How to modify backups to gain disk space on destination drive
I'm using Acronis True Image Home 2012 Update 2.1 Build 7133. I've been backing up to a 1.8TB external hard drive. I can see now that the drive is full. What is the process for removing the oldest backup files (.tib files, I believe) to gain disk space so I can continue to backup my system? Is there a way to do that within True Image? Or, should I delete the oldest .tib files using Windows Explorer/My Computer on the destination drive. If anyone can help me, I'd greatly appreciate it.
If you are doing disk/partition backups, on the right hand side of your task in the Backup And Recovery tab is a gear icon. Click on it and select Explore and Recover. You will then be able to right click on each backup by date/time and delete them if you wish.
You didn't say if you were doing full, differential, or incremental backups. You should be able to tell if each backup is one of these types while using Explore and Recover.
If you were doing differential backups, you would only need to keep your last differential backup and the full backup it is based on. If you were doing incremental backups, you should not delete any of the incrementals created after the full (unless you delete them all, or all after a certain point in time), as you would need each one plus the full that they are based on, to do a restore. If you were doing only full backups, you could delete all but the latest full backup. It is not a good idea to use Windows Explorer to delete the .tib files. Acronis uses a database to keep track of the files it creates, and manual deletetion can cause the database to become confused about which files it should be keeping track of.
I would suggest that before you make any deletions, you should run a validation on the existing backup to be sure it can be restored as it stands now. After you make the deletions you want, you should perform another vaildation on your backup to be sure it too, can still be restored.
If you are comfortable with deleting all the backups and creating a new backup task, you may want to consider deleting the existing task and backup files and setting up a new task with auto cleanup options enabled. Take a look at Grover's Guide (Thanks Grover) http://forum.acronis.com/forum/28705 for tips on how to set it up.
I'm using Acronis True Image 16. How do I delete old backups off the destination drive to free up space? I've read that there is supposed to be a gear icon to the right of my backup task to click on to enable selecting backups for deletion -- no gear icon that I can find. If I click on Archive in the menu on the left, I get a sales pitch for the cloud. I've read that I can't delete these files manually using Windows Explorer. What are my options besides wiping the destination disk clean and starting over?
Paragraph 4.4.6 in the user manual on page 63, covers the process for deleting backups.
From the user manual:
"To delete an entire backup:
In the Backup section, right-click a backup in the My backups list, and then click Delete.
Depending on a backup type, this command completely deletes the backup from its location or allows you to choose whether you want to delete the backup completely or the backup box only. When you delete a backup box only, the backup files remain in the location, and you will be able to add the backup to the list later. Note that if you delete a backup completely, the deletion cannot be undone."
FtrPilot
I don't want to delete the whole backup -- I only want to delete earlier versions. I thought there should be some way, for example, to delete full_b3_s1_v1.tib and the associated incremental files -- inc_b3_s2_v1.tib through inc_b3_s6_v1.tib. Is there a way to selectively delete older versions and keep the newer ones?
Personally, I don't know of any way to do that through ATI.
Since this is at the end of a very old thread, in the ATI 2014 and earlier versions section, I recommend you start a new thread in the ATI 2016 section. Someone may be able to help you there.
Regards,
FtrPilot