Notice: This issue was resolved in NovaBACKUP 21.1.1219 and newer versions, so please upgrade to at least that version to fix this issue.
The Default Exclusions file ('nsexc.ini') in NovaBACKUP 21.1 (this issue only affects 21.1.903 and 21.1.1010 public release versions specifically, older versions are not affected by this issue, and this issue was resolved starting in the 21.1.1219 public release) will need to be modified manually by the end user, otherwise some of the default excluded path items (files and folders in that case) will backup, to the 'Local Backup' and 'Cloud Backup' device types only (if that file is not either manually edited or replaced manually with the download link in this KB article, or if the existing text in that file is not replaced in the existing installed client file). Installing NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 (either as a clean client install or as an upgrade client install in that case) will not replace this file with the corrected contents in it, so you are required to do that yourself, otherwise some excluded path item files/folders will have a high chance of backing up (including the C:\pagefile.sys and C:\swapfile.sys files, and the \System Volume Information\ folder, which is a standard folder that will be located on most if not all local hard drives). This is a known issue in NovaBACKUP 21.1.903 and 21.1.1010, but it will be resolved in the next 21.2 public release (no time estimate for that). The downside to you not replacing this file (or replacing the file contents) is that files and folders that should have been default excluded (for the default out of the box excluded path items) may be ignored and may backup starting in this version now (that were being properly excluded in prior versions to 21.1. You can view the current Default Exclusions, and edit that file by using the Default Settings > Advanced Options > "Edit default exclude filter" function, which will open a notepad session to that current file to view and edit it.
To correct this issue manually you can utilize two methods, you can edit the existing file, that way detailed above, or going to the folder and file indicated below to edit it in place there, or you can just directly download the corrected replacement 'nsexc.ini' file here (or read more about that download below), that has the corrections in it already to overwrite the existing file in that same folder (you may want to rename your existing 'nsexc.ini' file first however, if you have any custom excluded path items in it already though, to be named 'nsexc.ini.bak' in that case). Use notepad or otherwise text editor app to edit your already existing 'nsexc.ini' file (if this file does not exist then create it as new then) in this path 'C:\ProgramData\NovaStor\NovaStor NovaBACKUP\Profiles\' (which is the standard program data path that NovaBACKUP utilizes, but if you had either custom installed the client and your OS is on a different drive letter to C: then that path may differ of course.
The existing path.item statements should look very similar to the statements below that are the corrected path.item statements that work for 21.1, however, there is the addition of one path.item statement as compared to the default installed nsexc.ini file that came with the prior recent public release versions, in that case it would normally contain the second line of text as "path.numberOfItems=18", but if you notice in the new replacement path.item statements below to utilize, the second line of text is now "path.numberOfItems=19", so please be sure that you if are just changing content in your existing file, that you replace all of the existing text in it as the following, or just pay very close attention to how the second line of text is defined in case you do have existing exclusions that you added prior to this file, for non-stock/default path.item statements, to increment that second line of text variable number by 1 for each additional path.item statement that you had custom defined, as the numbering always starts at 0 and increments from there, from the top down.
If you prefer to download the replacement 'nsexc.ini' file you can do that here, that way you don't have to mess with modifying your own existing 'nsexc.ini' file content. If you do have any custom exclusions in this file already it would be best if you first renamed the existing 'nsexc.ini' file in the Profiles folder to be named 'nsexc.ini.bak', to reference that older file as needed, and then copy this replacement 'nsexc.ini' file there, so that the backup client can make use of it the corrected form!
Direct download the corrected replacement 'nsexc.ini' file here (but if you have any custom exclusions in that file already, be sure to rename the existing file first to 'nsexc.ini.bak', that way you can reference the older file to make those entries work in this replacement file, after both files are in place in the Profiles folder): https://filestore.novabackup.com/Support/NBK21.1/nsexc.ini
You will notice that there are two new rules in the header of the replacement file above, to pay close attention to, as the main change is that every file and folder that is excluded as a path.item statement in this file now requires to have a trailing backslash "\" character added to the end of each path.item statement in that case, for those excluded path statements to work 100% for the 'Local Backup' and 'Cloud Backup' device types (which are the newer device types that were first added in 21.0):
;-------------------------------------------------------------
;
; This config contains the globally excluded items. With this
; list, the items listed will still show up in the selection
; trees but will not be selectable. Use with caution as this
; file will be updated with each update of the software.
;
; All path.item statements (folder and file based) to exclude
; require a trailing backslash “\” character to be appended
; to the end of each path.item statement entry (line of text).
; *If this rule is not followed then path.items may still
; backup that were excluded entries in this file.
;
; If you will be adding your own custom entries to exclude
; to this file that you make sure that the format is the same
; and that you increment the "path.numberOfItems=" variable
; value, which is the second line of text, by one each time
; that a new excluded path.item statement (as a new line of
; text) is added to this file, or the new path.item entries
; will not be counted and that will lead to other problems.
;
;-------------------------------------------------------------
[exclude]
path.numberOfItems=19
path.item.0=%systemdrive%\pagefile.sys\
path.item.1=%systemdrive%\hiberfil.sys\
path.item.2=%systemroot%\debug\
path.item.3=%systemroot%\prefetch\
path.item.4=%systemroot%\temp\
path.item.5=?:\recycler\
path.item.6=?:\recycled\
path.item.7=?:\$Recycle.Bin\
path.item.8=?:\$RECYCLE.BIN\
path.item.9=?:\$RECYCLED\
path.item.10=\ntuser.dat.log\
path.item.11=\usrclass.dat.log\
path.item.12=?:\System Volume Information\
path.item.13=?:\ProgramData\TempDR\
path.item.14=?:\$Windows.~BT\
path.item.15=%TMP%\
path.item.16=%TEMP%\
path.item.17=%systemroot%\WinSxS\
path.item.18=%systemdrive%\swapfile.sys\
Notice: This issue was resolved in NovaBACKUP 21.1.1219 and newer versions, so please upgrade to at least that version to fix this issue.