regular misery inflicted by Microsoft.
I still think it would be useful if HBS could warn users that a layout change has occurred and a full backup will occur rather than a requested incremental or differential.

I think we (I) have been here before, but how does all this play out if you don't have a recovery partition? I deleted mine long ago.

I am sure froggie can refresh my memory.

If a Recovery Partition doesn't exist, Windows will update space within the OS partition (C:\boot) with the new WinRE.wim when it changes... there will be no need to obtain new space to accommodate an expanded WinRE.wim, it will be done in the existing geometry of the OS partition (no partition geometry changes required).