Which one to delete ?


William654

William654

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Hi

I created about 4 incremental backup manually for the system drive but I only want to retain 3 in macrium reflect so I should delete the first one ?

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I'd delete the oldest, it was made after the full backup.
 

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    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz12GB
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    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202
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    Dell Vostro 3400
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    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
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    12GB
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    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz16GBOnboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA a...
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I deleted the oldest but I got these files named under orphan . what is that mean ?

1733246765281.webp
 

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Windows 115900x32 GB G.SkillRX 6800 XT
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32 GB G.Skill
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RX 6800 XT
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Creative Sound Blaster Z
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William654 said:
I deleted the oldest but I got these files named under orphan . what is that mean ?

View attachment 118294
Click to expand...
It means that your incremental backups are NOT linked to a full backup.

The safe, & best, way to get out of this is to do another full backup and then delete these 'orphans'.
 

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@William654 ,

I only ever do full system images (all partitions), but my understanding is that if you break the chain of incremental backups, unlike differential backups, every incremental thereafter is orphaned because to restore, the software needs a full backup and every incremental thereafter to restore to the latest incremental.
You deleted the first incremental, so Macrium is only able to restore the full system backup. Incrementals 2, 3, and 4 were left orphaned when you deleted Incremental 1.

Time for another full system backup. If you only want to have three incrementals, then after you have done three incrementals, you must do a new full system image.

Techie Tuesday: Differential and incremental disk images

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil
 

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    Windows 11 Pro Version 25H2 (Build 26200.8655Intel i7-9700K 4700 MHz32 GB (4 x 8GB SK Hynix DDR4 @1333 MHz) (2666...NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB) GDDR6 300 MHz
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    Windows 11 Pro Version 25H2 (Build 26200.8655
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    Dell XPS8930 SE
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    Intel i7-9700K 4700 MHz
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    32 GB (4 x 8GB SK Hynix DDR4 @1333 MHz) (2666 MHz)
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    Windows 11 Pro Version 25H2 (Build 26200.8655)i7-9750H 4.5 GHz16 GB (2 x 8GB @ 1333 MHz) DDR4-2666 MHzNVIDIA GeForce 1650 4 GB GDDR5
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    Windows 11 Pro Version 25H2 (Build 26200.8655)
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    Dell XPS 15 7590
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    i7-9750H 4.5 GHz
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William654 said:
I deleted the oldest but I got these files named under orphan . what is that mean ?
Click to expand...
You can only delete the newest, by deleting the first in the chain of incrementals you have broken it. The remaining incrementals are useless without the first in the chain.
 

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    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
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    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
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    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

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    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
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    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
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    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
I did like @Berton said. So now I will create a full backup and delete the orphans
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 115900x32 GB G.SkillRX 6800 XT
OS
Windows 11
Computer type
PC/Desktop
CPU
5900x
Motherboard
MAG X570S TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI
Memory
32 GB G.Skill
Graphics Card(s)
RX 6800 XT
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster Z
Monitor(s) Displays
BENQ and AOC QHD 120Hz
Screen Resolution
QHD
Hard Drives
2TB Intel 660p and 2TB Sabrent Rokect 4 plus nvme, 4TB HDD HGST
PSU
Corsair RM750
Case
Bloody rage
Cooling
Water cooling gamdias 240
Keyboard
razer ornata
Mouse
razer da v2
Browser
FF and Chrome
Antivirus
Malwarebytes
My apology, mind was elsewhere.
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz12GB
    OS
    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 3400
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 11th Gen. 2.40GHz
    Memory
    12GB
    Hard Drives
    256GB SSD NVMe M.2

  • At a glance

    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz16GBOnboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA a...
    Operating System
    Win11 Pro RTM Version 24H2 Build 26100.4202
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5890
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 10th Gen. 2.90GHz
    Memory
    16GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Onboard, no VGA, using a DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter
    Monitor(s) Displays
    24" Dell
    Hard Drives
    512GB SSD NVMe, 4TB Seagate HDD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender/Microsoft Security

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 proAMD Ryzen 7 5700XG.SKILL Ripjaws V Series (Intel XMP) DDR4 RAM...ASUS Dual GeForce RTX™ 4060 White Edition
OS
Windows 11 pro
Computer type
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custom build
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AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
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AMD ROG STRIX B550-F
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G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series (Intel XMP) DDR4 RAM 32GB (2x16GB)
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ASUS Dual GeForce RTX™ 4060 White Edition
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on-board
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SAMSUNG 32-Inch Odyssey G50D Series
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2560 x 1440
Hard Drives
Samsung 990 EVO Plus 1TB, ssd INTEL SSD 730 series 240 GB, and Samsung 840 Evo ssd 500 GB.
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CORSAIR - RMe Series 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
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Antec 900 Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Computer Gaming Case
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ID-COOLING SE-214-XT Black CPU Cooler All-Black Layout
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Logitech 520
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Logitech 310
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Windows Defender
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