Incr. and Diff Backup are almost as big as the Full backup

Hi,
I'm surprised that on different Computers the incr. or diff. backup file have almost the same size than the full backup (tib file). On all 3 tasks I have selected the same files to be backed up. So I have performed a test:

I created 3 tasks with the same data files to be saved, a full, a diff and an incr backup and I run them all at the same day. The full backup contains 51 GB, the diff backup 59 GB and the incr backup 56 GB. How is this possible, becaus I haven't changed a file in the PC except what windows has done. What kind of flags does Acronis use?
Thanks in advance, Bernd

(I use Win XP prof. and a Sata raid 0 array)

 

TI backs up the in-use sectors of the partition(s) being imaged and stores a "snapshot" of those in-use sectors within the image archive. When creating incremental or differential images, TI takes a new snapshot, compares it with the one contained in the previous image (for incrementals) or the original full image (for differentials) and only images those in-use sectors that have changed.

However, if by chance you defragged the partition(s) in between the images or some other application has carried out hard drive housekeeping, then the in-use sector snapshots will differ greatly thereby resulting in the incremental/differential image being more or less the same size as the original full image.

Regards

Menorcaman

 

Just to be sure that we understand:

What kind of backup are you making? An Image of an entire drive or partition or a Files and Folders backup?

If you are making a Files and Folders backup, what folders did you select to backup?

What version of TrueImage are you using and what build number?

 

---------------------
to 1) backup Folder and Files
to 2) Folder: Programs, Documents&settings, Windows, Data
to 3) Acronis®*True*Image*Home® Version 10.0 (build*4.942

 

Hello BWalter and everyone interested,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Due to differential and incremental backup archives depend on full backup archive note that at first backup on a schedule, a full backup will be created irrespective of option chosen (full, differential or incremental).

You can find the detailed information about the difference between full, incremental and differential backup in this article.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Michael Fedyulin

 

Hi Michael,
thanks for your explanation. I didn't know that Acronis Diff. or Incr. Backup with the first run automaticully performed a full backup, so I don't need to run an extra full backup bevor. That explaines my problem.
Bernd

 

I didn't see that, but it's easy to miss the obvious when you are thinking about a more sophisicated answer.

The Files and Folders backup is really only useful for data such as in My Documents and a few selected files that are data files related to programs such as the Outlook.pst file which is all the Outlook data, etc.

There is no reason to backup the Programs and Windows folders with Files and Folders. In many cases, these files won't restore correctly.

To back up Windows and Programs the correct backup is the Entire Disk or Partition option. This makes a backup of everything: Windows, programs, settings, email, documents, etc. If your hard drive fails, you can restore this image to a brand new hard drive and have you computer up and running in a few minutes.

The TrueImage manual explains more on the difference between these two types of backup.

 

I understand what you mean, John, but I have about 10GB of data on my disc which I have synchroniesed also with my notebook and an external disc. When I run a partition backup I also backup this data again what I don't need and it makes the backup very large. That's why I backup only selected binders.
But if you said an Acronis file backup of the windows binder will not guarantee a proper restore, I better use another backup program like Backup myPC.
Regards,
Bernd

 

What I would do in a case such as yours where you have a lot of data is to put the data on a second partition of your hard drive. That way, you can backup the first/boot partition with a small backup and only as often as you make some program or update changes. You can also backup the data partition through syncronizing, with TrueImage or with simple copies as frequently as the data change warrants.

Acronis Disk Director can repartition your hard drive without requiring you to reinstall anything.

BackupMyPC is good for data folder backups. It is not good for backing up a boot drive, and it would have the same limitations or worse if you only tried to backup the Windows and Programs folders. I stopped using BackupMyPC for that reason.

 

I thought about that, John, and this will be a usefull way (separating the partitions for program and data). I need to resize my partitions and of course I have to do it on all my computers to have a common structure.
Bernd