Differential backup question

Discussion in 'Paragon Drive Backup Product Line' started by netwiz, May 24, 2010.

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  1. netwiz

    netwiz Registered Member

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    I'm using backup and recovery 10.1 free. I have created a backup image of my c drive. I now want to create a differential backup. The image is 178gb, on a 250gb drive. If I understand correctly, a differential backup should add in size only what has been created since the last backup, e.g a few mb or very few gb in my case. However, the wizard informs me that the archive will be 178gb in size, and I don't have enough disk space to continue. Why doesn't it tell me that I do have enough space, as the incremental amount to be added is less than 250gb-178gb?
     
  2. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Do you mean the differential backup wizard?

    Did you select the original backup image you made as the base you want to append the differential to?

    You might also get the newer version 10.2 .

    Hope it helps.
     
  3. netwiz

    netwiz Registered Member

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    Yes and yes. I'll try 10.2, thanks.
     
  4. PatG

    PatG Registered Member

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    Dunno if the versions make the difference, BUT...:), I'm using 9.5 Pro (Giveaway) and when doing a differential backup, it also shows the same size as the original archive. In my case, the archive is 17gb, and in the summary before differential starts, also shows 17gb. However, after all is said and done, it has inserted a folder named "dif" under the archive folder, and the size is 98MB. Think this is the true size of the dif backup. FWIW.....
     
  5. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    Yes, I think you are right PAT.

    It is reporting the size of the entire archive ( makes sense as that is what you be restoring , not just the diff archive)
     
  6. netwiz

    netwiz Registered Member

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    Hmmm, I've installed 10.2, and it doesn't make a difference, I still get the warning. What doesn't make sense is that in reporting that the archive will be xGB, it assumes that the full amount will be added to the existing backup drive, and therefore tells me that I don't have enough space to do the diff backup. I haven't yet tried it, as I believed the message, but I'll see what happens.
     
  7. netwiz

    netwiz Registered Member

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    OK, it works. So when the application tells me that I don't have enough disk space to complete the task, it is, in fact, wrong. This is rather sloppy programming. I can't be the only person to have come across this issue.
     
  8. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    It's curious. It appears to be telling you the size of the base image you are appending the Differential onto.
     
  9. iHz

    iHz Registered Member

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    Yes, the same happens with me too.


    My image is 20GB, its says the differential is also 20GB!
    Very silly indeed, For if I only have, say, 5GB space free on the drive that I want to create the differential onto, I will not know if it will fit for sure, without actually going ahead and proceeding with the differential backup.

    Would be a waste of time if after waiting, it stopped because of insufficient space.
    But whats more annoying, is that it took roughly the same amount of time to create the differential backup as it did with the original 20Gb base, except in the end, the differential only turned out to be 900MB!
     
  10. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    It is never going to be quick, because it has to compare everything to see what has changed.

    The point is that less has to be saved than doing another full image .

    I don't think it's a priority for many to sit and watch it . It should also be working at a low level of resource usage, so you can work over the top of it.

    It is strange that it gives the total size, rather than just the differential size.



     
  11. iHz

    iHz Registered Member

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    I used to use Acronis, and the differential/incrementals took about 3 minutes to complete.
    Plus I only use the recovery CD, I dont do any imaging from within windows itself, so resource usage shouldt be an issue.
    :)
     
  12. SIW2

    SIW2 Registered Member

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    You misunderstood.

    The idea of Paragon apps. is that they are low resource usage.

    Most people want them to run automatically in the background and be able to work easily over the top.

    Most people do not want to make their images manually every time and watch them.

    You have an unusual way of doing it. Fair enough - it's your machine.

    If you want that , there are several apps. that are much faster and more efficient than Acronis, for example.

    However , they don't do the disk checking Paragon does.

    Paragon's archive image system is mature technology and very reliable - it's not flashy.

    Depends what you want.

    You have a choice , like every other product from cars to holidays - use the one you like.


    You may find it works better/faster if you run checkdisk to make sure the filesystem is ok .

    Have plenty of UNFRAGMENTED space to store the image on. Surpprising what a difference that makes to all disk management tasks.


     
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