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    ryrhino's Avatar
    ryrhino Posts: 40, Reputation: 1
    Junior Member
     
    #1

    Oct 24, 2014, 06:00 PM
    How long should I keep the following on external hard drive?
    I have a 500 GB external hard drive. This was the size hard drive I could afford. I have been using AOMEI Backupper free to do weekly differential hard drive backups. In order to gain more space on the external which backup should I delete first? The ones that were done a few months ago or the most recent one? How long should I keep the differential back ups? How long should I keep the system backups? I have a system backup from 4/2014. Do I still need to save it? Thanks for your help.
    Scleros's Avatar
    Scleros Posts: 2,165, Reputation: 262
    Hardware Expert
     
    #2

    Nov 24, 2014, 03:12 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by ryrhino
    In order to gain more space on the external which backup should I delete first?
    I haven't used your backup program, but traditional differential backup (see your program's help for specifics) requires only the full backup plus a single differential backup to complete a restore. So, the oldest differentials are usually deleted first. Deleting all but the full and the most recent differential backup would allow a restore to the date of the differential. Yet, that may not be the most prudent.

    Quote Originally Posted by ryrhino
    The ones that were done a few months ago or the most recent one?
    Sometimes problems requiring a restore, file corruption for example, do not manifest until days, weeks, or even months later. Keeping older backups can be helpful in this case. How many backups to keep depends on your specific data retention needs and how often your data changes.

    Quote Originally Posted by ryrhino
    How long should I keep the differential back ups?
    Without knowing the specifics of your data, I'd suggest keeping one differential of each month since your last full backup as well as the most recent month of weekly differentials. Again, how many backups to keep depends on how much your data changes over time and how many restore points-in-time you feel comfortable with.

    Quote Originally Posted by ryrhino
    How long should I keep the system backups? I have a system backup from 4/2014. Do I still need to save it?
    Yes, if that is your only full system backup. Otherwise, keep the most recent since the differentials are only good since the most recent. You can also make a second copy of it (or third) to provide some additional insurance that you will be able to have a successful restore if necessary.

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