delete Backup chains & versions in ATI (in Windows)?

There is no direct option to delete backup image chains within the ATIH GUI other than by using the options for Automatic Cleanup, which is the best way to do this without having to do this manually.

I personally would recommend using the "Store no more than X recent version chains" automatic cleanup option, this is what I use myself and works well providing that you understand that your backup location must be able to hold X+1 full backup image in order for automatic cleanup to work correctly.

Automatic cleanup only runs when the next full backup image has been created successfully, so if X = 2, cleanup will remove the oldest backup chain only when full backup #3 has been created.

The reason for using Automatic Cleanup is that Acronis stores information about your backup chains in a metadata database, which is managed correctly when cleanup runs but gets out of sync with the actual files available if you delete files manually outside of Acronis, i.e. using Windows Explorer.

What a great response, Steve, many thanks!

Once I get a disk space notification I'll add a "Store no more than X recent version chains" automatic cleanup option (since at that point I'll have a better idea what X should be).

Oh, and thank you also for the clarification about the cleanup occurring after creation, I'll make sure to leave plenty of room for X+1 (and more, since backup sources tend to increase in size over time).

I blew it.  I had a Full fail last night, and I see there just wasn't room on the target HDD for it.  Log contains:

"| function: `anonymous-namespace'::FreeSpaceChecker::CheckFreeSpace
| line: 0x6d93396f95de5cb, k:\8058\backup\file_writer.cpp:111, `anonymous-namespace'::FreeSpaceChecker::CheckFreeSpace"

Specifically, there is only room on the target drive for 2 Fulls, and it already had/has 2 on it.

So I've now belatedly set the job's auto cleaup to store no more than 1 versions.  (Since 1+1=my target's capacity.)  

Is that enough for me to launch a Full?  (In other words, will ATI begin the next backup by deleting 1?  Or do I need to do a manual cleanup with bootable media?)

ATI will not delete the Full until the next Full is complete. I'd suggest a manual cleanup. Clone the task first and then you can delete the old task along with the files and use the new one from here on out. You can copy the last Full to another drive if available.

Can a manual cleanup delete one of my Fulls?

I ask because I con't have disk space available on another drive (unless I count the SOURCE drive, from which on the next backup I guess I could exclude it).

Doing a manual cleanup you can delete any type of backup file, Full or otherwise but if you do so, please run a validation afterwards to reconcile the Acronis Database information for your backup task(s).

You could put a backup .TIB file on your Source drive if you wanted as the default Exclusions will always exclude *.TIB

If you delete a full backup you should also delete any associated incremental backups as they will be useless.

Ian

First, thank you all, most recently Steve and Ian, for your superb and thoughtful help!!  I just need a tiny bit more please:

I'm not absolutely certain I understand yet, even though I've studied 4.5.6 in the ATI2017 manual.  (Until I did so, the boot media menus provided zero clue where to go to delete images.)

Now that I have read the manual, I'm still not 100% sure about two things:

1.  Is the place to delete ALL the backup images associated with a backup within the Windows ATIH GUI?  (If so, I see how to do so...I'm just hesitant because of prior cautions to only use the boot media to delete backup images.)  (Oh, and a note on the manual: in 4.5.6 it says to right-click on the ATIH2017 GUI backup to delete it, and RIGHT-CLICK does absolutely nothing.)

2.  As for deleting a specific backup version, I think I see where to do that with the boot media.  It's just when I get to step 4 for doing so, it says to right click, and once again, RIGHT-CLICK does absolutely nothing.  There is a button with a red X and the word "Delete" on it, so...is this (regardless of that error in the manual) the proper/preferred place to delete a specific backup image?

p.s.  While I love the functionality of ATI2017 so much that I'll soon be buying a second license for my Win7 PC to use it (instead of Ghost)....Acronis could attend to usability and (as I've noted in another thread) a bit better.

From within the ATI GUI there is only two options, delete the backup task from the GUI listing or delete the backup task from the GUI listing AND delete all of the backup files.

To delete old backups strings, you need to use Windows Explore or you preferred file manger to delete the string (the full backup and associated incremental backups). Once this is done, validate the backup (I find this easier to do from Windows explorer as it is already open and the right place - right click on the last backup and select Acronis, then validate. Click ignore each time an error message is given. To be doubly sure you may wish to repeat the validation - if no error occur then all should be well.

Ian

I agree that there are areas where the user interface could be greatly improved. The documentation (user manual) sometimes does not go into sufficient detail to help you to work out how to do what you want to do. So, when I am in doubt I ask on the Forum and someone usually has the answer.

I think I'll go with "delete the backup task from the GUI listing AND delete all of the backup files" (as I'm going with thomasjk's earlier recommendation).  In this case, there's nothing I need to validate, right?

As for "To delete old backups strings, you need to use Windows Explorer":  wait, I thought I wasn't supposed to delete images with a Windows file manager.  Is this just for (by "old" do you mean...) images no longer associated with a backup...but wait, even then I thought the boot media was where I was supposed to delete specific images.   I'm not clear on when this paragraph applies.

p.s.

I'm amazed by how much y'all know.  Last century all I had help with backups was Ghost's miserable, clueless phone support (I always felt like I was training them); then Ghost got a forum, and (like here) I became humbled by how much more deeply everyone there understood Ghost than me.  There are a few peripheral areas I can help in, though.

Just occurred to me that rather than delete the files, first move them to another directory, then do the validation. If that works out, delete the files you moved. I call it an abundant caution approach.

Ian

Thank you very much for your reply, IanL-S, but (please see my last post) I didn't understand that either.

Coyote, the simple rule of thumb for deleting backup files is as follows:

If the backup task that created the file is still shown in the ATIH GUI then a validation is needed if you delete the file(s) using Explorer in order to reconcile the Acronis Database information held for the task.

If there is no backup task associated with the file(s) then no rules apply.

Thank you very much, Steve.  But my imagination is failing me.

If (as AFAIK I'm supposed to) I only delete specific backup files with the boot media, or delete whole jobs WITH their backup files in the ATIH GUI, are there circumstances where I may need to delete backup file(s) with Windows Explorer?

My first guess was that it might come into play if I delete a job (but NOT their backup files) in the ATIH GUI...but that seems a poor guess since once the job is deleted I guess there would no longer be any "Acronis Database information held for the task".

Personally, I have never had to use the Rescue Media in order to delete backup files, sounds like too much hard work to have to boot up outside of Windows to do something that is easy to do from within Windows.

The downside of using the Rescue media, is that if you delete the whole set of backup files for a particular task, you still leave behind the task configuration script in the Scripts folder and this will still show in the ATIH GUI as if it has never been run.

If you don't need a backup task any longer, then remove this through the GUI option which will remove the task settings and if selected, all the files too.

Thank you very much, Heroes, I think I get it now.

"Thank you very much, Heroes, I think I get it now."

Excellent. Like Steve I noted the reference to recovery media but forgot to make it clear that this can easily be done from within Windows with risk of extreme consequences.

Ian