I am being warned that my Norton 360 on-line back-up space is getting small and that I should buy more storage space.
But I would rather clear space by removing old files that are no longer needed.
How do I see what's in my on-line storage, please?
Hi TightGit.
Others may well know of ways to do this but I am not aware of any way to delete files once they have been backed up, other than restarting the backup with files excluded. 
However I am intrigued by your problem and wonder how much space the "Preview" option of "Manage Backup Sets" thinks you should need for your backup, and how large Norton Servers think your backup is. Also the size of your current allocation might be helpful, is it the usual 2 GB?
Thanks for your interest.
Yes, it's the usual 2GB and I have 81MB left after using 360 for nearly 2 years now.
I'm not very good with computers so everything is still in default mode.
When I renewed my subscription last year, the original 2GB on line allocation just carried on
with about 1GB used at that point.
Now it's nearly used up and Norton are (naturally) wanting me to purchase more.
But I'd rather wipe the lot and start again with an empty 2GB, if only I knew how...
Hello again TightGit.
I can understand your position but it would be really interesting, and possibly helpful, to know what the "Preview" option of the Manage Backup Sets says it thinks your backup size should be.
If you do not know how to get to the Preview; open N360; select Backup; select Manage Backup Sets; click on the Preview button, and report the size of the backup that it gives you. It may be close to 2 GB in which case we have little flexibility, but it may be less and that may give us options, but whatever I suspect that you will need to run a new backup. But I do not think that running a new backup needs to be a big issue (but that is my opinion).
Clearing out all the old backup and starting a new one should not be a big deal but first we need to know how much space N360 thinks you need for your default settings.
One other thing I would ask..... given that you say you just use the defaults, have you ever checked that it is backing up the files you want saved?
I look forward to your reply.
Following your instructions, it says
Files included in back up set:
Default set 3,632 Files 624.4MB.
I'm afraid I don't know what files I need to back up, or if they're actually being backed up.
Hence the default settings.
(I'm a pensioner with little knowledge of computers, so I just let 360 do its own thing!)
Thanks again for your interest.
Hi TightGit.
From one pensioner to another ... I'm sure we can sort something out.
But it is late here and I have a busy day ahead. So instead of attempting to rush things I am going to leave this post as a reminder note and I will try and get back with some helpful suggestions tomorrow.
In the meantime... all the best.
That's very kind.
Hello again TightGit.
I am working on the assumption that we will delete all the overly large backup that you currently have stored online, and then create a new smaller one. You will still have the same files accessible to you, they will just take up less space.
However doing this may leave you without a backup for a short period. Therefore I wonder if it is possible to do a backup temporarily to some other storage device. Do you have an external disk drive or even a USB thumb drive? All you appear to need is around 1 GB free space.
Next, before we go through the delete and re-create process, I note that you have just been using the default settings and I would like to help you check that what you want to back up, is being backed up. What do you think you are backing up? What on your computer do you want to not loose in the event of a disaster? I do not need to know the detail, I just want you to think briefly about the issue and give a general response - which might be along the lines of - my letters, recipes and photographs. Then I will help you to check that the right things have been backed up so far.
Are you happy with the above?
I look forward to hearing back from you.
Thanks for coming back and can I first allay your fears of losing data whilst we're messing about with the Norton 360 back-up.
You see, given my very basic computer knowledge (not to mention being a born coward!) I use Norton Ghost every week to back up my entire computer to not one, but two external 500GB hard drives.
So I think I'm pretty fire-proof if there's ever a disaster.
(Whether I have the knowledge to recover my system myself is another matter, but at least I can impress anyone I call in to help by presenting them with a choice of complete back-ups!)
That's why I've never worried too much about the Norton 360 back-up. I use it because it's available and to keep 360 happy!
(Turning it off doesn't work, because then I keep getting reminders to turn it on...)
So, what I basically need is some method of emptying the 2GB storage that 360 provides and then re-installing the 624MB default back-up with room to spare.
Then Norton 360 will be happy and so will yours truly!
Hi TightGit.
Ah. I see...
If you have a double Ghost then you are right you do not need N360 backup and I suggest that you just delete the N360 backup and switch it off. Your comment about it still nagging you sounds odd but I would hope that we can solve that.
If you are happy with that then say so and I will advise you how to do it.
Should you have any doubts about getting back data from your Ghost set-up then the Norton Ghost forum seems a good place to ask. Personally I have no experience of using Ghost.
Perhaps "nagging" was over-stating the case, but it's comforting to see the Norton 360 icon with a nice green tick on it, which doesn't happen if I turn off the back-up.
So can you advise on the delete and re-install procedure for the 2GB storage, please?
TightGit wrote:Thanks for coming back and can I first allay your fears of losing data whilst we're messing about with the Norton 360 back-up.
You see, given my very basic computer knowledge (not to mention being a born coward!) I use Norton Ghost every week to back up my entire computer to not one, but two external 500GB hard drives.
So I think I'm pretty fire-proof if there's ever a disaster.
(Whether I have the knowledge to recover my system myself is another matter, but at least I can impress anyone I call in to help by presenting them with a choice of complete back-ups!)
That's why I've never worried too much about the Norton 360 back-up. I use it because it's available and to keep 360 happy!
(Turning it off doesn't work, because then I keep getting reminders to turn it on...)
So, what I basically need is some method of emptying the 2GB storage that 360 provides and then re-installing the 624MB default back-up with room to spare.
Then Norton 360 will be happy and so will yours truly!
Wise move, not cowardly 
With a full-HDD backup, whether it's with Norton Ghost or other cloning / imaging tools, you have a fast way to recover from almost any intrusion threat as well as any user mistakes or bad downloads/updates
The only thing I'd recommend is to test your HDD recovery methodology. That way, if the time comes where a HDD recovery is required, you'll know that you have a proven bootable HDD backup available.
I'd also recommend creating occasional manual Restore Points (Control Panel / System / Create a Restore Point). They're useful for turning back the PC clock, removing a download gone bad, or other misc scenarios where one needs to restore system files to an earlier time period.
TightGit wrote:Perhaps "nagging" was over-stating the case, but it's comforting to see the Norton 360 icon with a nice green tick on it, which doesn't happen if I turn off the back-up.
So can you advise on the delete and re-install procedure for the 2GB storage, please?
First lets try to stop the nagging - which may make the second part easier.
Open N360 - when you get the initial splash screen with the 4 panes, select "Settings" from the top bar. You should get something like this (less the red arrows).
Uncheck the two boxes shown by the red arrows, then click on "Close". Now you should no longer be nagged about backups, and backup should no longer be a reason for removing the green tick. If it does give you a red cross again because of the backup then do come back and we will try again; but I very much doubt it.
------------------
OK now lets get rid of that 2 GB.
Make sure you have a good internet connection.
Open N360 so you get the normal splash screen with 4 panes; select the Backup pane; from the dropdown select "Manage Backup Sets". You should see something like this (without the red arrow).
Check how many backup sets are shown in the dropdown following the words "Backup set name:", where the above image shows "Test online". If you only have the one, let me know, Norton may decline to delete the set. But we can deal with that if we need to (see below).
Next click on the entry "Delete Backup sets" (see red arrow) and on the next screen choose the option to "delete backup set and files" and then click YES.
Leave it to run. When it reports completion you should have cleared out all your online backup. Job done ..... Unless it insists on having a backup set - in which case .........
Select "Create new backup set" from the list of three blue options on the right. Set any settings you like (and the Norton will accept) apart from the "When" option which needs to be set to "Manual". Save these settings. Now the job really should be done. You may have had to define the new backup set before it will let you delete the old one in which case the two above steps may need to be reversed, but it should get the same result.
Now you should have an empty online backup and N360 not nagging you about the backup at all. Well that is the theory. Do let us know how you get on, whatever happens. If there are any problems then just come back and I am sure we can get it sorted.
I hope the above is clear. Good luck.
Success!
Well, nearly.
It all went as you predicted, except that I still have 800MB in the 360 Back-up.
These are files from my previous computer and are more than 2 years old.
Not really a problem, but would be nice to get rid of them so the full 2GB is available should I ever need it.
Or perhaps I'm just being picky...
Anyway, many thanks for your assistance.
You're a genius!
Hi TightGit.
Delighted we seem to have had a partial success.
When you looked at the "Backup Set Names" did you see the old backup sets named there?
Yes, they mention my old Mesh Computer which I was using with Norton 360 before my current PCSpecialist Computer.
Hi TightGit.
Then select each of the old backups on the Manage Backup Sets screen by selecting them from the "Backup Set Name" dropdown list and for each one repeat the "Delete Backup Set" procedure. That should get rid of them and is one of the reasons I was asking about how many backup sets were shown in the dropdown....
Alas the old files don't show in the Back Up Set Name, there is just the one I created earlier called Test in order to delete the default set.
I see the old files by going to the Restore Files option.
Sorry about that TightGit.
My last suggestion was rubbish. It just shows how bad an idea it is to rush off one last reply before closing down...
I would be very happy if someone else could jump in and tell you how to delete those files but I am not aware of any way that a user can do that directly from their machine. There are only two ways I can think of getting rid of them, but does it matter? They are within your free space allocation and in any case you no longer need/want to use the N360 backup so the space is not needed. You could quite reasonably forget about them.
If you did want to get rid of them and save space on the Norton servers then you could contact the free 24 hr Norton Chat link and ask the Norton representative there to delete them for you. They should be able to do that fairly easily and it would give Norton some extra free space.
Or, as you do not seem to want to use the N360 backup facility, why not change to Norton Internet Security when your license next expires? It is normally cheaper and gives the same protection that N360 does. If you did this then a short while after your N360 license expires I believe that Norton will automatically clean out your old online backups.
Hopefully that is a more sensible and useful response than my last one. 
I would be interested to know what you decide and, if the red cross does come back do let us know.
All the best.
No problem and many thanks for helping me to live up to my user name and not have to buy more storage!
As you say, I won't be using the 360 back-up, so I'll just leave the old files in place.
I can't imagine Symantec will be desperate for the wasted 800MB!
Thanks again for your assistance and all the best.
TG.