What are all these Backup folders ?

[GrEaSeLiTeNiN]

I see a bunch of these old "backup.0XX" folders and they mostly contain lua scripts. What are they for and can they be safely deleted?

[buceador]

These contain files that are non standard to the DCS install.  In other words they are mods or changes that have been made to the core files of a standard install - the update locates these files and replaces them with the original file then it backs them up in case you want to review them, they can be safely deleted but the next install will create more backup files if you change any of the original core files.  Obviously this does not apply to any changes made in the SAVED GAMES folder.

[MAXsenna]

And every time one do a repair and choose to save files...

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[BIGNEWY]

If you do not want to keep the backed up files those folders can be deleted safely.

[crazyeddie]

Am I right in thinking if you wanted to roll back to a specific version you would need these folders to be able to do it ?

Personaly I had to delete all of them for the last update, it was the only way I could make enough space to allow that huge download. 

[rob10]

45 minutes ago, crazyeddie said:

Am I right in thinking if you wanted to roll back to a specific version you would need these folders to be able to do it ?

Personaly I had to delete all of them for the last update, it was the only way I could make enough space to allow that huge download. 

No, because they only contain NON-STANDARD stuff, not actual official and unaltered DCS files.

[buceador]

3 hours ago, crazyeddie said:

Personaly I had to delete all of them for the last update, it was the only way I could make enough space to allow that huge download. 

I have 4 _backup folders at the moment but they only account for 86kb in total so I am surprised that deleting your made any significant difference?

Edited November 5, 2024 by buceador

[MAXsenna]

I have 4 _backup folders at the moment but they only account for 86kb in total so I am surprised that geleting your made any significant difference?

Lots of core mods?
If you don't remove core mods before updates, this will happen. Texture mods can easily fill up drive space this way.

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[buceador]

2 hours ago, MAXsenna said:

Texture mods can easily fill up drive space this way.

Understood.  I do not  run any core mods.

[crazyeddie]

I was about 80gb short of space for this last update, I looked to see what I could get rid of safely and the backups were more than enough, so I deleted them. I had backups going back a long way, I have run this game since it's  inceptions - so quite a lot !!

The previous large update I deleted a couple of maps and a couple of aircraft that I never use and that allowed me to run that update - its all small margins, thats all. 

I was not sure if those backups were related to reverting versions though, hence my question above.  I have reverted my game in the past for various reasons and I decided to take the plunge, if I lose them I lose them, I can always reinstal the game from scratch if I have to, that was my thinking. 

Small margins !