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. 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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  2. Anonymous
    2020-06-23T12:27:36+00:00

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-12-31T19:13:11+00:00

    With inplace reinstall i could fix this issue on all of my 3 machines. But this cannont be the sollution! This Bug is crititcal an exist for months!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-08-28T17:35:26+00:00

    I was finally able to fix that machine using another possible solution:

    1. Stop using drive (this deletes/clears out the AppData/FileHistory folder)
    2. Repair
    3. Configure a clean File History instance.  Meaning point it to the drive/location and clear out any default folders that were set.  You should have an empty list and can perform "Clean up" with the expected dialogs and not the "Element Not Found" exceptions.
    4. Revert the Repair install into your previous install.

    Doing the above I was able to get my machine to a working state where I could boot and File History was working again.

    Great news. :-)

    I have the same issue on 2004. The computer was just reimaged appx 45 days ago so I am not going to do it again. My guess is that MS has once again broken something and they are going to be slow to fix. My workaround to clean up was to turn the service off, delete 45 days worth of file history and then turn it back on. The problem "element not found" still exists, however I have room on the drive again for fresh file history.  Sad thing is that I turned  this feature on for about 15  - 20 people I support and I can see a crisis coming there. Not going to reimage every computer on a network to see if it helps. I did run the commands suggested earlier in this thread and got the exact same results. No benefit.

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  5. Virginia M 42,075 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2020-06-24T10:46:04+00:00

    You’ve probably already done this:

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/54999-reset...

    I would choose to ‘stop using this drive & delete the file history folder before doing this.

    Was file history working well immediately after installing 2004? If yes then there’s corruption either with file history or Windows.

    If it wasn’t working after upgrading, did it work fine before 2004? If so then 2004 broke File History.

    Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products).

    Please do not download any repair tool which may be offered by this site other than the ones I mention/recommend.

    Thoroughly research any product which is mentioned here before you decide to download and install it.

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