Macrium not purge old backups.

Hello,
I have set Macrium to keep only 4 differential backups, but now I have fifth differential, so purge seems not work. What is wrong?

More in screenshots.

Thank you.

cereberus said:

Not sure as I never really use schedules. Maybe it means keep latest plus 4 backups?

What happens if you create a 6th one?

What happens if you check "purge before a backup"?

I not use scheduled backups. I do my backups manually. So that settings for purge is only for scheduled backups?

I run all my backups on schedules, plus I also occasionally run them manually. Either way, it shouldn't matter.

I only use Full and Differential backups, and I set Reflect to purge Fulls only. Linked Differentials will also be purged when it purges the Full. (If you also use Incrementals, linked incrementals will also be deleted.)

This is how I have my retention rules set up. You'll notice that I only have Full selected. It shows that I keep 2 Full backups with no Differentials or Incrementals selected. The Full setting takes care of the Differential and Incremental purges because they are linked.



You can also verify your purge / retention rules settings in the Definition Files tab.



Note 1: I don't have "Purge Before Backup" selected.
I ran into problems with this setting many years ago, and have never turned it back on.
If you do decide to use the "Purge Before Backup" setting, be aware that you'll always have one more set of backups than is actually in the settings because of the fact that it makes another backup immediately after the purge.

Note 2: If you have all your schedules set up and you wish to run a manual backup, I suggest to run it from the Scheduled Backups tab. If you're still using the Windows Task Scheduler for your your Reflect schedules, you can even run them from there.

Stigg said:

I run all my backups on schedules, plus I also occasionally run them manually. Either way, it shouldn't matter.

I only use Full and Differential backups, and I set Reflect to purge Fulls only. Linked Differentials will also be purged when it purges the Full. (If you also use Incrementals, linked incrementals will also be deleted.)

This is how I have my retention rules set up. You'll notice that I only have Full selected. It shows that I keep 2 Full backups with no Differentials or Incrementals selected. The Full setting takes care of the Differential and Incremental purges because they are linked.



You can also verify your purge / retention rules settings in the Definition Files tab.



Note 1: I don't have "Purge Before Backup" selected.
I ran into problems with this setting many years ago, and have never turned it back on.
If you do decide to use the "Purge Before Backup" setting, be aware that you'll always have one more set of backups than is actually in the settings because of the fact that it makes another backup immediately after the purge.

Note 2: If you have all your schedules set up and you wish to run a manual backup, I suggest to run it from the Scheduled Backups tab. If you're still using the Windows Task Scheduler for your your Reflect schedules, you can even run them from there.

I didnt created definition file, I much not understand for what is used.

I think the easiest way to set up your backup schedules is open Reflect, click on your system disk (all partitions should automatically be ticked), then click "Image This Disk". Step through the wizard. You'll see the option to add a schedule. Click on "Add Schedule". The drop down will display Full, Differential and Incremental. Create a schedule for Full first, then do Differential or Incremental next time. Reflect should prompt you to create an XML definition file if it can't find one.

You don't need to create another XML definition file for each backup type and schedule. All the settings can be stored in a single XML definition file.

I always run the backup now when creating backup types and schedules. This ensures it's working as expected.

Backup Save Options - Knowledgebase 8.0 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase

Yes. Create and save your definition file. Then manually run the definition file. You should be able to look at the Logs, from the Existing Backups tab, to see what was done at each run.