Can I Defrag Image

[rwinegar]

I quite regularly defrag the drive to which my TI image is saved. Will defragging the saved image cause any problems when the time comes to restore the image? I don't want defrag to move part of the image to a part of the hard drive where it will not be recognized if restoration becomes necessary.

I am using TI v8.0.

Thanks

[PatG]

I sure would NOT touch the image. Why would you want to? My images are on a 2nd hd for safe keeping and believe me, if you ever HAVE to restore, you want to do so with at least %100 accuracy! :)

[Peter2150]

This comes down to how to determine with 100% accuracy the image is good short of using it to restore.

I have done an image to an external drive. Then done an integrity check and the image is fine. Have gone into explorer and have been able to extract files from the image. I have then defragged the drive, copied the image to a 2nd external hard drive, and then defragged that drive. Then with that final image I done image checks(both in windows and restore CD) and again extracted files from that image.

Would the final image on the 2nd drive be less reliable then the 1st one? Has anyone actual experience to confirm an opinion.

[rwinegar]

PatG, please, then tell me, how do I defrag the drive containing the image without also defragging the image?

All the work in my computer is done from the D drive. My image is on the D drive. All that is on my system drive is the OS and program files. All audio, videos, burning, etc comes from the D drive. As such I MUST defrag this drive frequently.

Will the integrity of the image be compromised by defragging it?

['G']

If you have Diskeeper, Perfect Disk or O&O Defrag Pro you can exclude the image file from being defragmented.

Defragging the image should not undermine the integrity of it but it is not guaranteed or advised. Can you not store the image on DVD-R?

G

[beenthereb4]

The image is simply a file. If defragging it could cause any harm, then any other file would be at risk also. Have you had files damaged after defragging? Neither have I, and if you ever do, you have bigger problems than defragging!

[foghorn]

-{ Quote: "Defragging the image should not undermine the integrity of it but it is not guaranteed or advised. Can you not store the image on DVD-R?" }-

Are you being serious ?
On what grounds would you not advise someone to defragment a file? Do you really think that defragmentation processes are that flakey? You must have been *really* unlucky.

As for DVD, I would put my money on an image held on hard disk over one on optical media any day of the week.

[nick s]

I routinely defragment the drives where I store images (slaved internal and external USB). When testing software, I sometimes restore images several times a week. The images on those drives have always restored without error. That includes images transferred from external USB to internal drives and then burned to DVD. Acronis Support commented on the issue here: Defragmenting image files (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=30046).

Nick

[rwinegar]

Thanks everyone. I would say that my question has been thoroughly answered.