To make a new backup set, I think you choose Backup Files from the Backup
and Restore Window....every couple of months, I delete all my old backups
and start over; mostly I just let the Automatic Backup do its thing once per
week. I set that schedule in Backup and Restore. I do not believe Vista
deletes old backups or old incremental backups; you have to do that
yourself. I have a 160 GB external drive and it usually manages about two
months before I have to delete old ones; my current backup set is dated
December 6th last.
I once found the flow chart for Vista's incremental vs full backup logic,
and it can be seen at:
http://cfsbloggers.members.winisp.ne...crementall.jpg
Hope this will be helpful; cheers....
"Blue Max" <mailrichard@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:90172A25-82C0-4F61-A64B-0D6370CDADC7@xxxxxx
Quote:
> How do we create a new backup set in Vista Backup versus continuing an
> incremental backup?
>
> In our case, we backup to a removable hard drive. As such, we turn Vista
> Backup OFF when the drive is not inserted and manually start a backup when
> the drive is inserted and we desire a backup. Unfortunately, we are
> apparently lost on some important details and usually get unexpected
> results, such as a new backup when we only wanted to append an incremental
> backup. This leads to a few quesitons:
>
> FIRST, what is the procdure for creating a new full backup set with a new
> date for the same computer?
>
> SECOND, what is the procedure for simply continuing to append or update an
> existing backup? How do we change backup settings, but then continue to
> append the same backup?
>
> THIRD, it appears that a new backup is first full and then incremental.
> Does Vista Backup need to be turned on to catch and log modifications
> while the media drive is removed or can we turn off the backup program
> between backups in case we insert other non-backup media.
>
> FOURTH, doesn't an incremental backup just keep growing in size? Our
> backup folder on the backup drive appears to be considerably larger than
> the combined drives it is backing up. Or is Vista deleting the old files
> from previous sessions once the new version of the modified files are
> backed up?
>
> FIFTH, when the backup program is running, with backup media in the drive,
> does it backup on some kind of a schedule or continuously? Why don't we
> have control over this except to turn Vista Backup OFF or ON?
>
> SIXTH, the backup program is forcing a backup of our system drive (Drive
> C
. We cannot change this option, so what is it backing up on the system
> drive? Is a a partial or full backup of that drive?
>
> SEVENTH, what if we want to maintain an ongoing backup of a special drive
> on the same computer? Do we have to change the settings back and forth
> each time we back up different combinations of drives? What if we want to
> back up an individual folder versus the whole drive?
>
> Thank you for any help.
> The Blue