Noob Question: Why is back drive more full than main one

[voodooking]

So, I read Tom's and decided I was going to do my SSD HD combo right. I added my SSD while getting another 1 TB Hd to my already 1 TB HD. I loaded my SSD It rocks. Installed the new HD with everything else that I was going to want. Then I erased the old hard drive and now use it as a back up. Every day at 3:00 I back up my system using windows back up. I thought everything was fine until...

This. SSD has 27 Gb on it. The main has 273 Gigs and here is the clincher the backup HD has 690Gigs?

I have a sneaky suspicion that maybe just maybe I have set something up wrong.

Thanks in advance,

Jim

 

[rolli59]

Sound like it is doing multiple backups without erasing the previous!

 

[foscooter]

Because everytime you backup, it writes a whole new set of files, not just updateing what has changed.

Go into Windows BackUp settings, and look at all the backup files you have, and the dates, etc. You can choose how much, how many, how often, etc.

It not only backups up Windows, but your Libraries as well.

There are other backup utilities out there, but I use Microsoft SyncToy 2.1 to do manual backups. I can choose exactly what to back up and where, and then "sync" the changes between drives when I run it.

Windows and Norton backups do very little, per my settings, as my Libraries are the most important things to back up. Other things I choose to back up are Contacts, Favorites, and my Outlook *.pst file(s). I don't need 3 copies of everything.

 

[voodooking]

Best answer selected by voodooking.

 

[voodooking]

Cool thanks. I erased the old versions and voila, space. cool.

So what is the aftermarket backups going to do that windows backup won't. Or are they just easier.

 

[foscooter]

More "tweakable."

I can point it to a specific folder, or file, to look for changes, and copy/sync.

I'm not really worried about backing up the OS, just my personal files, and a few settings. Install is fast, updates is what takes the longest.