Automated backup of UltraEdit settings

Automated backup of UltraEdit settings

6
NewbieNewbie
6

    3:15 - Jul 26#1

    What folder should I have my backup program back up in order to be able to restore UltraEdit settings if needed? Or is there an automated way to have UltraEdit back up settings to a specified place when I close it?

    6,676579
    Grand MasterGrand Master
    6,676579

      11:38 - Jul 26#2

      There is an automatic backup built-in which creates a backup of the user configuration on startup of UltraEdit depending on version of UltraEdit. UltraEdit 2024.0.0.35 creates automatically on startup %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\Backup\ue_settings_backup.uec. But that is not a complete backup of all user configuration files. There are included only the following three configuration files:
      1. %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\ue.ini with most of the configuration settings.
      2. %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\volatile\ue.vod with the other configuration settings and the histories.
      3. %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\volatile\ue.in0 with the workspace settings (visibility of windows, their display modes, their positions and sizes).
      A backup program should include the entire directory %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit for having a complete backup of the user configuration of UltraEdit on not using a special configuration with the application data files stored in a completely different directory as it is possible too. The Windows System Protection feature on being enabled for the system drive (not enabled by default anymore on Windows 10/11) includes the entire directory %APPDATA%. But that backup is of no help if the hard disk dies as the system protection makes the backup on same drive.

      There can be created a scheduled task which runs %SystemRoot%\System32\robocopy.exe with the arguments "%APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit" "%APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEditBackup" /MIR /NDL /NFL /NJH /NJS for creating a backup of the application data directory of current user. A backslash at the end of the source/destination path is not allowed here! The scheduled task must be configured to run with your user account and not with the SYSTEM account on using the environment variable reference %APPDATA% as shown here. The destination directory %APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEditBackup can be also on a different drive, best on a different storage media to have a backup which can be restored even if the primary hard disk dies or user files get encrypted by a malware program.

      The scheduled task can be configured also running an archiving tool like %ProgramFiles%\WinRAR\RAR.exe with options like a u -cfg- -ed -ep1 -idq -m5 -mt1 -r -y "%APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEditBackup.rar" "%APPDATA%\IDMComp\UltraEdit\" whereby the RAR archive file can be stored also on a different storage media with a different path as used in this example for a better safety.

      I make entire hard disk image backups regularly after important changes on system drive on a different storage media for maximum safety. Two died hard disks in the past cost me just a new hard disk and 30 minutes to exchange the hard disk in the computer and restore the last hard disk image backup. The data partition with daily modified files is daily backed up on another hard disk (manually not automatically with a RAID system as I want to be able to restore files from data backup drive on having them by mistake deleted on the main data partition). The data partition is of course also backed up from time to time on a different storage media not permanently connected to the computer as protection for malware and hard disk function loss.
      Best regards from an UC/UE/UES for Windows user from Austria