36.7G space left on my backup HD (1 terra byte)

[W. eWatson]

I'm using the Win7 backup tool, and am close to running out of space. Is
there some way to trim the fat, or do I need to add a new drive?

 

[Paul]

I'm using the Win7 backup tool, and am close to running out of space. Is
there some way to trim the fat, or do I need to add a new drive?

It's explained here a bit. It doesn't have an arbitrary granularity
when it comes to cleanup. And some users are going to be surprised
when all their backup history disappears, and a new full is run.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2009/11/23/managing-backup-disk-space.aspx

Paul

 

[Joe Morris]

I'm using the Win7 backup tool, and am close to running out of space. Is
there some way to trim the fat, or do I need to add a new drive?

You might also want to check how much of the volume (if any) is occupied by
shadow storage. From an elevated command prompt type:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

You can use the vssadmin tool to limit shadow storage to a specific maximum
size or a percentage of the partition size:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage <parameters>


Joe

 

[W. eWatson]

It's explained here a bit. It doesn't have an arbitrary granularity
when it comes to cleanup. And some users are going to be surprised
when all their backup history disappears, and a new full is run.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/filecab/archive/2009/11/23/managing-backup-disk-space.aspx


Paul

Well, I'm looking at the Backup & Restore panel View backups. I see 7
backup periods starting with
5/20/2011 t0 5/30/2011 72.21 GB

The last one is
11/5/2012 to 11/12/2012 61.28 GB.

Apparently, I can delete earlier ones. What motivates me to do that?
Wouldn't I lose something that I might want? I see the third backup was
106 GB. I see from the blog that I might start deleting the first and
then possibly the second. It seems kind of odd that the size does not
increase as I look down the list. What to do?

 

[Paul]

Well, I'm looking at the Backup & Restore panel View backups. I see 7
backup periods starting with
5/20/2011 t0 5/30/2011 72.21 GB

The last one is
11/5/2012 to 11/12/2012 61.28 GB.

Apparently, I can delete earlier ones. What motivates me to do that?
Wouldn't I lose something that I might want? I see the third backup was
106 GB. I see from the blog that I might start deleting the first and
then possibly the second. It seems kind of odd that the size does not
increase as I look down the list. What to do?

The blog article implies each of the entries here
consists of a full + incrementals. So each of these
can be deleted independently. You could delete the
older ones, on the understanding that they're now out of
date. Or, delete some in the middle, if they're irrelevant
and the oldest one still contains something of value.

http://blogs.technet.com/blogfiles/...gingbackupdiskspace_14148/clip_image006_2.jpg

I agree it's not a very good way to manage backups.
One other tool I've used years ago, each backup
required the user to key in a few English comments.
And by doing so, you can get some idea why the backup
was run, and what you might lose by deleting it.

When I do system images with Windows 7, I immediately move
them off to another disk for storage. Which means I manage
those, and not Windows. It's up to me to move them back
or put them some place useful, when it's time to restore.

Paul

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

The blog article implies each of the entries here
consists of a full + incrementals. So each of these
can be deleted independently. You could delete the
older ones, on the understanding that they're now out of
date. Or, delete some in the middle, if they're irrelevant
and the oldest one still contains something of value.

I agree it's not a very good way to manage backups.
One other tool I've used years ago, each backup
required the user to key in a few English comments.
And by doing so, you can get some idea why the backup
was run, and what you might lose by deleting it.

When I do system images with Windows 7, I immediately move
them off to another disk for storage. Which means I manage
those, and not Windows. It's up to me to move them back
or put them some place useful, when it's time to restore.

Paul

It is my understanding that a specific incremental backup requires the
original backup and all of the intervening incremental backups to be
valid, in contrast with a differential backup, which requires only the
first backup and any specific differential backup to be valid.

 

[W. eWatson]

You might also want to check how much of the volume (if any) is occupied by
shadow storage. From an elevated command prompt type:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

You can use the vssadmin tool to limit shadow storage to a specific maximum
size or a percentage of the partition size:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage <parameters>


Joe

Couldn't find it with search> file:vssadmin

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Couldn't find it with search> file:vssadmin

By default, Windows Search doesn't search everywhere.

Start an elevated command prompt and enter

vssadmin /?

as a command.

You'll be able to do the command listed above, but remember to replace
<parameters> by your desired parameters.

 

[Paul]

It is my understanding that a specific incremental backup requires the
original backup and all of the intervening incremental backups to be
valid, in contrast with a differential backup, which requires only the
first backup and any specific differential backup to be valid.

As long as the GUI helps you delete them in logically consistent
groups, that's what matters. The interface in that
picture makes me nervous. I'd much rather see each line
item displayed, and perhaps a box drawn around the groups
so you can see how they "work as a team".

You're right, that deleting something which is a dependency
for some other backup, it wouldn't make sense to just select
a tiny one at random, and ruin a group of them. But I'd rather
see what *all* of them are, so I can see what I'm really deleting.

For example, if I thought, as a user, that I'd run the backup utility
about 30 times, I'd be kinda pissed if the display showed 6 items,
and I could not see my 30 efforts displayed for me. I might suspect
6 groups of 5 items, but without details, I'd be nervous.

Paul