Solved File History error

areimer

New Member
Messages
8
I have an external drive connected via USB to my laptop. I have selected a drive to write to, but when I run File History, I see the errors:

We can't copy your files to this locations

Failed to complete migration to H:\ (error 80040507)

I know that I have write access to this drive because I've copied other files to it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    AMD A4/A6/A8/A10
    Motherboard
    Lenovo G505s
    Memory
    DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 8650G
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    windows defender
Hi areimer and welcome to Eight Forums,
_I recomend you go check this website and see if it is fixed:What if something goes wrong in File History? - Windows Help
_If the problem still assist make a clean boot by this link:How to perform a clean boot in Windows
_If you still facing the issue disable the Antivirus:
1. Press “Windows key + C”.
2. Choose Search, and type in Control panel.
3. Under System and Security, clicking Review your computer's status.
4. Click the arrow button next to Security to expand the section.
5. If Windows can detect your antivirus software, it's listed under Virus protection.
6. If the software is on, check the Help that came with the software for information on disabling it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i7
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 680
    Sound Card
    idfk
    Screen Resolution
    15' 1080p display
    Internet Speed
    70Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome Canary
    Antivirus
    AVAST Premiere 2015
Many thanks for your reply, but I've now File History to work, but I have to say I'm not too sure what I did to fix it! None of the advice I've seen on the web helped me. So, I'll document here how I fixed it because it might help somebody else.

Although File History gave me the error 'We can't copy your files to this locations' when I tried to back up to a USB connected external drive, it had created a folder called FileHistory & inside were folders which related to another PC. I had another, smaller pc running 8.1 which I had been using to test my understanding of 8.1 which included setting up File History. The details of this test PC (computer name etc) were appearing in this FileHistory folder. I also checked EventViewer & noticed that there was also config info in a C:/User/[computername]/App Data/Local/Microsoft/Windows/FileHistory. I deleted the FileHistory folders on both the external drive & C drive. Now File History works!

I assume that the error code I was seeing wasn't telling me that I couldn't write to the external disc generally, but that I couldn't write to a particular folder on the external drive.

It looks like we can't use File History back up 2 different PCs to the same external drive, unless the external drive is partitioned. I have no problem with accepting this limitation of File History, but it needs to be documented. Maybe it is & I've missed it, but I'll close this post & open more specific questions to this forum.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    AMD A4/A6/A8/A10
    Motherboard
    Lenovo G505s
    Memory
    DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 8650G
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    windows defender
It's probably that , you can't use an external drive to save file history for more than one PC , how would the system then know which PC the saved files belongs to...you'd end up confusing the poor thing...
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Memory
    6 GB
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 1024
    Hard Drives
    12 TB in 6 disks
    PSU
    TX650
    Keyboard
    G15
    Mouse
    Intellimouse 3.0
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbits
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    Trend Micro
FileHistory using 1 external drive for 2 PCs

This is a question possible limitations of File History. I don't want a fix, just to know what File History can & can't do.

I have 2 PCs & one external drive. I may want to use File History on each PC to backup to the same drive. I would backing up each PC at different times.

If this indeed is already documented somewhere, then please let me know where this is.

As indicated above, I don't want a workaround. It will be easier to buy another external drive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    AMD A4/A6/A8/A10
    Motherboard
    Lenovo G505s
    Memory
    DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 8650G
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    windows defender
File History status info on 1st time save

I'm running File History for the 1st to backup files to an external drive. How do I know that it has finished.

More details follow. On the file history window, I see the message:

File History is saving copies of your files for the first time.

Yet there is no status telling me how this progressing. I might expect to see a screen showing the % of files saved, or something similar, but I don't. So how do I know that this process has finished?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    AMD A4/A6/A8/A10
    Motherboard
    Lenovo G505s
    Memory
    DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 8650G
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    windows defender
Yeah thats why you got that problem you can only use one removable drive for file history in one PC not multipe i think when activated filehistory on second PC the files has merged and the errors appeared.
Anyway happy you got it fixed but you can thank us by a rep :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i7
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 680
    Sound Card
    idfk
    Screen Resolution
    15' 1080p display
    Internet Speed
    70Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome Canary
    Antivirus
    AVAST Premiere 2015
Many thanks for the reply. The reason I crashed into this problem was that I had forgotten that I had played with File History on another PC. I will close this question.:)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1
    Computer type
    Laptop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo
    CPU
    AMD A4/A6/A8/A10
    Motherboard
    Lenovo G505s
    Memory
    DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Generic PnP Monitor on AMD Radeon HD 8650G
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    windows defender
You could thank us by giving us a reputation by clicking the thumbs up button :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core i7
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia Geforce GTX 680
    Sound Card
    idfk
    Screen Resolution
    15' 1080p display
    Internet Speed
    70Mbps
    Browser
    Google Chrome Canary
    Antivirus
    AVAST Premiere 2015
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