Bloated Incremental backups

Question

I have a backup scheme where I do 1 full backup after 3 daily incrementals. I do so few incrementals because they are so huge, 65-70GB when I make less than 1MB of changes. At first My backup app, Acronis True Image customer services says that it could be a hardware issue but I had my HDD scoured and bad sectors removed 5 days ago. They also believe it could be an OS issue. Bloated incremental backups. Please help.

Answer 1

Sorry for the long delay in response but I've been away for a while. When I started to attempt a CLEAN BOOT, I found this message:

Important****If the computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may prevent you from following these steps. We strongly recommend that you don’t use the System Configuration utility to change the advanced boot options on the computer unless a Microsoft support engineer directs you to do this. Doing this may make the computer unusable.

Since I am on a local network and the web, I was reluctant to continue. How do I work around this or is there another approach.

Since I sent you my problem, I have replaced my internal main HDD with a new one and restored my computer thus, Problem 1 of 4 resolve.

Problem 2 is the bloated incremental backups. When I explored those backups, it appeared that if I made a change in a sub folder of a folder in the Documents folder, the incremental backup copied the entire Documents folder. I don't think its supposed to do that. 

Problem 3 is that under certain circumstances that I'm not sure of, the drive which is the external backup HDD mysteriously disappears from the drive list in Windows File Explorer. I bring it back to life by rebooting my computer and starting the backup all over again. 

Problem 4 Now, for some reason, my HP Recovery Drive D: which holds 11GB is almost full. It has usually only been half full. 

Are these problems related?

Regard, Roger

Answer 2

Thank you for the quick response. For further isolation of the issue, you can perform a clean boot to find out which install program is possibly conflicting with the third-party backup software. A clean boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Follow the steps outlined in the section: How to perform a clean boot from this support article. You can also watch our YouTube video for more details.

IMPORTANT: Go to the section: Reset the computer to start normally after clean boot troubleshooting to boot the PC in normal startup after identifying the cause of the issue.

Should the issue remain on a clean boot state, I highly suggest getting in touch with the software developer's support website to find out if the incremental backup file size is due to a misconfiguration with the program itself.

If you would like me to provide additional advice, simply respond to this thread. I will get notified, and I’ll reply to you as soon as I can.

Answer 3

* no, I do not use file history

* No error messages

* Yes, as far as I know, out of town now can't access build #. Will be back Sun 9/16

 Also FYI I get these big inc backups when I leave my computer on but don't touch it because I'm somewhere else.

I hope this helps

Roger

Answer 4

Hello cameraman32,

I'd like to know more about the issue you're experiencing with backing up your data. Please answer the following questions:

• Are you using File History at the same time with the third-party software to back up your data?
• Are you getting any error messages?
• Is your Windows 10 PC up to date?
• Can you tell me the current OS Build of your Windows 10 system? You can find this information by right-clicking the Start button, select System > About and then scroll down to Windows specifications.

The incremental backup size may increase largely depending on the size of the selected folders. If you're using File History concurrently with the third-party software, I recommend reviewing the folders selected.

To notify us and have us get back to you, simply reply to this post.