out of backup disc space

Commenting on my own post because I don't know how else to set to be notified when new comments are posted....

John,

You didn't do anything wrong (assuming you didn't turn on the sector by sector backup option). I wouldn't use the automatic consolidation. I highly recommend to create a new full backup after X incrementals. X is determined by the following rule of thumb. X is never too big a number for you to consider the last full backup too old to go back to.
I'd then instruct to keep the number of most recent chains Y (one chain is one fulle + X incrementals) so that Y+1 chains fit on your backup disk. This will automatically limit the age of your oldest backup on average. To keep backups longer, you will have to either use another backup disk after a while or use a bigger backup disk.

Pat L wrote:

John,

You didn't do anything wrong (assuming you didn't turn on the sector by sector backup option). I wouldn't use the automatic consolidation. I highly recommend to create a new full backup after X incrementals. X is determined by the following rule of thumb. X is never too big a number for you to consider the last full backup too old to go back to.
I'd then instruct to keep the number of most recent chains Y (one chain is one fulle + X incrementals) so that Y+1 chains fit on your backup disk. This will automatically limit the age of your oldest backup on average. To keep backups longer, you will have to either use another backup disk after a while or use a bigger backup disk.

Thanks Pat,
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying but I'm interpreting it as; I should full backup first then incrementally backup only enough times to still leave enough space on my backup drive for a second whole "chain". I guess this way I'd always have two chains on my backup drive (in case one gets corrupted?)

Here's a question... why not just do a full backup every time? Only because it takes longer? It looks as if I'll have to delete the current backup on my external drive to make room for a new full backup. When I do that and then create the full backup I'll learn just how long it takes and how much room the full backup takes up.

Thanks,
John

John, You do not indicate how much space is used on the 160. You can expect a full backup to be approx 65-70% of used space. As Pat stated, understand how incrementals restore work. In order to restore an incremental backup, you need the full plus all incrementals up to the selected one. Example: you have 1 full plus 10 incrementals. If you wish to restore #5, then all the preceding inc's must be readable and not corrupt. Or if restoring #10, then all the preceding inc's must be readable and not corrupt. If #4 should be non-readable, then 4-10 are worthless. For this reason, creating too many incrementals can be a data risk.

This is an example of a chain with 1 full plus 6 incrementals and keep 4 sets of backup chains. Adjust the 6 and 4 to your needs.

This is an example of full backups only.

Boy I can see why you two have the appellation "Forum Star" under your name; these answers are very helpful!

I don't think I understood how the incrementals worked and I'm not sure why one would want to restore to anything but the most recent backup (whether full or incremental) but I do see the concern about corrupted files ruining a backup chain. That seems like another reason to avoid "chaining" backups with incrementals. So I ask again, why not just do a full backup everytime?
I realize that is the scenario you've shown with "This is an example of full backups only." Unless there is a reason not to do this, I think that's how I'll choose.
Is the reason for storing 4 recent backups just caution... in case the first 3 are all corrupted? I would usually only keep one extra recent backup of any data but maybe I'm being foolish?

My PC's hard drive is 160 GB but I'm only using about 34GB so far.

Thanks very much for the help!
John

You can definitely do a full backup each time. TYpically, when users are constrained with space, choosing incremental backups is the most space saving method.
It is up to you to set up the retention rules. As far as I am concerned, I want to keep as much history as my backup space allows. Imagine you get struck with an OS issue but you don't realize it until after you have replaced the last backup that didn't include the problem: now you don't have a way to go back. Of course, recovering an older version of a photo that somehow disappeared is another example.
Trust me, I am parnoid with backups. I use multiple backup strategies for my irreplaceable content like family pictures or documents. Somehow, I still get caught once a while with not finding a backup for a file that got corrupted for any reason you can imagine.

If your OS/Apps don't change a lot, OR if you don't care simply reinstalling things if your last backup is not the right one or doesn't work, you can consider doing an infrequent full backup of your disk, excluding the content folders, and backup the content folders separately, maybe more often and/or keeping more history. If you have big files in the content folders that are already in a compressed filed format (MP3, MP4, AVI, JPG, AAC, etc.) you can simply copy these files and use ATI to copy the files that change often (email from Outlook, Quicken files, other working documents).

Another thing to consider for irreplaceable content: vary the backup location. For example, copy your family pictures on a disk you take to the office, and copy them again on a disk at home. After a while, exchange the 2 disks and continue backing up, etc.

Last night after my post I went ahead and deleted my existing backup files on my backup drive and started fresh with a full backup. I probably have an older or lesser ver of ATI than that of GroverH because I can't find the options screen shown in the above post. I have Acronis True Image Home 2009. Still, I now better understand how to use the program and it does give me the full or incremental options which is all I really need. I don't know how to capture an image of the ATI window to show you.

Pat L wrote:

It is up to you to set up the retention rules. As far as I am concerned, I want to keep as much history as my backup space allows. Imagine you get struck with an OS issue but you don't realize it until after you have replaced the last backup that didn't include the problem: now you don't have a way to go back.

This makes sense to me and helps me understand why I might want to keep a long series of backups. Since I have a 500gb backup drive and my current full backups only take ~28gb I have plenty of room to do that.

I think my current backup habits are pretty slack by your standards! My office is in my home and my backup drive sits next to my pc on the desk. House fire? oops....
I do unplug the external drive when I'm not using it but I guess I could at least put it in the fire resistant safe that I have (under the same desk) when not in use. I use Gmail, mainly because it's all stored on external servers and I email myself Quickbooks backup files and similar things that I absolutely don't want to lose.

Thanks again,
John

John,
My illustration is post #4 was for 2012.

Here is a link showing 2010 which is very similar to what you would see in 2009.
http://forum.acronis.com/forum/27460#comment-85009

Yes, that is about what my options screen looks like. Still enough options for me and since I have so much backup space relative to the size of my pc drive, I'll just continue to create a full backup every time. No reason to use incrrementals at all, I think.

John,

Pat has written some very good comments.

My illustration about 4 keeping backups chains relates to space restraints. Keeps as many as space permits. Never delete backup files unless space dictates that you must. It is not unusual for a need to look at files within an old backup. Do make certain that you are validation is checked as part of the backup routine. Consider another minor investment and get an additional backup drive and then use two tasks to alternate backups. If you get an electrical surge during a backup, both the source and the target may be lost. Having an alternate backup can be a really important safety precaution.

As an additional safety precaution, you should also consider occasionally booting from the TI Rescue CD and perform a backup with validation when booted from the CD. This backup should be to its own separate folder. Whether you retain only full or full with some inc is a matter of personal preference. A full has just as much chance of becoming corrupt as an iincremental type backup. Occasional testing by restoring or copying files from the backup should be part of your overall backup and recovery procedures.