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OneCare Backup Topics

*How to remove OneCare Backup file

How to remove Windows OneCare Backup file

There is no maintenance mode in Windows Live OneCare Backup. That means that over time your backup destination may fill up and run out of room. You should probably consider checking the backup destination periodically and take action when the disk space on the destination drive is 50% full or more.

You can delete the OneCare backup set, but that leaves you unprotected in the case of data loss until the next time you perform a new full backup with OneCare.

In addition, deleting backups requires you to "take ownership" of the backup set as it is protected by OneCare from deletion.

As of version 1.6, Windows Live OneCare backs up to a folder set as follows:

Drive:\Windows OneCare Backup\PC Name\year

Within the PC Name folder, there may be more than one year folder and within the \Windows OneCare Backup folder there may be more than one PC Name folder, depending on if this is a location used to backup for multiple computers or if you have performed a new complete backup multiple times for the same computer, perhaps after a OneCare reinstall.

When you decide that you need to delete and old backup set and start fresh, it is recommended that you first open OneCare and start a new full backup. Let it complete. Use the Restore function in OneCare to verify that you are able to view the files and perhaps even restore a single file or folder. Then navigate to the backup destination folder to delete the old backups.

The easiest way to perform this action in any version of Windows XP is to use the following directions (taking care to select the older backup set and not the one just made): (Courtesy of cubangymrat)

Access the drive where you have the backup folder where the backup files are
Right-click on the folder ans select Properties
Select the Sharing tab
Under Network sharing and security select the Share this folder on the network checkbox
Once selected, do not change anything and check the Allow network users to change my files checkbox
Click Apply
A hand icon should appear under the backup folder indicating that it is now a shared folder
Delete the folder

Instant Support contains the following entries for deleting backup sets -

Delete a backup set folder from an external hard disk in Microsoft Windows XP

On the Start menu, click Run.
Type explorer.exe, and then press ENTER.
In My Computer, double-click the drive letter that corresponds to your external hard disk.
Right-click the Windows Live OneCare folder, and then click Properties.
On the Security tab, under Groups or user names, click either Administrators or your user name.
Next to Full Control, select the Allow check box, and then click Apply.
In the Windows Live OneCare folder, select the backup set folder, and then press DELETE.

''Note:
The Security tab is available in Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition for files that are on an NTFS partition. For more information, see article 308418 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308418 ''

Delete a backup set folder from an external hard disk in Windows Vista

On the taskbar, click Start. In the Start Search box, type explorer.exe, and then press ENTER.
Under Computer, double-click the disk letter that corresponds to your external hard disk.
Right-click the Windows Live OneCare folder, and then click Properties.
On the Security tab, under Groups or user names, click either Administrators or your user name.
Next to Full Control, select the Allow check box, and then click Apply.
In the Windows Live OneCare folder, select the backup set folder, and then press DELETE.

Using the command line to strip permissions from the backup folder
If you are comfortable using the command line, open a Command Prompt window (in XP, Start/All Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt) (In Vista, Start and type "command" in the search box)
If you have a folder on the E: drive called Windows OneCare Backup and the folder in it is called "computer" and the backup set you want to delete is within the "computer" folder, then do this:

cacls "e:\Windows OneCare Backup\computer" /t /g administrators:F

So, the generic command line entry is -

cacls "<drive letter>:\<path>" /t /g administrators:F

		   where <drive letter> is where your backups are located, and <path> is the complete folder path to the folder containing the backups you want to delete.

Do NOT put a \ after the path
Executing the above command will strip the permissions from the folder and should allow you to delete it.

Deleting backups by formatting the backup drive
Finally, you can certainly format the drive containing your backups. Doing so will remove all files from the drive, but will allow you to begin using it once again.