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External Drive Full of Incrementals - how do I make more room?

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We're using Acronis to make daily incremental backups to an external hard drive. We have three that we rotate out each week, so only one is in-house at any given time.

One of the drives is now full. It has the master backup file, plus daily incrementals going back over a year.

Is there any way to get more backup life out of it, without losing its archive series? My understanding is that for it to have any value for restoration, I need the master + all incrementals up to the day I want to restore. So, I can't delete any files without ruining everything else on the drive? I may as well delete the whole drive, no?

I guess what I would need is some way to compress an archive, or move the whole archive forward a few months. Is there anything like that?

Also, as far as the future, what I could do is start a new incremental backup master every three months or so. If a drive can hold a year, more or less, then after 12 months, I delete the oldest 3-month incremental backup series, and I'm good to go for another quarter. But, it there a better way to maximize hard drive space?

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Hi Robert,
Indeed ,you need the whole series of incremental backups if ever you need to restore your system.
If you switch to differential backups ,you then need only one differential file to do the same job.
Personnaly ,if I would need my backup to be up to date at anytime,I would run a scheduled full backup ,every day , at night when sleeping...
And I do not bother with incrementals ,differentials ,secure zone and all the little toys of that kind.

 Hello all,

Thank you for using [[http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/ | Acronis True Image]]

Robert,

According to our database, you are an owner of the Acronis True Image 11 Home license.

I can suggest you to use the Backup Location feature, it will help you to make the scheduled operations completely automated.
You can manage backup rules (you may specify location size quota, maximum number of backups, storage period limits). Also you will be eligible for backup policy.
Acronis True Image 11 Home offers three types of backup policies:
1) create full backups only;
2) create full backups with specified number of incremental backups;
3) create full backups with specified number of differential backups.
At first backup on a schedule, a full backup will be created. If the choice was (2) or (3), the next backups will be incremental (or differential) until the specified number of incremental (differential) backups is reached. Then again a full backup and a set of subsequent incremental (differential) backups is created, then again a full backup and so on.
Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to obtain the backup policy window. 

First of all please make sure you created backup location (Create and Configure Backup Locations -> Create Backup Location -> follow the wizard instructions to complete backup location, e.g. you may use one of your partitions). Then you will see a window with backup rules (you may specify location size quota, maximum number of backups, storage period limits).

When backup location is created you will be eligible for backup policy. Click Operation -> Schedule Task -> Select Backup Type -> In Backup Archive Location completely unfold Backup Location folder and choose previously created backup location (in folder line you will see “No file name is required in this area”), click next and you will see backup policy window.

Please see this article for more information.

Please feel free to ask any questions if the provided information is not clear or you need a further assistance. 

Thank you.

Acronis Moderator,
I wanted to see the "article" for more information. I am denied access even though I am registered and logged in. I have version 11 also. Your information here was helpful. Could you fix this link to the article. Thanks

Hello Jack!

Thank you for notifying us that link doesn't work! We have some internal issues with the article mentioned, and I must say we highly appreciate your feedback - without it we wouldn't know that it's not accessible for the customers. I have sent the request to the KB team to fix it and meanwhile would like to duplicate here the information specified in the article regarding backing up to the Backup Locations in Acronis True Image 11 Home.

Once you have set up a Backup location and intend to save an image to it, you will need to do the following:

  1. Run Acronis True Image 11 Home;
  2. Pick Backup and Restore;
  3. Select Backup;
  4. On the Backup Archive Location screen of the Create Backup Wizard select Backup Locations to save the image there (see screenshot attached).

Please note that you do need to browse to the folder that you used to create a Backup Location.

I would also like to offer you to take a look at the qdditional information on Backup location is in Chapter 8. Backup location management of Acronis True Image 11 Home User Guide.

Please let me know should you face any issue or something seems confusing!

Thank you!

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