How to delete a Windows Live OneCare Backup file

This article describes how to delete a Windows Live OneCare Backup file.

You can configure the Backup feature in Windows Live OneCare to make backup copies of files and folders. Making copies of files and folders helps protect you from data loss in case data is accidentally deleted or if there is hardware failure.

There is no maintenance mode in Windows Live OneCare Backup. Therefore, you have to monitor the disk space that is used by the backup files in the destination folder. We recommend that you delete files from the backup destination folder when the destination hard disk has less than 50 percent of the disk space. You can delete the Windows Live OneCare Backup set. However, you may experience data loss if you accidentally delete a file or the hard disk fails before you perform the next backup.

In Windows Live OneCare 1.6 and later versions, the Backup feature backs up files to the following folder: In this folder path, remote computer name is the name of the server where the shared folder is located, share name is the shared folder on the remote computer, computer name is the name of the computer where the original files are located, and year is the year that the backup set was created.

There may be multiple computer name folders in the Windows OneCare Backup folder. For example, there may be multiple computer name folders if you back up multiple computers to the same network location or if you do a second complete backup of the same computer. Additionally, there may be multiple year folders in the computer name folder.

How to delete a folder that is located in the Windows Live OneCare folder

Windows XP

To delete a folder that is located in the Windows Live OneCare folder, follow these steps.

Note We recommend that you perform a complete Windows Live OneCare Backup operation before you follow these steps. Additionally, you should restore a single folder or file from the backup set to verify that the backup is valid.

1. Right-click the folder that contains the backup file that you want to delete, and then click Properties.
2. On the Sharing tab, click to select the Share this folder on the network check box, click to select the Allow network users to change my files check box, and then click OK. Notice that the folder is now shared.
3. Right-click the folder, and then click Delete.

How to delete a backup set folder that is stored on an external hard disk

To delete a backup set folder that is stored on an external hard disk in Windows XP Professional, follow these steps.

Note We recommend that you perform a complete Windows Live OneCare Backup operation before you follow these steps. Additionally, you should restore a single folder or file from the backup set to verify that the backup is valid.

Note These steps require that the backup set is stored on an NTFS-formatted hard disk. These steps also require that the Use simple file sharing setting is turned off.

1. Click Start, click Run, type Explorer.exe, and then click OK.
2. Double-click My Computer, and then double-click the external hard disk where the Windows Live OneCare folder is located.
3. Right-click Windows Live OneCare Backup, and then click Properties.
4. On the Security tab, click Administrators or click your user name.
5. Next to Full Control, click to select the Allow check box, and then click OK.
6. In the Windows Live OneCare Backup folder, right-click the folder that contains the backup set, and then click Delete.

To delete a backup set folder that is stored on an external hard disk in Windows Vista, follow these steps.

Note We recommend that you perform a complete Windows Live OneCare Backup operation before you follow these steps. Additionally, you should restore a single folder or file from the backup set to verify that the backup is valid.

1. Click Start
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   , type Explorer.exe in the Start Search box, and then click Explorer in the Programs list.
2. Click Computer, and then double-click the external hard disk where the Windows Live OneCare folder is located.
3. Right-click Windows Live OneCare Backup, and then click Properties.
4. On the Security tab, click Administrators or click your user name.
5. Next to Full Control, click to select the Allow check box, and then click OK.
6. In the Windows Live OneCare Backup folder, right-click the folder that contains the backup set, and then click Delete.

How to use the Cacls.exe utility to remove file permissions

You can use the Cacls.exe utility to remove permissions settings on a file or a folder. To remove the permission settings on a folder, follow these steps:

1. In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
   
   In Windows Vista, click Start
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   , type cmd.exe in the Start Search box, and then click cmd in the Programs list.
2. At the command prompt, type cacls harddisk:\path /t /g administrators:F. In this example, harddisk is the hard disk where the Windows Live OneCare Backup folder is located and path is the path of the folder that you want to delete. Typically, the folder that you want to delete is located in the \Windows Live OneCare Backup folder.

For more information about how to modify file permissions and folder permissions in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information how to turn off simple file sharing in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

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