17 responses on “VBScript – Backup a File and add a Date Time Stamp”

1. Dave P September 4, 2014 at 11:07 am

   This works very well. Thank you very much for your post.
2. Trey December 6, 2014 at 8:34 pm

   Thanks. This worked perfectly.
3. Daniel Pineault Post authorSeptember 19, 2015 at 6:35 am

   Why would you use an external site to generate a date/timestamp when you can so easily do it yourself with a few lines of code? Beyond which by porting it to a third-party website, you open yourself to a security risk since you have no clue what the site might, or might not, be exposing your browser to. Lastly, my code runs in milliseconds, your technique will take seconds (or longer) because you need to open a browser, connect to the site, populate controls, submit your request, wait for the reply for the site, …

   Not the way I have, or would, ever do things.
4. Declan Cunningham April 20, 2017 at 4:12 am

   Thanks that works brilliantly,
   Is it possible to add an underscore between the day Month year to make it more readable?
   1. Daniel Pineault Post authorApril 20, 2017 at 5:41 am

      You should simply need to tweak the sDateTimeStamp variable to something like

      sDateTimeStamp = cStr(Year(now())) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Month(now())),2) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Day(now())),2) & _
                       Pad(cStr(Hour(now())),2) & _
                       Pad(cStr(Minute(now())),2) & _
                       Pad(cStr(Second(now())),2)

      As you can see, all you should need to do is concatenate in a string underscore by adding & “_” to the code between each segment. You could continue the idea and add an underscore everywhere which would result in

      sDateTimeStamp = cStr(Year(now())) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Month(now())),2) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Day(now())),2) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Hour(now())),2) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Minute(now())),2) & "_" & _
                       Pad(cStr(Second(now())),2)
5. Jeff April 25, 2017 at 9:34 am

   Is there a way to modify this to backup multiple files in a folder to another folder and add the date?
   1. Daniel Pineault Post authorApril 25, 2017 at 9:52 am

      Simply convert/transform it into a function and call it as many time as you need or call it in a loop …
6. Ray Worth June 29, 2019 at 11:18 am

   Used as a function called by an Autoexec macro. Works perfectly. Many thanks -much appreciated.
7. Gosh December 7, 2021 at 4:06 am

   I need your help
   It does not work for me.
   Plz check the following Codes

   ‘Author: Daniel Pineault
   Dim objFSO
   Dim sSourceFolder
   Dim sDestFolder
   Dim sDBFile
   Const OVER_WRITE_FILES = True

   Set objFSO = CreateObject(“Scripting.FileSystemObject”)
   sSourceFolder = “C:\Databases\Test”
   sBackupFolder = “C:\Users\DELL\Desktop\new folder (3)”
   sDBFile = “Test.mdb”

   ‘If the backup folder doesn’t exist, create it.
   If Not objFSO.FolderExists(sBackupFolder) Then
   objFSO.CreateFolder(sBackupFolder)
   End If

   ‘Copy the file as long as the file can be found
   If objFSO.FileExists(sSourceFolder & “\” & sDBFile) Then
   objFSO.CopyFile sSourceFolder & “\” & sDBFile, sBackupFolder & “\” & sDBFile, OVER_WRITE_FILES
   End if

   Set objFSO = Nothing
   1. Daniel Pineault Post authorDecember 7, 2021 at 9:22 am

      Doesn’t work, doesn’t give me much to go on to try and help you. What happens exactly? Do you get any messages? Do the folders exists? You have permissions to both folders (you can create, edit, save and delete in both)?
   2. Jim McFadden October 10, 2022 at 9:55 pm

      I copied and pasted your code into VSCode, and after fixing the quote marks, and changing the paths to match my file system, pasted it into an Access Macro (Sub.) If running the macro Option Explicit, the sub will pop an error: Compile Error: Variable not defined. Specifically referring to sBackupFolder. sBackupFolder was not declared at the beginning of the module. Rather, sDestFolder is declared. This is exactly as posted by the OP. Without the Option Explicit statement, the code worked exactly as you posted it. Running it a second time, over wrote the file, exactly as stated: OVER_WRITE_FILES.

      Running the script stand-alone, the script worked exactly as expected, as stated above. The improper variable declaration and use, had no affect on the process. It should be noted though, that this is a very poor programming practice. The OP mostly likely simply copied and pasted the code, but failed to proof it first–under more than one scenario, if that.

      For further investigation: Look for logical errors–Check the file extension, and that your paths are correct. Logical errors, in general, will not throw error messages or indication, other than a failure to work. GiGo: Garbage in Garbage out. Third parties usually, cannot trace or fix logical errors, without sitting at your computer. Also, perhaps it is just here, but without proper indentation, code is harder to read and debug.

      JM, B.S.
      1. Daniel Pineault Post authorOctober 11, 2022 at 6:50 am

         The improper variable declaration and use, had no affect on the process. It should be noted though, that this is a very poor programming practice.

         Although I appreciate your enthusiasm, in this case it is misguided. As the title of the page indicates, this code was created for use as a VBScript and VBScript does not have variable type declarations like VBA does. Obviously, if one is trying to port this to VBA, then yes, adding variable types would be best. Then again, I already have VBA backup examples on the site, better just use one of them instead.
8. Ahsen Javaid March 9, 2022 at 5:53 am

   Hi I need some informationa about:
   I am noob at VBA or VB, I just want to know where to paste this script? In MS Access Module and If I save it in MS Access module how should I run that module?
   1. Jim Mcfadden October 10, 2022 at 10:00 pm

      Yes, the code will run from a macro or module in M.S. Access, Run as a Function, or Sub. However, backing up an open database ( or any open file) may have unexpected results. The code will also run in a VBScript file, “filename.vbs.”
9. Angel Stanhope February 23, 2023 at 11:21 am

   Hi
   I have the code running and a backup is produced (using the OnLoad for the ‘Display Form’) , however, when opening the copied backup file I get this message:
   If ‘AutoExec’ is a new macro or macro group, make sure you have saved it and that you have typed its name correctly.
   The Navigation Pane is empty, nothing displayed. Please help.
   1. Daniel Pineault Post authorFebruary 23, 2023 at 12:05 pm

      Normally, we never make a backup of a file we are actively in as it can lead to corruption.

      I don’t know what code you are using, nor have I seen the output file, so I truly don’t know where to start. I’d urge you to post your question in a forum and give as many details as you can (error message, error number, code used to produce the backup, corrupted backup if you can).
10. Paul Herman April 6, 2023 at 2:44 pm

    Thanks, that was awesome!