# VSS Shadow Copy not deleting oldest copy when drive is full



## AndyWTC (Aug 11, 2017)

Hi All,

OS: Windows Server 2012 R2
VSS Shadow Copy is not automatically deleting oldest shadow copy from X: when the drive is full. Backup fails due to full drive. Snap shots included:


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

Why do you have shadow copies enabled on a backup drive?


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## srhoades (May 15, 2003)

Triple6 said:


> Why do you have shadow copies enabled on a backup drive?


If you ware using Windows backup that is how it controls versions. I know this because I disabled shadow copies on a backup drive and didn't realize that Windows was only making a single backup each night. I found this out when a Ransomware attack hit and I didn't have any previous versions to restore from.


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

I just doubled checked a few that still use Windows Server Backup and none of them show Shadow Copies enabled for the backup/destination drives but we have it configured to use dedicated drives and normally those drives don't get assigned letter either, I do recall that there is another option to use an existing drive to store backups and that method may use VSS for version but I've always avoided using that method and always used the dedicated drive and restores from those have always worked with no shadow copies enabled on the backup destination drive.


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## AndyWTC (Aug 11, 2017)

Triple6 said:


> Why do you have shadow copies enabled on a backup drive?


To be honest, I am not sure. This is the setup when I took over this IT position. Is there a better way to setup shadow copy?


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## AndyWTC (Aug 11, 2017)

Triple6 said:


> I just doubled checked a few that still use Windows Server Backup and none of them show Shadow Copies enabled for the backup/destination drives but we have it configured to use dedicated drives and normally those drives don't get assigned letter either, I do recall that there is another option to use an existing drive to store backups and that method may use VSS for version but I've always avoided using that method and always used the dedicated drive and restores from those have always worked with no shadow copies enabled on the backup destination drive.


I'm new to using VSS. Which one is better for a small health clinic, VSS or backup? I can still use VSS and manually delete the oldest shadow copies but it can be a pain sometimes. Just not sure why it isn't automatically deleting the oldest shadow copy when the drive is full?


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

I use VSS for the shares and WB with a dedicated drive for actual backups. But for our bigger clients we use Symantec Backup Exec with Encryption or Veeam Endpoint/Agent with Encryption, or online backup with Encryption. The key with all of those is Encryption and if this is for a clinic then your backups should be encrypted for security and compliance with HIPA.


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