backing up Agent

[Joy Beeson]

When I installed Agent, I put it in the root directory to make it
easier to back it up by dragging it to the back-up drives.

Several months ago, it started snagging on desktop.ini,* and I would
have to click "yes to all" a second time. This is very annoying
because I want to start the back-up and go to bed.

But since I've always shut down Agent and I'm ready for bed when it
annoys me, it's taken me this long to remember it when I could write.

And it's past time to shut down and go to bed, so this may not make
much sense.

I haven't updated anything -- I *can't* update anything. Nothing is
written for XP these days.

I guess my question is, "where do I look for changes?"

Also, would anything bad happen if I just deleted the offending file?


--
Joy Beeson
joy beeson at centurylink dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/


*I *think* it's "desktop.ini"; the only way I can check my memory is
to log off and back up.

[Ralph Fox]

On Thu, 28 Sep 2023 22:03:07 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:

> When I installed Agent, I put it in the root directory to make it
> easier to back it up by dragging it to the back-up drives.
>
> Several months ago, it started snagging on desktop.ini,* and I would
> have to click "yes to all" a second time. This is very annoying
> because I want to start the back-up and go to bed.
>
> But since I've always shut down Agent and I'm ready for bed when it
> annoys me, it's taken me this long to remember it when I could write.
>
> And it's past time to shut down and go to bed, so this may not make
> much sense.
>
> I haven't updated anything -- I *can't* update anything. Nothing is
> written for XP these days.
>
> I guess my question is, "where do I look for changes?"
>
> Also, would anything bad happen if I just deleted the offending file?

The “desktop.ini” file contains customizations which have been made to
the folder it is in. For example, you may have assigned a custom icon
to the folder.
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/shell/how-to-customize-folders-with-desktop-ini>

The “desktop.ini” file is sometimes “super-hidden”, where even
turning on “show hidden files and folders” will not show it.
<https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/desktopini-interrupts-copying-files-yet-its-not/f08e8c4d-ddfe-445d-8d16-d7b4003b8603>


If “I put it in the root directory” means you have this
C:\Agent\agent.exe
C:\Agent\desktop.ini
where C:\Agent\ is a folder you created, then it is only the
customizations to your own “Agent” folder which will be lost if you
delete the “desktop.ini” file.


If “I put it in the root directory” means you have this
C:\agent.exe
C:\desktop.ini
then the “desktop.ini” file might contain stuff needed by or for other
things. In this case I would be much more wary about deleting the
“desktop.ini” file.


--
Kind regards
Ralph Fox

The difference between "magic" and "sufficiently advanced technology"
🔮 Magic must be believed to be seen.
👨‍🚀 Sufficiently advanced technology must be seen to be believed.

[Joy Beeson]

n Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:14:01 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid>
wrote:

Thanks for deciphering my groggy message.

I put the Agent folder in the root directory, and drag it to a thumb
drive and the desktop on another computer -- it's too big to copy onto
my Web site.

Bedtime reminder just played. I'll send this tomorrow, when I'm
awake.

--------------

Is tomorrow, but I'm not awake.


Search found a lot of desktop.ini & Desktop.ini, but none in the Agent
folder.

So I poked around and figured out how to search just the Agent Folder.
No desktop.ini.

Just now clicked the link; that appears to be the answer -- but I have
to log off and go to bed in three minutes.

I'll report back someday. Have a deadline to meet before I can look
into it.

[Ralph Fox]

On Sun, 01 Oct 2023 22:00:15 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:
> n Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:14:01 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid> wrote:
>>

[trim]

>> The “desktop.ini” file is sometimes “super-hidden”, where even
>> turning on “show hidden files and folders” will not show it.
>> <https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/desktopini-interrupts-copying-files-yet-its-not/f08e8c4d-ddfe-445d-8d16-d7b4003b8603>
>>

[trim]

>>
> Search found a lot of desktop.ini & Desktop.ini, but none in the Agent
> folder.
>
> So I poked around and figured out how to search just the Agent Folder.
> No desktop.ini.

XP search will _not_ find “super-hidden” desktop.ini files, not even
if you select the search option “Search hidden files and folders”.

To see “super-hidden” files, you *must* turn _off_ the folder option
“Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” in addition to
turning _on_ “Show hidden files and folders”.

(See the link above which I posted in my last message.)

--
Kind regards
Ralph Fox

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is.
They say the bird is on the wing — but that’s absurd; I thought the wing was on the bird.

[Joy Beeson]

On Mon, 02 Oct 2023 21:21:03 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid>

wrote:

> On Sun, 01 Oct 2023 22:00:15 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:
> > n Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:14:01 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid> wrote:
> >>
> [trim]
> >> The “desktop.ini” file is sometimes “super-hidden”, where even
> >> turning on “show hidden files and folders” will not show it.
> >> <https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/desktopini-interrupts-copying-files-yet-its-not/f08e8c4d-ddfe-445d-8d16-d7b4003b8603>
> >>
> [trim]
> >>
> > Search found a lot of desktop.ini & Desktop.ini, but none in the Agent
> > folder.
> >
> > So I poked around and figured out how to search just the Agent Folder.
> > No desktop.ini.
>
>
> XP search will _not_ find “super-hidden” desktop.ini files, not even
> if you select the search option “Search hidden files and folders”.
>
> To see “super-hidden” files, you *must* turn _off_ the folder option
> “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)” in addition to
> turning _on_ “Show hidden files and folders”.
>
> (See the link above which I posted in my last message.)

Well, that was easy!

Agent finally came to the top of my agenda before the closing bell
today.

I'd read the link before, but now I studied it and followed the
instructions. Still no "desktop.ini" in the Agent folder -- but
what's this? A subfolder labeled "Desktop on optiplex4" does not
belong here! Since it isn't *my* subfolder, I dragged it to my
desktop, to be deleted when I could give it my full attention.

Backing up to the thumb drive went without a hitch, backing up to
Optiplex4 went without a hitch, deleting the polluted back-up from the
thumbdrive ran into a desktop.ini hitch.

And it's still ten minutes before I have to shut down the computer.

[Ralph Fox]

On Wed, 04 Oct 2023 21:53:58 -0400, Joy Beeson wrote:

> Well, that was easy!
>
> Agent finally came to the top of my agenda before the closing bell
> today.
>
> I'd read the link before, but now I studied it and followed the
> instructions. Still no "desktop.ini" in the Agent folder -- but
> what's this? A subfolder labeled "Desktop on optiplex4" does not
> belong here! Since it isn't *my* subfolder, I dragged it to my
> desktop, to be deleted when I could give it my full attention.
>
> Backing up to the thumb drive went without a hitch, backing up to
> Optiplex4 went without a hitch, deleting the polluted back-up from the
> thumbdrive ran into a desktop.ini hitch.
>
> And it's still ten minutes before I have to shut down the computer.

Awesome! it's good to hear it is sorted.

[Joy Beeson]

On Thu, 05 Oct 2023 15:37:54 +1300, Ralph Fox <-rf-nz-@-.invalid>
wrote:

> Awesome! it's good to hear it is sorted.

But very annoying to think that all I ever needed to do was look at
the folder.

Thank you again for starting me on the convoluted path to the simple
answer.