Automatic File Backup

[Michelle]

I have new PC with Vista Home Premium. My understanding is that once full
file backup is done, subsequent backups only include anything updated since
last backup. I did 2 backups only a week apart (with very little new in
between). My first backup used up 2 DVDs and took a really long time (like
1-2 hrs) which I thought was unusual since I've only used up 20% of my 250
GB hard drive. But even more weird was that, just one week later, my second
backup used up the first 2 DVDs from my first backup PLUS told me to insert
a brand new blank DVD to continue with the backup. At this point, I
cancelled the backup because I figured there must be something wrong. Why
would my 2nd backup take 3 DVDs when my first one only took 2 and I hardly
added or changed anything in between? And is it normal for backups to take
more than an hour in my case?

 

[John Hanley]

Michelle -- When I started out with my Vista Home Premium computer, I tried
to use DVD's as my backup media; however, this was futile for me because it
took too long and used many DVD's. I bought an external 160 GB USB drive
for about $60 that I use solely for backups and that has made my computer
backup management a breeze. The problem with backups subsequent to the first
one: most of your files do actually change between backups even though you
did not overtly change anything; things like your anti-virus program marking
the file as ok are enough to trigger the need to back it up again. Get that
external drive and you will be glad you did! Cheers....

 

[Guest]

Hello, my problem is with the external hard drive. I have bought a 320 gb
external hard drive for my weekly automatic backups, but it seems that all of
the backups are stored individually in the hard drive for a long time, so the
available space is about to be finished very soon.

Will the backup program delete the oldest backup file and continue, or will
I have to do something about that?

I have changed some settings after starting the oldest backup profiles (for
example, I have not included movies, etc), so does it has to do anything with
this problem?

As a last word, my external hard drive has a FAT format instead of the NTFS.

Thank you for your replies.

 

[Richard Hay]

Are you doing incremental or complete backups each time?