Backing up only necessary files

Discussion in 'Acronis True Image Product Line' started by MrAnalogy, May 18, 2008.

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  1. MrAnalogy

    MrAnalogy Registered Member

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    I'm trying to minimize the size of my backup by doing a file backup (rather than partition backup) and removing:

    hiberfile.sys
    pagefile.sys
    \recycler\


    The above files change daily and with 3 GB of RAM, that means roughly 6 GB of data backed up unnecessarily.

    Any downsides to the above?

    Thanks!
     
  2. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    No downside but TI only creates a placeholder for two system files. I don't know about the recycler but it could be cleared.

    Reminder: should your hard drive fail, you will need a full "disk" backup which includes all data on all partitions--both hidden and/or diagnostic that reside on the single system disk.
     
  3. Xpilot

    Xpilot Registered Member

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    Definitely make at least one full drive/partition image. This will capture everything, the OS, programs, settings and all data.
    The first two files you mentioned are only included in the image as place holders as GroverH has said.
    I always run Windows disk cleanup before the next backup is scheduled. This empties the recycle bin and can also remove other unwanted items, there is also the Advanced option in XP to delete all but the latest Windows restore point, that is if you have not switched off this function completely.

    Xpilot
     
  4. shieber

    shieber Registered Member

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    A handy little tool for regular clean-up is ccleaner. I you make an icon and put it on your desktop and add " /AUTO" to the commandline, without the quotes. The prog will run and exit without any further user intervention. You can get it free here:

    http://www.ccleaner.com/

    Btw, is customizable.
     
  5. MrAnalogy

    MrAnalogy Registered Member

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    Using ATI v11

    If i choose :

    a Backuptype=MyComputer
    And choose Disks and Partitions: C:
    and then just do an EXCLUDE on c:\recycler
    And uncheck "Create and image using sector-by-sector approach"


    Would that give me a full backup (ieed a full "disk" backup which includes all data on all partitions--both hidden and/or diagnostic that reside on the single system disk.)
     
  6. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    No, you need to checkmark the disk rather than C only. When you checkmark the Disk, all partition will become checkmarked automatically. Nothing can be excluded although some items will only check placemarkers rather than backup of all the data.

    Perhaps you might like to show a screen capture of the Windows Disk Management picture so we know how your drive is structured.
     
  7. MrAnalogy

    MrAnalogy Registered Member

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    Here is my configuration.

    The CD drive is on it's own Partition.

    Do I also need to backup the Fat16?

    C: drive is the primary boot drive w/ Windows, etc.
     

    Attached Files:

  8. GroverH

    GroverH Registered Member

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    Mr. Analogy,
    Thank you for posting a picture of your hard drive. This shows 4 partitions which begins with a mfgr recovery or diagnostic partition. The presence of this partition makes maintaining a full disk backup even more important--should you have a hard drive failure and need to replace the drive.

    The reason a "disk" image backup is so valuable is that you can very easily create a new disk replacement but have the added benefits of performing a single partition restore if that is all that is needed--such as when a virus occurs.

    Just because I advocate performing a full backup of the entire disk first & occasionally, this should not be interpreted that every backup has to include all partitions. My concern is that of a disk failure and your quick ability to recover. A disk backup provides that capability best. You can still do single partition backups but always maintain a full disk backup which is reasonably current. My system drive has 3 partitions. I do a full backup once a week and do incremental's daily or every 2 days so I am always reasonably current without any extra effort. There can be many variations of a backup strategy as long as you have all bases covered.

    Strongly urge you assign drive names to Drives C & V. When booting from the TI Rescue CD, drive letters may be very different (due to CD being Linox) and your only clue to the drive identity is the name you have assigned that drive.

    Terminology: (un-official)
    A "disk" backup is creating a backup image of which includes everything on the disk. Everything includes all partitions, both hidden and diagnostic. In your situation, this would include all 4 partitions (FAT16, C & E & P).

    A "disk" restore is a restore which restores (copies) all the contents of the "disk" backup back onto the destination disk (which can be the old original or an entirely new disk). All of the original partitions will be recreated so the resulting disk will be an identical copy of the original.

    A "partition" backup is creating a backup of only one partition (most often).

    A "partition" restore is restoring a single partition (most often) from either a "partition" image or from a "disk" image.

    A "partition restore with resizing" is used most often when replacing a disk with a larger capacity disk. All partitions are restored individually in one pass but the partitions can be custom sized.​

    The links in my signature provide plenty of reading material if you are interested.
     
  9. DickDiver

    DickDiver Registered Member

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    Hello

    it is a long time gone I used TI (cause I could not back up to my extern USB drive by using TI boot CD.... ) but the think is,
    was not there a window with three checkmarks. One for excluding system files?
    I thought that was ment to exclude temp files and the swap / pagefile.sys?

    sorry if I am wrong but am interested anyway cause I might come back to TI when I got a new motherboard... (I think my board was no good for TI ^^ Asrock Dual Sata...)

    greetz
     
  10. Acronis Support

    Acronis Support Acronis Support Staff

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    25,885
    Hello DickDiver,

    Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

    We are sorry for delayed response.

    Please notice that checking the option to exclude system files will exclude all files with attribuse "System" (viewable in file properties) from the archive. As GroverH pointed, the contents of swap and hibernation files aren't backed up anyway.

    Thank you.
    --
    Marat Setdikov
     
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