Backup throws Error if backup path is set to folder on other drive

[Ste-Ba]

Microsoft PowerToys version

0.64.0

Installation method

PowerToys auto-update

Running as admin

Yes

Area(s) with issue?

Settings

Steps to reproduce

I've selected a folder at drive F and after that I clicked on Backup. I get: There was an error. Try another backup location

No detailed informations about why it fails. Folder exists and all users may write to this folder.

✔️ Expected Behavior

Backup will be created

❌ Actual Behavior

Error message, no Backup

Other Software

No response

[Ste-Ba]

Tried it with path %appdata%\Powertoys and getting same error

[jaimecbernardo]

/bugreport

[ghost]

Hi there!

We need a bit more information to really debug this issue. Can you add a "Report Bug" zip file here? You right click on our system tray icon and just go to report bug. Then drag the zipfile from your desktop onto the GitHub comment box in this issue. Thanks!

[Ste-Ba]

Here comes the BugReport, it's from my home machine. Will add report from office machine in a few minutes PowerToysReport_2022-11-03-15-43-28.zip

[Ste-Ba]

Report from office machine PowerToysReport_2022-11-03-15-53-39.zip

[Mister-Zett]

I get the same error message, too. Tried different locations on local HDs and remote drives. All are failing to backup the settings. PowerToysReport_2022-11-12-11-08-13.zip

[callworthp]

I too am unable to backup my settings anywhere. I receive that same error message no matter what folder location I use. PowerToysReport_2022-11-16-14-46-29.zip

[astrassburg]

Same issue. Cannot backup to any location. The error is There was an error. Try another backup location.

PowerToysReport_2022-12-19-08-41-12.zip

[albeec13]

Same issue as above. No matter what location is chosen, There was an error. Try another backup location. is seen. Tried both administrator mode and regular launch of PowerToys and both behave the same way. PowerToysReport_2022-12-19-11-38-14.zip

[albeec13]

Just to add, I did a clean install on another machine, and copied the FancyZones folder from C:\Users\<myuser>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\PowerToys on the old machine to the same location on the clean install machine. This was able to read my FancyZones settings and make a proper backup with the new settings.

I then tried copying ALL folders from the old machine to the new machine, and backup broke, identically to the above description.

I suspect one of the PowerToys application's settings is causing an issue with backup not working on existing installs. I did not go through each folder one at a time to test which one is breaking things, because I only care about FancyZones primarily and that seems to be working now. I don't have time to triage the whole thing, but I can provide a zip file of my entire settings folder, if someone wants to go through that process.

[soxism]

Same issue. Cannot backup to any location. The error is There was an error. Try another backup location.

PowerToysReport_2022-12-19-08-41-12.zip

Same Issue and Error.

See attached Error Report PowerToysReport_2023-04-09-17-14-22.zip

[ZlobidloCZ]

I got the same issue, There was an error in the settings format. Please check the settings file: C:\Users\josesrpa\AppData\LocaI\Microsoft\PowerToys\Registry Preview\Registry Preview_settings.json PowerToysReport_2023-07-07-07-38-47.zip

[callworthp]

Same here. One of the recent versions changed the error to be more specific about why the backup is failing. It now tells me to check the settings file. I was able to find a value that was invalid and changed. That allowed me to successfully backup the settings.

So thank you to whoever it was that made the error message more helpful!