How to Overcome "File in Use" Problems when Copying in Windows by Using Cobian Backup

How often have you tried to copy the My Documents folder in Windows, only to get an error because a file is in use. Cobian Backup is a Free Backup Program that gets around this problem using a feature of Windows called Volume Shadow Copy.

Very often the simplest way to copy documents and programs in Windows is to open Windows Explorer or My Computer, to select what you want to copy, right click with the mouse, select where you want to copy the data to, right click again with the mouse on Paste.

Often this works, but there are cases where it doesn't in particular when copying a complete used profile (for example c:\Documents and Settings\[username].

Even if you reboot your computer and make sure no jobs are running, you can't guarantee that you will not run into the problem of files being in use.

If you have come across this problem, you almost certainly know that once Windows has found a file to be in use, it just gives up copying, and nothing after that point is copied at all.

So much for taking a backup copy!

Here is where a program like Cobian Backup comes into play, because it uses a Windows feature called Volume Shadow Copy.

Volume Shadow Copy takes a snapshot of the files at the point in time when you begin a backup, and allows the copy to proceed even though the files are in use.

As well as not having errors because system files are in use when you try and copy them, using Volume Shadow Copy allows you to still have your email programs etc open and to be working with them while a backup is running.

Cobian Backup has a host of great features, and it is Free too. You can read more about Cobian Backup in this review , including it's settings for Full, Incremental and Differential backups.

The other beauty with Cobian Backup is that it allows you to define, save and schedule multiple backups, so if you want to backup a whole computer once a month, you can save the whole setup, including the source and destination files.

Should there be any files or folders that you do not want to include in the backup, these can be excluded using the extremely flexible filters that Cobian Backup provides. Eliminating a copy of data that you do not need, saves you not only time but also storage space.

I know that there are many people who do not backup their home computers, and sadly many only learn their lesson having lost valuable items to a hard drive crash or a virus.

If you value your email and address book, personal documents, photographs and home movies, ripped CD's and downloaded music, you can't afford to not put a backup process in place.

I know that my computers are my life. So much is held on them, that I would be lost should all of that disappear.

Hopefully this information will prove useful to you. I do not have any connection to Cobian or Cobian Backup, except as a very satisfied user.

Sources:

Cobian Backup : Best Free Computer Backup Software

Volume Shadow Copy on Wikipedia