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  #1  
Old July 30th, 2018, 05:44 PM
mel3986 mel3986 is offline
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Question How to run backup

Hello there I'm not sure if this is the right form for this question. But here goes. When I run back up on my system usually runs between 300 gigs to 500 gigs total backup.. I have three hard drives, two internal hard drives: one drive at 250 gigs and one drive at 1 TB, I also have external hard drive at 1 TB. Right now I have space available on my internal hard drives are as follow on the 250 gig hard drive I have 113 gigs free space and on the internal 1 TB hard drive I have 385 gigs free space and on my external hard drive I have 385 free space. So you see the dilemma I have nowhere to backing up my computer system to.
Question one, am I backing it up wrong?
Question two, is there a backup system or program that just updates what I've backstops so far.
Question three, is there a program out there that will seek out duplicate files so I can delete them?
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  #2  
Old July 30th, 2018, 08:24 PM
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Murf Murf is offline
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What are you using to back up?? Which program. You can delete the previous backup before backing up again.


Rather than back up make an image, will be smaller. But first need to know what you are backing up and how are you doing it?
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Old July 31st, 2018, 01:05 PM
mel3986 mel3986 is offline
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Question Running backup

Good morning Murph, thank you for responding so quickly

I backup my system with Windows defender backup system as part of a security backup. When I had space on my hard drives the two that had 1 TB. I would backup everything. Never thinking of deleting the old backup out of fear of losing data. Now I have not enough space on either drives to do a backup.

As far as the reimaging software I have done it once and it came in handy but I believe I asked in one of your forums do I have to reimage every time I backup? And never got an answer.

There is a lot of stuff on these drives pictures documents a lot of duplicate files and old backup which came in handy a few times when I change my operating system and put in a new processor.
Is there a program out there that can clean up these drives without affecting my OS?

Does windows have a program that'll do this that's already on my system?

Now I'm at a loss to what to do.

Do I have to go through each drive one program at a time decide whether to save it or delete it and hope it does not affect the operation of my computer.

Last edited by mel3986; July 31st, 2018 at 01:07 PM.
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  #4  
Old July 31st, 2018, 11:51 PM
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Murf Murf is offline
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Imaging is taking a picture of say your C: partition including the operating system.

Generally when you back up, your not backing up the operating system, just your files.

Once you do a backup I would delete the previous one to save space, unless you had something on the previous that not current. We sometimes over backup. If you think about it the only thins you need to backup are:

Pictures
Video's
Documents
Personal stuff
Music (unless you use ITunes then it is already backed up.
Contacts
Favorites

Your operating system would then be in the "IMAGE" file, in case something happens.

Backup will not restore any programs, as most all programs need to be re-installed. While if you image they don't.

Do you need an image every time you backup NO. You should only image after installing programs that you intent to keep. And may after a major Windows Update occurs.

As for duplicates:

https://www.ccleaner.com/download

Download the FREE version:

The CCleaner interface features a number of sections in the left hand column, which are Cleaner, Registry, Tools, Options, and Upgrade. Click on Tools and then select Duplicate finder.

In the main panel you’ll see various tickboxes that allow you to refine your search for all the duplicates. These give you the option to match by name, date, size, or content; all useful approaches.

It’s important to point out that CCleaner doesn't check the contents of files, so if you have two files in different folders with the same name but containing different data (say a photo or a Word document) it will delete one even though they are not actually duplicates. To avoid this, don't use the 'Name' option but instead search by 'Size'.

The last section gives you the option to define which drives CCleaner will search for duplicates. Obviously, you’ll want to make sure hard drives that you keep for back-up purposes are not included, as their very purpose is to hold a duplicate of the data on your machine.
When you’re ready, hit the Search button at the bottom of the window.

The software will scan your system for the duplicate file with the parameters that you’ve set up. When it’s complete you’ll have to go through the list manually, and tick the files that you wish to remove and then hit ‘Delete Selected’ button as seen below.
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Old August 1st, 2018, 02:58 PM
mel3986 mel3986 is offline
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Thank you for your response. I would probably work on my computer this weekend with the suggestions you have given me, I will let you know how I make out. You have a good day you guys of save me many hours of searching thank you again.
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Old August 8th, 2018, 03:04 PM
mel3986 mel3986 is offline
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Good morning Murph, thank you for the link to CCleaner I downloaded and bought the program. Use the defrag part. I managed to reclaim two thirds of my external 1 TB hard drives and 50% of my 250 gigs internal hard drive and my internal 1 TB hard drive stayed about the same at 365 gigs free which I believe I use for all my backups, it is also the newest hard drive which I installed.

I ran the duplicate file search not thinking on all hard drives including the recovery drive but did not delete anything yet. I'll run it again excluding recovery drive and internal 1 TB drive which are used for backup. I remember when I backed it up on the new internal 1 TB hard drive after installing the new processor. The backup used up about 500 gigs.
Question
1. When you backup, does the backup include all fragmented parts?
2. When I run duplicate file search do I have the option of merging the two files or just deleting it?
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  #7  
Old August 9th, 2018, 05:32 AM
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The Duplicate Finder can search for files with the same File Name, Size, Modified Date and Content; however it isn’t able to determine which files are needed and which can be safely deleted.

For this reason, recommend that you review the file path and, if necessary, the file itself to ensure that it is in fact a duplicate and not needed by a program on your computer. You can open a file from the Duplicate Finder screen by right clicking the file > Open Containing Folder, then double clicking the file in the window that opens.

Would also recommend that you do not delete any duplicates that are located in C:\Program Files, as it is likely that these files will be required for a program to run.

It is normally safe to delete duplicates of your personal pictures or films, but as before ensure that you verify the file path and the content of the files before deletion.

No you cannot merge them.

Fragmented parts may not get backed up, it all depends on where on the drive the parts are. It is best to defrag before doing a backup as Windows will put the file back into "one Piece"
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Old August 10th, 2018, 03:15 PM
mel3986 mel3986 is offline
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Good morning Murph, just want to thank you for all the help you've given me.

This is just an observation. I ran the CC cleaner in the analogy part and it came up with some files that were somewhat I would say not needed. And I cleaned them. Now I find myself opening up files and nothings there. It's as though there's somebody or something running around in my computer changing things.

One example is my budgeting spreadsheet I have a shortcut on my desktop I went to open it and nothings there. I eventually found it.

Is this something I gotta watch out for when I run the duplicate file finder?

It's like I got a learn how to use the computer all over again on some things.

There again thank you for everything you've done all your suggestions and help. You have a good day
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