How long should I hold onto backup files

Rick56

I have backup files dating back to 2017 for my Deluxe Quicken. My Mom's estate stuff is in the 2017 and 2018 backups. Should I keep all of these files, some part of them, or just the most recent year. I am looking for some sort of suggested "game plan".

volvogirl

Hopefully you have the backups on an external drive like a USB. Just get a cheap usb drive and put them all on it and put it somewhere safe. Then you can delete them from your computer.

volvogirl

I usually say to burn to a CD, that's what I do in addition to usb but most computers don't have a CD drive anymore. I have several flash drives I rotate through. One of my husbands usb went through the washing machine and it was ok.

NotACPA

I keep year-end backups for 7 years, month-end backups to the end of the year (except December month-end which is also the year-end backup), week-end backups to the end of the month, and daily backups until the end of the week.

Snowman

Backups on CD's or DVD's may last a long time BUT there has to be some way to retrieve the data. New internal CD drives are almost impossible to find now, you can get external models but how long will that last. As an example I used to archive photo files on DVD back when hard drive capacity was measured in gigbytes, not terabytes. I recently copied all of the files from DVD's onto a Thunderbolt 3 28Tb drive. That 28Tb drive is backed up to another another 28Tb drive on a daily basis. Once a month I connect a 3rd 28Tb drive (that is kept in another location) backup to it and return it to the other location. That enabled me to destroy the DVDs and keep the backups on the hard drives.

The point is the data may be there on the CD/DVD but you have to have a way to read it!

I only keep a years worth of backups since I backup at least once a day and sometimes more depending upon what I am doing that day. I also validate my data file at least once a week. These backups are to an NAS drive which is backed up nightly to another NAS drive which once a month is backed up to a plug in drive that like the photo files above is kept at a remote location. I print monthly and annual budget reports to PDF files that are saved on the NAS drives as well.

The backup program I use is called SyncBack Pro 64 and it has a bit of a learning curve but it automatically handles these backups across the network to the NAS drive every morning as 12:01am when I am (hopefully) sound asleep!

volvogirl

Hopefully you have the backups on an external drive like a USB. Just get a cheap usb drive and put them all on it and put it somewhere safe. Then you can delete them from your computer.

NotACPA

OR write those backups to a CD and then delete all but a recent few.

TTSguy

NotACPA has a great Idea. I'm of the belief that storage on CD should be a part of the plan. A cd may make it through a flood, but no chance with an external thumb drive. I use a half gig SDD, and read the other day that one of the manufacturers is having trouble with the large sdd's just automatically going dead, so do a little research. The more you have your files diversified to several different storage devices the better off you'll be! Even pick one backup file and put it on ALL the devices on the first of the month. This post was a great reminder of what we should all be asking about our backups!!

TTSguy

Here's a good bit of info from Microsoft AI -When it comes to backing up a spreadsheet, there are several options available. The best media to store a backup of a spreadsheet depends on the user’s specific needs and preferences. Here are some of the most common options:

1. External hard drives: These are easy to use and faster than optical discs, but may need their data refreshed every few years. They are generally reliable for the short term and can last a decade or two before magnetic properties diminish to the point of producing unrecoverable errors. However, they require periodic maintenance and are not ideal for long-term storage 1.
2. External SSDs: These are rugged and virtually shock-proof, but the NAND they use won’t hold data forever. They are faster than external hard drives but may not be as reliable in the long term 1.
3. Optical discs: Writable CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs are widely available and can last for 100 to 150 years given a relatively mild environment 12. However, they have limited storage capacity and may not be suitable for large spreadsheets.
4. Cloud storage: This is an increasingly popular option that allows users to store their data remotely on servers maintained by third-party providers such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Cloud storage is convenient, secure, and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection 3.

It’s important to keep in mind that no backup solution is foolproof. It’s recommended to follow the rule of three when backing up data: always keep three copies of your data - a working copy, a backup, and a backup of your backup - preferably in another location or off-site 1.

volvogirl

I usually say to burn to a CD, that's what I do in addition to usb but most computers don't have a CD drive anymore. I have several flash drives I rotate through. One of my husbands usb went through the washing machine and it was ok.

TTSguy

Portable USB CD drives are not expensive and work just fine when using with your PC USB drive port.

Rick56

Thanks all. I have to say though, I already knew the how (what medium etc). I was more looking for a policy of what to keep and why.

NotACPA

I keep year-end backups for 7 years, month-end backups to the end of the year (except December month-end which is also the year-end backup), week-end backups to the end of the month, and daily backups until the end of the week.

Snowman

Backups on CD's or DVD's may last a long time BUT there has to be some way to retrieve the data. New internal CD drives are almost impossible to find now, you can get external models but how long will that last. As an example I used to archive photo files on DVD back when hard drive capacity was measured in gigbytes, not terabytes. I recently copied all of the files from DVD's onto a Thunderbolt 3 28Tb drive. That 28Tb drive is backed up to another another 28Tb drive on a daily basis. Once a month I connect a 3rd 28Tb drive (that is kept in another location) backup to it and return it to the other location. That enabled me to destroy the DVDs and keep the backups on the hard drives.

The point is the data may be there on the CD/DVD but you have to have a way to read it!

I only keep a years worth of backups since I backup at least once a day and sometimes more depending upon what I am doing that day. I also validate my data file at least once a week. These backups are to an NAS drive which is backed up nightly to another NAS drive which once a month is backed up to a plug in drive that like the photo files above is kept at a remote location. I print monthly and annual budget reports to PDF files that are saved on the NAS drives as well.

The backup program I use is called SyncBack Pro 64 and it has a bit of a learning curve but it automatically handles these backups across the network to the NAS drive every morning as 12:01am when I am (hopefully) sound asleep!