Drive Snapshot backup - needed space

My kids are using their own PC with XP Pro.
their C drive has 108Gb capacity and is 71Gb full (lot of games, songs,...).
I installed Drive snapshot to assist them protecting their PC and save the backup in an external drive.
I made two backup attempts using DS:
1. "Advanced Options" set "Maximum Image Single file Size" to 1490 (default).
I've got 1 'Snapshot image file' (1525.7Mb), 1 'HSH' file (285.7Mb) and 47 files SN1 through S47 (1525.7 Mb each) ---> i.e. total backup file >74Gb (more than the content of the C drive)
2. I set " "Maximum Image Single file Size" to '0' and got two backup files:
one 'Snapshot image file' (73.1Gb) and one 'HSH' file (285.3Mb).
3. I downloaded IFW trial and performed the same backup twice, one using the validation option ('Validate-bite-for-bite') and one without. Both with Standard compression (Default).
the backup file size was 53.9Gb and 54.0Gb.

I have few questions:
1. Has DS a compression possibility. How to reduce the backup file.
2. What is the best (recommended) setting for "Maximum Image Single file Size"
3. I made a UBCD4Win disc and installed DS on a stick drive.
- In order to restore a backed-up drive, is it required to mark ALL the files (47ea) or to pickup the 'Snapshot image file' only.
4. If DS is used on a PC with W7, is it possible to use the same restore method as in 3 above (i.e. using UBCD4Win).

Thanks for assistance

 

Hello Samy. I will try to help you out as best I can. Compression in DriveSnapshot is automatic and usually results in about 50% smaller images than the data itself. Of course, make sure that maintenance mode is not activated, or you'll be imaging every byte, free and not free. Your problems seems to indicated that a lot of the data being imaged cannot be compressed, which is typical with a lot of mp3s and video. Also make sure that your swap file and your hibernation file are both being excluded from the image.

1. Yes, read the above explaination.

2. Here is a screenshot of my settings. I have a primary partition that uses about 17 gb and is imaged to 4.7 gb.

3. You can use UBCD, or any PE Disc for that matter. Better yet, that not even required anymore with the 1.40 version. In that case, all you'd need are your created *.sna files.

4. Yes, that's possible. That's what I use.

 

Hello n8chavez

Thanks for your prompt answer.
After receiving it I redo a new backup with "Maximum Image Single file Size" set at '0' and "Hash file options" unchecked.
the backup file size is still 73,733,740 Kb, i.e. more than the used space on drive C when the backup file size for the same drive, using IFW is 54,052,768Kb
The actual size of the C drive is :
Total size: 108Gb, Free Space; 36.5Gb

Thanks

 

That tells me that you are using have file types that cannot be compressed, as I mentioned. Image for Windows usually has greater compression than what you are experiencing too, that just confirms my suspicion.

 

Consider making the C: partition smaller. Move all the games, music, documents, etc. out of there onto another partition. Otherwise backups take too long and take too much space.

If you want to backup music and games, just burn them onto DVDs or copy them with Fastcopy to an external hard drive now and then.

 

samy,

Your Snapshot image is 73 GB
Your IFW image is 54 GB
Your data is 72 GB

So IFW is compressing the image and DS isn't.

There have been reports of some DS builds failing to compress the image. Maybe only on some computers, I can't recall. See if you can find a different DS build.