Windows 7 backup

This might not be the place to ask what is probably a very stupid question but I am not very knowledgeable about back the Windows 7 automatic backup . I have a desktop with a 500MB drive. I use Carbonite for cloud backups and also an external 1TB drive so the back up is readily available if my computer crashes..

 

The latter is where the Windows 7 backup is put. What I don't understand is how my 1TB drive is almost full even though there is only about 490 MB used on the 500MB internal drive. What is the best way to set the Windows 7 backup ?

Backup files aren't automatically overwritten. So if you've backed up twice, that would explain why the 1TB disk is nearly full.

 

Just delete the earlier file. The name should incorporate the backup date.

Edited November 14, 2017 by rodeo_joe|1

In any good backup system you can set it to do incremental backups (i.e. it backs up only changed or new files). This will help your space issue.

Rodeo_Joe is correct, Windows backups are archived until you delete them.

 

Go to START. Then CONTROL PANEL > BACKUPS AND RESTORE. Click on the blue "Manage space" This will show you how much room your backups are taking. Click on "View backups" and delete the older backup sets until you have sufficient free space. Be sure to leave one or two of the archive set, "just in case".