File History: Element Not Found Error on Windows 10 May 2004

Anonymous
2020-06-22T19:28:01+00:00

Using Windows 10 May 2004 edition with a brand new install of File History on two different machines now, I have managed to run into the following issue.

Selecting Clean up versions, then "Clean up":

I get the following dialog:

Again, this is on two different machines, with a clean install.

Note that I am using a simple folder with a 4KB file within it, although I first saw this on a fully-configured install with about 1.5TB worth of data within it.  This led me to diagnosing the issue and ultimately trying it on these two separate machines with a clean install.

Is this a known issue for 2004?

Thank you for any assistance/context/insight you can provide!

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Virginia M 42,075 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2020-12-31T11:56:16+00:00

    It creates an image of the drive but you can mount the image & browser the files & folders as you can within Windows.

    Tbh Macrium is more reliable. File History has the advantage of backing up every hour but this can fail.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-12-31T10:57:04+00:00

    Interesting @TimeLady... it works just like File History?  I took a look and the closest feature I could find is Backup Files and Folders, which is not part of the free offering:

    https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Backing+up+files+and+folders

    If it has something where it works just like File History along with a viewer that works like it does, I am totally open to jumping over.

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  3. Virginia M 42,075 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2020-12-31T09:49:37+00:00

    I’ve moved to Macrium Reflect which is also free & is more reliable.

    https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-12-31T05:53:06+00:00

    Yep @Stan I recently had to clear out my history due to file size warnings from my NAS.  Sure enough, after about 20 minutes of thinking, our lovely friend and dialog error popped up.  What's amazing is that during this entire time, the dialog reports items being removed, but upon restarting the process again it starts off at the same number.

    This is a different failure/bug from what I originally reported, in that the dialog popped up immediately without thinking or progress.  Here it simply breaks after doing a very simple yet critical function.  I share it to further bolster the evidence/claim/belief that this simply isn't good software, nor is it maintained with any sort of pride.  But it's free, so. 😆😭

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  5. Anonymous
    2020-12-31T01:45:51+00:00

    Repair Windows 10 with an In-Place Upgrade did NOT resole this issue - seems many others also have this issue

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