Do I have to keep all the old backup files for backup to work?

Unknown

How to get rid of old backup files, and keep the latest backup

Clayton200

I only keep the last weeks backup files. Older ones get deleted manually with File Explorer weekly.

splasher

You do not have to keep all of them, but you should keep more than just the last one.  What happens if that backup has the same problem in it that you are trying to resolve and you only have one backup.

I make backups of my file on any day that I make changes to my data file.  I keep the last month of backups and then the last of the month for the previous year and the end of the year before that.

I also keep the backup of the file that I pulled my tax information from.

USB harddrives and thumbdrives are cheap, get more than one and alternate between them as you save backups.

Snowman

I am probably a bit on the extreme end.  I keep at minimum 365 days of backups.  Deleting any older ones once a quarter.  This saved my bacon a couple of years ago when my main checking account register in Quicken became corrupted and it took 4 months for it to really show itself.  I had to delete the account and create a new one but I was able to get the history (all 15 years at the time) off of one of the backups  I took a day or so but without the "older" backups I would have been hosed.

Nantucketbob

As long as storage space (hard drives) are so inexpensive, there is little reason to delete one or two gigabytes of data.  I think Snowman has made an excellent point.  I will keep my monthly backups (I usually enter data once a month.)

Ottokar Lang

I don't like the Quicken approach to Backup files in Windows folders, like wherever one keeps one's Quicken files, say - C:\Users\Owner\Documents\Quicken\Backup\... etc. And when users say "How do I get rid of old files I don't need anymore?" are advised to use Windows files routines to get rid of old files. I am a long time user of ACRONIS, the Backup-Validate- Recover software. ACRONIS has recognized that when it comes to end users handling O/S tools to delete application files they can't be trusted. So ACRONIS quite rigorously advises against using the Operating System to delete their old backup files. Instead they offer their own tools from within their application to allow deletion of application data files. That way ACRONIS can be sure that it is being done safely. As soon as you separate application data files from the app and handle with O/S tools, the app doesn't know about it and can't keep track of them and verify.

That is NOT smart! Operating Systems can't be  trusted. Now the end user is between a rock and a hard place. Right now I have 130 Quicken backup files of 11 MB each and I don't know what I could ruin without that shaky Quicken code knowing about it. But If I could delete old Quicken backup files from within Quicken - and THEN something goes wrong, then I'd know who I could go to for help.

Otto

Ottokar Lang

I don't like the Quicken approach to Backup files in Windows folders, like wherever one keeps one's Quicken files, say - C:\Users\Owner\Documents\Quicken\Backup\... etc. And when users say "How do I get rid of old files I don't need anymore?" are advised to use Windows files routines to get rid of old files. I am a long time user of ACRONIS, the Backup-Validate- Recover software. ACRONIS has recognized that when it comes to end users handling O/S tools to delete application files they can't be trusted. So ACRONIS quite rigorously advises against using the Operating System to delete their old backup files. Instead they offer their own tools from within their application to allow deletion of application data files. That way ACRONIS can be sure that it is being done safely. As soon as you separate application data files from the app and handle with O/S tools, the app doesn't know about it and can't keep track of them and verify.

That is NOT smart! Operating Systems can't be  trusted. Now the end user is between a rock and a hard place. Right now I have 130 Quicken backup files of 11 MB each and I don't know what I could ruin without that shaky Quicken code knowing about it. But If I could delete old Quicken backup files from within Quicken - and THEN something goes wrong, then I'd know who I could go to for help.

Otto

francisco

even when I save the backup, my file still gets big on the machine. It's no use leaving only the last backup saved because the machine continues from the beginning

francisco

example: If I began form the 2010, that's my case, my machine continue with my initial file.

splasher

francisco said:

even when I save the backup, my file still gets big on the machine. It's no use leaving only the last backup saved because the machine continues from the beginning

What are you expecting a backup to do to your data?  It just makes a copy of the file.

NotACPA

francisco said:

example: If I began form the 2010, that's my case, my machine continue with my initial file.

A Q backup is a complete copy of your Q data file ... it's not a cumulative backup of events since the last backup.

SO, it's recommended that you do keep older backup files, because corruption can be hidden in your file before it reveals itself -- causing you to go back to an older file to recover.

volvogirl

francisco said:

even when I save the backup, my file still gets big on the machine. It's no use leaving only the last backup saved because the machine continues from the beginning

And it doesn’t strip out anything from your current file. And make sure to make or save your backups to an external device like a flash drive or burn a CD/DVD or hard drive. I have a bunch of usb flash drives I rotate and then I also burn a CD. Every time I make more than couple entries I save a backup to my flash drive.