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I just did a restore from a backup last night and instead of OVERWRITING what was in there, it created DUPLICATES of old files and folders that were already in there, doubling the space used on the usb drive. Old files that I have either updated or no longer want.
I basically had to reformat the usb to clear everything out that was in there and essentially install it blank (except for the portable app itself) and start all over again.
That's not a proper restore. A restore should overwrite everything and delete what's not in the 7-zip backup, itself.
Is that they way it's supposed to do things or did I do something wrong?
Thank you
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The 7-Zip command line for a restore includes the -aoa switch which means overwrite all files without prompting. It's set for all 3 restore modes (data, documents, and drive).
As for best practice, it's a super simple - aka 'dumb' - restoration that just extracts the files. It won't delete anything that is already there that isn't in the backup. Drive is basically designed for fully restoring from a fresh platform (no apps or data at the start). Data is mainly for users who will manually open up the backup in 7-Zip and pull the files out they need for a specific app they accidentally broke. Documents is basically the same.
Which restore were you trying to do? Data, documents or drive? Where is the platform installed to, aka where is Start.exe located? Were all files duplicated or just some?
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I do the whole PortableApps drive since apps on there get updated all the time, as well as documents, video, music, etc... being altered or deleted.
I also now use the same backup restore on a second USB drive as well that also has outdated information on it from the last backup I made of it, about a month ago.