4

I would like to set up an archive folder in Windows XP that would allow me to drop several different versions of the same file, and have it store each version. I would envision this to work similar to the recycle bin, where you can drop the same file 10 times and it stores each version. Anybody know how I can do this?

Thanks!

Edit: Using a Version Control System is complete overkill for this situation. I may just write a script that appends a date/time stamp to the file when added to the folder.

Mike Cole
  • 461

7 Answers7

2

I'd recommend using an actual version control system. Many of them have Windows clients and/or shell integration. A few examples:

  • Mercurial (with TortoiseHG)
  • Git
  • Subversion (with TortoiseSVN)
  • CVS (with TortoiseCVS)

Windows Vista and 7 have System Restore, which allows you to allocate a percentage of your hard drive for backing up old file revisions. This is probably closer to what you're looking for, but the disadvantage (aside from the fact that you're running WinXP) is that you cannot specify explicitly which files you want to be version-controlled--so you might lose some old revisions of files if you don't allocate enough of your hard drive for System Restore.

rob
  • 14,388
1

This batch file copy your file(s) to "_bpath" (set it as you like) and add actual date, hours, minutes and seconds to it. 

@echo off
Set _bpath=T:\Temp\
if [%1]==[] goto :eof
:loop
Set _file=%~n1%
Set _ext=%~x1%
For /f "tokens=1-3 delims=1234567890 " %%a in ("%time%") Do Set "delims=%%a%%b%%c"
For /f "tokens=1-4 delims=%delims%" %%G in ("%time%") Do (
   Set _hh=%%G
   Set _min=%%H
   Set _ss=%%I
   Set _ms=%%J
)
copy %1 "%_bpath%%_file%(%date:/=-% %_hh%h%_min%m%_ss%s)%_ext%"
shift
if not [%1]==[] goto loop

For convenience you could add this batch file to your "Send To" right click menu by copying it in %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

Or if you need more advanced features, a software that imitate the mac osx time machine, like Comodo Time Machine (free) or Genie Timeline (35$), could be a good choice.

fluxtendu
  • 7,219
1

Ancient old RCS, though text only, is very light weight and is my solution to the same problem. There are more modern VCSes well suited to multi-file and multi-developer projects but for one person managing files one-at-a-time, RCS is just right.

JRobert
  • 7,134
0

Personally, I use TortoiseSVN. It's not axactly the drag & drop solution you are asking for, but it is very nicely integrated with the Windows Explorer, is easy to use and very reliable. Plus it's my favorite price (free).

Tortoise menu

Gareth
  • 19,080
DaveParillo
  • 14,761
0

I'll second the notion of using a version control system but would recommend bzr as one of the easier.

http://bazaar.canonical.com/en/

0

I would just create a batch file, which would archive all files of your folder to the archive with name reflecting date and time in sortable fashion (so it would be something like 2013-Oct-20.rar) and then after each work session you would have a nice archive copy of all your work.

2 possible drawbacks: 1. if your files are bigger than 100MB, archival times and disk space might be a problem 2. You cannot access files very fast, have to open archive and browse to file.

Alexey Vassiliev
  • 181
-1

It's not XP, but Time Machine on the mac is exactly what you're looking for http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/time-machine.html

chichilatte
  • 131