Incremental backup too big

Hello,

I have a problem with TI9 build 2337: I take nightly incremental backups (entire disk image, not file by file). Each incremental adds about 800-900MB. I'm not generating that much new or changed data every day. Event the IE cache is set to be 100MB. I'm not sure where all the extra data comes from.

Is there a way to see the diffs between 2 incrementals to see what TI thought changed in between?

Any tips on how to decrease the incremental size? Disk defrag?

thank you for your help.

 

“Any tips on how to decrease the incremental size? Disk defrag?”
That would probably make it even worse. TI works on a sector level. Moving files around will put them in different sectors and therefore TI will include them in an INC backup. So you don’t have to create/add or change files for them to be included in an INC backup; just move them and they’ll get included.
You may want to see what System Restore is up to. That can add unexpected disk space usage.

 

I'm not sure what to check for System Restore.

If TI works at the sector level, how is it able to ignore the paging and hibernation files? I think I read somewhere that it doesn't back those up (or it puts placeholders in place for them filled with 0's which compresses to almost nothing).

thank you for your answers

 

Snipped from another thread :

"When you create the image of a partition with known file system (FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3 etc.) Acronis True Image reads the file table of the partition where it is shown which sectors are used and which are not. From this file table it also can conclude where the hybernation and paging files are resided so that Acronis True Image can avoid imaging these sectors.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman"

 

System Restore:

Settings are in
Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore

System Restore files are in the hidden folder “System Volume Information” which you may or may not have access to (but that’s a different problem altogether )

 

Hello SirDracula,

In addition to the good info TheWeaze has provided, be aware that merely starting and closing Windows plus other applications will change the in-use sectors each time, particularly if the drive is heavily fragmented. Therefore it might help if you defragged the drive but be aware that the first incremental after the defrag will probably be as large as a full image. Hence I would recommend doing a full image immediately after the defrag and then see what happens with subsequent incrementals.

Regards