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What does "Archive" mean, in relation to a file property?

Anonymous
2011-01-16T08:37:29+00:00

When I right click on a file and choose "Properties", I sometimes see the "Archive" box checked.  What does that mean?  I don't understand why some have this box checked and others do not.  Does it mean that there is ANOTHER copy of this file somewhere hidden on my computer?  Can I control this?

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-17T13:54:16+00:00

    As Hans said, the archive flag is turned on whe a file is created or changed. Then, when you use backup software the archive flag is turned off until until the file is changed again.

    The Archive flag is used by backup software to identify files that have changed since the last backup to allow you to do "incremental" backups. Obviously, incremental backups only copy files that have the archive flag turned on.

    The archive flag can be reset manually, as you saw. It can also be reset by a user in a batch file using the XCOPY command with the /A parameter to recognize files with the archive attribute turned on.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-17T12:10:01+00:00

    Which version of outlook do you use?

    The Microsoft article gives the Description of the AutoArchive feature in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830119

    Ganesh Kumar N

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  1. HansV 462.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2011-01-16T09:50:34+00:00

    The archive attribute marks files that have changed since the last time they were backed up.

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-01-17T13:12:16+00:00

    "Archive" in Outlook has nothing to do with the Archive attribute in the file system.

    Jay Freedman

    MS Word MVP  FAQ: http://word.mvps.org

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