Hi Rick, you illustrated clearly the gist of it. Using disk cleanup does
delete older backups indeed, but always keep the most recent intact. But a
lot of users can part with only keeping the most recent backup.
Recommendations are hard because it depends on usage pattern and amount of
storage available. But roughly you can take a full system backup every
couple months and have weekly file backups. If you want to keep one full
system backup safe (to not be deleted as space becomes needed - let's say
your backup from when your machine was fully configured), you can store the
VHD(s) in a separate partition from your usual backup. If you don't take
further backups in the archive partitions, your backup will never "age out".
Eduardo
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
--
"RichG" <RichG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C084377C-92CE-4692-B73B-ABFBCDD91B4C@microsoft.com...
> Eduardo:
>
> Thank you again for your reply - it is much appreciated.
>
> Let’s assume that I run the following complete system backups…
>
> 1st – July 1
> 2nd – August 1
> 3rd – September 1
>
> As I understand it, I should see only one VHD file, but the other
> information (the delta difference) is stored as volume shadow copy data.
> If
> I correctly understand your response, this would seem to indicate that a
> disk
> cleanup should never be run because the erasure of ANY of the shadow copy
> VHD
> information will prevent a complete system restore.
>
> Is this correct?
>
> If my assumption is correct (that disk cleanup cannot be run), I can see a
> disk space management issue as the months go by and my external disk
> becomes
> full. Again – bear in mind that my external drive is used to store a
> variety
> of data, not just complete system backup data.
>
> Before I learned how complete system backup and VSS works, my plan was to
> run a complete system backup once per month (or whenever there was a
> significant system change), and to keep 2-3 months of system backups
> available at any one time. I had planned to manually delete the older
> backups as required to manage my free disk space.
>
> Can you recommend a best practice methodology here?
>
> Is there a simple method of managing this space so that it does not keep
> growing as the months go by?
>
> --
> RichG
>
>
> "Eduardo Laureano [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>> The concept is correct, the order is backwards. Once you take your 2nd
>> backup, your first backup is now only a set of block level differences
>> between the 1st and 2nd. This behavior goes one for subsequent backups.
>> Backup n is stored in the VHD, backup n-1 is stored as a set of block
>> level
>> differences (between n and n-1) in a shadow copy. And so on ...
>>
>> You should typically only have one VHD per volume being backed up. All
>> other
>> previous backups are saved in terms of shadow copies.
>>
>> On the web you can get information about VSS in general. There's a
>> TechNet
>> article coming that will address a lot of the internal behaviors around
>> the
>> backup features, but this might take over a month. meanwhile you can see
>> some of it on this presentation:
>> http://www.microsoft.com/emea/itssho...px?videoid=219
>>
>> Eduardo
>>
>> "RichG" <RichG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:567738F2-3C59-405E-9064-FAA6EE7FFE6C@microsoft.com...
>> > Eduardo:
>> >
>> > Thank you very much for the clarification – this makes sense.
>> >
>> > If I understand your reply, my second backup is not a COMPLETE system
>> > backup
>> > by itself…it is only the difference between my original backup and my
>> > current
>> > state.
>> >
>> > If so, it would seem to indicate that both of the VHD files (original
>> > and
>> > current) in order to accomplish a complete system restore.
>> >
>> > Is this correct?
>> >
>> > Is there any documentation on the Microsoft WEB site that fully
>> > explains
>> > this from a technical perspective?
>> >
>> > --
>> > RichG
>> >
>> >
>> > "Eduardo Laureano [MSFT]" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Rich,
>> >>
>> >> your assumptions are mostly correct. VSS is turned on at the
>> >> destination where your Complete PC Backups are being saved. At the
>> >> time
>> >> you
>> >> created your 2nd backup, block level data representing your 1st backup
>> >> was
>> >> saved to shadow copy. Therefore the space hit that you are seeing.
>> >>
>> >> For instance, if you take a 3rd backup, without changing much on your
>> >> system, you'll see that the space usage should grow only by the amount
>> >> of
>> >> changed blocks between the time you took your 2nd and 3rd backups.
>> >>
>> >> If you are concerned about the disk space allocation where your
>> >> backups
>> >> are
>> >> being saved, I recommend using Disk Cleanup. From there you can delete
>> >> all
>> >> older shadow copies, but the most recent one. Be aware that this means
>> >> to
>> >> consequently loose access to older backups.
>> >>
>> >> Disk Cleanup -> Files from all users on this computer -> Select volume
>> >> where
>> >> backups are being saved -> More Options -> System Restore and Shadow
>> >> Copies -> Clean up ...
>> >>
>> >> Eduardo
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "RichG" <RichG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:6A23BAE1-4554-49AF-8D34-126F3D424EBC@microsoft.com...
>> >> > My system is configured as follows…
>> >> >
>> >> > OS = Windows Vista Business
>> >> > Internal Disk (drive C) = 120Gb
>> >> > External Disk (drive H) = 500Gb (USB-connected)
>> >> >
>> >> > I ran my first “Complete System backup” of my system on July 11, and
>> >> > chose
>> >> > to store the backup files on my external disk (drive H). The backup
>> >> > completed successfully, and I verified that the system created a
>> >> > 37Gb
>> >> > VHD
>> >> > file along with a few other very small files. I then verified that
>> >> > the
>> >> > amount of free space remaining on my external drive was ~37Gb less
>> >> > than
>> >> > I
>> >> > previously had free.
>> >> >
>> >> > So far, so good…
>> >> >
>> >> > I installed two other software applications on my system (Microsoft
>> >> > Visio
>> >> > 2007 and Microsoft Project 2007), and I launched another complete
>> >> > system
>> >> > backup this weekend. The backup completed successfully, and I
>> >> > verified
>> >> > that
>> >> > the system created a new 25Gb VHD file along with a few other very
>> >> > small
>> >> > files.
>> >> >
>> >> > I expected to see this new 25Gb VHD file IN ADDITION to the previous
>> >> > 37Gb
>> >> > VHD file from the July 11 backup, and was surprised to find that the
>> >> > previous
>> >> > 37Gb file appears to be MISSING. At least, I cannot find the file
>> >> > in
>> >> > the
>> >> > folder where it previously existed.
>> >> >
>> >> > I checked the free space on my external H drive, and found that I
>> >> > have
>> >> > ~
>> >> > 25Gb less free space than I had before. It is as if the 37Gb file
>> >> > is
>> >> > still
>> >> > on the drive somewhere, but I cannot find it. When I launch the
>> >> > backup
>> >> > program, it states that the last complete backup was run this
>> >> > weekend,
>> >> > and
>> >> > it
>> >> > also seems to indicate that a previous backup does exist, but it
>> >> > does
>> >> > not
>> >> > list it my name or date.
>> >> >
>> >> > I see from the documentation that a complete system backup will run
>> >> > so
>> >> > long
>> >> > as enough free space exists, and that it will automatically delete
>> >> > older
>> >> > backups (oldest first) as necessary to insure that free space is
>> >> > available.
>> >> >
>> >> > I use this external drive to store other information in addition to
>> >> > complete
>> >> > system backups, and I need to insure that I always have enough free
>> >> > space
>> >> > to
>> >> > handle my needs. My plan was to run a complete system backup
>> >> > whenever
>> >> > my
>> >> > system configuration changes significantly, or every month or so –
>> >> > whichever
>> >> > comes first. I planned on keeping perhaps 3-4 complete system
>> >> > backups
>> >> > on
>> >> > my
>> >> > external drive, and to delete the older backups as necessary.
>> >> >
>> >> > NOTE: I am generally aware of volume shadow copy and how it can
>> >> > reduce
>> >> > the
>> >> > amount of free space on a volume, but I’m not sure if this is
>> >> > compounding
>> >> > my
>> >> > issue or not.
>> >> >
>> >> > QUESTION:
>> >> >
>> >> > Can anyone tell me (or does documentation exist that explains) how
>> >> > to
>> >> > manage
>> >> > complete system backup files? How does one manage these backups?
>> >> >
>> >> > Any assistance is appreciated...
>> >> >
>> >> > --
>> >> > RichG
>> >>
>>