I've created a File Collection, with all the files and folders I want to backup every now and then to another drive. The idea is to use the Synchronize tool after the first full copy, so as to have a perfect, quick backup solution.
However, I'm not sure if that works. Can you please confirm if this is supported? I can get "coll://My Backup Collection" to Source, but it doesn't like to stay there and usually it'll revert to showing the destination folder both on Source & Destination.
I don't think file collections would be suitable for working with the Synchronize tool, but the Copy / Update All command will work with them (to the extent of automatically skipping files with the same name, date and size).
You'll still run into conflicts if you have two files with the same name in the collection, since you'll be trying to copy them both to the same destination folder. File Collections may not be the best tool to use for this job. Note also that collections can also lose track of files if they are deleted and later recreated, since once a file is deleted it is removed from the collection (if Opus sees it being deleted, at least). That can include when files are updated by a delete/rename-then-replace mechanism, although Opus tries to detect that (but it's impossible to detect in every situation, e.g. when there is a long delay between the deletion and the replacement appearing).
Thanks leo. I mostly added folders to the collection, to avoid the same name on destination problem. I think that should be fine.
That's another question I wanted to ask: if some files are moved to another folder (due to a Windows reinstall, for example), are they gone forever from the Collection? Isn't there a way to "relocate" them back?
Something similar to "offline" files, in video editing applications, for example. They are not immediately available, but they can be "linked" back if their location is found/known. That would be a great feature.
No, file collections can't relocate moved files (unless Opus sees them being moved, in some situations). They aren't really designed for that; they're for Find Results and other temporary file lists.