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Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

Tags: Microsoft, Software, Windows

I use 3 programs to back up my Windows drive: Macrium, O&O DiskImage Professional and Ashampoo Backup Pro. Each one is used on a different night(s).
I just noticed that the backups dropped in size about 3 weeks ago from some 100GB to roughly 60GB. (The size varies by a few GBs from backup program to program.)
Since the backups are compressed, I can’t just browse them to try to determine the differences.
I’ve also noticed another strange phenomenon. Ever since the space left on the drive I back up to hit the 400GBs, it remains in the 400GBs after each backup. Sometimes, it’s a little less than what it was before the backup and sometimes more.
The disk monitoring program that I use – HD Sentinel – reports that the drive I back up to is 100% healthy.
I’m stymied as to how to proceed.

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Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

In reply to Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

I would reach out to the developer of HD Sentinel and get their feedback. They might be able to describe why if it has changed. We can only speculate.

Thank you

In reply to Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

But I think this is beyond their area of responsibility.
Still, I’ll give it a try.

Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

In reply to Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

Hi
If your daily Windows backups are suddenly much smaller, it could indicate changes like reduced data, adjusted backup settings, or file exclusions. Check for any recently modified backup configurations or excluded folders/files that may have reduced the backup size. Additionally, review recent updates, as system or application changes might also affect backup contents.

None of the above

In reply to Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

I didn’t change any of the settings in even one of my backup programs, let alone all 3.
Last updates were 3 days before the backups got smaller. If they were responsible, the sizes should have decreased right away.
My C: drive is 143GB. There’s no way, even with high compression, that the backups should be some 60GB. The 100GB sizes before the change make much more sense.
I did take birdmantd’s advice and contacted the developer of HD Sentinel. He found my problems interesting and asked me to use the program’s Send Report function, which I did. I’m waiting to hear back from him.
Thank you for your suggestions.

Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

In reply to Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

Restore both an old 100 GB backup and a new 60 GB backup to different HDD’s/SSD’s (or, if possible, different partiitions of the same HDD/SDD) and compare the contents. Then you know a lot more than you do now.

That’s what backups are for, aren’t they: to be restored,

Good idea!

In reply to Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

Why do I overlook the obvious so often?!
But both the restorations and the comparisons will be time-consuming. It may take a while until I have the time to do it.
Thank you, kees_b!

Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

In reply to Good idea!

For the comparisons, I can recommend a very nice program called TreeSize Free (it’s free indeed), that you can download from https://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free . Disclosure: I’m prejudiced, because I’m a volunteer translator for that program (from English to Dutch).

Wow!

In reply to Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

I knew there were programs like that but I’d totally forgotten.
The Wow! in the subject is because both my parents were Dutch – I was born in NY – and my wife is Dutch! And we were set up by Dutch friends!

Something I just thought of

In reply to Good idea!

That is the Windows Update rollback files. Can’t remember how long Windows will keep prior rollback files, but that could be a cause for sudden reduction in size of your backups. Might be something to look for!

I’ll look for that

In reply to Something I just thought of

Do you happen to know where exactly they’re located?

It’s usually a hidden system folder,

In reply to I’ll look for that

called Windows.old, if memory serves. If it isn’t found via search in File Explorer, then Windows may have removed it, which could account for the smaller size of later backups.

Are you sure?

In reply to It’s usually a hidden system folder,

I wrote a reply to your last post a week or 2 ago, but it’s disappeared. Basically, what I wrote was that Windows.old is created when you install a newer version of Windows over an older version. It’s created in order to give the user the ability to roll back to his older version if he wants to.
Does anybody know where the update rollback folder is?

Usually it is a folder on your C: drive

In reply to Are you sure?

If that drive is where Windows is installed. If it is no longer there, then whatever time frame Microsoft has implemented (I think it’s like 30 days) has passed, and Windows removes the folder, along with the ability to rollback to a prior version.

Sorry if I wasn’t clear

In reply to Usually it is a folder on your C: drive

I wasn’t asking about Windows.old. If it was ever there – I simply don’t recall – it’s long, long gone.
No, I was asking about the folder you referred to: the one where Windows stores rollback information after an update.

Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

In reply to Sorry if I wasn’t clear

That folder is c:\windows\WinSxS

Thank you, kees_b

In reply to Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

Right now, my time is occupied by several priority projects. I hope to get to this sometime this week.

There is another location as well

In reply to Reply To: Daily backups of Windows are suddnly much smaller

by default it is C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution, in the subfolders there.

That additional info is much appreciated

In reply to There is another location as well

That folder is only 55MB in size right now, so it’ll be interesting to see if it was much larger several weeks ago.

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