Windows – How to restore the backup files in Notepad++

backupnotepadwindows 10

My laptop's hard drive recently crapped out, and I had to reinstall everything. Before doing so, I made sure to back up all the Notepad++ backup files located in C:\Users[User]\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\backup\ .

Now I've successfully reinstalled Notepad++ (the newest version, v7.4.2), and I've put the old backup files into the new backup folder, but when I open Notepad++, it fails to restore the old backup files.

I recognize that there are a lot of existing Superuser questions that are somewhat similar to my question. But I know exactly where the backup files are and where they belong, and I have both "Remember current session for next launch" and "Enable session snapshot and periodic backup" checked. My problem is that I can't get Notepad++ to restore the backup files that are in the backup folder.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Best Answer

These backup files matter

Your text documents

Locate and open Notepad++ directory.*
Open session.xml file to see its content.
At each row starting with tag <file you can see backupFilePath="somePath" attribute. That somePath is backup path of that file, if there was a backup. Otherwise the value is empty.

Your Notepad++ configuration

In your N++ directory*, please focus on this subset of XML files:

config.xml         - general configuraion, mainly from Preferences dialog
contextMenu.xml    - customized context menu (right-click in text file)
nativeLang.xml     - Notepad++ UI translation currently in use
session.xml        - list of open files and some of their stuff (bookmarks etc.)
shortcuts.xml      - settings from Shortcut Mapper
stylers.xml        - settings from Style Configurator
userdefinelang.xml - user defined languages

By viewing these files you can easily learn what parts of configuration they contain and either restore everything or only required parts of configuration.

If you have any problems restoring old XML files, just grab a merging tool (e.g. WinMerge) and merge your settings from old XML files into XML files from current version. It is manual work, but not so hard nor lengthy.

*) Based on your Notepad++ installation, this can be in your %APPDATA% directory, i.e. in different directory than the Notepad++.exe file is located. If you are not sure where it is, search your backup for session.xml file (or other XML files listed above).

Backup and Restore

This is the central point to administer a number of different backup tools.

Allows you to set up backup schedules for file level backup/restore (if you loose a few files).
Allows you to take one off system images (a snapshot of your computer in its current state, so a restore will put everything back to how it was when you took the image).
Launch System Restore. (see below)
Create a Windows recovery disk, this is a special disk that allows you to restore the above image created at number 2, perform system restores offline and a number of other recovery tools (imagine clicking repair the pc at Windows setup - it basically gives you those tools).

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System Restore

Going in to System Restore allows two things:

Manually create a restore point.
Go back to a restore point.

If you don't manually create a point, they are typically auto created whenever anything is installed, updated, or system updates - along with a few other things. If you never do a restore through this method, it can speed up various activities to disable it. Take a look to configure this in System Properties > System Protection.

This process basically leaves your documents alone whilst "rolling back" most program actions, this includes changes to the registry, or file actions.

The recovery partition

The recovery partition (or manufacturer provided recovery disk) is different on every make (and possibly model) of laptop. It usually always contains the ability to wipe everything on your machine and reset the machine to factory settings - as if it was brand new. It also usually has a few tools to aid recovery, but this can vary greatly.

I hope this helps!

Edit - Updated for questions in comments...

(1) So the recovery partition is for the whole drive (including all partitions on the drive). Are "Backup and Restore* and "System Restore" also for the whole drive, or some partition, or just installed OS and software?

Well, depends on manufacturer, All leave the recovery partition alone (obviously) but some repartition and remove any customisations whilst some just format the primary/first drive. No easy way to know for sure.

Backup and Restore can be the whole drive, but it allows you to restore/pick out single files from the backup. System Restore goes back to a certain date whilst leaving your files alone... it is less powerful than an image but designed to be a "last hope" before needing a re-image or reinstallation.

(2) Is the "image" created in "Backup and Restore" same concept as the "restore point" in "System Restore"?

No, The System image is EVERYTHING, when you do a restore, it puts your machine back to how it was when you created the image.

A restore point is typically created by installers. It trys to undo an installation by removing all file and registry changes whilst leaving your documents folder alone. Sometimes it works very well, other times it doesn't.

Personally I do not like System Restore for long term backup / going to a much earlier point, however it is great for quickly (completely) undoing a driver installation or testing an installation and then undoing the same day or a bit later!

(3) Where are the "image" created in "Backup and Restore" stored? Same question for the "restore point" in "System Restore"? What is stored in the System Volume Information folder in each partition?

The image as well as the standard/scheduled backup, is created where ever you want it to be!

The System Volume Information folder contains System Restore, Volume Shadow Copy, DTS, and Indexing.

Notepad++ config files

The configuration files are typically stored in the user's roaming app data folder. I have a standard Notepad++ setup (v6.1). I made no modifications during installation. My config files are stored in:

%appdata%\Notepad++

Which resolves to:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++

I verified this by opening %appdata%\Notepad++\config.xml and checking the value for <GUIConfig name="StatusBar"> tag, which was set to show. I then went into Settings -> Preferences and unchecked the "Show status bar" checkbox. I then closed Notepad++ and reopened the config.xml file. The value now shows hide instead of show.

If you did check the "Don't use the %APPDATA% folder" option at install time, Notepad++ may be trying to write configuration files to your install directory but failing, or the Windows compatibility layer may be giving you a virtualized version of the install directory to write to. In that case I would uninstall, and reinstall using standard settings.

Best Answer

These backup files matter

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