backup is smaller than original files 1

[peddles]

I have a quad 4 system win7 64 bit with a sata 500G hard drive. I am backing it up with Acronis 9 and when finished it states successful back up. I have only 36G of the 500G used up but when I check the size of the back ups, they are less. I have backed it up four times with different results of between 27- 31Gigs backed up. I am backing up to an exteranl seagate 500G harddrive but did not format it first, There is some sort of backup included but I felt it unessary to delete until I get the results I want. I know it will not back up a few systems files but I am missing around 10 gigs. I know sometimes backup systems will compress so you wont get the same size of the backup.

Thanks in advance.

 

[goombawaho]

I have a quad 4 system win7 64 bit with a sata 500G hard drive" Are you bragging or complaining? - just kidding.

Three things:
1. What does the log say?? Errors?
2. Any options to exclude certain types/sizes of files set. Compression settings??
3. Can you restore the data to another folder and compare size after restore?

Just for kicks, to make sure the external drive is working okay, try something like a ROBOCOPY job to a folder on the external drive and see if it copies all the data in a large folder successfully

Something like this:
robocopy.exe C:\folder d:\folder /MIR /ZB /R:3 /W:5 /LOG:"C:\Backup.log

 

[peddles]

I dont know how to ck log errors but after completion of the backup it states completed. I've ran backupup validation and also states completed. I am running another backup now and have set it up to backup by sector which will take longer. Maybe this will do it. I did not think of restoring it to another folder and comparing sizes. Wont it interfere with my current operating system or files, registry or anything??
How would I go about restoring it to another folder?

Thanks so much for your time.

 

[goombawaho]

I'm sorry to do this to you, but read the documentation to find out how. I don't have it on the tip of my tongue.

You won't hurt anything if you restore just your data to another folder. If you tried to re-image or restore system files, that's another issue.

If you don't know what you're doing:
1. use caution
2. read the manual
3. don't proceed

 

[peddles]

Thanks again, I'll look into it.

 

[RICHINMINN]

I don't know if you're still following this message string, but...

Acronis True Image uses file compression by default when it makes a backup image. As you're going through the configuration prompts for a backup, you'll find one labeled " Choose Backup Options", with 2 radio buttons: "Use default options" and "Set the options manually". If you click the "Set the options manually" button, you'll be taken to another screen with a number of different functions displayed, one of which is "Compression level". Click on that and you'll be shown 4 options: None, Normal, High, and Maximum. The default setting is Normal.

On my wife's system (a relatively old, slow system), here's how the estimated compression amounts and runtimes for those settings compare:
None: 24.11 GB 2 hours --> 0% compression
Normal: 14.42 GB 40 minutes --> 40% compression
High: 12.62 GB 50 minutes --> 47% compression
Maximum: 12.3 GB 1 hour 10 minutes --> 49% compression

The percentage of compression at each of the 3 compressed choices can vary depending on the "compressability" of the data being backed up. It's interesting to note that just a plain ol' backup, without compression, is NOT the fastest way of creating said backup.

Hope this helps...

Rich (in Minn.)