deletion from backup

Hi, Herb.

When you are sure that you no longer need a backup, just delete it - like any other file.

What is a "removable megadisk"? Can you use normal DOS and Windows commands on its files and folders?

You'll want to keep the 5 (by default) automatic weekly backups that Quicken keeps in its BACKUP folder, of course, along with your up-to-the-minute working fileset. And you probably want to keep a few "milestone" backups, such as at each year-end. And for each of the past few months, maybe each month of the current year. Any more backups than these is probably overkill.

If you have a known-good backup as of 12/31/07, why would you want one as of

11/30/07? After all, everything that is in 11/30 is also in 12/31, isn't it? If you know that the 12/31/07 backup is good, then you probably don't need ANY earlier backups. Is there any chance that you would ever Restore the 11/30/07 backup. or even the 12/31/06 backup, and enter all your data since then?

Multiple copies of the current backup are advised for safety, not for redundancy or history. If fire destroys your house and your computer, then ALL backups stored in or near the computer will be lost, too. So you probably want multiple copies of a current - or at least recent - backup, each in a different physical location: computer, computer room, safe deposit box, or even stored online or in the home or office of a friend or relative. But multiple copies or multiple generations on a hard disk in the same room as the computer itself are almost as vulnerable as your main hard drive.

Of course, if you delete transactions and other data at each year-end, then those annual backups are important. But most of us (including myself) simply continue to add transactions. Unless there has been file corruption, all my 1994 transactions are just as safe in the backup that I made today as in my 12/31/94 backup - even if I could find that backup on my floppy disk or my SyJet removable hard drive cartridge (which hasn't worked in at least

5 years).

Multiple current backups in separate locations: Good! Multiple successive backups on a single drive: Of limited benefit, except for the latest one.

At least, that's what I think.

RC

But RC, if he is dealing with *Quicken* generated backups, it's NOT like any other "file", right? From the way I read the OP, he's asking how to delete Quicken generated backups.

He'd have to delete one or more files (if, as you say, it's like any other file, he's probably going to use a DELETE command, or from a Windows Explorer Window that will have multiple FILES from a particular file set.)

If you wish to ensure you have ALL the individual files comprising a fileset, I would use the Quicken provided FILE-->FILE OPERATIONS-->DELETE facility, but ensure you know exactly the fileset you are deleting and why (as RC had indicated).

Hi, Andrew.

Yes, I should have emphasized to delete the complete "fileset" each time.

Thanks for the catch.

RC