An administrator needs to make a file-level backup of a VM before deploying monthly updates. The backup should capture all changes since the last backup but should NOT reset the archive bit on any…

An incremental backup backs up only changes since the last backup of any type but resets the archive bit on each file it backs up, which violates the stated requirement.

A full backup copies all files regardless of change status and resets the archive bit on every file, which does not meet either the change-only or the archive-bit-preservation requirement.

A snapshot captures a point-in-time image at the volume or block level rather than the file level, so it does not operate on individual file archive bits.

A differential backup records all files that have changed since the last full backup by reading the archive bit without clearing it, meaning the archive bit remains set after the backup completes. This satisfies both requirements - capturing all changes since the last backup without resetting the archive bit - making it the correct file-level backup type for this scenario.

Delta tracking is a block-level change tracking mechanism used primarily for VM-level backups, not a standard file-level backup type that operates on archive bits.