Robocopy: copy drive root directory creates Hidden backup folder

Question

Robocopy: copy drive root directory creates Hidden backup folder

franklin-xy 26

Windows 10 Home 21H2 19044.1526, 64-bit
Robocopy 10.0.19041.1266
Run Robocopy via .bat file, Run as Administrator.

Hello:

When I use Robocopy to copy the root directory of a drive (D:) to a folder (non-root directory) on an external drive, the resulting destination folder is Hidden. I believe that's because the root drive has System and Hidden attributes.
How can I prevent System and Hidden attributes from being applied to the destination folder?

My testing (I removed options for multi-threads, retries, logging, etc., to make it easier for you folks to read.):

SET options=/MIR /A-:RSHA /XA:SH /XJ /XD "$RECYCLE.BIN" "System Volume Information" /XF DESKTOP.INI
ROBOCOPY "D:" "Y:\Backups\Test" %options%

/A-:RSHA does not work to prevent the destination folder from being hidden, though I read that it should work.
So, I added /COPY:DT /DCOPY:DT to options so as not to backup properties and attributes:

SET options=/COPY:DT /DCOPY:DT /MIR /A-:RSHA /XA:SH /XJ /XD "$RECYCLE.BIN" "System Volume Information" /XF DESKTOP.INI
ROBOCOPY "D:" "Y:\Backups\Test" %options%

/COPY:DT /DCOPY:DT did not help, as destination backup folder is still created as hidden.

I can run ATTRIB command after the backup, as in:

attrib -s -h "Y:\Backups\Test"

This does unhide the hidden directory, but I would prefer to find a way to prevent Robocopy from hiding the backup in the first place.

How can I prevent System and Hidden attributes from being applied to the destination folder?

2 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

MotoX80 36,401

How about using Powershell to only copy the subfolders?

$Source = "D:\"                  # Must have trailing slash 
$Dest = "Y:\Backups\Test\"          # Must have trailing slash 
$TopDirs = Get-ChildItem -Path $source -directory
$Options = '/COPY:DT /DCOPY:DT /Mir  /XA:SH /XJ  /XF DESKTOP.INI /l'       # Note /l switch for testing
foreach ($Dir in $TopDirs) {
    $cmd = "robocopy.exe $Source$Dir $Dest$Dir $Options" 
    $cmd                      # Display the command that we would execute. 
    #Invoke-Expression $cmd   # Uncomment to actually Execute the robocopy command 
    #return                   # uncomment to only copy the first folder during initial testing
}

franklin-xy 26 Reputation points

2022-02-18T17:07:17.76+00:00

Hello, MotoX80. Thank you for the reply and the code.

That's interesting that Powershell can specify children of a directory without capturing properties of the directory.
I appreciate the script very much. I still hope it may be possible to find a Robocopy-only solution.
I'll keep your script in my back pocket in case I need it. :)
MotoX80 36,401 Reputation points

2022-02-18T18:12:42.757+00:00
The way I read this is that it only applies to files and not directories.

/A+:[RASHCNET] :: add the given Attributes to copied files. /A-:[RASHCNETO]:: remove the given Attributes from copied files.

The simplest solution appears to be running the attrib command that you've already identified after the robocopy is finished.

I played around with this, and it would appear that this is just how robocopy processes the root of a drive.
franklin-xy 26 Reputation points

2022-02-18T18:46:53.943+00:00

Ah, thanks for finding that reference. I missed the fact that the /A switch applies only to files and not directories.

The simplest solution appears to be running the attrib command that you've already identified after the robocopy is finished.

I think so. I can't find any way to stop Robocopy from doing it, so I'll continue to use attrib in the batch file to run after the backups.

I played around with this, and it would appear that this is just how robocopy processes the root of a drive.

Yes, I think it's standard behaviour, since a drive root has System and Hidden properties. I don't know if Robocopy's handling of them is bug or feature, but it does seem consistent.

Thanks for your help, @MotoX80

Answer 2

Michal Šovčík 0

/A switch did not help in my case. Only after /COPY and /DCOPY switches were removed, destination folders remained not hidden after robocopy.

If folder is already hidden, you have to clear the attribute first with: > attrib -s -h \path\folder

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Robocopy: copy drive root directory creates Hidden backup folder

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