I'm not clear on what feature I need to use

HI,
I have Backup and Recovery 11 Home, and backup nightly.
The problem is that I have been doing incremental backup and now I am getting this error:

Not enough space in the new partition to keep user data (if you try to make the partition with data too small)

and indeed the partition is full.
I was hoping the incremental would backup only the changes and update the image, but it looks like it is archiving every change.
I just need a backup in case I lose the drive; a copy of what was on it last night and no more.
What feature set do I need to employ please?

 

I am using HDM Suite 2012, but I think what I am about to suggest holds true for all versions of Paragon and most other backup software. Incremental backups do indeed back up changes since the last image and/or incremental backup. To restore, you need the original partition image, plus all of the increments. They just keep increasing as you have noticed. There is also a differential backup option. I have attached a link describing different types of backups:

http://www.debianadmin.com/backup-basics-and-different-types-of-backup.html

My suggestion would be to do a full partition backup each evening, if you want a backup image you can restore from that will bring your computer back up to the way it was when the last backup was run. You will probably need to script that to delete older previous partition backups, though I would recommend that you keep at least three full partition backups in case on of them is corrupted or you had a virus or other malware backed up inadvertently, which is what prompted a restore. You don't want to restore malware or viruses.

Personally, I would handle the deletion of previous backup partition images manually, and always keep two older, and the newest one. Size your backup partition/drive to accommodate at least six or so images so that there will be no problems with running out of space. I would also recommend using another drive for the backup, other than the drive being backed up. If that drive dies, your original programs and data, plus backups, are gone forever, unless a tech is able to retrieve a complete and uncorrupted partitions backup image.

Hope this helps. Have a great day. Perhaps those more knowledgeable than me will be able to correct any mistakes I might have in regards to my comprehension as to how various backups function.

Regards,
-Phil

 

Yup, Phil is spot on - Incremental file backups will add any "new files" to the previous increment, rather than update the file backups. Most backup suites that do file backups as well as imaging, will only offer incremental file backups. I'd suggest you look into file sync software, which will compliment Paragon B&R11. Partition or disk backups are always best for backing up your system drive, however if you have a separate partition or hard disk for files, a sync program can prove to be very efficient. Many of these file syncing programs are customisable to the extent where you can chose options based on needs, whether you want to sync, update (aka increment) or mirror (for each option you also need to weigh-up safety vs efficiency). There's plenty of good free file sync apps available (eg, FreeFileSync). There is a good article on file syncing apps here

 

Agree. I have used FreeFileSync for two years, without problems. I only use imaging software to backup the system partition (in sector mode, of course).

 

Is there a Paragon command or procedure to wipe all the existing PBF files from the directory to start over, or do I just go in and delete them all?

Thanks for the great help,
Jeff

 

I usually don't make many file backups using Paragon B&R11, but when I needed to delete an archive, I just go to the "Archives" tab, right-click on the archive, chose "Delete Archive from Database", but also make sure you tick the checkbox "Delete Archives from the Disk". Paragon then deletes the archive - it can however leave the empty folder in place where the archive was held - you can delete these empty folders in windows explorer. I can't recall whether if you delete the original/base file backup, whether it also deletes all of the related increments with it - I doubt this happens, but maybe someone else can confirm - or give it a go and see what happens. If you do try this out, also check to see if the archives still exist in windows explorer, because its possible that Paragon might only delete its database reference. If the archives still exist in explorer, just delete them. I'm assuming you have many incremental file backups, therefore you would probably like to know if there is a quicker way to delete all of them. I am not aware of any quicker method, but maybe there is a way. Perhaps someone else can shed some further light.