Feature Request: Exclude folders based on Windows registry

[mcrape]

What would be real handy is to have a way to exclude folders from cloud storage providers (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, etc.). If you could query the registry to get these, it would take care of any issues when the default folder path or names aren't used.

[Gostev]

Why do you want to exclude them from backup? If their content gets cryptolocked and you don't have them in your backup - you have lost your data?

[mcrape]

I would want to exclude them as a) there is already a copy offsite that can be re-downloaded via the software (i.e. make my repository smaller) and b) most of these services do offer versioning of files.

I wouldn't suggest it as a default by any means, but it might also be useful for administrators who don't want to be backing users' personal Dropbox folders (whether due to size or contents).

[Dima P.]

Hi Matt,

You could exclude any folder from the volume level backup by selecting the 'file level backup' mode, keeping the needed volume checked but the necessary folder unchecked? Your backup will be still performed on a volume level with the folder being excluded.

[mcrape]

Hi Dima,

I was just hoping to find a way to automate this a bit. For example User A may have Dropbox installed at c:\users\UserA\My Dropbox. User B may have it installed at c:\temp\Dropbox.

If a toggle could be added to look up these values in the registry, I wouldn't need to a) know if they are using any of these apps and b) not need to figure out where they are installed. This would also be problematic if I do the install as a different user (e.g. the user doesn't have admin rights, so I logon as the local admin to do the install).

[Dima P.]

Hi Matt,

Thank you for the clarification. Honestly, I think exclusion is not the right thing to automate – you may end up with the unexpected data missing in the restore point due such automation. The request is still interesting though, we will discuss it with the team.